7 Tips for Healthy, Sexy, Beautiful Lips
Jennifer Lo Hair + Makeup Artist
GET LIP-LUSCIOUSLY EDUCATED!
Did you know that our lips are made up of skin that is like no other area on our body? The skin here is the THINNEST, thinner than the under eye area which normally gets more hype! It is therefore prone to intense dehydration, flakiness and even bleeding if not looked after. This also give them their red/pinky colour as the blood vessels are more visible. Our lips are one of the most sensual parts of our body and we use our mouths to talk, eat, smile so we really should start taking proper care of them.
How many of us use cleansers, serums and moisturisers on our face, we moisturise our body, we even intensely hydrate our locks with hair masques and conditioners but what do we REALLY do to take care of our lips? We use lipsticks, glosses and lip liners and balms to create the look of gorgeous pouts, the sad fact is a lot of these products are actually drying out your lips more or just providing a moisture barrier. There is no goodness in there!!!!
Follow my tips below for healthy, sexy beautiful lips... enjoy!
1. H20
Our lips can be seen as a sponge, when there is moisture it sucks it up and plumps out. Whereas when dehydrated they shrivel up and go crusty. So make sure you drink plenty of water and fluids. Which we all know we should anyway.
2. Exfoliate
You exfoliate your face, body, feet... how about your lips? Whenever I wash my face I give it a little wash with my facial cleanser too. When I sue my exfoliating scrub once a week in the shower I give my lips a gentle scrub too. As a person who has suffered from dry flaky lips, which looked awful under lipstick I found exfoliating my lips has truly helped. You can buy lip scrubs but I use the Arbonne FC5 new cell exfoliating scrub on my face and use this on my lips too, no need to buy 2 products. Skin and lips feel smooth as a baby's bottom after.
3. Moisturising & Conditioning
After all this exfoliating your lips will be all prepped and smooth, ready to receive some delicious hydrating and conditioning ingredients. There are tonnes of products on the market but what we know of best are lip balms. These are normally quite a waxy and oil based products that provide a moisture barrier to your lip and make them appear glossy thus looking healthier. Watch out for anything petroleum based as this is not conditioning at all but a barrier on lips that actually STOPS any good ingredients from penetrating the skin at a cellular level. I have tried and tested many lip balms and I would say these are my faves, no nasty parabens and unnecessary chemicals and fragrances. One with an added SPF is great too.
If a lip balm is great at locking in moisture what can we do to give our lips a real conditioning treatment, to keep them plump and prevent fine lines around the mouth?
Wanna know?
The answer: Lip conditioners, lip treatments, lip moisturisers. Most luxury brands have such things but we are pretty unaware of them, or think they are expensive for what they do perhaps.
I have tried a few throughout the years and did not find anything that truly worked. Until...Arbonne Intelligence Lip Treatment came about.
This product has JUST been launched but I had a couple of tubes that I got my hands on a month early and I tested them last month on myself and on my makeup clients. It says to pat on morning and night after cleansing on and around the lip area but I put it on any time. It contains ultra hydrating ingredients one of them is called Phytinol which is a special blend of ultra hydrating and line smoothing ingredient ....that prove to maintain moisture within, plump up lips, and avoid aging. Hence why they instruct you to pat around the lip line too! It also acts as a primer before putting on lip colour to help application and longevity (colours lasting)
The first time I used it I already had lip liner and lipstick on and couldn't wait to bedtime to apply so I pat some on my lips and lip line, the tiniest amount! It was amazing! It made me look like my lips were fuller and really well nourished without looking over glossy. I know that I probably did not get the full benefits using over my hydrating arbonne lipstick but it can only help!
Since then I have been using it day and night and my lips have felt smooth and have not flaked one bit which is truly a first for me. Today I didn't wear any other lip products and my lips are soft and hydrated, plus I KNOW I haven't drunk enough water today. My bad! So get yourself a good lip treatment and STOP neglecting your lips. This is definitely a wonder product for my makeup kit as I am able to use it on Male presenters and models without it looking sheeny, it's liquid gold for lips in a tube. I had some bridesmaids use it recently and they said they could feel it working!!! WONDER PRODUCT!!!!
I have just found out that in the Xmas limited edition range they have intro'd a duo set lip scrub and lip salve too in a natural coconut. Will review this at a later stage. Keep your eyes peeled.
4. Lip lining
Lip liners are not just for lining your lips to avoid lipstick bleeding and lipsticks to last longer but to create an even colour base and edges. If you slightly overline your lips you can create the subtle illusion of a sexy, plump pout. Be careful not to go overboard and keep checking in the mirror where you can actually change the shape of your lip slightly. The key is also no to over line too much at the corners of your mouth. If you have thin lips then you can over line (I will do another post on lip lining with diagrams).
5. Lip stick
There are so many lipsticks on the market, so many colours and textures. If you want a natural matte look I would suggest finding a highly pigmented lip stick or stain and patting it on your lined lips. If this is applied on top of your well hydrated and Arbonne treated lips and a liner this will last extremely well and maintain a wonderfully moisturised lip.
Note: Take care to check out the ingredients on lip sticks, the cheaper ones are largely a coloured wax, they can be very drying to lips. I can confidently say that the entire Arbonne lip range are ultra hydrating, contain peptides and collagen boosting ingredient, which you will not find in the majority of lipsticks, glosses, liners or lip balms found in shops.
Check out the amazing range of colours in these long lasting, ultra hydrating and plumping lipsticks. Juicy.
6. Lip gloss
Dab a small amount of lip gloss on to the centre of your lips and pat it out, this will create a fuller 3D effect and thus a sexy full pout.
7. Highlighter
Take a small amount of highlighter, a liquid one is always good or powder will still work and concentrate a small amount onto your cupids bow. If you are going for a matte look without gloss you can actually dab this onto the centre of your lips instead of the gloss.