For luscious lips you need the perfect lipstick, but which one should you be using?
Lipstick, it’s the art we add to our lips. It can complete your look, lift your mood and be an essential fashion accessory. We all have a go-to lipstick that we just can’t leave the house without. The lipstick that’s right for you can depend heavily on your mood, the shape of your lips, where you’re going and even how dry your lips are.
As we’ve all heard so many times before, “Give a woman the right lipstick and she can conquer the world”. So let’s conquer the world in style.
Lip tints are great if you don’t wear a full face of make-up everyday but still want to add an extra something to your look. They usually stay on your lips all day without drying them out and come in a variety of pigments and textures – don’t be put off as some look like nail varnish but that’s just the packaging! Some of them even double as a cheek tint, making them great to just pop in your bag for a touch-up to your lips and face during the day.
Our top tip: Apply a very light layer at first to get your base, and then for a tint effect create a thicker layer in the centre of your lips and dab with your fingertips.
These little beauties are the perfect mix between a balm, a gloss and a lipstick – and go on so smooth you could be swiping lip balm across your lips. Because of the shape, they don’t leave harsh lines and you won’t need lip liner beforehand. Despite how they look, you don’t need to sharpen them, you just twist the bottom and more of your favourite colour appears.
Our top tip: If you don’t want to fully convert from lipstick but need some added moisture, adding a lip crayon over the top of your lipstick will give your pout what it needs – and it can also make your lipstick last longer!
Long gone are the days when lip gloss used to be stickier than honey – remember the wind blowing your hair into your favourite gloss and staying put? Oh, to be young and carefree. Thankfully, formulas have come on since then and now they’re great at keeping your lips soft, chap-free and looking lip-smackingly elegant.
Our top tip: Try applying lip gloss over your favourite lipstick for an added shine, but avoid applying too much.
Do you remember a time before liquid lipsticks? Us neither! They look like a cream but they dry stained or matte, depending which finish you go for. So many are fuss-free, flake-free and drying-free which means there’s a liquid lipstick for every occasion. Thanks to budget brands slaying the quality game, there’s one for however much you’re willing to spend. The best thing about liquid lipsticks is that you don’t have to re-apply during the day like you would with other lipsticks.
Our top tip: After applying, keep your lips apart until dry.
Matte lipstick is in it for the long haul and many of them have amazing pigmentation. Matte lipsticks do exactly what they say on the tin, they leave your lips with a matte finish in just one swipe. Depending on your lipstick, it should stay put all day but it’s always worth having it with you for any emergencies. The key to wearing matte lipstick is having well-hydrated lips, if you aren’t a lover of matte lipstick because of flakes, check out our top tip on prepping properly.
Our top tip: Before even thinking of applying your matte lipstick (or any of your make-up), scrub your lips, apply a layer of balm and you’ll achieve a smooth matte finish.
Just like satin clothing, think delicate and incredible to touch. If you haven’t used one before, satin lipsticks are somewhere between a matte and a cream lipstick. They’ve got added moisture without being as wet as a cream lipstick. They can be quite hydrating too without feeling like you’re adding gloss to your lips. If you’re a lip and eye kind of person and want the focus to go to your eyes instead but still want that little pop of colour, satin lipsticks are for you.
Our top tip: After applying the lipstick, place a tissue between your lips and blot.
The texture of velvet lipstick can make your lips look bold in colour because of the high intensity of pigment and the way they glide over your lips. Velvet lipsticks are creamy, smooth and shouldn’t dry your lips out. They can be prone to giving you a case of the bleeding lips though, so to avoid this add lip liner first and blot your lips after applying the velvety goodness.
Our top tip: To get an intense velvety texture, run the same colour eyeshadow as your lipstick over your lips with your fingers.
Lip liners are the perfect solution to any lipstick crisis you might find yourself in. They’re thin, small enough to fit in almost any size bag and seem to last forever. They prolong the wear of your lip colour, help prevent your lipstick bleeding or feathering, add definition, can even make your lips look bigger if sculpted correctly and they create your dream cupids bow – do you need more reasons? So before applying any lipstick, use your lip liner as a base by drawing the outline of your lip and colouring it in, and then simply apply your lipstick of choice.
Our top tip: If you’re a lover of darker lipstick but find the thought of a dark lip liner a bit daunting at first (we’ve all ended up with lip liner all over our face at some point), try using a nude or even white lip liner to go over your lips with before applying your dark lipstick.
Now you’re a lipstick expert, what are you going to do with all this knowledge? Rock amazing lips of course!
