Can You Get Bigger Lips Naturally?

Is it possible to get bigger lips naturally, without injectables and other cosmetic procedures involved? As the trend for fuller pouts continues to take over the beauty world, plenty of people are asking this very question.

Beauty Daily consulted Charlotte McHale, Clarins Training Manager, to find the magical solution. Is there one, though? Yes and no.

“If you want to increase the appearance of volume on your lips, keeping them hydrated and trying to keep lines around the lips at bay is the natural way to do it,” says McHale. “Although this will make your lips plump and smooth, you won’t get the same effect as you would through injectables,” McHale clarifies. And if lip fillers aren’t for you and you’re looking for more natural ways to achieve a fuller lip, these tips will help.

Create a smooth base

If you want fuller, plumper-looking lips, first get rid of any rough patches and dry skin. Use a lip scrub to do this. You could also gently scrub away dead skin with a soft toothbrush or a warm, wet towel.

Make sure you scrub using small, circular motions. Do this as gently as possible to avoid hurting yourself and don’t ever pick any dry skin from your lips with your fingers or nails.

Tip: To avoid damaging your lips, coat them in a thick lip balm for 10-15 minutes before exfoliating. This will soften them and work as a lubricant when you scrub.

After you’ve exfoliated, your lips will be visibly smoother and rosier. Next, load up on hydration.

Inject moisture

“The more hydrated the lips are, the fuller they will look,” says McHale. “It’s the same as the skin, isn’t it? If you’ve got very dehydrated skin, then it doesn’t appear bouncy and light reflective.”

She adds: “You also have to remember that you don’t have any sebaceous glands in the lip, which means no natural oils. So they are, by definition, dry.”

Find a lip balm with a rich texture. We like the Hydra-Essentiel Moisture Replenishing Lip Balm that’s packed with blue lotus wax and shea butter to intensely nourish, replenish and protect the lips.

Apply your lip balm twice or thrice a day – once in the morning, once before bed and in between, if necessary. If it’s the right balm for you, your lips will stay supple for long periods of time and you won’t feel the need to reapply every hour.

Care for the skin around your lips

As you age, various changes occur in the lip area. For example, studies suggest that you could notice a loss of volume on the lips with age. You may also start developing fine, vertical lines around the lips, known as lip wrinkles (also common with smokers).

“These lines tend to disrupt the lip’s natural outline and blur the contour of your lip,” explains McHale. “That will, in turn, make the lips look less defined, which can make them look thinner.”

To minimise lip wrinkles, choose a product that caters to the lip contour area like the Extra-Firming Lip and Contour Balm. It contains smoothing raspberry seed oil and nourishing shea butter that diffuse these lines, thereby leaving you with a fuller pout.

Reach for make-up

Once your lips are exfoliated and hydrated, they’ll be plump and smooth. For any extra volume, you have make-up.

“The good thing about using make-up for this is that it’s removable,” says McHale. “Whereas with injectables, yes, they’re temporary sometimes, but they still stretch the skin. So when it retracts, you could end up with a loss of contour.”

There are so many make-up techniques you could employ to give the illusion of bigger lips. Try these:

Overline

A good lip liner can do wonders for your lip shape. But do this carefully. To make it seem as natural as possible, overline only along the centre of the lip. Stick to your natural lip line as you reach the corners of the mouth.

“If you look from the side, your lips slightly project outwards and it drops a shadow underneath. That shadow hides some over-drawing, so you can increase the volume in that area,” McHale explains. Similarly, the cupid’s bow area can also be tweaked slightly with a lip pencil.

Shade

Create the illusion of plumper, more voluminous lips by using two different shades of lipstick. An ombré lip with a darker colour along the periphery and a lighter one in the centre naturally gives the lip more dimension.

To do this, begin by lining your lips with a lip pencil that’s a shade darker than your lipstick. Next, use a brush to blend away the harsh edge of the lip liner. Then, go over it with your lipstick. Lastly, find a lipstick that’s a shade or two lighter and use your finger to press the colour on the centre of the lip.

Highlight

Dab a highlighting powder (or even a nude shimmery eyeshadow) on the cupid’s bow to emphasise it. Then, lightly blend so that it looks soft and natural. You can also sweep some highlighter along the outline of the lower lip, right at the centre. Also, don’t forget the ‘philtrum’, the midline groove in the upper lip that runs from the top to the nose – add a highlighter to these two lines to add volume.

Gloss

A lip gloss adds a layer of sheen that reflects light, naturally making your lips look bigger. If you don’t enjoy an overall glossy lip, simply dab some in the centre of the lip. Try the Natural Lip Perfectors that are loaded with shea butter, offering the nourishment of a lip balm with the shine of a gloss.

Next read: The Essential Summer Lip Care Edit