How to Make Lips Look Smaller

Trying the Make-Up Approach

Determine your skin color choices. This is a step you want to get reasonably accurate early on. Go to a pharmacy, department store, salon, or similar business with a make-up counter. Consult with the clerk and/or palette samples to get a sense of what color the skin around the problem lip(s) is--and identify the names of the make-up colors you will need. Make sure what you choose won't inadvertently offset your skin tone while you are trying to help the appearance of your lips.

Use different coloring of make-up around your lips. Make sure you have a good assortment of colors, or buy more [makeup] if necessary. You will need a make up applicator, relatively "muted" or darker colors and/or a concealer in your make-up kit. Most of these products can be found in a pharmacy or supermarket. If you have trouble finding them, try consulting a salon. Purples, browns, bronzes and similar are colors you might also consider. You can use a make-up brush to apply these colors in the area just above the top lip or just below the bottom lip to blend them more with your natural skin.

Apply a concealer to your lip line. You will need an applicator for this. You can either apply the colors or concealer around the lip-line. Select a concealer that closely matches the skin tone around your mouth. Apply the concealer to the top edge of your top lip and the bottom edge of your bottom lip--approximately a millimeter away from the lip. Try applying liner inside of your lip line instead of outside to help make your lips look smaller. Use a sponge applicator wand (or a cotton swab or your fingers if you do not have the wand) to blend the concealer into your skin using an up and down motion so that the edges of your lips appear to naturally blend into the tone of your skin above or below your lip. If the resulting line is uneven, smooth it out by dragging the tip of the applicator sponge across the line of concealer parallel to the edge of your lips.

Use dark lipsticks. This can be done in conjunction with the make-up and concealer steps, or by itself. Avoid the brighter colors in the lipstick selection, they will only make lips appear larger. Find darker colors that will work with your skin tone. Consider asking a salon consultant. This can work if there is one lip that needs more attention over another. For instance, if only the upper lip needs to look thinner--use a darker color on the upper lip while you use something slightly brighter to draw attention to the lower lip (or vice-versa).

Evaluate the results. If make-up hasn't worked or is not an option for you, then you might need to consider other options. If make-up is not an option for you to begin with, then more health-care/medical approach may be something you should keep in mind. If the make-up is not working, you can try other colors near the shades you have been trying to see if there is an improvement before you pursue other methods. Consult with a salon or medical professional before proceeding with a more extensive make-up or medical procedure. Kevyn Aucoin Kevyn Aucoin, Make-Up Artist When doing makeup to minimize the lips, avoid dark or saturated lip colors which draw attention. Instead, choose neutral tones close to your natural lip color and use concealer and foundation to mute the lip lines. Contouring the area around the lips can also make them seem smaller in proportion to the rest of the face.

Taking Care of Your Lips

Treat any injuries to the lip(s) quickly. The density of blood vessels in the lip promotes fast healing for most injuries in the area, but a few things can help the process. Keep any cuts or injured areas on the lip thoroughly clean with soap and water. Apply pressure with a clean cloth if there is bleeding. Use ice/cold compresses to reduce any swelling or bruising. Small punctures should be treated with antiseptics and/or hydrogen peroxide. But these will usually close on their own. Larger ones will require treatment by a medical professional--and likely stitches. Any more significant injuries should be seen by a doctor immediately.

Moisturize your lip(s) regularly. Use a lip balm, preferably oil based, to lock in moisture and keep your lips in healthy condition. This will prevent the skin of the lips from being irritated and swollen. Lip balms with olive oil, shea butter, lemon, and other ingredients high in anti-oxidants are recommended. You can apply daily and/or whenever you feel your lips are becoming dry and chapped. This is especially important to do during periods of cold weather.

Consider lip hair removal. If this is the cause of your lip(s) appearing larger, you can remove them fairly simply. Use tweezers or wax. Tweezers can be used to individually pluck the hairs out by the root. Waxing. Wax will be applied across the area if it's a swath of hairs and then a tape will be placed on and peeled off to pull the hairs out. Waxing is more efficient, but could be slightly messy and painful. Electrolysis is an option. This will require an expert who will use a small needle inserted into each hair to destroy it root and all with electric current. Pulsed laser. This is similar to the electrolysis option in that an expert will use a small but strong powerful light beam to permanently destroy each hair follicle. Avoid shaving or creams. Shaving or creams, while they can cut the hairs or the creams can slow growth, will not permanently remove hairs on the lip.

Determine if their are other causes. There are other things that could be causing your lips to look large that may not be in your control. If so, you may not not want to pursue a reduction method prematurely. If you wear other gear like braces, you should wait until they are removed before determining if your lips need any action taken regarding their size. If you have another, more serious medical condition in the area, like a cleft lip or cleft palate, then anything you do to the rest of the lip area will involve complications and should be guided by a doctor.

Establish if you need surgery. If none of your lip care techniques have helped your lip(s) appear smaller, then you may reconsider surgical approaches. Review if you've exhausted conventional cosmetic and hygienic approaches to reducing the apparent size of your lip(s). Identify other potential causes of your lip(s) large size.

Pursuing Cosmetic Surgery

Familiarize yourself with the risks. Any cosmetic surgery has a number of things that can go wrong, and you should weigh those risks against the value of permanently reducing the size of your lip(s). Complications from anesthesia exist in most surgeries, ask your surgeon or anesthesiologist about them. There is a risk of infection in and around the operating site--and the lip/mouth area is already a high risk area. Excessive bleeding or internal damage resulting in more operations can result. Nerve damage, temporary or permanent, can result--necessitating more operations, leaving the area numb, or in pain. Scarring can occur in the operating area, resulting in more operations to remove the affected skin.

Learn about the lip reduction procedure itself. This procedure needs to be performed by an American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) certified surgeon. This surgeon is also the doctor who will evaluate if you are a candidate for the procedure. The surgeon will review your medical history, make a clinical assessment of your lips, discuss concerns, and go over the procedure. If the surgeon recommends the procedure, they will explain its details, costs, risks, and recovery to you. During the 1-hour long procedure, the surgeon will give you local anesthetic or more complete oral sedation. Then they will make an incision along the length of the lip inside the mouth, remove a strip of tissue, and stitch the cut closed. The cost of lip reduction surgery can range from $1,500 to $4,000, and because it is considered entirely cosmetic, is usually not covered by insurance.

Know the recovery procedure. Soreness, tightness, and pain are common sensations to feel after lip reduction surgery. Your surgeon may provide recovery instructions and prescribe painkillers to help alleviate the discomfort. Avoid vigorous exercise. Sleep with your head elevated, perhaps with a couple of pillows under your head. Avoid highly acidic/citrus foods. Eat softer and pureed foods for the recovery period. Rinse with antiseptic mouthwash to fight infection at the incision site. The sutures should be removed within a week-to-ten days of the procedure if all goes well. Most of the irritation or swelling should have subsided by then. If there are any signs of excessive pain, bleeding, or unexpected side effects, report it to your surgeon or doctor immediately.

Finished.