How to Get Pouty Lips

since i wasn't one of those people who were naturally blessed with full pouty lips (i'm not hating, just jealous) i am always on the hunt for ideas on how to create them myself.  here are a few tips on how to get that look:

tip #1 begin with a fresh canvas.  this means, make sure those lips are exfoliated and moisturized.  i exfoliate my lips in the morning by running my toothbrush over them a couple of times while i am brushing my teeth.  this loosens any dead skin and the skin comes off smoothly since my lips are already moist and soft from brushing.  moisturize your lips by using a good balm.  in the winter i get very dry and my favorite moisturizer is plain ol' Vaseline.

tip #2 use several shades of lip liner/stick/gloss.  one of the tricks makeup artists use to create dimension and height is to use several shades instead of one single shade for lipstick.  this is best done by lining the lips with a darker nude/natural shade, fill in your lips with an even lighter shade of lipstick, and finish with a dot of gloss in the center of your lips. 

tip #3 create your own shape.  you can slightly change the shape of your lips with your lip liner.  prep your lips by applying your foundation over them.  take your pencil liner and draw just over the edge of your natural lip.  be careful not to go too far or else it will be very obvious. shade the lipstick line into your natural lip.

tip #4 highlight and contour.  yes, this even applies to lips.  if you look at the picture of Angelina above you will notice the shadow under her bottom lip, and the highlight over her top lip.  you can achieve this by using a small bit of highlighting powder/eyeshadow on the end of your finger and dab the top of your cupids bow (the center of your top lip) and take it even a step further by dabbing the lines up towards your nose.  take your contour shade and apply it just below your bottom lip.  this creates the illusion of shadow that full lips would give.

while these steps may take a little bit of work it might be worth it for those family pictures/date night/work party etc.  if you don't have time for all the steps, my best advice is to simply moisturize.  this is a quick and easy way to make your lips look healthy and full.

xo
kristie