BY DANICA SMITH
This season mark your beauty with a signature pop of color for your summer day and cool nights with the perfect lippie. Bold lip color for an angelic girl’s night out or a day at the beach, bright lippies are all the rage this season. From orange to pink hues, gloss to matte finishes, a swatch of lipstick can do wonders on those sticky and hot, no makeup, makeup days.
Wearing a bold color on your lips may be a bit intimidating for those ladies afraid of color, but you can be rest assured that your days of admiration and wishing you could are gone! With a simple nude liner that matches your lip tone, depending on your complexion, from blush rose to dark brown, lined around your lips before applying your lipstick will help to neutralize the color, creating a subtle less vibrant tone than the original. This method allows the nude liner to blend seamlessly with your complexion towards the outer edge of the lips, making a perfect mix of color exclusively for you. While this method will add color towards the center of the lip it will not only enhance your pout, but will have you up to the times, boasting the hottest new trend the pm break lip. The ombre lip is achieved when color is placed from the deepest pigment to lightest pigment, similar to back in the day during the 90’s when black lip liner was all the rage. However, in this case it’s called a reverse ombre with the lightest color towards the outer perimeter of the lip making a seamless match with one’s complexion.
When applying lipstick of any finish especially matte it is important to keep your lips well conditioned. As many lipsticks on the market today are a matte finish with a drying formula such as liquid lipstick that are perfect for swimming because they maintain impactful color even while wet or eating. Consequently, liquid lipsticks tend to be drying on the lips and quite unattractive after numerous hours due to flakiness. This is why a good lip exfoliator is key to avoiding the appearance of dead skin and chapped lips, not to mention your lipstick will glide on smoother on soft supple lips. A simple and budget friendly tip to smooth lips is creating your own exfoliator with a mix of honey and sugar and rubbing softly on the lips with your fingers. This will help to remove and condition your smackers. A simple clean washcloth or toothbrush with warm water is another convenient exfoliator and does the job well. You can purchase one of my favourite lip exfoliators form the Body Shop Lip Cuff $14.99, it’s super convenient as you apply it just as you would a normal lipstick. In addition smooth, conditioned lips are also as important, so be sure to apply chap stick before any lipstick regardless the formula, expect for lip gloss as they contain conditioning properties, such as jojoba and coconut oil. EOS Lip Balm $4.99 is perfect for maintaining well-conditioned lips.
The longevity and the color payoff are probably the most important when it comes to a bold lipstick. So to insure your lipstick lasts all day just like any coat of paint, a primer is your best friend. This will create a barrier for the lipstick to adhere too, as well as a smooth canvas for it to glide on, while enhancing the color for a more intense look, such as MAC Cosmetics Prep and Prime Lip $20.00. Lip Tip Dab your favorite concealer in place of a store bought primer on your lips work just fine, as it mutes discoloration, making your lips an even tone for even coverage, making colour more vibrant.
So now that we have the fundamentals to achieving the perfect bold lip let’s get to the fun part, color trends! Beginning with the most popular color of all time the infamous red lip, a colour that will never go out of date, as it screams old Hollywood. Paired with a cat eye black liner, is all you need to shine bright like a diamond. Although there are many variations of tones and colors of reds on the market, a blue based red is best for the majority of tones and with my tips above you can wear any bold color with confidence. Vivid pinks look great complemented with a couple of layers of mascara, just be sure it’s waterproof in case you end up at the beach. Neon orange hues are a staple for darker tones as it brings out the yellow/red undertones enhancing one’s complexion with a gold eyelid and last but definitely not least, bright corals. With medium tanned to olive complexions, vivid corals match perfect with a hint of champagne shimmer on the eye for an evening summer date.
However, keeping up with MAC, NARS, Too Faced Cosmetics and other department store brands and their constant new collections can become a huge expense on a girl’s pocket. So let’s not forget about the drug store brands like L’Oréal, Maybelline, Cover Girl and NYX and their new summer collections. Drugstore makeup has come a long way in comparison to over the counter products in the last few years at times even exceeding expectations at a much lower cost. Try some of my favourite new drugstore lippies to keep you hot and ready for summer fun!!! Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick 109 (Bright Orange lipstick), Milani Color Statement Lipstick Sweet Nectar (High Octane Orange) and Flamingo Rose (Hot Pink), Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids Lipstick (Shocking Coral), Milani Color Statement Lipstick in Flamingo Pose, NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Addis Ababa (Blue base Hot Pink) and New Maybelline Vivid Matte Collection.
