I love a dramatic red lip or a bold fuchsia to bring a pop of colour to my face. But bold lip colours have their time and place and sometimes I buy a lip colour that’s just too bold for even me.
But there’s a super simple way to make that strong lip colour work for you and it’s all in the way you apply it.
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And The Tip Is….To Use Your Finger Or A Lip Brush
That’s right!
When you apply a bold lip colour straight from the bullet or doe-foot applicator, it applies more of the product to your lips, which increases the pigment factor and makes a strong colour even stronger.
However, the same lip colour patted onto the lips with your finger or with a lip brush will give a softer, more “stained” look to the lips and will reduce the intensity of the pigment at the same time because you’re applying less product this way.
This application method is also great for making bold lip colours more forgiving on imperfect or more mature lip lines and can also help reduce bleeding over your lip line.
If you feel you need a bit more definition along your lip line, I suggest using a lip liner first.
You can see this tip in action in the pic below: the left side of the pic has my NYX soft matte lip cream applied straight from the doe-foot applicator and is much darker.
The right side of the pic shows the same lip shade applied with a lip brush along the lip line and then blended out with my fingers.
See how much softer the shade looks on the right side? I didn’t use a lip liner first, so you can see the lip line is a bit less defined on the right side though.
I’ve been using this trick a lot lately, since some of my bolder lip colours haven’t been getting as much love anymore.
I’m definitely loving the stained lip look, which also has a more youthful, less harsh look to it.
In a pinch, if you’ve already applied your lip colour from the doe-foot/bullet, blotting the excess off with a tissue also works well.
Also be sure you prep your lips properly using a good lip scrub; I’ve been enjoying the e.l.f. Cosmetics Lip Exfoliator – super affordable, easy to use and it makes my lips super soft!
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