How to Rock a Bold Lip

The colour I'm wearing here is the Revlon Fuchsia Fusion. Another great line of bright lip colours
is the Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids in Fuchsia Flash or Vivid Rose.

I love lists. I love reading them, I love making them, I love the little numbers or dots or dashes you put in front of the things you're listing.... Yeah, lists are awesome. So awesome that I have compiled one for you, guys, on "How to Rock a Bold Lip."

The first step to any look is season. In the fall/winter, deep, dark lips were a big trend. However, since we're slowly moving away from winter, and Valentine's Day is around the corner-ish (and cue the groans, moans, and tears of all single folk) I figured I would drift away from a deep, vampy red and show you guys a bold fuchsia pink lip instead! Don't get me wrong, I love me some red lips, but I rarely wear a bold pink lip and, sometimes, it can be daunting. Everybody wears red, but how many wear pink? And none of that natural pink either. Because Valentine's day is about three weeks away (not that I'm counting or anything), it's the perfect excuse to try something new. Well, any day is the perfect excuse, but you know, it's...festive.


Step one: Exfoliate

• I like to use my LUSH Bubblegum Sugar Scrub, but you can easily make this at home for a lot less than 10$ using:
•  2 parts brown sugar to 1 part coconut oil and 1/2 tsp of Vitamin E (you can just burst one of those tablet things your mom forces down your throat after supper) and mix that all together. 
• Or your tooth brush works great too if you want to go the less simple route. 
• This step ensures that your lips are all smooth and there's no dead skin clumping up your pout. 

Step two: Moisturize

• Cracks in your lips are only more defined by a dark/bold lip colour and that ain't cute, so this step is super important if you're going to be wearing a matte lip colour. I like to use my Maybelline Dr. Rescue Baby Lips in Too Cool for this, but any lip balm will do. 

Step three: Line

• After I moisturize, I like to let the balm set for a minute or two before moving along. I don't think it helps or hinders anything, I just feel weird slathering liner all over my lips while their still lathered in lip balm. 
• Once your lips are all moisturized, though, grab a lip liner that is close to the lip colour you'll be wearing. With lighter, natural lip colours, I skip this step, but since we're going bold, it's important to line to prevent the colour from bleeding. 
• Side note: You don't need to go out and buy every single shade of lip pencil there is out there, just stick to the three basic lip colours: a nude, a pink, and a red. 
• Using the pink lip pencil, line your lips and fill them in. This will help the colour appear more vibrant.

Step four: Apply!

• It seems like a lot to do just to put on lipstick, but it's all worth it for the perfect lip. There's no special tips or trick to applying lipstick, so just put it on, girl! If you want to be fancy, you can use a brush, but it's not necessary.

Step five: (Optional) Gloss

• If you like that extra shine on your lips feel free to apply a clear gloss to your lips, or one that's the same colour as the lip colour you just applied.

 The next step into rocking the bold lip is the eyes. When I go bold, I like to go bold. In the above photo, I did a light smokey eye using my Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette, some major winged eyes, and a touch of mascara with some falsies glued on for added effect.
If you're going for a classic red lip or a vampy lip, I suggest a no makeup makeup look for the eyes for daytime wear. This can be accomplished as follows:

Step one: Prime

• Prime your eyes with an eyeshadow base. For this look, I recommend the Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin. It's a champagne toned primer that will give your eyes a natural look with a bit of shimmer. 
• Another base I love is the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Soft Ochre which completely eliminates the veins on your eye lids. 

Step two: Line

• If you can't leave your house without eyeliner on, ditch the harsh black liner for the day time and try using a dark chocolate brown colour instead. It's less harsh and still defines your eyes. For this, I like to take my angled brush and use the darkest shade in the Naked Basics palette as my liner. An eye pencil works just as well as an eyeshadow for lining. 
• Side note: I only line my top lash line, but if you like, you can take your pencil liner, preferably in a rose gold or nude colour, and line your waterline for brighter eyes. 
• If you feel comfortable with just layering on the mascara, feel free to skip this step.

Step three: Lashes

• Once you're done lining, take your favourite mascara and do a few coats of that on the top lashes. If you're happy with how they look, great! If not, take a pair of falsies and glue those bad boys on. 
• Tip & Trick: False lashes are tricky and scary! The best way to put them on is by using your fingers (tweezers near my eyes terrify me) and don't close your eyes when you put them on. Look straight at your reflection and slightly down, then stick the middle of the lash on first, then press the edges more firmly into place. For better staying power, use mascara to help the fake lashes blend and stick to your real lashes.

**For nighttime wear go bold or go home! For dark lips when I'm going out at night, I like to do dark eyes too. It gives the look a more sultry feel, I think. I don't know if that's what other people glean, but oh well. A vampy lip deserves vampy eyes so go with a dark smokey eye for added effect.**


Now that the face is done (side note, I do my face/foundation and brow routine prior to putting on any eye or lip products hence it not being mentioned in my lip tutorial), we'll move along to outfits!

Since my lip is a bright pink lip in honour of probably the most hated, most commercialized day of all time, Valentine's Day, I think a nude-pink theme would suit the look. I chose a coral ombre top which can be paired with either a black skater skirt or simply worn with leggings with a cardigan thrown overtop. When I rock the vampy lip, I found it a bit harder to pair outfits with it, so I recommend sticking with a dark plum piece of clothing and black everything else. The dark plum will compliment your lips since we don't want anything to clash.

And finally, the last step!

*****CONFIDENCE******

Girl, you are not getting anywhere if you're constantly hanging your head down, mentally berating yourself for not just going with a natural look that day. Keep that head up and be proud. Do you know how long it takes to put all this stuff on and then going through the hell of taking it all off? The skill? The effort? Especially halfway through the day when you might start to regret your killer look, trust me, don't! The only reason why you should be frowning in that bathroom mirror is because your lips are in desperate need of a touch up, not your whole look! It's a hot mess and a waste of product when you decide to go au naturelle halfway through the day. We do not waste products, drugstore or otherwise. Just tally in your head the cost of everything you have on your face. Then you'll seriously rethink wiping it off because you can't commit to a bold lip.
For me? I had on me my:

1.  Too Faced Primed & Poreless Face Primer (~40$ at Sephora)
2.  Revlon Photo Ready Foundation (16.99$ at Target) which was mixed with the 
3. Revlon Skinlights Face Illuminator in Bare Light (15.99$ at the grocery store beauty department)
4.  Tarte Park Avenue Princess Bronzer (~40$ at Sephora)
5. Covergirl Mineral Blush (~10$ I think, it was a gift years ago)
6. Shiseido Eyebrow Pencil (??$ it was my mother's...)
7. Urban Decay Naked Basics (36$ at Sephora) 
8. Maybelline Masterprecise Liquid Eyeliner (~8.99$ at Shoppers Drugmart)
9. L'Oreal Million Lashes Volume Excess Mascara (6.99$ on sale at Shoppers Drugmart)
10. Maybelline Dream Lumi Concealer (8.99$ at Shoppers Drugmart)
11. Random Forever 21 Lashes (~3.80$ I think for a set of 3)
12. Maybelline Dr. Rescue Baby Lips Lip Balm (8.99$ at grocery store beauty department)
13. Revlon Fuchsia Fusion (7.99$ at Target)
14. LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub (9.95$ at LUSH)

See what I mean? That's not even going into brushes or applicators or anything extra. So, be confident in knowing that your face literally cost you more than 100$ the day you go BOLD.  

I find it ironic that while people crave attention, some more than others, they seldom do anything to draw that attention. So, the most important step to rocking a bold lip is to be confident in it. 

Makeup is like a mask. You wear it, you feel kickass, and at the end of the day, when it all comes off (you can mourn the hundreds of dollars you're washing off your face here) you're still you. And your face, at the end of the day, is worth so much more than any amount of makeup you buy and wear. Makeup does nothing if you can't love your natural face first.

Whichever look you choose, love it, rock it, own it.

XOXO,

A. Bean


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PPS- Tag your bold lip look under #aBOLDliplook and #LoveItRockItOwnIt on Instagram and/or Twitter tag me so I can see your BOLD lip look and feature it in my next post!