Sophisticated Lips

Back in style, a full set of pouty lips is essential to any pulled together look giving you sophistication and class when done well. Throw on a pair of sunglasses and a floppy hat and you can rival even classic beauties like Audrey Hepburn.

 Because lipstick contains moisture-sucking pigment drying out your pucker, cosmetics companies have now added moisturizers and even sun protection to lock in colour and protection.

 That doesn’t mean you don’t still need to moisturize your lips though. Take Olay’s ‘Total Effects 7X Serum’ for example. It soothes dry skin adding tone and texture while reducing any fine lines and wrinkles including the ones around your mouth so be sure to massage a little into the area around your mouth and lips everyday.

 Like any other art, applying lipstick takes times and practise. As with other make-up, the rule of thumb applies. Less is more. Of course, you want to look your best but you also don’t want to walk out your front door looking like a cast member of South Pacific.

 The clown line: There, I said it. We all know about the line. We see it on celebrities like Pamela Anderson, Haifa Wehbe and countless others but again, they are performers that aren’t portraying a classy or even sophisticated image and as tacky as it is, they can get away with it.

 Applying lipstick after drawing a crisp lip outline is an important key in the finishing touch since it helps to keep the colour from bleeding but it must be blended to be incorporated with the rest of your lips.

 Use a freshly sharpened lip pencil (lip liner) either in the same colour as the lipstick or slightly darker colour. Avoid colours that are more than one shade darker (or lighter).

 The beauty of lipstick is not only in the gorgeous colours but also in the way you apply them to make thin lips full, uneven lips even and so on.

 To balance the appearance of your lips while lining (before applying lipstick), first, divide the mouth into sections, and work on one section at a time until all the dotted lines are connected. And be aware that matte colours make lips look thinner while shimmery, glossy colours make your lips look fuller.

Thin lips

Use a lip liner to outline your lips just outside their natural edge, making the outline slightly wider on the top and bottom. Then brush on a layer of lip colour inside the outline. Spread on a layer of lip gloss on top of your lip colour.

Full lips

Apply foundation or concealer to the edges of your lips to blur the edge. Use a lip liner to outline your lips just inside the lip line, then brush on a layer of matte lip colour.

Uneven lips

Enlarge a thin top lip by outlining the upper lip just outside the edge using a lip liner, then outline the lower lip drawing the line on the on the natural edge. Brush on lip colour inside the line, applying more colour to the thinner half of the lip.

Shapeless lips

Outline upper lip with a lip liner to emphasize the 'v' in the middle. Draw the line just outside the lip edge of the bottom lip to make it look fuller. Brush on dark, matte lip colours for even more definition.

Uneven toned lips

Cover upper and lower lips with a little foundation. Outline lips with lip liner. Choose the lipstick colour, then begin applying lipstick by brushing a darker shade onto the lighter lip and a lighter shade onto the darker lip.

Lastly, use a lip gloss to add extra shine after applying lipstick. It can be tinted or colorless and you can use it alone or over lipstick. Apply only to the centre of your lips since it tends to 'bleed' beyond the lip edges. Lip gloss is not recommended for use on mature skin as the extra shine can draw attention to the tiny lines around the mouth