How to Get Full Lips – 5 Easy Steps, No Injections Required

Maybe it’s the effect of Angelina Jolie.  Or maybe it’s biological, as anthropologists like Dr. Helen Fisher, Ph.D., believe.   At any rate, women have never sought full lips like they have now and for the past decade.

So how to get the fuller lip effect?  Here, 5 steps to fuller lips:

1.)  Exfoliate.

Although it sounds silly, dry, cracked lips don’t reflect the light like smooth, polished lips, making them appear smaller by contrast.  My personal favorite is Kiehl’s #1 Lip Balm ($6.88, Amazon.com), which contains little exfoliating particles.  Simply dab a little bit over your lips, wipe off the dry skin that flakes off with a tissue, and you’re done!

2.)  Line your lips with a nude-colored lip liner.

My mother, a former beautician, taught me this secret years ago.  Choose a lip pencil that matches the color of your lips, and extend the line to the outer rim of your lips.  Don’t go beyond – as tempting as this is, unless you’ve got the steady hands of a neurosurgeon, your line isn’t going to be perfectly straight, and it’s never as visible as it is outside the lip line.  My recommendation?  Smashbox, The Nude Lip Liner ($16.00, Amazon.com), if for nothing else than the precise line and the nearly-universally flattering color.

3.)  Use a lip plumper with a high concentration of menthoxypropanediol.  Wait 5-10 minutes.

The secret behind lip plumpers is menthoxypropanediol, a derivative of menthol that is actually twice as strong as menthol.  There are two main reasons this works.  One, menthoxypropanediol irritates the lips, causing them to swell.  Two, given the fact that menthol is known to increase vasodilation (i.e., opening of blood vessels) when applied topically, as established in Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, menthoxypropanediol must have the same effect as well, causing greater blood flow in the lips.  It may be noted that some lip plumpers use camphor (the ingredient in Vicks Vapo Rub) or limonene instead, which may also irritate the lips somewhat, but vasodilation will likely not occur.

My personal recommendation is Buxom Lip Plumper ($14.59, Amazon.com), with a high concentration of menthone glycerin acetal, another form of menthol.  Of all the lip plumpers I inspected, only this one had a menthol derivative as one of the top four ingredients – a definite selling point for me!

4.)  Wear lip balm or lip gloss with SPF.

This may not sound like fun advice, but remember Ben Franklin’s ol’ adage about the worth of an ounce of prevention.  As you age, cumulative UV damage causes the collagen and elastin fibers in your lips to break down.  UV light also harms the DNA within the cells of your lips, causing for them to get less full as you age.  (If you don’t believe me, look at a picture of your mother when she was a teenager versus now.  I guarantee her lips will look thinner, unless, of course, she was religious about staying out of the sun!)

With that said, I love using a lip gloss with SPF, since it needs to be reapplied all the time anyway.  I personally love Neutrogena Moisture Shine SPF 20 ($6.24, Amazon.com) from drugstore products, as well as Clinique Moisture Shine SPF 15 ($16.50, Clinique.com) from department store products.  By far, my favorite is the Clinique product!

5.)  Place clear, shiny lip gloss at the center of your bottom lip only.

This is a time-tested makeup artist secret.  Many photographers will tell you that shine makes the light reflect an object twofold as images are converted from 3D real-life to 2D in photographs.  With that said, you can make the fullest part of your lip reflect even fuller by applying gloss right there.  It looks amazing.  Trust me!

Although I usually recommend glosses with SPF for daily use, if it’s a special occasion, there are amazing light-reflecting non-SPF lip glosses out there.  My favorites are MAC Lipglass (perhaps the gold standard in this arena), Chanel Aqualumiere Gloss (new, fresh, smooth, and makes you feel like a million bucks),  and Dior Ultra Ultra Addict Gloss (I personally hate the taste, but it really does look pretty on).

Bottom Line

Even if you weren’t born with full, luscious lips, you can make the most of what you have with 10 minutes and the above steps.  Happy experimenting!  🙂

Got a tip for full, luscious lips?  Let us know in Comments!