Forget fillers and get fuller lips with this simple makeup trick. Photo: AFP
Lip filler injections have fallen out of favour, so much so that, in recent months, celebrity after celebrity has been saying that they've given them up completely.
Indeed, it's still possible to get full, luscious lips without having to resort to hyaluronic acid injections or similar techniques. In fact, a product found in many a makeup bag is enough to boost their volume, without affecting the natural shape of the mouth.
It was the Covid-19 pandemic that totally upended beauty habits around the world, fuelling a desire to embrace more natural routines (goodbye full-coverage foundation and contouring!).
Since then, more ostentatious beauty looks have risen once again, such as unapproachable makeup, cherry makeup, pumpkin spice makeup and red wine makeup.
However, this does not signal the end of a more natural approach to beauty, but simply the desire to be able to alternate between discreet looks and more extravagant makeup, depending on your mood, tastes, the moment or the event you're dressing for.
This phenomenon is reflected in the fall in interest in injections that modify the natural shape of the lips or the rest of the face, and a much greater craze for makeup techniques that help achieve prominent cheekbones, smoother skin or fuller lips.
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There's also a renewed focus on more demanding beauty routines, in terms of skincare, waxing, eyelash extensions or hair treatments. This kind of time-consuming process is seen as an investment that helps streamline routines to save time in the bathroom every morning.
In short, beauty can swing either way right now, from "less is more" to "more is less", and that seems to suit most people just fine.
In this quest to find the most ingenious tricks to replace less natural beauty procedures, such as injections, social network users are turning en masse to professional makeup artists, who are specialists in the genre.
And it's Mary Phillips, who does makeup for celebrities such as Sydney Sweeney, Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner and Dua Lipa, who comes out on top this week.
The professional shared an infallible tip for boosting the volume of her lips, without the need for fillers, making them look fuller than ever.
A tried and tested trick
The good news is that a simple lip pencil is all you need to pull off this little trick.
In a video viewed over three million times, Phillips gives a complete tutorial on this makeup technique. And it's child's play.
All you need is a lip pencil slightly darker than your lip colour (but not too dark). Then, draw a line starting at the outer corners. The makeup artist recommends following the natural lip line, then continuing outside this line as you approach Cupid's bow.
For the lower lip, on the other hand, stick to the natural line, extending a little with a slightly more prominent line in the center.
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Once you've completed this step, simply blend subtly with a brush, apply a touch of concealer to camouflage any pencil that may have overrun, then fill in the lips with gloss or lipstick, depending on the desired effect.
As a result, lips look plumped, but without having lost their natural shape.
This trick is reminiscent of a technique shared in 2021 by Mario Dedivanovic, Kim Kardashian's favourite makeup artist.
Dedivanovic's technique involves drawing quite a thick line on the upper lip, overlining the lip on the Cupid's bow, before bringing the liner in along the lip line as you work down to the corners.
Then, again, overline the bottom lip in the center only, then follow the natural line of the lip up to the corners. Finally, fill in with a lipstick of the same shade, or a lighter shade, for optimal effect.
A subtly different method, but one that proves that a simple lip liner can be all you need to achieve full lips as "naturally" as possible. (– AFP Relaxnews
