Do you wish you had a plumper pout? Whether you’ve lost some volume with age, or you simply want to improve your look, there are a few simple ways to make your lips look fuller.

Keep reading to learn about your options.

Short-Term Solutions

The simple, temporary way to make your lips look fuller requires a little bit of patience and some makeup:

• Gently exfoliate your lips to remove any dead skin. This will make it easier for the makeup to go on.
• Apply concealer or foundation to your lips so that the lipstick has something to stick to.
• Overdraw your lips with a lip liner that matches your lipstick. If you don’t have a lip liner in the right color, use a tiny makeup brush and dab some of your lipstick onto it. You should trace just barely outside the normal lip line—don’t overdo it.
• Then apply lipstick as normal.
• Finish it off with a dab of lip gloss in the middle of your lips.
• Last, line the outside of your mouth with concealer to make your lips stand out.

If you don’t have the time or patience for this much makeup, you can still make your lips look a little fuller by switching up your lipstick. In general darker colors make your lips look smaller and thinner. Switch your red lipstick for a pink or nude color, or simply use a light gloss. This will help your lips look a little larger and fuller.

Long Term Enhancements

If you don’t want to go to the trouble of faking larger lips regularly, there are treatments available that can actually restore some fullness to your lips.

In most cases, lips are plumped using dermal fillers such as Restylane, Juvederm and Belotero. These fillers are easily administered and require very little recovery time.

In other situations, fat grafts or surgery to reposition the lips can give patients more substantial results. These treatments require a little bit of recovery time, but most patients can return to normal activities quickly.

If you’d like to learn more about perfecting your lips, schedule a consultation with Dr. Sabini.