Now that flats are back -- Karl Lagerfeld led the charge last week with his latest couture show for Chanel is there a chance that natural lips will be revived? Just asking. Because weve been sitting back for years watching women screw up their mouths for the sake of pouty lips that are supposed to (and do) attract a mans sex radar.
Angelina Jolie, always at or near the top of sexiest women lists, apparently has naturally full lips, as does Scarlett Johansson. They are gorgeous women. But Meg Ryan went from girl next door lips to duck lips. Shes petite with a tiny head; her lips take up too much room on her face. Pamela Andersons lips seem to go up and down with her boob size. Nicole Kidmans lips are downright disturbing compared to how she looked in her early movies.
Naturally occurring generous lips are beautiful. But artificial lips can look so fake.
I remember when Barbara Hershey got collagen injections in 1989. The buzz was that she looked like shed gotten attacked by a swarm of bees. Yet collagen caught on. Once actresses starting altering their lips, it became an aesthetic ideal even though it was often less than aesthetically pleasing.
Who can forget Goldie Hawns lips in the movie First Wives Club? Portraying a vain, aging actress, Goldie had her lips shot up with saline solution by Dr. Arnold Klein. (Dr. Klein was Michael Jacksons dermatologist, so his pioneering work in collagen-enhanced lips in Hollywood could have been another big lapse in judgment.) Goldies lips were a choice related to the character she played, and the saline solution wasn't permanent. It was funny.
I can understand why cushiony lips might provide a soft landing strip for kisses. But something Dr. Klein said in an old interview lit up my brain synapses: The lips are the only visible sexual organs. There are so many implications to that image that I dont want to go into it too deep. But if you use your imagination, I think you can figure out why men see large lips as a benefit even on women who have taken it too far. It has to do with an oral tradition, and I dont mean the spoken word.Beautiful girls like Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Simpson, women like Liz Hurley and Cher, have blown up their already perfectly expressive lips to give them a more lush look. But once you see a before and after, usually they just look extravagant, like an unnecessary accessory overkill. What about the celebs who have maintained some lip integrity. Whether someone like Cameron Diaz or Jennifer Anniston has had some enhancement (not augmentation) their lips still look natural. Sally Field and Meryl Streep are beautiful women with reasonable lip lines, which means they can play a variety of characters believably.Ive had my own fat lip encounter. I was talked into a lip injection by my skin specialist at a time when I was trying botox, sculptra, and restylane (now all out of my system), hoping to keep up my spirits by lifting my jowls and eyebrows. Just a little in the lower lip to give you that bee-stung look, she said. It was more like having a piece of rubber in my lip. Thank God I didnt go along with her strong suggestion that I get a permanent silicone injection so I wouldnt have to come back for a refill. No one else noticed my lower lip gaffe but my sister thought it looked terrible and I couldnt stop chewing on it like a piece of leather.Id like to say Ill never use anything other than hot curry for plumping. But Im unreliable. What Id really like is for everyone to dial down our national obsession with big lips and accept lips of all dimensions as attractive. Look at the mom-and-daughter duo Gwyneth Paltrow and Blythe Danner: reasonable lips, radiantly beautiful.About the author: Judy Kirkwood thinks you can do a lot with lipstick.What dermatological enhancements are you for or against?
