Lips require special care to protect them from the environment

The three basic steps for having healthy and fascinating lips are: remove the dry skin, moisturise and make up. Peeling agents gently eliminate the tiny little bits of skin from dry, cracked lips. A generous amount of the product should be applied to the lips and massaged in using a circular motion with the tips of the fingers. The excess should then be removed with a paper tissue. The Body Shop brought out a Lip Exfoliate not long ago which contains natural, moisturising exfoliates and leaves the lips fresh, soft and ready for lipstick.

After that the lips need a proper moisturiser. The perfumery Gal has a Moisturising Lip Balsam and a Multiactive Labial Protector. Moreover, they also sell a complete range of Perfumed Vaselines (gooseberry, peach, grapefruit, mint and violet) which soften, lubricate, give elasticity to and clean the lips all at the same time.

Once the lips are in tip-top condition the time has come to give them some colour. Lipstick is the make-up which is used most by women and one of the most essential beauty products, without which many women cannot leave the house. Most women have three lipsticks at any one time. The ones which are sold the most the world over are the shades of pink, although in Spain the browns are used by 50 per cent of the female population.

Clarins has brought out a lipstick called Rouge Eclat for this season. It is a long-lasting one which gives the lips a certain amount of treatment as well as providing colour. Clinique, has introduced the Superlast Cream Lipstick and Chen Yu a range of soft colours in the fuchsia, cherry and golden tones.

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To increase the length of time that a lipstick lasts the best thing is to apply the colour twice over, using a tissue between the two applications to absorb the excess colour and fix what remains.

The use of a lip pencil to outline the lips helps to make them perfect, quite lovely and more clearly defined and it also helps stop the lipstick from smudging. It is advisable to start from the centre and draw the lines outwards towards the corners of the mouth, following the natural line of the lips without trying to make them any bigger and finishing the line just before reaching the corner of the mouth. The colour of the liner must be as close as possible to that of the lipstick itself. L’Oreal suggests the use of its Crayon Grande which outlines and provides colour at the same time.

As far as colour is concerned, if you have dark hair and skin, use pinks and reds; if you have blonde hair and average coloured skin use pale pinks, corals and bright reds; if you have brown hair and average coloured skin use bright red; while if you have very pale skin corals, reds and oranges are recommended. You should also bear in mind that the blue-based colours – pink, fuchsia, plum, wine etc. – usually make the teeth look whiter, while the oranges may make them look yellower.