Lipstick can make or break your makeup look. The right color and application can transform or complement a makeup routine. A bad lipstick application can make you look like a clown and ruin everything else you’ve applied.
Perfectly applied makeup is as easy as picking the right product, priming and lining your lips, and applying carefully. Read on to learn how to perfectly apply lipstick every time!
Why Lipstick?
You can have perfectly accentuated eyes, a rocking highlight, and expertly bronzed cheekbones, but if you skip lipstick your makeup will look incomplete. A coat of lipstick will be the cherry on top of your expertly applied makeup.
Whether you want a dark, mysterious look, or a gorgeous, glamorous look, the right lipstick is out there for you. Even a completely natural, makeup-free look can include a fun pop of color on the lips.
Your makeup can do more than just help your look. It can help take care of the body parts you love to accentuate, such as lipstick that provides valuable benefits to your lips such as plumping and conditioning.
Pick Your Poison
There are so many different types of lipsticks, and which type you pick will depend on the look you want and the style of your look. Before you start your makeup routine, think about the inspiration for your look and pick a lipstick that will fit that vibe.
Plumping
In addition to giving color to your lips, plumping lipsticks are designed to slightly irritate your lips. This irritation causes your lips to swell temporarily, thus creating larger-looking lips. If you want to make your lips the main focus of your makeup look, plumping lipstick is a great way to draw attention.
Matte
Matte lipstick creates a long-lasting color with zero shine. This style has become more popular recently and is great for a mature and glamorous look.
Satin
A satin lipstick falls in between a matte finish and a cream finish. It won’t be quite as dry as a matte lipstick, but won’t have as much shine as a gloss. A satin finish is perfect for a professional or mature look.
Natural
Natural lipsticks will mimic the finish of your regular lips while providing a light color. A high-quality natural-looking lipstick or gloss stick, such as Kaja Beauty’s Heart Melter, will provide a lightweight color while softening your lips and giving a natural finish.
Gloss
Lip gloss creates a high shine finish. Often the lip gloss contains its own color, but it can also be applied on top of another lip color to add shine. Lip gloss can be easy to come off and might require frequent reapplications.
Lip Stain
Lip stain is missing the waxy base of lipstick and uses a gel base and dye to stain the lips one color for many hours. This is a great option for a natural look if you want your lips to have a hint of long-lasting color.
Experiment With Color
Lipstick comes in a vast array of colors, which gives you lots of options! When it comes time to pick out your color, it is both exciting and overwhelming.
Start with a color that echoes the natural color of your lips. If you’re new to playing with lipstick, you don’t want to start with a bold red or deep purple. Pick a pale pink, peach, or nude color to begin. The Kaja Beauty Heart Melter lip gloss stick comes in a great palette of colors to find the one that’s best for you.
Once you feel more comfortable, take a chance and try a more dramatic color. As Taylor Swift once sang, “I got that red lip, classic thing that you like.” Red lipstick is known as the classic standard for lipstick and also has a long role in women’s history.
Shop Your Skin Tone
Once you move beyond the natural and classic lips, it can be hard to determine what color will work for you. You want to make note of your skin tone and pick from a range of colors designed for that skin tone.
- Cool tones: You have a cooler skin tone if you have a pink, red, or bluish tint to your skin. The best lipstick colors for you will have purple or red undertones, such as a wine-colored lip or a cherry red.
- Warm tones: A warmer skin tone has a yellow, golden, or olive tone to your skin. You will look best in warmer lipsticks such as orange-red or coral.
- Neutral tones: Lucky you! You have a mix of both yellow and pink tones on your skin. Your skin tone will be complemented by any lipstick color, so have fun!
Pre-Lip Tips
Before we get to the specifics of applying lipstick perfectly every time, here are a few general tips to keep in mind.
First, make sure you’ve exfoliated your lips. Exfoliating will remove any dry spots from your lips that will otherwise cause clumps and an uneven lipstick application.
Make sure your lipstick color compliments the rest of your makeup. You don’t want to wear the same exact lip shade as your eyes, but you also don’t want them to clash.
Don’t forget to brush your teeth! Stinky breath is not cute, and neither is smearing your lipstick to brush your teeth after. Take a quick pause to brush, floss, and do whatever else you need to do to make your smile shine!
Prime Time
After exfoliation, make sure your lips are primed. Just as you use primer for all other makeup applications, your lips are no different.
Start by applying a lip balm to hydrate your lips. Include the area just outside your lips for full coverage and wait for the balm to completely dry before moving on.
Lip primer will hydrate your lips and make sure they are ready for lipstick application. A primer will also help your lipstick stay on for longer. We know there’s nothing worse than smeared lipstick or leaving lipstick behind on your glass, so don’t skip the primer!
We Love To Line
Lip liner is an often overlooked, but very important part of perfectly applied lipstick. There are a few reasons to use lip liner:
- Lining the outline of your lips will prevent your lipstick from bleeding or smudging.
- Lip liner application all over the lips helps your lipstick stay on your lips.
- Lip liner helps create fuller-looking lips.
When choosing a lip liner color, either pick a color close to your natural lip color. This will be used to line the outside of the lips. If you want to line the whole lip, pick a color close to the color of the lipstick.
First, outline the outside of your lips with concealer. This will help create a dual liner for your lips.
Next, warm up the lip liner by brushing it on your (clean) hand. This will ensure a smooth liner application.
On your upper lip, start at the center by drawing an “X” at the highest points of your cupid’s bow. Work your way out from there, tracing the natural lip line. Follow the same technique on your bottom lip, starting at the center and working your way out.
For a slighter fuller look, start at the corner of your lip and trace inward. You can also trace the line on the skin just above the natural boundary of your lip. This will help make your lips look larger.
Love Those Lips
It’s time for the final step! Just as you did with lip liner, start by applying lipstick in the center of your lip and trace outwards. Give a small smile to make sure you are getting any creases.
Use a small brush or a clean finger to ensure your lipstick is completely rubbed into your liner. The goal is to make it look completely seamless!
Depending on the type of lipstick you use, you might want to apply a couple of coats for full coverage. Take a moment between each coat to smile and see how the lipstick looks. Double-check to make sure there’s no lipstick on your teeth too!
Once you finish all coats, use a tissue to blot your lips lightly. If you want to add gloss, add the shiny coat at the very end. However, if you use a lip gloss stick like Heart Melter, you’ll get color and shine in just one product.
A Perfect Pout Every Time
After these steps, you’ll be able to perfectly apply lipstick every time. It might seem like a lot of work, but lipstick can make or break your overall look.
Remember to pick the right lipstick for your skin tone and find a color that compliments your style. After that, prep, prime, line and apply and you’ll look amazing!
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