Lipstick is one of the ultimate make-up must-haves – even if applying it isn't always easy. It can quickly happen that the color bleeds onto your teeth, smudges, or settles into lip lines. To prevent this from happening to you, I've put together a helpful guide with useful tips on how to apply lipstick!
How to Apply Lipstick Correctly: The Quick Guide
- Exfoliate your lips.
- Apply a moisturizing lip balm and wait until it is fully absorbed.
- Trace the contours of your lips with a lip liner.
- Apply the lipstick evenly to your lips, working from the outside in.
- Gently blot the lipstick with a tissue and then apply a second coat.
- You can correct small mistakes with a little concealer to make the contour appear particularly even.
Applying Lipstick: Preparation
Lip Care
Proper preparation is crucial for long-lasting lipstick results – this primarily includes proper lip care.
Lip care is essential if you want to achieve a beautiful and even finish with lipstick. First, use a lip scrub to gently remove dead skin cells from your lips. It makes your lips particularly soft and smooth.
Regularly applying lip balm and moisturizing the delicate lip skin is also important to prevent the lipstick from settling into lip lines and to ensure the color looks particularly even.
Choosing the Right Lipstick Color
Generally, you can wear any lipstick in any color you like. You absolutely shouldn't stick to rules, and I don't think there are such things as "no-gos." Nevertheless, there are suitable colors for every skin and hair type that particularly enhance their features:
- Dark brown to black hair with brown skin: Warm and strong red shades, cool, berry tones to brownish red
- Dark hair with a very pale complexion: Red tones, from very bright to very dark
- Blonde hair with very pale skin: Rose to rosewood, peach tones, pink, or even orange
- Light to dark brown hair with light skin: Rose, red, and peach tones
- Dark brown to black hair with black skin: Strong red, violet, orange-red, and fuchsia
How to Apply Lipstick Correctly: Step-by-step Guide
Applying lipstick evenly isn't that difficult. It only requires a few steps and a little practice at first. But don't worry, even if your hand isn't perfect yet and small mistakes happen, you can easily fix them.
Step 1: Prepare Your Lips
Don't forget the optimal preparation of your lips: Start with a gentle lip scrub to remove dry skin flakes and ensure a more even result. Then apply a lip balm to moisturize your lips.
A primer also creates the ideal base for your lipstick look and makes the lipstick last longer.
Product Recommendations for Lip Care
Transparent Lab – Lip Renewal
9,90 €
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Bondi Sands – Lip Balm SPF 50+
6,90 €
4,49 €
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You get an email as soon as the product will be available again.
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NERDS. – Peptide + Hyaluronic Acid Lip Treatment
13,90 €
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Step 2: Lip Liner: Contour and Base
A lip liner makes your lipstick look particularly long-lasting and helps prevent the lipstick from smudging easily. Make sure to apply the lip liner in a color that matches your lipstick. Alternatively, for a special 90s look or a stunning ombré look, you can choose a slightly darker lip liner.
Carefully trace your lip contour with the lip liner. As a beginner, you can use short, targeted strokes to avoid smudging.
Initially, it's easier to follow your natural lip contour, but if you want to make your lips appear larger, you can slightly overline them at the cupid's bow (the upper, middle part) and the labial arch (the lower, middle part). However, proceed very carefully and only one to two millimeters from your natural lip shape.
For the lipstick to last longer, you should also fill in your entire lips with the lip liner. This also creates a particularly intense color result.
Product Recommendations for Lip Liner
NABLA Cosmetics – Close-Up Lip Shaper
17,90 €
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Dominique Cosmetics – Lip Frame Pencil
21,90 €
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LH Cosmetics – Crayon Lipliner
17,90 €
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Step 3: How to Apply Lipstick Correctly
Most people apply lipstick directly – this is also the most practical method, especially for on the go, as you don't need any other tools. However, professionals like make-up artists tend to use a special lip brush to apply lipstick. This is more hygienic when multiple people are being made up with the same lipstick, and it's also much more precise.
To do this, take a little color from the lipstick with a fine lip brush and apply it evenly to your lips. Work from the center to the edge on the bottom lip and in reverse on the upper lip – from the edge to the center.
Gently blot the lipstick with a tissue and reapply it using the same method. This "sandwich method" extends the longevity of the lipstick.
Product Recommendations for Lipstick
NABLA Cosmetics – Beyond Jelly Lipstick
24,90 €
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LH Cosmetics – Fantastick Lipstick
22,90 €
16,91 €
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NABLA Cosmetics – Matte Pleasure Lipstick
24,90 €
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You get an email as soon as the product will be available again.
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Tip: Small smudges and irregularities at the lip edge can be removed with a cotton swab or by using concealer to create a crisp line.
Lumene – CC All-Over Concealer
14,90 €
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Step 4: Coordinate your Make-up
Coordinate the rest of your make-up with your lipstick look. If desired, you can match your blush to your lipstick color. Or top off your lipstick with a glossy lip gloss.
Guide to the Ombré Look
For the ombré look, you will need lip liner, lipstick, and lip gloss. Choose a lip liner that is slightly darker than the lipstick, while the lip gloss should be one shade lighter.
Outline your lips with the lip liner as usual, not just along the outer edge of your lips, but creating a thicker frame on the inside of your lips.
Apply the lipstick to the middle area, then dab the lip gloss onto the center of your upper and lower lip and blend by dabbing.
Useful Tips for Applying Lipstick
- The powder trick: After the first application, place a thin tissue on your lips and apply some translucent powder over it with a brush. Then you can apply a second layer of lipstick. This binds excess moisture and often makes the color last significantly longer without smudging.
- The check: Smile after application to see if all contours are evenly drawn.
- To avoid lipstick on your teeth: Briefly put your thumb in your mouth; any lipstick residue that would normally have ended up on your teeth will be deposited there.
- Matte vs. glossy: Matte lipsticks generally last much longer on the lips but can emphasize dry lips. While glossy textures keep the lips smoother, they can also smudge more easily.
I hope this blog post on applying lipstick was very helpful and enjoyable for you! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.
