So ladies. My lips are on the small side. My top lip is super thin, and my bottom is sightly fuller, but still on the small side. I used to obsess on how to make them look bigger, and to an extent I still do. I think I’ll always wish they were slightly larger and plump. If you have small lips and you’ve looked up info online on how to make them larger, I guarantee you’ll see lots of tips, and in particular that you should avoid matte shades and stick with shiny and shimmery shades. And this is true, shiny and shimmery shades do make lips appear fuller and are more flattering for small lips. BUT…I LOVE matte shades! I don’t want to miss out because I have small lips and I won’t! Will a matte shade look as good on me as it would on a lady with full lips? Probably not, but that’s ok. We are who we are and we should embrace and love our WHOLE selfs. Ok now that I’m off my soap box, I want to share with you how I wear matte lip color. I do a few things to maximize lip potential and I hope some of you thin lipped gals will be inspired to wear shades you normally wouldn’t. Ok here we go.
Bare naked lips
1. Exfoliate exfoliate exfoliate!-Did I mention exfoliate? Smooth lips appear more full than dry, cracked and cakey looking lips. I use Fresh Sugar exfoliating lip polish and a toothbrush. You can do this in the shower to save time! I use my finger to apply the lip scrub, then I use the toothbrush to gently massage the scrub into my lips. If the bristles hurt you, you can use the “tongue cleaner” that’s usually on the back of the toothbrush. Then use a cotton pad to wipe the lip.
2. Sting those puppies. Your poor lips. They are probably already feeling vulnerable after the scrub, maybe a little tingly even. Now we’re going to assault them further by applying a lip plumper. I’m using DuWop lip venom. Any lip plumper will work because we are going to wipe it away after a few minutes. Let the lip plumper do it’s thang for 5-10 minutes, then wipe away with a cotton pad.
After applying lip venom
After wiping away lip venom
3. Line those lips! Lip liners serve a dual purpose here. They help define your lip and make them look a little larger, and they prevent feathering and bleeding of your lip product. I chose a color that matched the color of my matte lip color. I used NYX slim lip pencil in bloom. For my lips, I chose to only line the top and I went ever so slightly outside of my natural lip line. I don’t line the bottom because I want my lips to match in size and my bottom lip is larger than my top. This is the time to emphasize those cupid bow’s ladies. If you don’t have a cupids bow, you can make one with the liner, or you don’t have to!
After lining. Looks like a fuchsia mustache. haha.
4. Apply the lip color! I’m using a matte LipSurgence by Tarte in a shade called lively. It’s a matte hot pink shade. I recommend using a lip brush to apply the product. My lips always look smoother and more defined when I apply color with a lip brush, but you don’t have to.
After applying the LipSurgence.
5. This is optional but I really recommend doing this part. This is the highlight step. I am using a product that is actually an eyeliner, but it works great for this! Laura Geller I-care waterproof eyeliner in bone is perfect. All you need is a shimmery light color for this to work. I use the liner to line outside the color on my top lip only, focusing on the area above the cupids bow. If you don’t have a cupids bow, just highlight the area above the middle of your top lip. Then imagine your bottom lip divided into 3 parts and highlight the outer 2 portions leaving the middle part un-highlighted. You could also go a step further and contour the middle portion of your bottom lip. This gives the appearance of a shadow.
6. Rock those lips! Touch them up often. Since matte colors tend to be drying, you could apply a clear chapstick over the color, but I try not to since it makes the color lose some of it’s “matte-ness”. And ladies with fuller lips, all these tips work for you as well! Ladies comment and let me know what your favorite matte lip shades are.
Finished! Now go out and rock those Matte lips!
I’ll probably do a Youtube video on a matte lip tutorial this weekend. I don’t have time to today sadly. Have a great weekend everyone!
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