Oh, So THAT'S How You Use Lip Liner!

I have gone the majority of my life without understanding or using lip liner. 

 

However, in the past year, I have been making up for lost time, and experimenting and, to my surprise, loving life with lip liner. 

 

F yeah, lip liner!

Confused about how it use it, too? Don’t worry. We will get through this together. 

 

 

I always like to make sure my lip liner goes on smoothly. To get rid of chapped lips, I rub in some Lush Bubble Gum Lip Scrub. It’s pure delight! The sugar-based exfoliant gets rid of the dry skin on your lips, and you don’t have to feel guilty licking off the excess, because they use ingredients you can find in your kitchen.

 

I then do a hardy application of lip balm. My current obsession is Kiss My Face Pina Colada Lip Balm. I picked it up on a whim at my local health food store (on sale—yay).

 

I usually let the balm sit in and moisturize while I finish the rest of my makeup.

 

 

Pick a shade that’s close to the lipstick you’ll be wearing or complements your lip colour. There are some gals that like to have a matching liner for each of their lipsticks. But really, ain’t nobody got time for that. I only have three shades of lip liner: Simply Red Gosh Velvet Touch Lipliner (my favourite liner by far), Cherry Kiss Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Lip Liner, a burgundy from Rimmel, and Au Naturel Colour Riche Lip Liner, a nude from L’Oreal.  

 

The three basics do the trick for my lipstick collection of about two dozen. My red works with my red lipsticks and orangey-red tones. The burgundy I use with similar coloured lip colour or if I want to give my pinks a deeper hue. The nude works to give a base to almost any colour in my collection; I usually pair it with pinks, browns or nudes. 

 

Carefully outline your lips. When I was in disbelief about how lip liner worked, I thought this is where it ended. 

 

“I don’t want to look like an extra in Beverly Hills 90210!” I lamented to my friend who swears by her lip liner. 

 

I don't even remember which character this was supposed to be. David?

 

She instructed me to colour in my lips with the liner. 

 

Never doubt beauty secrets from your best friends, because she was right. To just line, you are preventing bleeding, but the colour will fade from the middle of your painted lips much more quickly. When you fill the rest of your lips with your liner, it helps lock in the colour.

 

 

Apply your colour of choice. For the past six months, I have been obsessed with Estee Lauder Double Wear Lipstick in Stay Scarlett (I have the soul and beauty products of an 87-year-old). It’s a red you can wear in the winter, but it’s bright enough to transition to spring and summer. 

 

Paired with my Simply Red liner from Gosh, I can get through an evening of drinking, laughing and dancing with only a couple of quick touch-ups. 

 

Before I discovered the wonders of lip liner, I would have to check my lipstick every half hour to make sure I wasn’t left with an unsightly smear on my face. And after a glass of wine, most of my lipstick would be gone--but not anymore! 

 

To understanding how to use lip liner! Cheers!

Really, I can’t stress enough how liner has changed my lipstick life. I may be missing a set of false eye lashes by the end of the night, but my lipstick shall remain! 

 

Are you still reluctant to use lip liner? Is it part of your everyday routine?