Women all have their obsessions: shoes, purses, etc. I am, for all of intensive purposes, addicted to an array of lip products – balms, glosses, lipsticks. I have tried products from the ever reliable Chapstick brand to Clinique to the main stay of pre teens everywhere – Lip Smackers. Women everywhere exfoliate, moisturize, stain, color, outline, paint, gloss and lacquer lips with abandon. Which leads to me the question of why do I (and countless other lip junkies) devote so much time, effort and financial resources on this particular feature?
Our mouths are essential. We need them to speak. We need them to eat. But lips have another job: to divulge plenty about a person without uttering one word. Upturned corners of the mouth signal happiness, contentment and that all is right with the world while downward corners convey sadness, worry. Since lips are also host to a vascular network, they can react, broadcasting one’s mood. For example, being less than truthful results in receding of lips, as if the lips are trying to disappear. When one is under stress, one tends to bite their lips in order to self soothe. Assessing the lip movements can aid others in determining another person’s actual emotional state despite what may be coming out of their mouths.
And lest we forget that lips signify fertility in the sexual realm. Men view women with full lips as more sexually appealing. Armed with perception that one must have ample, voluptuous lips, women will reportedly spend nearly $1500 on lipstick alone in a lifetime. Cosmetic manufacturers promise that their products will plump, smooth, and make them simply irresistible.
Lips convey so much, but will you be able to separate truth from fiction by watching someone’s lips in the future? And will you judge another by the state of their plump or thin lipped appearance?
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