Most of us have a body part, or three, which we dress to disguise. But sometimes the feature you’re trying to hide cannot be covered. What do you do when you hate your face? I remember being 10 years old and the boys at school would tease me. ‘Your lips are so big, you must trip over them when you’re walking’. And other similar quips. I remember holding back the tears and not letting them see my sadness. I would spend hours in the mirror, trying to find ways to make my lips look smaller. An obviously futile exercise.

As a teenager, I turned to fashion magazines for tricks to help me minimise my lips. I started wearing lipstick at 15, and would line my lips so they would appear smaller. Fast forward 26 years and I continued trying to make my lips look smaller. At this point though, it was so natural that I didn’t realise that I was doing it. Then last weekend, I got my make-up done, which is quite a rare occurrence. Not only did I get a bright lipstick, but the make-up artist filled in every inch of my lips.

I was initially surprised at how full my lips looked. And I could hear those 10-year old boys taunting me. Then I remembered that there are women who inject toxins into their lips to make them fuller. Some people actually want big lips. Big lips! Like mine. And I have wasted years trying to make them smaller. Just because of some stupid little boys. Isn’t it funny/ridiculous how we can carry so much baggage from childhood? And you don’t even realise that you have let it effect you.

So I have decided to stop trying to minimise my lips. From now on, I will be slathering on my lipstick on every part of my lip. And if you see a photo of me, and wonder why my lips look bigger – well, they’re not bigger, they are the size they have always meant to be.

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