If you’ve ever worn lipstick, you know it requires ongoing maintenance to keep your lips painted the desired hue. You can either reapply frequently, or go with a longwearing formula (or one of those two-step thingies) and then reapply a little less frequently. I have a method to reapply LEAST frequently, but it requires some effort up front, and you’ll need to lay the proper foundation.
First, if necessary: Sand. If your lips are flakey, gently scrub them with Vaseline (or Un-Petroleum Jelly) and a soft toothbrush, or try a special lip scrubby product. I like Tarte’s FRxtion because it’s tasty, has a really cool case, and it works. But if your lips are okay, you can totally skip this step.
Next: Spackle. Laura Geller's Lip Spackle is a primer/base coat for you lips to help your lip color stay where it’s supposed to be. It prevents feathering and bleeding around the edges, and generally keeps the color from coming off of your lips and onto everywhere else. It supposedly softens and conditions too, though I don’t think that’s a noticeable effect. But at least it won’t dry your lips out; that’s the worst. It’s a little disconcerting at first, since it looks like gray lip gloss both in the pot and on your lips. Just trust, and go for it. Apply a THIN layer, admire your deathly pale pout, scare someone if someone is around, and then move on to color.
Color is a multi-step process that starts with lip liner. The name lip liner is kind of a misnomer because you’re always better served by applying it lightly to your whole lip, instead of just lining around the edges. (Unless you’re going for a Chola look, which is AAAA-OOO-KAAAAY. Please don’t cut me.) You can soften it a little with your finger or a Q-tip too. After lip liner, apply a thin layer of lipstick using a lip brush. (You can load up a retractable lip brush with lipstick for quick touchups later on, but you probably already know that.) If you feel like you need to, you can blot and apply another thin coat. Then, if you want, add a little bit of gloss, depending on the look you’re going for. The color will last longer without the gloss, but the gloss is so glossy!
Once you’ve laid the groundwork, any regular lipstick can be longwearing lipstick, without feeling dry. And if you use a longwearing lipstick and a waterproof lip liner, you’re REALLY in business. As with any lip stuff, once you eat something oily, it’s going to start to come off a little bit, though it seems to leave a stain so it’s not too obvious. For drinks and oil-free foods, it will really hold up well. In fact, on more than one occasion, ladies have actually marveled at how well my very red lipstick stayed on and asked for my secret.
The Laura Geller website says Lip Spackle will help your lip GLOSS stay on too, which I hadn’t tried. I decided to experiment with that by applying Lip Spackle, then lip gloss, then having 3 Samoas and a small glass of milk. (The things I do for you!) The first thing I noticed is that the lip gloss shows up as a much lighter color, due to applying it on super pale lips. The second thing I noticed is that it DOES help the color stay on! It’s not going to keep your lip gloss on forever, obviously, but it’s a definite improvement. I also tried using Lip Spackle under a semi-sheer lipstick, with no liner, and it helped there too. However, just like always: the slipperier the product, the more likely it is to vanish. Lip Spackle just helps it stay on a bit longer than it would normally. I used to only use Lip Spackle for special occasions and/or for major color, but I think it’s going to get more use now.
More tips for making your lipstick stick:
Always drink from the same spot on your glass. This prevents you from losing more lipstick with each sip, and it keeps your glass from looking gross with a million lip prints.
Use your front teeth to pull food off of your fork, instead of using your lips. Be cool about it though, or it will look really weird.
I know the one about using a single layer of tissue and powder too, but that makes your lipstick get chunky when it starts to come off, so I’m not including it.
Now go eat, drink, and be pretty! MWAH!
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