Maybe you love the look of larger lips and always wished yours were bigger. No matter how popular lip filler procedures may get on TikTok, the truth is: they’re expensive, won’t last very long, and (as with all procedures) carry risk. Looking for other ways to boost your pout that don’t involve needles and shelling out hundreds of dollars? According to celebrity makeup artists, these are the three ways to plump your lips without surgery that really and truly work.
Exfoliate Your Lips
Prep work makes the dream work — that applies to lipstick and your lips, as well. If you’re applying lipstick or lip gloss over lips that are parched and dehydrated, they are going to look thinner and the product itself isn’t going to get a chance to work its magic.
“Lips can sometimes look flakey and dry due to the build up of dead skin cells,” says Brianna LaTorre, a master injector and co-founder of The Lip Bunny. “Exfoliating your lips can reduce flakiness and dead cells effectively. The process of exfoliation will also give your lips a more hydrated look and a fuller appearance. You can purchase a lip scrub at your local cosmetic store or you can use a homemade scrub made of sugar and coconut oil. Sugar is a natural source of glycolic acid that can effectively exfoliate and remove dead skin. Coconut oil is high in vitamin E and fatty acids to help and repair and protect cells from damage.”
Try A DIY Treatment
This DIY treatment consists of just two ingredients that you often find in actual lip-plumping products: cayenne pepper and a moisturizer like olive oil. The hack is simple: mix together a few pepper flakes with your emollient oil and spread it on your lips. Obviously this one is going to feel a bit fiery on your lips and it won’t last for a very long time, but it can give lips a more bee-sting look for the time being. Be very careful though: the last thing you want to do is overdo it on the pepper. Start off with just a teeny amount or trade in the natural option for an actual lip plumper.
Draw Lip Liner A Bit Outside Your Natural Lip Line
There’s a reason why Kylie Jenner’s lip kits are such a roaring hit: they come complete with the most important lip-boosting lip makeup accessory of all: a lip liner pencil. By simply drawing slightly outside of the margins of your natural lip line and then filling in your lips with a similar or slightly lighter color, you’ll put more emphasis on your lips and they’ll look plumper. Add a touch of gloss to the middle of lips for an even puffier effect.
