Lips require being given special attention. They are covered with a thin and delicate skin which isn’t resistant to the sun or wind, thus its fast dehydration. It happens because lips’ surface features neither sebaceous nor sweat glands. Delicate is also the skin surrounding lips, which tends to cover with wrinkles really fast. What are the methods for beautiful lips? How to choose a good lipstick and how to match colour of a lipstick to skin tone? How to do long lasting lip make-up? Also, what are the diseases that affect lips the most often and what a lip colour can say about our the state of health? Learn my home methods for helping my lips stay beautiful.
Ways of having beautiful lips
Going out on a cool, windy day and unconsciously running the tongue through lips is all it takes to immediately feel the sensation of prickling and tight lip skin. You can also notice irritation and swollen lips as a consequence of intensive sunbathing as well as consuming either spicy or sour meals. Luckily, everyday lip care is really easy if you follow the basic rules, which means that:
- In the winter you keep applying balms displaying strong lubricating action which owe their properties to glycerine (it bonds water in epidermis), aloe extract (delivers soothing action) and karite butter (lubricates).
- In the summer you use protective lip balm that features UV filter.
- During skiing, you shield your lips against sun and wind using a protective lip balm.
- You regularly do lip scrub which smooths them out and boosts blood supply. I recommend you delicate sugar scrub (one teaspoon of sugar + a dash of olive oil) or massage carried out with a soft toothbrush (it doesn’t have to be super soft, in fact you can go for kids’ toothbrush).
My home methods of having beautiful lips
Do you have tiny scratches on your lips? Or perhaps the corners of lips are irritated? Give a try to tea tree oil – it brings relief and thus accelerates wound healing processes. Just mix a few drops of it with olive oil. Another way of dealing with dried lips is cucumber juice. Alternatively, you can put on lips a thick layer of Vaseline or honey; it’d be best if you do this at bedtime. Do you like cottage cheese? Trust me, your lips will love it too, especially the lips which seek regeneration. Apply cottage cheese to your lips and let it sit for a few minutes. That’s pretty all you have to do.
How to choose a good lipstick?
When you finally have improved the condition of your lips, you can focus on their looks by coating them with a lipstick. Back then, teenagers and young women were told not to use lipsticks because this would make their lips lose their natural colour – they would become matte and dull. What’s interesting, the very concern was justified because in the past colour cosmetics didn’t take care of lips at all, yet they only coloured them and, at the same time, dry out lip skin. Luckily, the present-day lipstick is a combination of moisturising cream, lifting serum and long-wearing colour lip balm.
Features of a good lipstick:
- is easy to apply;
- it’s hardly felt when applied to lips;
- covers lips evenly;
- isn’t too dry.
Powder lipstick brings out each wrinkle around eyes, therefore only young women should use it. On the other hand, a lip gloss can be used by everyone regardless of age. It enhances looks of lips and gifts them with shine.
How to match lipstick colour with complexion shade?
If your complexion is dark or olive, you should go for warm tone lipsticks, best if the tones are nude or raisins-like – the very colours are able to highlight face. When it comes to evening make-up, it would be better to use a little bit darker shades, especially brownish reds such as blackberry or wine colours.
If your complexion is either fair or milky, you should go for lipsticks which shades are brown-and-beige – they will simply warm your complexion. Alternatively, you can try pinks or peach colours. When it comes to special occasions, you can reach for lipsticks having either violet or cherry shade featuring some brown tints.
If you are pale and your hair is black, you will look good in all shades of lipsticks, providing that they are contrastive. In this situation, I would recommend you vermillion colour or bright pink.
How to do long lasting lip make-up?
The fact that we need to reapply lipsticks quite frequently isn’t only due to the product’s questionable quality but also it skilful application. For that reason, before you coat your lips with a lipstick, treat them with a moisturising cream first; this will smooth and increase elasticity of the skin. Then, spread a lipstick base or a little bit of a foundation evenly. Tap it delicately and wait until it dries. Now you can apply a lipstick.
Additionally, you can outline your lips with a lip liner in the very same shade of lipstick you’re going to wear that day, or one tone darker. If you haven’t mastered this skill yet, start from applying a few dots on the edges of your mouth and try to slowly connect them. Thanks to this the outline should look better.
If you want to touch up lip make-up, don’t you ever apply a new coat to the old one. Before you do this, remove the residues of the lipstick you’re wearing and dry your lips. Wipe off the old, almost worn-off layer with a cleaning milk, face cream or face cleansing towelettes. The more durable lipsticks, such as bi-phase ones, require more precise make-up removal because pigments they contain keep stuck to lips for many hours and it’s almost impossible to wipe them off. Therefore, if you try do to it using a regular tissue, you might harm your lips. For that reason, I suggest using a cleaning milk designed for waterproof cosmetics.
What are the typical lip diseases?
- Perleche (Angular cheilitis)
People allergic to fluorine that most toothpastes contain, were treated with cytotoxic drugs or have just visited a stemmatologist are prone to perleche most. If the condition is painful or if it breaks, ask a pharmaceutist or a doctor for help. They will surely give you the right medication. The fretsome symptoms should alleviate within a few days. - Cold sore
It’s getting more complicated when it comes to cold sore – once you contract it, it will reappear throughout your entire life as the aftermath either of general malaise or long exposition to the sun. Cold sore has the form of reddened itchy spot which appears on a lip to be soon transformed into a painful scab. You mustn’t scratch it, otherwise the infection spreads. Cold sore can be treated with antiviral creams, herbal preparations or zinc oxide. The three substances are able to dry out the skin lesions.
What does the colour of your lips say about your health state?
The colour of lips provide the information concerning the level of the entire body blood supply, therefore in the case of accidents or sudden faints lips help assess an injured person’s condition:
- blue lips equal hypoxia of the body
- sudden lip turning pale is the sign of upcoming collapse
- very red, slightly swollen lips are a characteristic of infection and/or high fever
What are your methods for beautiful lips? Share your ideas in comments!
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