Are you sporting your summer look yet?  Bikini body? Check. Highlights? Check. First tan of the season? Check. But what about your lips?
    While we spend the spring season gearing up for an exotic beach look, it can be easy for us to forget about our most sensuous facial feature. But with kissable lips, every summer can be a summer of love.
    Read on to find out how you can make your lips hot, sexy and irresistible:

Full lips aren’t for everyone

    While most women seeking lip enhancements request a pout that resembles Angelina Jolie’s, her lip size might not be attractive for all faces, says Sherry McAnelly, key makeup artist and owner of On Location Beauty.
    If Jessica Alba, for instance, opted for Jolie-sized lips, her look would be instantly transformed from genetic masterpiece to cosmetic disaster.

So, what are the ideal lips?

    “Since the days of Cleopatra, the ideal lips are the ones where the bottom lip is two-thirds fuller than the upper lip,” says Hoshi Deboo of Sona MedSpa of Orange County. “That is the true definition of full lips. Anything more looks unnatural.”

Can thin be in?

    Of course! Lips need not be full to be enticing. “There are many beautiful celebrities with thin lips, such as Kate Hudson and Jennifer Aniston,” McAnelly says.
    Dr. Susan Davoodifar, a facial rejuvenation specialist at DermaSmooth Clinic, says the ideal lips are “shapely, natural looking and well-defined.” Echoing McAnelly’s comment about celebrities with thin lips, Davoodifar lists Goldie Hawn – Kate Hudson’s mother – as a celebrity whose lips are beautiful and thin.

Best ways to plump up your lips:

    Still, if you think your lips are too thin, try these options for more fullness:
-JUVÉDERM. Juvéderm Ultra and Ultra Plus are injectable gels that smooth away wrinkles and lines around the mouth. “It’s a softer gel, therefore a smoother product and an ideal lip enhancer,” says Davoodifar.
    Approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year, Juvéderm contains a high concentration of hyaluronic acid, a natural substance that occurs in the skin, so it lasts about six months or longer. Cost: $525-$800 per injection.

-RESTYLANE.  Like Juvéderm, Restylane contains hyaluronic acid and is FDA-approved. It lasts about six months and – as with Juvéderm and collagen – side effects can include redness and stinging resulting from mild inflammation that lasts up to a week. Cost: $450-$600 per injection.

-COLLAGEN. “Collagen has been the gold standard by which the newer fillers follow,” says Davoodifar, who’s worked with the FDA-approved collagen since the early 1980s. “It’s a good product, but not as long-lasting as Restylane and Juvéderm.”         With collagen, plumpness lasts about three months. There are two forms – a newer one that’s human-derived and the other that’s bovine-derived and not recommended for those allergic to beef or bovine products, says the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Cost: $300-$500 per injection.

Before you go in for a lip injection, keep these precautions in mind:

-Consult your doctor before getting lip injections or dermal fillers, especially if you suffer from autoimmune diseases.

-Lip fillers are not recommended if you’re pregnant or nursing.

-Overall, dermal-filler side effects may vary.

Do plumpers really work?

    Most lip plumpers offer fullness for several hours, but it’s their glossiness that gives the illusion of fuller lips, says McAnelly. Lip Fusion, which contains collagen, uses the body’s water to plump and hydrate the lips – first by dehydrating the lips’ collagen molecule, then by penetrating the lips on contact like a sponge. Lip Fusion lasts up to 48 hours.

How to keep lips soft

    “To make lips kissably smooth, apply a plain, creamy lip balm before bed every night,” says Carmindy, a makeup artist to the stars and author of “5 Minute Face.”         To smooth chapping, rub on balm before you hop in the shower, she says. “Immediately afterward, gently buff lips with a few pinches of sugar and a wet terry washcloth.”

Picking the perfect color

    “As we age, we begin to lose pigment in our lips so the best lip shade is slightly brighter or darker than your natural color,” McAnelly says. “If you’re blessed with naturally strong lip color, the most youthful look will be a soft balm or hint of lip gloss.”
    McAnelly suggests warm peach and coral shades with summer-bronzed skin.

Get a permanent pout

    The implant industry can provide rounder cheeks, heartier derrieres and shapelier calves. And now people wanting permanently fuller lips can have them boosted by silicone sacs.
    Thanks to the Evera Medical product VeraFil, about 400 women in this country are enjoying plumper pouts that are here to stay.
    In the U.S., the FDA has approved VeraFil for soft tissue augmentation around the eyes. But in Europe, the Evera technology has been approved as a lip implant – marketed as “FulFil.”
    Since September 2006, Dr. Miles Graivier of Georgia-based North Atlanta Plastic Surgery and Day Spa, has inserted VeraFil in the lips of 30 U.S. women.
    The 30-minute surgery involves inserting a deflated two-layer implant underneath the red portion of the lip, then inflating it with saline. The doctor then sutures the tiny incisions he creates before the insertion.
    The implant’s outer layer is a porous Teflon that grabs and holds the sac and allows for flexibility. “This way, VeraFil keeps the lips soft and kissable,” Graivier says. “It’s stretchable so it moves with the lip.”
What is the downside?
    The risks, which include improper positioning of the implant, have so far been minimal and very easily correctable. Graivier adds there are no reported cases of adverse effects – such as infections, intrusions and deflating – with women who’ve had the surgery in the U.S., Europe or South America. Side effects include temporary swelling.
    Graivier’s costs? Two lips: $3,000. One lip: $2,000. BB

    This is Judy Asman’s first report for Body Beautiful magazine. Send letters and comments to: larmitage@churmmedia.com.