If you’re enamoured with a bright lip colour but are used to the safety of a less conspicuous nude, a lip stain is the perfect entry point into a bold pout. Not as obvious as an opaque lipstick but still packing a colourful punch, using your lip colour as a stain will allow you to embrace colour while remaining a touch undone- think of it as dipping your toes into the coloured lip waters.
Bonus points as opting for a lip stain will erase the need for touchups- stains actually look better with wear.
Your tool kit:
– The lip colour you’ve been dreaming about but have been too scared to wear (I mixed two shades of Ellis Faas Hot Lips)
– A similarly hued lip gloss (I used Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro Notorious in 517)
– A creamy concealer (Bobbi Brown Instant Full Cover Concealer worked well here)
– Lanolips 101 Ointment (or any lip balm but this one is the best multi-tasker)
Start by dousing your lips in balm as the next step is going to seriously dry them out otherwise. Use your fingers to pat concealer into your lips to give you a bit of a blank canvas to work with- this will also sheer out the colour of your lipstick. Use a fine lip brush to apply your lip colour as a sheer wash- while precision isn’t so important with a stain, this will give you greater control around the cupid’s bow. Use your finger to press more colour into the centre of your lips. If you want to create a more obvious gradient, as we have above, apply more concealer to the outer corners of your lips (this will deliver an ombré effect). Finish by adding a touch of gloss to the centre of your lips to add a hint more colour to your pout, as well as attracting the light to create the illusion of slightly plumper lips.
For this shoot, we created a Kenzo runway inspired “blush bomb” by applying lip balm to the brow and cheek bones, which allowed the colour to really take to the skin. I used my fingers to melt a Nars Multiple in Fox Dancer into the skin, then added more intense colour by buffing in the Fetishized Blush from the Nars Man Ray collection with a stippling brush.
Photographer: Melissa Cowan
Model: Cate Bennett at Vivien’s
Makeup: Gemma Watts
