I have old lady lips. I don’t know how it happened so fast, but here I am. I rarely wear lipstick anymore because the lines are so severe that any lipstick practically gallops off my actual lips and into those lines. It is obnoxious.

A few months ago I found myself at ULTA, where posters of beautifully made-up young women with no wrinkles anywhere attempt to sell me the latest must-have. I had no time for this. I was on a mission. I marched purposefully through the store, looking for an employee who was at least 25 or above. I finally stopped and talked to a woman who was younger than I was looking for but wasn’t college-aged, either. I told her all about my liplines and asked for recommendations. She introduced me to StriVectin, and I’ve been using it ever since. The product claims to treat vertical lines around my lips and also has a plumper that doesn't burn at all. I use it twice a day.

I’ve been quite happy with it.

Well, in July of this year, we spent a week in Bear Lake. It is a beautiful lake in the mountains on the border of Utah and Idaho. I love it there. We spent a lot of time in the sun and the lack of humidity was drying my skin and my lips. I turned to my new lip plumper. It felt so good on my dry, cracking lips. I must have put it on 10 times a day.

After a week of solid fun and tons of StriVectin, I woke up on Friday morning and my lips felt funny—especially my bottom lip. It was tender to the touch and even hurt to talk. I walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

Oh my.

Had I been stung by a bee? Was I having an allergic reaction? My lips were as plump and full as I had ever seen them. In fact, there was so much swelling in my bottom lip that it stuck out well beyond my top lip. I laughed, but even that hurt.

I walked out of my room to show off my new lips to my girls. They giggled, then questioned what I had done. I explained my constant use of my new lip corrector/plumper. Julie then told me that this happens to a lot of women using lip plumpers while spending time in the sun. Whoops. That was me. Once again, I had overdone it.

I often struggle with this. If a little of something is good, then more must always be better. The truth is, that is not necessarily the case. One chocolate chip cookie is great—but eating six makes my stomach ache. Getting new clothes is fun—but buying so many things that you don’t wear them all or forget that you even have them is not better. More isn’t necessarily better. Sometimes using constraint is far superior.

Especially when using lip plumper in the sun. 😁

Old lady lips

Duality

Five Things