The secret to plump lips

Exfoliation is a daily routine

If your lips are dry, dehydrated, and flaky, they will not reflect light and hence will appear dull. To tackle this, exfoliate your lips every morning with a gentle lip scrub. It is not too harsh, but provides enough friction to remove any flakes from your lips. Not to mention, it tastes delicious! Exfoliating also helps increase circulation in your lip area; adding a flush of colour and making your lips look bigger naturally.

Create a nude base

If you plan to give your lip line some help, start by making your entire lip area nude. Apply concealer to the outline of your lips and blend it in toward the centre, this way you are hiding your true lip line. Then, apply a little bit of powder on top of the concealer to set it. This trick creates a uniform canvas for your lip liner and helps to ensure your lip colour will not move.

Stay close to your lip line

Don’t stay too far from your natural lip line—our experts recommends lining just outside the vermilion border (the ridge of your lip line), but not onto the skin. To make your lips look plump, fill in the entire lip with the liner, as well.

Say no to dark lip liners

To make your lips appear larger, line just slightly outside the lip line with a nude, pink nude or neutral Lip Pencil. Dark lip pencils can create the illusion of smaller or slimmer lips and they can make your mouth appear flat, rather than full and voluminous.

Give your bottom lip more importance

Add a hint of light to the centre of the bottom lip to give your lips a pouty fullness. Try adding a hint of lipstick in a lighter shade than your base colour for an ombré effect. Dot a bit of lip-gloss on your bottom lip to give it shine. Make sure to apply any powders after your lip colour is on, but before you add any gloss.

Add a bit of shine

A little shimmer adds light reflection and fullness to your lips. So if want to boost your pout, grab a Lip Gloss. You can wear it by itself or layer it on top of your favourite lip colour for extra oomph.

Highlight your cupid’s bow and the lower lip

Use one of the lighter shades in our Quad Bronzers or even a White Eye Pencil to create the illusion of light on the high points of your mouth. Apply a small amount just above the cupid’s bow on the top lip, and a just below the lip line. Blend well with your fingertips so there are no obvious lines of demarcation.

Add a little shadow below your lip

Some makeup artists use a water resistant light brown Eye Pencil to create a small shadow on your chin, underneath the centre of your bottom lip, thus making the lips look plump. Be extremely careful doing this, too much and you will end up with a beard! Just a light flick of the wrist is enough to create this 3D effect.