Lips swell when making out?

[Gladys]

I keep hearing in stories that when people make out their lips swell up. So sometimes after I make out with someone I go look in a mirror and my lips look normal. Does that mean I'm not sexually attracted to the person I'm making out with, and vice versa? (Their lips looked pretty normal too.) Are we not making out for long enough? Or would it be more like I'm not sexually interested in making out with them, regardless of what other things I might want to do with them?

Also, how much do people's lips swell? Will someone be able to tell at ten yards that I've been making out with someone? What about at one yard? At a glance?

[Sam W]

Hi Gladys,

So, while flushed lips can indicate arousal (and make your lips more noticeable)the fact that your lips weren't noticeably different doesn't mean you weren't attracted to the person you were kissing. After all, the best indicator of whether you want to make out with someone is if you feel a desire to do so, not how your lips react to them.

As for whether or not people can tell, if your lips do swell or redden a little during kissing, it's not going to be such an extreme change that it's obvious from yards away. Someone close by you may notice, but even then they'd have to be looking for it. Does that make sense?

[Gladys]

Okay good, glad it's not a huge change. From the stock phrase in stories, I thought I might get cartoon-proportioned lips or something.

[Mo]

I suspect that swollen lips are similar to something like blushing from arousal, in that it certainly does happen, but often not quite to the extent that it's depicted in fiction. A lot of romance fiction emphasizes physical indicators of arousal or of sexual activity to a slightly (or, sometimes, extremely!) exaggerated degree.