Perfect lip makeup with lipstick: effective secrets and life hacks from a makeup artist

Lina Savchuk , certified makeup artist, winner and prize-winner of championships and competitions, judge of the 2020 Beauty Congress, teacher at the EgoStyle Beauty School with experience working with stars and models at Ukrainian Fashion Week, Lviv

Lip care

Lip makeup begins with care. It doesn’t matter whether we apply red lipstick or lip gloss (I’m already silent about lippart), if the client’s or model’s lips are dry, cracked or have flakes, we won’t get a perfect, uniform coverage. That’s why it’s so important to start working on care.

You can use a scrub if there are scales (don’t forget that if you have scales, you can’t scrub in the morning), or a mask or balm, or all together. You can warn the client in advance to prepare the sponges. At home, this could be olive oil and sugar or coffee grounds - every girl definitely has them on hand.

The main trends for autumn-winter

If we consider the AW 2021-2022 trends, then no makeup actively holds its position and this rule also applies to lips. Balms, transparent glosses (possibly with light shades) and in general the effect of wet lips are now in trend.

Next, monochrome makeup is kept in the top: nude, peach shades on the lips, on the cheekbones and on the eyes.

Another trend is dark lipstick.

And of course, the eternal classic – red lipstick . Shades, textures, and contour clarity change, but red lipstick is always relevant and suits everyone. Here it is appropriate to talk about how to outline, achieve clarity and graphics in lip makeup.

Ideal contour: sequence of actions

There is no single correct algorithm, and every makeup artist 100% has his own life hacks and secrets. For the Pro Hair&Makeup resource, I will share mine. Before applying decorative cosmetics, be sure to clean your lips and remove any remaining balm or mask. This way, the pencil or lipstick will fit better, and we will also take care of the further stability of the makeup.

When working with red lipstick, I recommend using a lip liner. It will provide additional durability (here we are not talking about long-lasting lipsticks or tents, because they solve this problem on their own), as well as a clear, uniform contour and, accordingly, clean work.

I’m used to fixing my hand, and placing the pencil perpendicular to the surface of my lips - this is exactly the technique that will give a clear outline. The pencil must be well sharpened. I prefer to work with soft or medium-hard pencils.

I start drawing the outline from the upper lip - I work on the “Cupid’s bow” and go down to the corners. Next, I draw lines from the corners to the center - this way we get a clear corner, without spots or excess volume. I connect these lines. I carry out a similar manipulation on the lower lip. I sketch the surface of the lips with the edge of a pencil. I move from the contour to the middle.

By the way, if the contour line is slightly shaded with a brush, we will get clarity without graphics. Next, I apply lipstick from the center to the periphery. Nowadays satin textures are gaining popularity.

Using a similar algorithm, we can work with any lipstick colors.

Shape correction

And a few words about shape correction. Ideally, the upper and lower lips should be the same. Therefore, we can adjust and complete the drawing or, on the contrary, reduce the shape with a pencil. You know that for sure!

But where should we draw the line so that the lips are voluminous and loose, and not artificial and ugly? We have two lip contours - embossed and pigmented. The pigmented one follows the color of our lips, and the embossed one is 0.5-2 mm above the pigmented one. When we draw a relief contour, we beautifully and neatly enlarge the lips.

To reduce the shape, we tint the relief contour and draw along the pigment contour.

And finally, use a flat brush and a small amount of foundation or concealer to smooth out the contour.

And the most important thing is to enjoy both the process and the result!