How To: Rock a Bold Lip

Maybe you want to make it feel summer with a neon pink liptstick, maybe you're just opening your eyes to the beautiful – and slightly unconventional – colour range offered by indie brands, or maybe you're still not over the fall/winter vampy lip trend (I know I'm not)  There are a lot of reasons to rock a bold lip this time of year.

Step one is prep.

Bold colours draw a lot of attention to your lips, so I recommend a lip exfoliator or scrub. You can make your own scrub at home or buy one like from Lush or Bite Beauty. My product of choice is the elf Lip Exfoliator (as pictured above), because it's so easy and mess free to use.

I also recommend a primer or a balm, to keep your lips hydrated and the lipstick on.

Step two is a little harder: confidence. I hear it from my friends all the time:

"I could never wear that colour!"
"Green lipstick would look terrible on me!"
"You're so much braver than I am!"

And okay, maybe when it comes to makeup, the last one is true, but it hasn't always been that way. I used to be afraid to wear red lipstick. I would put it on and then take it straight off. It felt like a lie, like I wasn't allowed to wear it because I wasn't cool enough or sophisticated enough. I wore it sometimes for special occasions, but I was more comfortable in pinks.

Then someone taught me a trick: if you put on lipstick and you don't like it immediately, give it a few minutes. I don't know what the science or logic behind it is, but it helped me a lot. For the first time, I was giving myself the chance to be a little more out there, if only a small one. And from there I was less and less afraid to try new colours.

Soon I was buying more and more "adventurous" lip colours, and feeling good about it. I bought a lot of dark colours and I felt like that was the peak for me, the wildest lip colours I would ever own.

And then I watched an ItsMyRayeReye video called Bright Spring Lip Colours and not only did she show off some amazing, exciting colours, she also opened up a whole new world to me: eye products as lip products. Within a few days I was walking through Sally Beauty and saw the most beautiful blue cream eyeshadow for under a dollar.

And that led to this:

Which led to buying this:

Which led to getting two green lipsticks for Christmas:

But wearing bright lipstick is more than just feeling good enough to buy it and put it on. It's about standing up straighter, putting on a smile, and being prepared to face the day with just an extra little bit of self expression on your face. 

And as the wise lady at Inglot said to me: "I don't know why people are so afraid of bright makeup, it's not plastic surgery if you don't like it you can just wipe it off." So try something new, and if you don't like it, just wipe it off and try something else. And prepare for compliments from strangers, people are always impressed when you wear out of the ordinary makeup.