While in the early 2000s, icons like British actress Emma Watson, American actress Blake Lively, and American actress, director, and producer Jennifer Aniston championed the charm of thin lips, today it's difficult to find examples of acceptance. XXL lips, artificially plumped or enlarged by cosmetics, have become the norm. Many succumb to the pressure of full lips and defy the laws of genetics with Botox, lip liner, and bright lip gloss. And those with thin lips often feel like the ugly ducklings of the beauty world.
Thin lips, unjustly demonized
Traditional women's magazines showcase makeup looks designed to create the illusion of fuller lips, while social media images depict lips puffed up from injections or plumped with fillers. On social media, beauty enthusiasts cheat with brushes to gain a few centimeters in lip circumference and spend hours sculpting a Kardashian-esque pout. The most dedicated create custom balms with ginger and add chili seeds to their lip gloss to conform to current beauty trends. The most desperate forcefully clamp their mouths in the neck of a bottle, achieving a smile more reminiscent of Jynx than Kylie Jenner.
Even beauty filters on Snapchat sculpt faces with facelifts and distort our natural lips as if they weren't good enough to be looked at. Faced with all these images of plump mouths and lips enhanced with lip fillers or hyaluronic acid, women with thin lips have the strange feeling of not being "like everyone else." Like intruders in a society with a theme. Moreover, since 2019, 18-34 year olds have been using cosmetic surgery or aesthetic medicine procedures more than the 50-60 year olds, who were previously the main users. The physique of reality TV stars, once rather marginal, even "excessive," has become a universal look.
In Google search results, thin lips aren't celebrated, but rather singled out as an anomaly. They're treated like a problem to be solved, a flaw to be corrected. Not good enough for kissing or not seductive enough to win over their audience, thin lips, proudly championed by American actresses Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart, suffer the grim fate of societal pressures.
@tensixthree *I am not saying that the first two clips are doing something wrong or being rude at all.* every insecurity should be “normalized”. each feature of yourself is beautiful because it's your own 🙂 #ennuit #edit #youarebeautiful #beauty #thinlips #insecurities #beautystandards #xyzbca#viral #bodypositivity #fyp #foryoupage #relatable #celebrities ♬ original sound - eli
Thin lips, a charming asset amidst cloned faces
In trying too hard to conform to an ideal, many end up with a sadly common face. High cheekbones, a thin, slightly upturned nose, thick eyelashes, a drawn gaze, a carefully sharpened jaw, plumped lips… this typical aesthetic, held up as a model and used as inspiration by facial surgeons, is nothing but a vulgar copy-paste.
Today, we order a new face for ourselves like a new pair of jeans in a store, adjusting our reflection in the manner of the British author Mary Shelley with her "Frankenstein." Except that, in this quest for a tailor-made physique, women are replacing their unique characteristics with readily available features. They are trading their individuality for standards that, in ten years, will have had their day and be considered outdated.
Yet, erasing or altering one's features is to deny a part of one's identity and, by extension, to offend those who created them—our parents. Even if society has convinced us otherwise, having thin lips is neither a misfortune nor a deficiency. It's an inheritance, a sign of belonging to our family, a link to our loved ones. And in a world where full lips dominate faces, keeping one's thin lips intact is almost an act of defiance. It's an act of self-respect, a silent protest against societal norms.
Relearning to look at one's lips differently
By constantly comparing them to images from retouched screens or cosmetic clinics, thin lips end up being perceived as insufficient. Yet, it's all a matter of perspective. Where some see a deficiency, others perceive a discreet elegance, an almost aristocratic refinement.
Thin lips have the unique ability to subtly structure the face. They allow more space for overall expression, the eyes, the cheekbones, the individuality of each feature. They tell a different story, far removed from standardized norms. Relearning to appreciate them also means moving beyond a single vision of beauty and accepting that charm isn't measured in size.
Reclaiming one's mouth without transforming it
Loving your thin lips doesn't mean giving up on all beauty treatments and waging war on cosmetics. It's more about changing your approach and posture in front of the mirror. Instead of trying to "correct" or "enlarge" them, as the headlines suggest, why not celebrate them just as they are?
A well-chosen lipstick, a subtly defined lip line, a satin finish rather than a plumping one… these techniques are no longer about cheating, but about enhancing. The goal is no longer to create an illusion, but to highlight reality. This shift in perspective is essential. It allows us to break free from a cycle of constant frustration, the feeling of never being "enough," and to accept ourselves in every detail. Makeup should not be a trick or an alternative to surgery, but a moment of celebration, of reconnecting with ourselves.
According to these dictates, beauty is simply a matter of proportion. Thin lips must become fuller, and round bellies must become slimmer. Yet, all of this is nothing but a vast illusion. So there's no point in lying to ourselves and fantasizing about an aesthetic that, in a few years, will be considered obsolete.
