Long-Lasting Lipcare

Exfoliated skin can absorb products more easily, and that goes for your lips too. But they need gentle treatment, as the skin in this area is very thin, with only around five layers, compared to the 15 on your face.

Use a specially designed lip scrub rather than just taking your regular exfoliator over your lips - we like Mint Julips Lip Scrub from Lush (£4.95 for 25g), which clears dead skin and it gives you a minty fresh mouth into the bargain.

"Dehydration is one of the main causes of chapped lips so it is important to drinks lots of fluid throughout the day in the winter months", advises Julie Brackenbury, cosmetic nurse and advisor to Nurture skincare. Boost the moisture factor even more with Nurture's Conditioning Lip Balm (£4.95 for 4.5g) with SPF15, which contains apricot kernel oil to keep lips soft, soothed, protected and perfectly hydrated.

Serums are the perfect consistency for delivering super-charged ingredients to skin - so why should lips miss out? For an intense moisture boost, apply a serum like Australian brand Shizen's Lip Hydrating Serum (£18 for 2x 15ml bottles) under your lip balm or lipstick, to provide an extra layer of hydration.

If it's not properly looked after, the delicate skin on lips can give away our years. Invest in an age-busting product that targets the fine lines that can develop around lips, and helps to keep the lip shape youthfully defined. Try Olay Regenerist Anti-Aging Lip Treatment (£16.99) which is enhanced with micro-fillers to give an immediate as well as long-term effect.

So, you've exfoliated, hydrated and smoothed...all that's left to do now is plump. Trout pouts are so Noughties - instead, get naturally bee-stung smackers with a product that delivers plumping peptides, like The Beauty Parlour Pucker Up! Lip Plumper (£6.99 for 8ml), which comes in a kissable chocolate orange flavour. Yum!