Mouth texture for thin lips

I'm having trouble texturing lips on a female skin for a shape where the lips are normal dimensions (thin) rather than the thick model lips that most skins are designed for. On the avatar, my upper lip texture ends in a distinct horizontal line halfway up the lip, with a blurry area above. Is there a way to avoid this, or does the SL mesh require all avatars to look like Angelina Jolie?

I have noticed this myself, as a user, not a texturer.

Different shape and skin combinations display this to different degrees, so there must be something to do about it.

I like the normal (thin) lips myself.

It would be nice if the answer to this thread's question was widely known by skin and makeup makers.

I'm someone who makes my own skins but I have no where near the experience that the major skin makers have. The sliders for the shape define more than anything how thick or thin lips will be and the head tatoo texture is a big factor too. I'm not sure if anyone would discribe my lips as full or even thin, for that matter. Just the lips are to my liking which is what counts most.

I have found through trail and error than for full or thick lips you need to exagerate the texture a bit on the template....like draw the lips at least to lines that define the lips on the mesh template (a little over the line in fact). By the same token to get a thinner lip it makes sense to draw the lips slightly short of the lines. I've never tried the "thinner" look but I have the fuller look. However, I generally stay right at the lines since, for my look, that works best. I'm sure the experienced skin makers know this.......if I can figure it out, anyone can.

In short, like everything else with skins/shapes, it's a combination of both.

I tried to draw a cartoon mouth on one of my avatar make ups, basically a straight line and it just looked wrong. the shape of the thinnish lips on the head are still quite deep.