Not that I would know personally — but they say that growing old is not for the faint of heart. Perhaps the only saving grace is gaining life experience.

Now we have established that, let’s talk lipstick.

Many of my patients complain to me about losing the fullness of their lips and ask for lip plumping. The sad truth is that they are correct.  Regardless of your anatomy, as you age your lips thin and lose their “youthful” support. In addition, even if you don’t smoke, many women will get smokers’ lines, those dreadful hair-thin lines that radiate upward from the lip’s vermilion border (this border is what doctors call the junction where your skin meets your lips). Once that happens, it’s easy for lipstick to run and bleed into the lines.

Other than lip augmentation with fillers like collagen and Restylane (and do not think Goldie Hawn in “The First Wives Club”), lipstick is a good start in helping to mask thin lips and give them a fuller appearance. In choosing a lipstick that will recreate a youthful lip and won’t bleed upwards, you should know that a lipstick with a petrolatum or silicone base is a good start. These products keep the skin well lubricated, go on without clumping into small beads and temporarily fill in the lines, acting like a physical barrier preventing lipstick from migrating north.  Just keep in mind that even though petrolatum gives lipstick a shiny finish, shiny lipsticks tend to be slightly thinner and can run outside of where they have been applied. Using a fine lip liner can help restore definition to the vermilion border and keep lipstick on the lip preventing it from going where it is not meant to go. And don’t forget: always put your sunscreen on after your lip care products. They are rarely part and parcel of most makeups.

Chanel, MAC and Nars all have good hypo-allergenic lipsticks in great colors (especially the reds).

Finally, many people think that the topical lip “plumper creams” that you can buy at the drugstore work. They do — for about 45 seconds!

Dr. Matarasso is clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California School of Medicine. His medical practice is in San Francisco. 415-362-2238; sethlmatarassomd.com

[Photo from tanakawho via Flickr]