Bold lips are trending big this season. As an artist, I personally love red lips, deep burgundies and intense colours. I think it looks very enticing, but there is a technique to ace the game of bold lips. Here’s how...
Sonam Kapoor Ahuja with glossy lips
Prep and Prime:
I will start with the most important tip that I can give, which is to make sure that your lips are hydrated. If your lips are not hydrated when you are using the lip pencil or lipstick, the application will not be smooth, thereby hindering the desired result. So, the first step is prep and prime of the lip. If you are somebody who suffers from excessive dryness of the lip, then I would say always use a lip scrub. There are many brands offering the product and I personally love lip scrub by Simply Nam. You can also make a scrub at home. Take honey and sugar, make a paste out of it and then just rub it on the lip and all the dryness will be gone in minutes! However, once you have done that, it is very important to follow it up with a hydrating lip balm. So, you can use either a lip oil, again, Simply Nam has a wonderful lip oil or you can use the Elizabeth Arden Ada Cream lip balm or any lip balm of your choice. If you are someone who has very thin lips and you would like to use a plumper, at this point, you could use that plumper. For this, you could use the two-faced lip injection so that your lips are properly prepped. By the time you finish the rest of your makeup, your lips are ready for application of the red lipstick.
Sophie Choudry in glossy lips
Application:
After you have done hydration, you will first start your lips with a lip liner because your lips need to be properly defined so you know where you want to apply the lipstick and how and in what quantity. So one way of doing it is using the same colour lip liner as your lipstick. So if I am using a bright red lipstick, I will use a bright red lip liner. Some lip liner brands that I love again are Mac, Huda Beauty, Colorbar, Charlotte Tilbury and Chanel. These brands have beautiful lipliners. Or choose a lip liner that is closest to the lip colour that you are going to apply. Start with lining the bottom lip first, then proceed to the centre of the upper lip which is also known as the Cupid’s bow. After that, start from the corners of the top lip and join the line to the Cupid’s bow line that you have already made so you get a nice curve on the lip, instead of a straight line. Once you do this, the choice is yours, you can blend the lip liner with a thin brush just so that there are no fine lines. I love blending the edges of my lip liner into the lip just so that it looks a lot softer and not so harsh but it is totally your personal choice.
Sometimes, if I want a super bold lip I fill the lip with the lip liner colour and then follow it up with my lipstick so that I get a more fuller look. This also ensures that my lipstick lasts longer and I don’t have to touch up often. Again, if you are someone who likes a well-defined lip with the lip line strikingly visible, then don’t blend the lip liner, leave the lip liner as is, and apply the lipstick with a lip brush. If you want to become a pro at applying lipstick immaculately then here’s an expert tip. Take a small dome-like blending brush, a brush you would probably use to blend your eye makeup on the lower lash waterline, blend the lip liner and the lipstick together and you get this very beautiful diffused bold lip, which is also a technique I love.
Arti Nayar in bold red lips
Another way of doing bold lips is using a slightly darker lip liner followed by a bold lip colour which you can apply from the centre of your lip and then blend the edges out to give it a more diffused look. Concentrating at the centre makes your lips look poutier. For this technique, I would use a darker lip liner and follow it up with applying the lipstick at the centre of my lips and then either using my finger or a fluffy brush to blend the lipstick towards the outer edges. I will finish this off with a little bit of a clear gloss on the centre of the lip.
So, these are the two ways in which you can do bold lips. One is more traditional and the other one is modern, shinier, like what they call ‘vinyl lips’, which is also a trend. The trick to remember when you are using gloss on bold lips is that the colour is not going to stay even for very long. So you can go for this kind of lip makeup when you know that you can touch up and where you know you can maintain that. Super glossy lips are not for occasions where you do not have the means to touch up and you need your lipstick to last very long.
Arti Nayar is a celebrity make-up artist Follow her at easybeautybyartinayar on Instagram
