Dear Megan,
How can I make my lips look bigger?
– Christina Q.
I have naturally thin lips (that won’t get any fuller as I get older!), so this is my constant beauty struggle. I’m going to detail a few ways below that I know of to get Kylie Jenner-esque lips, with varying degress of permanence, price and success.
I haven’t tried all of these methods for fuller lips, but given that full lips have been a hot topic this year, they are all highly-reviewed methods.
Kylie Jenner aka “King Kylie” – the queen of full lips
Tip #1 for Fuller Lips: Overlining
Description: Made famous by Kylie Jenner and cholas everywhere, (though I think Samantha Ravndahl does the best job of it), overlining is the technique of drawing lip liner slightly outside the real lips, giving the effect that your lips are slightly bigger than they really are. (Before & After examples)
Permanence: As long as your lip liner lasts. If you’re gonna do it, get a damn good lip liner (I love Givenchy’s lip liners) or at least put on a good lip primer (like this one from Too Faced).
Price: $3+ for the lip liner
Success: Moderately successful. It looks good when it’s done right. Here’s my recent example of overlining my lips. They look normal sized now, right?
Downsides: Make sure you know what you’re doing. Practice. Check it in different lighting. Overlining can be done wrong.. very easily. If you feel uncomfortable, you will also look uncomfortable, too. So practice, practice, practice before you overline at a big event!
Overlining your lips is a great, temporary solution for making them appear fuller.
Tip #2 for Fuller Lips: Fullips
Description: FulLips are literally a little suction cup for your lips, to make them temporarily fuller. You choose the size that fits your mouth, stick it on there, and activate the suction cup. You pull it a few times. It works by pulling the blood to your lips (kind of like how a wound pulls blood to it, inflaming it?). Gives me the heebie jeebies, but I’ve seen it all over instagram recently.
Permanence: It’s supposed to last 2–4 hours
Price: $20
Success: Pretty darn good. The results look good.
Downside: My guess is the comfortability. They make your lips swell, that’s how they work.
Tip #3 for Fuller Lips: Lip-enhancing Products
Description: Many products like Grande Naturals’ Grande Lips (recently picked up by Sephora – congrats guys!) andBuxom’s lip-plumping Full-On Lip Polish temporarily plump lips through ingredients that range from ginger, to peppermint or menthol, to cinnamon. Grande Naturals uses hyalauronic acid, which is also used as an injectible.
Permanence: ~1 hour / as long as you reapply
Price: $20+
Success: Mild. I really like the feeling of Buxom’s Lip Polish. It tingles and irritates (slighty) in a good way. It’s an addicting feeling. It temporarily enlarges lips ever-so-slightly.
Downsides: Make sure that you like the shade it’s in – all of these are moderately pigmented!
Tip #4 for Fuller Lips: Injectibles
Description: I’ll hand it over to Wikipedia: Lip augmentation is a type of cosmetic surgery or non-surgical procedure that aims to improve the appearance of the lips by increasing their fullness through enlargement using fillers.
For a long time, injectibles were the big secret of celebrities, but not very realistic for the average person. Injectibles have recently been made very famous and very mainsteram by Kylie Jenner, who started getting injections at the age of 17.
Permanence: Until your body naturally processes (metabolizes) them out. They usually last 4–6 months, but last for less time if you have a high metabolism.
Price: It varies. Let’s say $500-$2000
Success: Definite. Lip injections work. Like botox, you can choose your units. Don’t overdo it. If you do, you’ll have to live with those very obviously overdone lips for 4–6 months. Eek. I’d suggest starting with a smaller amount and work your way up if you need more. You can choose focus areas.
Downsides: They hurt when you get them injected, but the pain doesn’t last long. Injectibles can also make your lips feel “lumpy” (or even LOOK lumpy.. ugh). Evidently if they’re done correctly, they look and feel natural, even when kissing (!). A lot of makeup artists and celebities complain about the lumpiness and weirdness, so I’d mark it as definite on the list of possibilities. Lip injections also tend to look better in photos than real life.
Conclusion
There are plenty of ways to get fuller-looking lips. I suggest starting with one of the lower permanence options first, before working your way up. The most important takeaway–and the main takeaway from the entire Kylie Jenner/lip injections at 17 controversy–is that you feel comfortable in your own skin.
*This blog is part of the Beauty Q&A series, where our founder Megan answers your toughest beauty questions every Tuesday and Thursday on the blog. If you’d like your beauty question answered on the blog, email Megan at [email protected]
