Thin Lips No More!

Corrie Dubay is a makeup artist extraordinaire and owner of Midwest Makeup Supply and

Femme Makeovers  She is a friend and hero to girls everywhere.  She is beyond talented.

Corrie has a newsletter that she sends out with helpful makeup tips like these and is reprinted here with her permission.  I am certain you’ll find this useful!  You can sign up for her newsletter here.

Love, Hannah

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Raise your hand if you have thin lips (…slowly raises hand….).  Raise your hand if you’ve tried to correct a thin lip but ended up looking like Ronald McDonald (it’s okay…we’ve all been there!). Don’t panic – I have a few tips that will help give you fuller-looking lips without looking like a clown. BUT!!! Like I say with everything It’ll take a little practice – so dig out your lip pencils. Class is in session.

So – most of us weren’t born with a perfect pout…but that’s okay. We can totally cheat it and make it LOOK like we have lips that would make Ms. Monroe envious.
Before we begin – you’re going to need a few tools. Don’t even attempt to try this without the following items:

1. Lip liner pencil
2. Pencil sharpener
3. Lipstick
4. Lip brush

Why do I need all these things you ask? Because it will be next to impossible to get a nice, clean overdrawn lip without using a pencil. The second half of that is you don’t want to ruin your perfectly drawn on lip by applying lipstick from the tube. There’s not enough of an edge to create a clean line – so…applying with a brush allows for keeping that edge crisp and clean. Plus – it provides you with a more even application.

Alright – first we need to determine what it is we want or need to correct. Our upper lip? Our lower lip? Or perhaps both our upper and lower lip is a little on the thin side. Once you’ve figured out what it is you want to correct – grab your pencil. I like using a sharp, but slightly dull pencil (if that makes any sense). I like to sharpen the pencil to get a nice tip, then swipe it across my hand or a towel once or twice to take off the super sharp point. I find it’s easier to draw with a semi-dull point. Crazy, I know.

Next – start by finding your natural lip line. I find it’s easier if we lightly line our natural lip line first so we have a visual guide to go on. Once I’ve done that, I continue to go line by line, on the outside of my previous line, until I get the shape (here’s where you get to play and experiment with different shapes) and fullness I’m after. Be sure to play with a few different shapes to determine what you like and looks best. Example: do you want a rounded cupids bow, or something a little more pointed and sharper.

Also – going line by line allows you to correct any mistakes if you make them before things get too out of hand. It’s easier to add than to take away. So if you just start drawing and mess up – it’ll be much harder to fix.

**IMPORTANT NOTES: We are looking for symmetry. We want to make sure our lips look even. The best way to do this is to step back from your mirror after you think you have it done and look to make sure things are balanced. It’s really hard to tell when you’re looking at them inches from the mirror.

Second thing to keep in mind – ideally you want your lip liner to meet in the corner of your mouth. If you start drawing your lip line outside of where it meets in the corner, you’re tip-toeing into Ronald McDonald land. Not saying that you can’t do that – but it will overly exaggerate your lips and you could end up looking like a drag queen (which isn’t bad – it just might not look as natural).

Last thing I’d like to note is I typically prefer to over draw the upper lip more than the lower. I feel like an over drawn upper lip can still look relatively natural up close, where an over drawn lower lip can look a little strange if we go too far past our natural lip line. But hey! It’s your call! It’s makeup and you’re supposed to have fun with it.

Here’s an example of where you would over draw (or correct) based on your lip shape. Hey!! No making fun of my drawing! 😀

Ultimately – you need to determine how far outside your natural lip you want and are willing to go. One thing to be mindful of is when you DO overdraw your lip, you have to be careful when eating, drinking, etc. because you’ll be more likely to smudge it. You’re essentially drawing on your face so just keep that in mind.

Once you get your new lip shape drawn on, you now can apply your lipstick. Any of you who have had lessons with me know how adamant I am about using a brush to apply lipstick. You can use the brush to easily (and cleanly) paint right up to your lip line, get much more even coverage and have so much more precision when applying the lipstick.

Over drawn lips can look great if done correctly. I encourage you to give it a try! It can really enhance your look.

A few more lip tips and tricks:

• Even if you’re not overdrawing your lips it’s important to use a lip liner. It helps keep your lipstick in place and from bleeding.
• I try to match my liner to my lipstick if I can and think this is especially important when using reds. If I don’t have something that matches, I try to get as close as possible…..
• …However, if I want to create a little more dimension with my lips, I’ll use something slightly darker than my lipstick and blend my lipstick into the liner (more so in the corners).
• Using a slightly lighter color (to highlight) on the center of your lips will create a fuller looking lip as well. Just make sure you smoosh/blend together well (we want a nice gradient) – not a hard edge.
• To aid in longevity of the lipstick, fill your natural and newly drawn lip in with your liner before applying the lipstick. If the lipstick wears off, you’ll have that liner underneath to color your lips.
• Line your lips, apply lipstick, blot on a tissue, reapply lipstick and dust very lightly with a loose setting powder for a longer-wearing matte finish.
• Anything that says “Long-wear” is going to be very drying on your lips. So after wearing a long-wear product – throw some lip balm on to help keep your lips from getting super dry!
• If you like a shiny lip – know that gloss over lipstick will oftentimes shorten the wear of the lipstick underneath (also – worth a mention – cause your hair to stick to your mouth! Eeek! Drives me nuts!!). So if you do like to wear a gloss, bring something to touch up with.