Lipsticks are perhaps the most basic make-up necessity that every woman needs. The transition from girlhood to womanhood often begins with your first lipstick. Nearly every woman has several lipsticks rolling around in their make-up bag. If you woke up late and you don’t have time left to apply your make-up, quickly putting on some lipstick can at least make you look decent enough for work. However, despite all that and despite the necessity of lipstick, few women tend to deviate from the traditional way of applying lipstick, and fewer women know of unusual tricks that can make their overall experience with lipsticks much better. To help you get the most out of your favourite shades, here are nine lipstick hacks every woman should know.
Hack #1: Exfoliate your lips for smoother lipstick application
Dry, chapped lips can clump up your lipstick as you put it on. Exfoliate your lips with a clean, disposable mascara wand or with the bristles of your toothbrush to slough off any flaky skin. You can apply a balm beforehand to make the exfoliation easier.
Hack #2: Make bold lipstick last longer with powder
Bold lipstick doesn’t fade away equally all over your lips, making it look really bad. To make it last longer, after application, there’s three things you have to do. First, blot as usual. Second, dust your lips lightly with powder. And finally, reapply the lipstick. Blotting and dusting with powder effectively gets rid of excess oil from your lips thereby making the color stick to your lips for longer.
Hack #3: Stop lipstick bleeding with foundation
Bold lipstick or those that are a little more liquid than usual are prone to bleeding and feathering. To prevent this, apply some clear foundation around the outside of your lips before applying the lipstick. The foundation will seal off the fines lines in your skin that cause the lipstick feathering.
Hack #4: Keep lipstick off your teeth with your finger
The lipstick on the inner portion of your lips is usually what gets stuck on your teeth. To get rid of it easily without ruining the rest of your lipstick, stick your clean, pointer finger in your mouth then wrap your lips around it. Once you pull out your finger, the excess lipstick on the inner portion of your lips will stick onto your finger.
Hack #5: Get the perfect Cupid’s bow lip with an “X”
To get a really pronounced Cupid’s bow, make an “X” on the center of your upper lip using your lip liner before going around the rest of your lips. Apply the wand or the lipstick to your lips by following the angle made by the “X” from the lip liner.
Hack #6: Get the right lipstick colour with concealer
Often, you’ll get a different lipstick shade after applying it on your lips from the shade shown on the package. This could be because your natural lip color is showing through the lipstick. Try applying some concealer on your lips first before putting on the lipstick to achieve the lipstick colour you were expecting.
Hack #7: You can use lipstick as cheek tint
Need a blush but you don’t have one or you don’t have a color you like? Choose one from your collection of lipsticks instead. Just swipe the lipstick at an angle on your cheeks then blend properly. Light, rosy- or pink-coloured lipstick will work best for this since dark-coloured ones may look too unnatural.
Hack #8: Get 3D lips
The trick to getting 3D lips lies in the highlighting effect. After applying a nude lip liner, matte lipstick, and blotting, apply a shimmery eye shadow at the center of your lips, just below the Cupid’s bow and just above the bottom lip line. To make the shimmer look natural, blend the edges of the shadow with your lipstick using your usual lip brush.
Hack #9: Fix a broken lipstick with heat
If your lipstick broke, just heat up both ends with a lighter then place them back together again. Don’t heat it up for too long or else you’ll end up with a sticky mess. Place the fused lipstick in the fridge for a couple of minutes to secure them together.
