Beauty 101: Lips

Products from top to bottom:
Mint Julips exfoliating lip scrub Lush Cosmetics
Ashton Liquid Lipstick Anastasia Beverly Hills
Pomegranate Lip Balm Burt's Bees

For my last blog post, I am choosing to show how to apply a liquid lipstick. Liquid lipsticks are my favorite products because they are matte. In Bobbi Brown's book, Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual she describes matte products as "Matte products are dense and last the longest. They contain less moisture than other products, so they adhere to the lips and don't fade as quickly." (Brown, 82). My favorite brand for liquid lipsticks is Anastasia Beverly Hills. I fin that their lipsticks are the most long lasting without completely drying out my lips. My favorite shade is Ashton a Brown color that is recommended for medium lips in Brown's book. She says not to use colors that are too light as they can look ashy and unnatural (Brown, 80). The other colors recommended for my lip shade are rose, pink, orange and warm red. These colors are what mainly makes up my collection of lip products.
Liquid lipsticks can be quite drying so I start out by using a lip exfoliater followed by a lip balm to keep my lips moisturized. My next step is to line my lips with a lip pencil. I used the Kylie Cosmetics lip liner in Dolce K. The point of a lip liner is to prevent the product from bleeding outside the lip. This is not necessary for liquid lipsticks but it helps serve as a guide where to follow with my applicator. The next step is to use the liquid lipstick. I outline the lips using the guide from my lip liner on the bottom lip then fill in. I press my lips together to fill in the the inside of my top lip and get rid of the excess product on the bottom lip. This is the part where I make the most mistakes is following my cupids bow. Very carefully, use the doe foot applicator to line my lips and fill in any blank spots. Once I have all of my lipstick on, I go in with a small concealer brush and clean up any messy lines around my lips. That concludes my lip routine.

The Final Look

Thank you for reading! What is your favorite lip color?


Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro.
Springboard Press, 2011.

Eyebrows

For me, eyebrows are one of the most important parts of my makeup. Eyebrows frame your face and provide definition. I have dark hairs but very sparse brows so I use a variety of tools, going from top to bottom I use a brush and pomade when I want my eyebrows to look darker and more defined, a brow pencil for everyday when I want to have my brows full but not as dark as what the pomade does and concealer with a small detail brush to outline my brows an clean up some of the mistakes I may have made. In her book, Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual, Bobbi Brown mentions that the start of the brow should follow an imaginary line following the outside of the nose to the inside corner of the eye (Brown, 90). Another way you can find the shape of your brow is by following three imaginary lines that can guide your shape. Start from the side of your nose and imagine an imaginary line that goes through your inner corner of your eye and to the start of your brow, another from the side of your nose through the pupil to show where your arch should be and the last one using your nose and outer corner of your eye to where your brow should end.
Now that you have your shape, fill your brows in. The materials mentioned before are what I like to use to fill them in however there are also brow gels and powders that you can use. To use an eyebrow pencil, Brown says, "Using an eyebrow pencil in a shade that matches the brow color, fill with a light, feathery stroke, mimicking the look of hair." (Brown, 92). To start filling in, I outline the bottom of my brow then the top using my pencil then using those light feathery strokes that Brown mentioned earlier to fill my brow in. Once hey are full, I use a spoolie brush through my brow hairs and soften the lines used to fill in my brows. Once they are a nice fullness, I use my concealer and detail brush to outline my brow clean up some of the mistakes I may have made. Once my concealer is blended I am done with my eyebrows.

Do you fill in your brows regularly?