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The Perfect Pout

For most women, lipstick is the cosmetics equivalent of shoes: an instant mood-booster that’s much better than buying new clothes because you don’t have to get undressed to try it on. Plenty of women have told us they actually feel naked without lipstick.

Applying lipstick is the ultimate feminine gesture - but most of us have to do it more often than we’d like because it wears off so quickly. So we set out to discover the secrets of successful lipstick-shopping - and of making lipstick stick.

Colour Savvy

The worst reason to buy a lipstick is just because you love the colour. Understanding your skin tone is essential for error-proof lipstick shopping, believes make-up artist Brigitte Reiss-Anderson (who creates make-up for Italian designer Valentino’s catwalk shows, among others), and then being able to identify which colours work best with it. ‘The wrong hue can make you look sick, but the right one makes you look gorgeous.’ So, here are Brigitte’s guidelines:

Olive skins look good in light brown or raisin shades, with warm undertones that will light up your face. For a deeper colour, go for the browner reds (like blackberry or wine).
Fair-complexioned women should seek out brown-beiges with complexion-warming pink or peach undertones. For more dramatic colour, try blue-based or cherry tones with a hint of brown.

Women with really pale skin and really black hair (think of Angelica Huston and Paloma Picasso) are luckiest of all: ‘They can use anything so long as it’s a real contrast, including fuchsia, bright red and day-glo orange.’

dark skin can carry off the deepest (but not the brightest) reds of all: those with dark blue or purplish undertones. Deep browns with wine, purple or bluish tones can look stunning, too.

Brigitte Reiss-Anderson warns the very fair- or very dark-skinned to steer clear of wishy-washy colours. ‘If those women try to put on a pale rose, pale beige or a pale orange, they’ll look like they’re ill.’

TIP One make-up artist told us that her pet theory is that any two lipstick colours mixed together give a great new colour. (It’s certainly fun to try out.) Or copy make-up professionals and invest in a basic palette from an art supplies store, and use it to mix and match lipsticks and glosses. But keep brushes dry - water will inhibit blending, as most lipsticks are oil-based.

Look	Coverage	a.k.a.	Extra Features
Glossy	Very sheer, giving shine	Lip shine/lip sheen/lip polish	Has added moisturising ingredients, which can help dry skin. You can wear it with lip pencil or over a matte lipstick to alter their texture.
Sheer	Ultra-light, with a little shine	Semi-sheer/lip treat/stain/transparent	Moisturises, and won’t wear off as quickly as gloss. Because these are usually summer shades, there’s often an SPF added.
Creamy	Opaque coverage, with little shine	Moisturising lipstick/lipmake rouge/velvet lipstick/hydrating	Features conditioners, so lips feel smooth; colour usually wears evenly. Offers the widest choice of shades.
Matte	Extremely opaque, flat colour, with the most coverage	Demi-matte/semi-matte	The maximum amount of pigment, so giving longer wear. Often leaves a flattering, temporary stain after it’s worn off.

Quick Change Act

Today’s clever lipstick ‘accessories’ can give your best-loved lipstick a wardrobe of different effects, adding a sweep of gloss to make it shine, a hint of shimmering gold or silver, or intensifying the colour. Try Lancaster Personal Choice Lipsticks, BeneFit Cosmetics Depth Charge and Light Switch, or surf the cosmetics counters for the many other options avabailable.

Otherwise, resurrect old favourites in your make-up bag:
For shimmer... apply lipstick lightly, then cover with a sweep of an old pearlised lipstick, or a gold colour.

For sheer cove... outline the lips with the edge of the lipstick, then cover the entire lip with colourless gloss (or lipsalve), and gently rub the lips together.
For high gloss... put on lipstick as normal, then coat with clear gloss.

Lipslicking Good

• If chapped lips are a problem, make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin suggests: ‘Apply Vaseline and then buff with a baby’s toothbrush to get rid of dry skin.’

• How can you achieve lip colour that goes the distance? Bobbi Brown says it’s all in the preparation: ‘Apply a good lip balm and let it absorb thoroughly before applying lipstick - if your lips are dry or coated with waxy lip balm, your lipstick won’t perform well. Build up a depth of colour by applying lipstick, then blotting it with a tissue to leave a stain on your lips. Repeating these steps before applying a final coat should give you a deeper, longer-lasting result.’

• Women with tiny lines round the mouth will find lip liner particularly helpful, because it helps stop lipstick from bleeding. Alternatively, Colourings No Wander is a clever wax-based invisible pencil which you apply outside the lip line to stop bleeding.

• ‘Lip liner gives the mouth definition and helps lipstick stay on longer,’ says Mary Greenwell. ‘You can correct lips and make them bigger with a lip pencil. You don’t need a different colour for each lipstick; just use a basic neutral colour a few tones darker than your natural lip colour.’ On black women’s lips, Mary sometimes uses a brown eye pencil as lip liner.

• Veteran make-up artist Wayne Massarelli (who lends his skills to movies, TV and still photography) has another technique to help lipstick stay put: ‘Smooth foundation over the edges of your lips, especially if you intend to accentuate the fullness of your lips with your lip liner. Then use whatever translucent powder you ordinarily use to set your foundation; take a small brush and apply a little of the powder to your lips to set the line. This stops bleeding and feathering.’ Alternatively, BeneFit Cosmetics Lip Plump acts like foundation for lips, helping lipstick stay put and actually giving the appearance of fuller, softer lips.

• Make-up artist Jeanine Lobell, creator of her own range of cosmetics, Stila, creates a bee-sting pout by applying a rosy-brown lipstick, then dabbing a bit of concealer in the middle of the bottom lip. ‘It lights the lipstick one shade in the centre, and makes lips look bigger.’

• Scared of dark lip shades? Look for transparents, sheers or stains, recommends Mary Greenwell: ‘The sheer formula allows darker colours to be worn by women who usually feel they are too strong, and it also makes for quick and easy application.’

• Lis Williams, Revlon’s in-house make-up expert, advises: ‘Dark colours make lips look smaller; a light colour will expand the mouth.’

• Frosted lipsticks - which drift in and out of fashion - only look great on very young lips. On anyone over 25, they can be instantly ageing, because they highlight lip wrinkles.

• This is every model’s technique to avoid the embarrassment of lipstick on her teeth: once lipstick has been applied, stick your index finger in your mouth, close your lips around it and pull your finger out. Any lipstick which was inside your lips will now have been transferred to your finger.

• Any kind of oil will dissolve even long-lasting lipstick on contact. So a well-dressed salad is likely to remove all lip colour - and probably some foundation, too.

Tip Apply your long-lasting lipstick with a lipbrush and blot, then repeat. Then put on any favourite clear or coloured lipgloss or a sheer, slightly shiny lipstick (often called stains) as a ‘top coat’. The long-lasting lipstick will give you a basic colour, and you will just have to touch up the top coat.

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