You’ve heard of the no-makeup makeup look: skip the dramatic pigments, and pull out the shades of nude. After an exhausting week of things smudging and caking all over the place, going minimalist seems like a hassle-free way to enhance your natural beauty.
Now, if you’re someone like me who loves dabbling in colors, you might point out that ten minutes is a long time to spend on looking like you’ve sauntered from your bed straight to class. Besides, it’s hard to resist the mischievous allure of rouge, blue glitter, and the lights that’ll set them on fire.
Well, “no-lipstick lipstick” is the collab between #wokeuplikethis and #tgif you never knew you needed. Because the lips are closely related to ideas of food, you can get away with lightly tinting them in various “natural” shades of berry, bubblegum, and spaghetti sauce. I’ve outlined the steps below:
1. Start with healthy lips.
Your lips are like the canvas to your work of art. A well-primed foundation is key to the final look!
- Protect your lips from the weather. This means shielding them from wind (hands or scarves will do the trick), and applying SPF (check out Burt’s Bees All-Weather SPF 15 Moisturizing Lip Balm).
- Use moisturizing lip balms that are compatible with your lips. My personal favorites are Vaseline (petroleum jelly), Uriage Moisturizing Lipstick, and Kiehl’s Scented Lip Balm #1 Mint.
- Take care of your overall health. Drink lots of water, eat a balanced diet, and get adequate amounts of sleep. Avoid harmful activities such as smoking.
2. Find heavily-pigmented and/or long-lasting lip coloring products.
Warm-colored, liquid-form pigments work best for this specific makeup look. I’d strongly recommend investing in shades of the NARS
Right: Kylie Cosmetics Hollyberry Lip Kit, $29 (image courtesy of Kylie Cosmetics)
3. Find your “varnish.”
This is the product you’ll use atop the lip coloring to spread and set the pigment. Any of the aforementioned moisturizing lip balms can be used, but if you want to maximize the “polished marble” effect, you might want to look at clear-colored products with words such as “gloss” or “lacquer” in the name (notably Glossier’s Lip Gloss).
4. Have fun blending!
Layer the transparent product over your small swatch of pigment, and blend the two together using either clean fingers or the movements of your lips. You don’t have to worry so much about evenly spreading the color. As long as there are no obvious blotches, uneven coloring actually enhances the illusion of a natural, unembellished mouth.
Gently blot the excess varnish and pigment using a soft surface such as a tissue or cotton square.
Two-Second Alternatives
Are you always on the go? Finding yourself *literally* sauntering from bed straight to class? Don’t worry, because tinted lip balms exist. While these won’t necessarily give you the purposefully messy, DIY look laid out above, they’ll add a subtle pop to your lips all the same.
- My all-time favorite is Nivea’s Tinted Lip Care, which comes in shades Blackberry, Peach, Strawberry, Watermelon, and Cherry.
- The Lipstick Queen Frog Prince Lipstick is famous for how it changes color depending on the temperature, pH, and natural pigmentation of your lips. Keep in mind, however, that it’ll leave your lips a bright rosebud pink.
Right: Lipstick Queen Frog Prince Lipstick, $25 (image courtesy of Today)