Do you ever find yourself out at dinner, on a date, or chatting someone up, trying your best to maintain thoughtful conversation when your mind is really just focused on a pesky voice inside your head telling you to check your lipstick? All those sips of your drink, the bites of your entrée, and maybe some light smooching (you go!), and you have to wonder if your lips look anything like they did during those precious moments right after application. Chances are no; instead of perfectly luscious lips, you have an awkward heavy line around the outside and the center is nearly devoid of pigment, or at best, clinging to a light, patchy tint. So what can you do instead of sneakily using your phone as an impromptu mirror; asking friends, “How’s my lipstick?!”; or running off to the little girls' room any chance you get? How can you make it stay put? We have your five-step program right here:
Step One : Prep your surface. Exfoliate! Hydrate! Clean! If you know you’re going to be wearing some color in the near future and want to ensure the perfect canvas, avoid peeling and flaky lips by drinking lots of water and being heavy handed with your tube of Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream throughout the day. And even if your lips are looking their smoothest, a good exfoliating sesh with Fresh’s Sugar Lip Polish or a soft toothbrush à la Harry Brant are the best ways to clean away dead skin (gross) and buff off microscopic bumps.
Step Two : Now the actual application begins. To ensure long-lasting wear, a primer is key. (Primers, they're not just a marketing ploy!) With a few swipes of the Too Faced Lip Insurance Lip Primer wand, you’ll have the optimal adhesive surface, making for easy application and all-day/night wear.
Step Three : Lip liner is back—not necessarily in the brownish outline trend of the ‘90s, but rather as a base layer for the upcoming ‘stick. Choose a color similar to your lipstick, then line and fill in your lips as if that was all you were going to do. BUT IT'S NOT! The liner acts as another primer, so both are not necessary, but extra protection never hurt anyone.
Step Four : Lipstick! Instead of slapping on one thick layer, a few thin swipes, blotting in between, will give you a more permanent lock on your color of choice. Matte sticks like MAC’s formula and NARS' Pure Matte Lipsticks tend to stay better.
Step Five : Much like setting the rest of your makeup, adding a thin layer of Make Up For Ever’s HD High Definition Powder , or any translucent powder, will help set the hue and avoid dreaded lipstick marks on your coffee mug.
And while this is all well and good, perhaps you don’t have the patience for five steps. In that case, Chanel’s amazing freak of a product— Rouge Double Intensité Ultra Wear Lip Colour—looks just like lipstick but acts as a stain. It lasts for hours without any rub-off, and can be removed pretty easily with a bit of Créaline. So, there's that option.
Now you're ready to do whatever you want with your painted lips without fear of crazy mouth. Happy Hump Day.
Photos by Mathea Millman.
There's never a bad time to break out the red lipstick, except perhaps if you're planning to wear it all day long with only the lipstick tube and a prayer. Wearing red lipstick is all fun and fancy until it's wiped off on the rim of your glass and left behind on each bite of party snack. Feathering, smudging, fading, or the tragic teeth marks are the signs of lipstick gone wrong. Luckily, there are ways to set yourself up for success with beautifully bright lips that last all day and all night.
Follow these 5 steps for how to make red lipstick last way longer.
1. Exfoliate
The key to smooth application is to start with a good base. Exfoliating helps to ensure that lipstick glides on easily and looks good. Many people deal with dry lips at some point, regardless of time of year. Using a sugar lip scrub creates both a hydrated and smooth surface for any lipstick to adhere. The gentle scrub will buff away roughness and leave lips soft with its conditioning ingredients, which helps combat post-lipstick dryness afterwards, as well.
2. Prime
A step that is often skipped, priming is essential for optimizing the wear of your lip color. Whenever a time arises when you need lipstick to last hours (and withstand elements like sweat), you need to start with a primer. It creates a prepped canvas and helps lock down the color on your lips for longer-lasting wear. A lesser-used technique—but helpful in a pinch!—is using matte concealer in lieu of primer, which also neutralizes the natural pinky tones of the lip to enhance the true tones of a lipstick color.
3. Line
Liner has always been, and will continue to be, the most important step in the lipstick-applying process. It's the best way to ensure lipstick won't bleed or feather outside the natural lips and into fine lines, especially when humidity or eating are factors. When using red lipstick, feathering creates a messy look that's hard to constantly fix, making lip liner extra important. Pro tip: Instead of just lining the outer edges of the lips, fill in the entire lip after lining the outer edges to ensure you'll get that longer-lasting color all over. Just make sure you're using a similar or matching color!
4. Blot
If the goal is setting up your red lip for long-lasting success, it's the blot and repeat that matters. After swiping on the first coat of your red lipstick, use a tissue to gently blot the color. Then, apply a second coat of your lipstick. It works even better if the second coat is applied in a "dab and twist" manner to get rich red color in every crease and crack.
5. Powder
This trick is only necessary when you really need lipstick to last hours and hours without touch-ups or having to worry. Using a translucent powder, gently swipe a very thin dusting over the applied red lip. Just as it sets your face makeup, it'll make sure your lipstick will stay for good. You can even then dab a final coat of your red lipstick over the powdered lips for a pop of color and even more reassurance.
No matter the color choice—nude, pink, red, or Cindy Crawford brick-brown—we guarantee your lipstick routine will be sealed tight after using these foolproof tips.