The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Lips
Lips often get overlooked in our beauty regime. But they are a big part of our look. You need to take care of your lips for them to pop.
To make sure you have not been given some bad lip advice, read on.
Don’t moisturise
Someone once said to me,”I don’t need to worry about moisturising my lips as I use an oily lipstick.” Er, hello. Yes, you do. That lipstick might keep your lips soft when you are wearing it, but as soon as it rubs off, your poor lips are going to be open to all the elements. In fact, some lipstick dry your lips out! That is why it is so important to keep your lips moisturised.
Our favourite lip moisturisers:
From left: Rosebud Perfume Company Rosebud Salve, Nivea Essential Care, La Roche-Posay Barrier Repair Balm and Blistex Lip Conditioner.
You don’t need to use lip balms
You can use a lip balm, but avoid the fruit ones; they’ll just make you want to lick your lips, and that can cause them to chap. Try and get one with an SPF in too as it’s important to shield your lips from sun damage. A lip balm can be used over the top of lipstick to create a protective barrier. This stops your lips being vulnerable to the cold, wind or sun and also helps your lip colour to stay on.
The best lip balms:
From left: Benefit Benebalm, Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm, Clinique Intense Moisturising Lip Colour Balm, Rimmel Lip conditioning balm by Kate Moss.
Don’t use lip scrub
I’ve heard people say that lip scrub is a waste of money. But it is actually a great way of getting rid of any manky dead skin before you apply your lipstick. If you fail to do this step, then any lip colour you put over the top, will just accentuate the flakiness of your lips. If you don’t want to pay out for a lip scrub product, you can make your own by following the instructions here or even use a dry toothbrush to buff them. I use Vaseline with some brown sugar added to it.
Wear any lipstick colour
Those people that say you can wear any lip colour you want are bending the truth a bit. There are a lot of shades and tones out there, but you do need to be careful to pick the right one. The wrong shade can make your teeth look yellow or make your skin look sallow. So it’s always best to do a swatch test before you buy.
Ignore the latest trends
People that advise you to ignore the latest trend are probably really set in their ways. Those manufacturing lipstick, have been innovative recently, and that is a good thing. We are seeing liquid lipsticks and lip crayons in all sort of metallic and matte shades trending on social media. For example, Kylie Jenner’s Metallics and Colour Pops. The prices of these products can vary widely, and Kylie has caught some flack for the quality of her product. So make sure you get clued up before parting with your money. I am a huge fan of Revlon’s Colorstay Overtime Lipcolor in Always Sienna and have been wearing it regularly for years. I still get compliments on it.
Here are our top matt lip colours:
From left: Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick, L’STAJ Lady Allure Lip Colour, Revlon Colorstay Overtime Lipcolor and TheBalm Meet Matt(e) Hughs.
Forget lip liner
Lastly, you can always tell when someone forgets their lip liner. It is an essential part of your lipstick routine. Not only does it stop your lipstick from smudging, but now you can use to reshape your lips into any style you want. This is known as overlining and after a bit of practice with some tutorials, you too can have your dream lips.
Our dream lip liners:
From left: Becca Nude Lip Pencil, Max Factor Gold Lip Liner Pencil, Burberry Lip Definer and L’Oreal Colour Riche Lip Liner Magique.