Luscious Lips

Most women I know are lipstickaholics. (If you're really sad, like me, your make-up kit might contain 20 versions of virtually the same shade, each subtly - v-e-r-y subtly - different.) But having pretty - and, yes, kissable - lips, after un certain age, is about much more than simply slicking on a gloss or a swivel-up stick. The skin on lips - as anyone who's looked in the mirror and seen an ever-deepening network of lines spreading across the pout already understands - is different from the skin elsewhere on the body. In fact, lips aren't skin at all - they're a mucous membrane, so they don't have sweat glands or sebaceous glands, which is why they're so prone to dryness. And because the skin's thinner and lower in melanin than the rest of the face, it really does need a special 'protection squad'.

The good news is that from day to day, you needn't reach for a special sun-protective lip shield (you've probably noticed that everyone from Ambre Solaire to Clarins make lipstick-shaped lip protection). Sure, they're a must for the beach - but in general, a good lipstick, reapplied frequently, can do a lot to protect lips. Men are seven times more likely to develop lip cancer than women - because we wear lipstick, and they don't. Applying an opaque lipstick just once a day can, apparently, cut the risk of cancer in half. 'Lipstick pigment is a UV barrier,' says Dr. Rino Cerio, consultant dermatologist at Barts & The London NHS Trust. (And the more richly pigmented the shade, the more effective it is.) Good news: my Beauty Bible panellists have tried lots of specifically protective lipsticks, and settled on these as their most wearable favourites: Bobbi Brown SPF15 Lip Shine, £13.70 (comes in seven gorgeous shades), Clinique High Impact Lip Colour SPF15, £14 (a massive choice of 20 colours), and Aveda Lip Tint SPF10, £10: a teeny swivel-up tube of sheer colour, with a refreshing mintiness.

For optimum softness, though, it's worth applying and reapplying balms - and if you're concerned about lines, don't simply apply to the lips, but to the surrounding skin, because the nourishing oils in the formulation will help keep them supple and smooth. I always tell women: keep a lip balm in every coat or jacket pocket, and then you won't forget to use it. (Not the sort of clothes that you're worried about ruining the line of, but certainly all casual jackets, and coats.) I'm a bit of a lip balm fiend, with personal favourites that include John Masters Lip Calm, £6, and Balm Balm Fragrance Free Lip Balm, £2.95, but - and here I must declare an interest - when my Beauty Bible co-author Sarah Stacey and I stumbled upon a particularly liptastic all-natural balm, earlier this year, we decided to launch it as our own big, fat, pink Beauty Bible Lip Balm, price £5 from www.victoriahealth.com, where it's become a bestseller. (The first and only time we'll ever launch our own product, I promise.)

As with every zone of the body, protection against future damage is vital - but is there anything we can do to reverse ageing: those lines and fissures that worsen with the years? Well, all of a sudden, our lips are being targeted with an avalanche of time-defying lip products, designed to smooth, soften or even plump up our pouts, featuring high-tech ingredients like pentapeptides, antioxidants and softening waxes. (NB In a spirit of bathroom shelf de-cluttering, some of these products also do double duty at helping the fragile eye zone, too.) You could check out L'Oréal Paris Dermo-Expertise Collagen Filler Double Action Lip & Lip Contour, £13.99; Olay Regenerist Anti-Ageing Lip Treatment, £21.03; Caudalie Anti-Ageing Serum Eyes and Lips, £28.38; Yon-Ka La Baume Lip City, £21.50; Decléor Experience de l'Age Triple Action Eye & Lip Cream, £40; and the ultra-luxe Crème de la Mer The Lip Balm, £35. Meanwhile, read my lips: I'm just trialling a new lip and eye treatment from Liz Earle Naturally Active, which will launch soon - and I think is pretty spectacular. To minimise the appearance of lines, you could also try patting on Tri-Aktiline Instant Deep Wrinkle Filler, £25.44 (exclusive to Boots), to the upper lip zone: it's a 'filler' which is pretty darned miraculous, in my book, literally working like Polyfilla to fill fine lines invisibly, while targeting areas with specific anti-ageing ingredients.

As with anything, though, prevention is better than cure. The No. 1 cause of lip lines isn't sun damage but smoking: it's a combination of the repeated sucking action, and exposure to the very high levels of free radicals in smoke as it's breathed out. If you're worried about mouth lines and you smoke, you'll be fighting a losing battle until you quit. What can you do about those 'track lines', which cause lipstick to feather and 'travel'? A specific lip anti-ageing product is a must, but lip liner can work wonders to prevent 'bleeding' into fine lines - and two particularly effective lip liners you'll want to know about are Virgin Vie Within Limits Lip Definer, £7.50, and Benefit D'Finer D'Liner, £13.50, which both contain special blends of wax that act like an invisible 'barrier' to keep lipstick where it's meant to be. My No. 1 lip liner tip, though, is generally to choose a liner that matches your lips, not your lipstick - or you risk being left with a very obvious line, when the lipstick's worn off, from eating, drinking (or if you're lucky, kissing...)

What do I think of long-lasting lipsticks? Too drying. End of story. Tried 'em all. Ditched 'em all. But if your lipstick tends to 'disappear', the best advice is to outline your lips, then fill in - just pretend your lips are a colouring book - with the same pencil, which creates a great base for any colour you then apply to 'cling' to. Do 'lip-plumpers' work? Yes, temporarily. But plenty of women I know don't like the hot, tingly sensation that these products tend to deliver, and I prefer the 'optical illusion' option: a dab of shimmer or gloss in the centre of the bottom lip, over your lipstick.

There's one last (almost unmentionable) lip woe that women whisper to me about, though - and that's upper lip hair. Yes, it tends to worsen with age. (Hormones, of course.) So what's the solution? There's bleach (you can't beat Jolen's, which is a true beauty classic). There's waxing (really painful). And for a more permanent solution, there's electrolysis, which 'zaps' the hair with an electrical current - with the proviso you have it done by a really experienced (and preferably personally recommended) therapist, who is registered with the British Association of Electrolysis (www.electrolysis.co.uk); personally, for the so-sensitive lip zone, I'm keener on electrolysis than the higher-tech types of hair removal like Intense Pulse Light, or lasers - although don't run away with the idea that electrolysis is completely pain-free, because it's not...

But with some extra TLC - Tender Lip Care - you really can look forward to enduringly luscious lips: the perfect base for any gloss or lipstick your heart desires, even if it matches the other 19 you've already got at home. And that's me, for this month, signing off. (With a glossy kiss - of course...)