Statement Lips: How To

For a long time, I was absolutely terrified of wearing a bold lip. Its a very hard line to walk between statement making and looking like something went horribly wrong. Over the years, I've picked up a few tips that makes statement lips (darker, bolder, brighter) colors look crisp and neat without too much effort.

So, first things first: you'll want to exfoliate lips and use a hydrating balm while you do your makeup. Then when you're ready to work on the lips, wipe off the excess balm and apply a TINY bit of concealer. It neutralizes your natural lip color and makes for a nice base for the color to stick to. But remember, the tiniest bit goes a long way!

My lips with only concealer- I used Maybelline Mineral Power in Medium

Next comes the liner if you choose to use it- I wouldn't suggest overdrawing your natural lip line- I find that drawing just at my natural lip line works best.

After lining around the lips, hold the liner sideways and fill in your lips. Then, apply your lipstick of choice. For this demonstration, I used NYC's Retro Red.

At this point you can run out the door, but I like to do two extra steps which I feel make a huge difference. Take a creamy concealer that's one or two shades lighter than your skin tone and with a lip brush, carefully draw a thin line all around your lips (I used MAC Studio Fix concealer in NC25).

I know this looks crazy right now! Hang in there!

The last step is to clean off your lip brush and blend the concealer line. This extra step makes your lips "pop" and also helps to perfect the contours of your lips helping them look fuller and more perfect.

Sorry about the super bright lighting!

Do you have any tips or tricks to rocking bold statement lips? Leave them down below!