Tips for your lips: fast fixes for softer, sexier, more smooch-able smackers By Charlene Brooke
KISS CRACKS GOOD-BYE Viva Picks:
The skin covering lips is extremely thin, making blood vessels more visible and giving lips their trademark red color. Lips are also (prone) to dry as they have no oil glands and little pigment to protect them from the sun. Best Bets: UVA and UVB protection is crucial. Soothe stressed-out lips with beeswax and anti-in flame-mastery Calendula.
Kba &WO
Alba Lip care SPF 18: Soybean oil and vitamin E protect lips while Echinacea and evening primrose oil nourish.
PLUMP IT UP
Viva Picks:
Over time, lips become thinner and narrower. If you already have slim lips, it’s likely they’ll become even thinner as you get older Best Bets: Opt for products that are fortified with natural volatilizing ingredients to give lips a fleshier, plumper look
Garden Botanical Volatizing Lip Balm: Fortified with plumping oligomer-tides to give lips a fuller, younger look
Naturopathic Honey Vanilla Lip Balm: A pure botanical plumping ingredient encourages healthy, fuller lips.
LICK FINE LINES
Viva Picks:
Lines tend to appear around the mouth as we age. But don’t lose heart — while lips are one of the first places on your face to age, they/re also the easiest to care for. Best Bets: Perk up your pout with nut oils — their essential fatty acids have skin-softening, moisturizing add anti-wrinkle properties. In fact, oils of any kind, for example, castor, safflower, and lanolin are excellent.
38 I viva SUMMER/PRE-FALL 2006
Bosnia Jujube Salve Stick: A combo-nation of jujube fruit and macadamia nut oil to smooth fine lines and plump lips.
Laverne Lip Expert: Plant-based ingredients help reduce fine lines and improve circulation.
BEAUTY BY THE DECADE
Prevention is key to minimizing lip wrinkles later on. Smoking, excessive sun exposure and frequent pursing of the lips (yes, it’s true!) are all contributing factors to wrinkles later in life.
An active lifestyle requires active lip care. Extreme: temperatures — either hot or cold — and moderate amounts of dehydration contribute to cracking and dryness. tg sure to get your rec-commended eight glasses (or more) of water each day.
The natural collagen production that keeps lips full gradually breaks down after age 40. Be sure to give your lips extra conditioning. Especially in win-term; to prevent premature lines around the mouth.
Wrinkles in the lips and surrounding area tend to appear in the 50s, which suggests their appearance may be related to hormone production. You may want to choose products with extra plumping properties.
Resist the urge to lick chapped lips. When you lick them, you momentarily apply moisture, which then vapor-rates and leaves your lips feeling drier than before.