Five Steps to Luscious Lips

Who doesn't want gorgeous, luscious lips? We can look to people such as Angelina Jolie and feel jealous when we compare our cracked lips that look like 'je ne sias pas' instead of glisteningly sexy!

There are actually only five steps that you need to take to make your lips incredibly kissable, the steps are -prep, exfoliate, moisturise, protect and color.

(You can purchase the Angelina Jolie photograph here)

Do you know why your lips are prone to dryness? It's because the skin on your lips is thin. What this means in your quest to get lips that are more lusted after than Angelina's is that you need to lock in the moisture as soon as you step out of your shower. How do you do this? You need to take a warm, moist washcloth and hold it against your lips for a full minute as soon as you've stepped out of the shower....okay wrap a towel around yourself first if you insist!

The chances are that you are in the habit of exfoliate your face, neck and body, but what about your lips? You should really exfoliate your lips once a week and to do so is really easy all you need is lip balm and sugar. Take equal amounts of lip balm and sugar and massage onto your lips with a circular motion before rinsing off. Wondering how it works? Well the sugar buffs off all of the dry skin while the balm helps to protect the lips against any cracking. There are some lip exfoliators on the market, but sugar and balm work just as well as them.

Now most people will tell you to apply a lip salve at night that contains shea butter or petroleum jelly to lock in moisture, but I won't be telling you that. Many years ago (I can't reveal quite how many as I'm a lady and a lady never reveals her true age :p ) I was told by a beauty therapist to use eye cream. My lips used to be quite dry so I thought it was worth trying and you could knock me over with a feather when it started working! You only need a very small amount, but that's enough to lock in plenty of moisture....you also learn not to lick your lips as it tastes horrible. Licking you lips is one of the biggest ways you can dry your lips out so it's a win/win situation.

Did you know that wearing balms and glosses actually encourages the sun to fry your lips even more? I didn't, but it sure explains some of the mistakes I made in the past. In order to prevent you lips from burning (as well as being a preventative of cancer) you should ensure you wear a lip balm or lipstick that contains an SPF of 15 or higher every day. An added benefit is that protecting your lips from the sun will also help to reduce collagen loss which is the reason your lips often look thinner as you get older and lose their plumpness.

If you choose to wear an SPF15+ lip balm then you can wear any lipstick over it, if you choose to wear a lipstick that contains a sunscreen then obviously you don't need to do both. A little tip to make your lip color last is to press a tissue over your lips after you've applied your color and pat on translucent powder. A small amount of powder will make it's way through the tissue and act as a seal - perfect!

What color lipstick should you be wearing? Well for people in the Northern hemisphere who are heading towards their winter the look seems to be nude colors and berries. Red is also a color that doesn't seem to go out of fashion, although this year you need to make sure you go for a bright red!

People in the Southern hemisphere who are heading towards their summer should be looking at bright colors such as fushia and believe it or not orange is very in for the summer. Between you and I orange will not be going on my lips, but if you've got the right coloring then go for it.

If you are going to wear a very bright color on your lips then keep your eyes in neutral tones to avoid the 'clown look'. If you want dramatic eyes, then go for nude colors on your lips.