A huge benefit to pulling off a matte lip, other than for the best selfie in town, is to have that incredible burst of color last you much longer than a regular liquid lip. It does not require multiple reapplications, holding on for hours on end.
A great matte lipstick will transform you. Whereas you looked great before, now you are stunning. But it requires a bit of work, even while taking much less time to pull off than a full makeup session. So how do you wear matte lipstick correctly?
Exfoliating Is Key!
Since you certainly do not want flaking lips to get in the way, create a soft canvas to work on by exfoliating that pout of yours. If you do not have exfoliating formula, you can opt for a toothbrush and Vaseline as well.
Once you are done with it, make sure to wash off the Vaseline fully and dry up the lips before continuing with the process. A lip scrub can also be made with some sugar and olive oil, sloughing away at your dead skin and leaving a freshly smoothed lip behind in the process.
Find the Right Shade
You will need to pick the right shade of lipstick for your skin tone.
- Fair skin tones look best with light pinks, beige, light peach and golden brown, with raspberry or orange reds giving an intense amount of drama.
- Medium is amazing with apricot, bright reds, medium pinks, and orangey peaches.
- Olives should stick to darker reds, darker roses, berry hues and dark apricot, as well as oxblood.
- Darker-skinned people will be pulling off the fuchsia, golden beige, dark berry and brownish reds, as well as the browns in chocolate and peach.
Hydrate!
Moisturize your lips before applying the lipstick in order to keep it nice and soft and looking beautifully plump. You can also simply apply argan, coconut, or sweet almond oil to your lips in preparation.
Get Your Lip Makeup Tools
You will need a lipstick brush to finish off the edges once you have applied the lipstick, or you can use a lip pencil to line the X of the Cupid’s bow as well as the full pout, before coloring it in. The pencil should be the same color as the lipstick itself. Rubbing your lips together will not work with matte lipsticks, making that lip brush a necessity.
Use Concealer
To finish off a sharp look to the lips, use a concealer to dap away at the edges with a Q-tip, cleaning up all the imperfections as it glides around. You can also apply some skin colored powder instead of the concealer.
Voila! You now look stunning with the shade of lipstick you love most, without the goo and the shine, and definitely no annoying hair strands sticking to you in the wind. Beautifully long-lasting is exactly how we love it.
Note: If you want to reapply your lipstick, you will want to remove everything. Touching up might not give the best effects all the time, so it might be better to try and create the right matte lips that last nice and long, the whole night through.
Makeup Tips for Matte Lipstick
The matte lipstick formulas today are a thousand times better than that seen from five years ago, of course, with hydrating oils added to the products, but there are still many beauty hacks you should know to pull off the best in matte lips that can happen.
- To make matte lips last for a longer period of time, even though they go for quite a few hours on their own, is to blot and apply over and over again before heading off. There is no way those lips are dulling out the color now.
- For a fuller lip, use a pencil liner to draw outside of your normal lip line. The matte coloring of the lipstick will not allow for the pencil to show up once applied, effectively giving you a larger and more seductive pout.
- Another trick to fuller lips comes from a quick dab of highlighting eyeshadow to the center of your lower lip before putting on the lipstick. It should be complementary to the shade itself, of course, and not clash in hues. Red lipsticks and nudes work best with a golden powder, while pinks and purples love the silver tones.
- To prevent a lipstick crease, opt for a non-greasy lip balm throughout the day, applied over the lipstick at will, keeping those matte lips of your nice and moisturized.
- To make the color pop nicely, use a concealer on your lips before putting on the lipstick, giving you a nice and neat look with bright pinks and nude matte lipsticks especially. Lip primers also have the same effect and prevent the color from bleeding out as you glide it on.
- You can opt for a sheer gloss over a matte lip for a bold look that is not as dramatic, giving a more laid-back vibe while removing any signs of lip imperfections as well. It looks fresh and dewy thus, but it might not be the look you are going for at the moment; this is optional.
- To remove matte lipstick that refuses to come out, use some Vaseline on a tissue to wipe it all off.
Photos via @carlibel, Instagram
