How to Improve Your Pout: A Beginner’s Guide to Lipstick
Reading Time: 6 minutes 
Looking to create the perfect pout? Look no further. In this guide, we’ll give you beginner-friendly tips on how to create your signature lip look. Put an end to dry lips, fading color, feathering and unfortunate shades. Here’s the step by step to dazzling lips.
Start With Exfoliation
The secret to soft, supple lips is exfoliation. The delicate skin on your lips can get dry. That’s because the skin of your lips is so thin and can easily lose moisture and become dehydrated. It’s important that you exfoliate your lips regularly. Doing so will remove unsightly dead skin and to keep your lips in perfect condition.
To make exfoliation easy, try our exfoliate stick.
With our mess-free exfoliate stick, removing dead skin cells is a breeze. Simply apply the exfoliate stick to dry, chapped lips and then use a wet terrycloth face towel in the shower to gently rub away any dead skin.
An alternative to the exfoliate stick is to create a homemade sugar scrub. Mix two parts cane sugar to one part olive or coconut oil and then apply to your lips. Rub off with a wet towel.
Psst… Here are 7 additional lipstick application tips that you don’t want to miss.
Moisturize for the Win
Follow up your exfoliation routine with our nourishing Rallye balm. The Rallye balm is formulated to eliminate dry lips forever.
How can we make such a promise with a lip balm? It all boils down to the ingredients. The Rallye balm contains the powerful antioxidant vitamin E, which hunts down and eliminates free radicals from damaging your skin, and castor seed oil, a well known moisturizing agent that can provide immediate relief against cracked lips. Additionally, our Rallye balm contains vitamin F-enriched shea butter and skin-healing aloe.
Not only can this lip balm be used as a daily moisturizer, it also provides a natural sheen to your lips. Be sure to let this balm soak in before eating, drinking or kissing.
You can purchase the Rallye lip balm by itself here or you can save a few extra bucks and purchase the Rallye balm and exfoliator stick duo here for a discounted price.
Use a Primer
When it comes to evening out your lip tone and ensuring long-lasting lip color, nothing beats primer. Similar to how eye primer can extend the life and wearability of your eye shadow, lip primer can be used to prevent lipstick creasing and smudging. Lip primer can help minimize any discoloration on your lips that can skew the color of your lipstick. Lastly, lip primer helps you produce a smoother surface.
To apply lip primer correctly, wait for your moisturizing lip balm to settle into your lips. Then, apply the lip primer, making sure to apply the primer to the outer edges of your lips. This prevents feathering.
There are many primers made for lips in the marketplace. However, if you’ll only be using lip primer for special occasions (where you really want the color to stand out and stay put), consider using your own face foundation as a DIY alternative.
Choose the Right Lipstick Shade
In order to find the perfect lipstick shade, you must know your skin tone and your skin’s undertone.
Here’s how it breaks down:
Skin tone is divided into four main categories:
- Fair – Transparent skin that burns quickly in the sun.
- Medium – Slightly darker than fair and tans after prolonged exposure to the sun.
- Olive – Bronze complexion that tans easily.
- Deep – Golden brown skin that also tans easily in the sun.
Skin undertone is further divided into three categories:
- Warm – Looks good in gold and white.
- Cool – Looks better in silver and off-white.
- Neutral – Can rock both silver and gold, white and off-white equally well.
Fair and warm skin looks best in peach, pale pinks, and nudes.
Fair and cool skin looks best in beige and bold reds.
All fair skin looks great in coral.
Medium and warm skin looks best in orange and copper.
Medium and cool skin looks best in cranberry and nude.
All medium skin looks great in orangish-red.
Olive and warm skin looks best in pink and coral.
Olive and cool skin looks best in red and wine.
All olive skin looks great in nude.
Deep and warm skin looks best in blue-ish red and orange.
Deep and cool skin looks best in berry and copper.
All deep skin looks great in wine.
Neutral undertones can choose from either the warm or neutral palettes.
For more information about finding your perfect shape of lipstick, check out this guide:
Tips for Finding Your Perfect Shade of Lipstick
Line Your Lips
Do you really need to use lip liner?
It’s a valid question. Lip liner seems like overkill. What’s the point of using it when you’re already using a lipstick?
Here are several reasons why lip liner is essential:
- Increase the fullness of your lips – If you have thinner lips, you can slightly overline your lips to give the illusion of fullness.
- Boost the longevity of your lipstick – When you wear lip liner, you won’t need to apply as much lipstick.
- Keep your lipstick from running – Lip liner keeps your lipstick from bleeding. Liner is especially important to pair with shiny formulas that tend to bleed.
- Substitute lipstick – In a pinch, you can use a lip pencil instead of a lipstick. Apply a lip pencil and smudge it into your lips to create a matte look.
When applying a lip liner, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Always sharpen your lip liner before you apply it. This gives the most precise line.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment with different lip shapes until you find the look that works best for you.
To provide added oomph to your lip color, choose a liner that’s similar in shade to your lipstick.
- For longer lasting color, be sure to color in the entire surface of your lips with a lip liner first before applying the lipstick and gloss.
Don’t Get Rid of Bad Shades
So, you’ve purchased a lipstick that was the wrong shade for your skintone— What do you do now?
Before you toss the offshade, you may be able to redeem it.
Here are a few ideas to do just that:
- Pair it with a different shade lip liner. A different undertone can dramatically change the appearance of your lipstick.
- Blend it with another lipstick that you actually like. This can deepen the look of your fave lipstick, allowing you to experiment without having to spend more money.
- Prime your lips with a flat color. Sometimes, an off shade will look better against the neutral canvas that a lip primer can provide.
Final Thoughts
Lipstick application is a whole lot like repainting an item. You sand off the old paint (exfoliate). You prep the surface (moisturize and prime) and let that layer dry. Next, you apply paint (your lipstick layer) and let it dry again. Finally, you apply your top coat (final layer) and avoid touching it.
We hope these tips helped. Before you go, sign up to become a VIP for free and receive new discounts every month on our high quality, handmade cosmetics.
