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Lip service
Whethere you're a cash-strapped beauty junkie or a needle-phobic diva, luscious lips are yours for the making.
By Chantal Guertin
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Hot blooded
This season, plump up your lips with heat-activating ingredients, such as cinnamon, ginger and mint (try DuWop Lip Venom). These natural stimulants warm up the skin tissue, causing capillaries to expand and presto! you've got a subtle plumping effect that lasts for hours. If you really want to get your blood racing, look for products with L-arginine, such as Get Lip by Jeni Lee Cosmetics. L-arginine, an amino acid used in sex-enhancing products, increases blood flow to the area where it's applied so it'll plump your lips to perfection. Others to try: Eyeko's Supersize shine; Caryl Baker Visage Liquid Kiss Lip Gloss.
Lock and load
When your skin is dehydrated, it loses its fullness and glow. The same goes for your lips. However, the skin on your lips is thinner, which makes it more prone to dryness and chapping. There are two ways to combat the problem: first, add moisture to your lips; second, lock the moisture in. Humectants, such as hyaluronic acid, replace lost moisture, explains Dr. Paul Cohen, a Toronto-based dermatologist. Emollients, like beeswax, sesame oil, honey, shea butter and vitamin E (try Lise Watier Spa Fondant Vitamin E Moisturizing Lip Therapy), lock in moisture. Apply one product over the other and you'll be on your way to supple sexiness. Moisturizers to try: Z. Bigatti Re-Storation Lip Pout; N. V. Perricone M.D. Cosmeceuticals Alpha Lipoic Acid Lip Plumper. Emollients to try: Avon Beyond Color Nutralush Plumping Lipstick; H2O Plus Line Defense Lip Plumper; Yves Rocher Lip Contour Wrinkle Smoothing Concentrate.
As you age, collagen and antioxidant production slow by one percent every year, causing a relative rise in free radicals. Luckily, your lips contain a higher concentration of capillaries than the rest of your face, which means they can absorb anti-aging products better than facial skin.
Products containing pure collagen, oligopeptides or a collagen stimulant can help replace lost collagen (try Modele Collagen Lip Treatment). To build up antioxidants, select products that contain lactic acid (try Joey New York Super Duper Lips) or retinol (try Dior Capture Lèvres Lip Contour Wrinkle Crème). "Lactic acid and retinol may actually alter the structure of the skin cells to rejuvenate the cellular process and improve the appearance of the lips," says Cohen. Others to try: Clarins Extra-Firming Age-Control Lip & Contour; Molton Brown Wonder Lips Booster.
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