A 2025 survey in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (Dulai and colleagues) asked dermatologists, residents and other health practitioners to rank the features of healthy lips. Lack of dryness came out on top, named by 65.8% of respondents. A defined lip contour landed fourth, at 28.0%.
So the people who study lips for a living care about the surface more than the edge. Application goes better when you work in that same order.
How to Apply Lipstick Step by Step
Each step gives the next one something to grip, which is the whole reason the order matters.
- Exfoliate gently, apply lip balm, let it absorb, then blot the surface.
- Trace the natural edge with a liner close to the lipstick shade.
- Start at the center of the lips and work toward the corners in even strokes.
- Press a tissue to the lips to lift surface oil and excess product.
- Apply a second coat of lipstick, then blot again for more opacity.
- Press a thin layer of translucent powder over the lips, or add gloss for shine.
The blot between coats does more work than most guides admit. Live That Glow’s tutorial applies, blots, applies and blots again, and that builds opacity without a thick, slippery film.
Try not to purse or clench while you work. Tense lips make the color drag.
Liner and layer count are the steps that bend with the formula. A precise liquid applicator can make liner optional.
How to Choose a Lipstick Shade for Your Undertone
Undertone has nothing to do with how light or deep your skin looks. It’s the hue underneath. Makeup artist Ashley Victoria, quoted by Bustle, describes warm as peachy, yellow or golden. Cool is pink, red or blue, and neutral is a mix of the two.
Cool undertones usually suit pinks, roses and blue-based reds. Warm ones do better with peach and coral, or a red with some orange in it. Neutral can go either way.
A few quick checks at home give a rough read.
- Gold jewelry flatters warm undertones and silver flatters cool. If both look fine on you, that points to neutral.
- Greenish wrist veins read warm, while blue or purple ones read cool (makeup artist Monika Blunder, via Bustle).
- Against a piece of white fabric, a yellowish cast suggests warm and a pink or blue one suggests cool (Makeup.com).
These tests get unreliable on deeper skin. Makeup artist Jaleesa Jaikaran told Bustle that deeper tones with dark hair can sit on either side, and redheads can too.
When the results split, trust the mirror over the test.
If you read cool, berry and rose shades are the safest place to start, and there’s a longer list of lipstick shades that suit cool undertones to browse. Warm undertones get their own write-up on colors that flatter warm undertones, which goes into peach, coral and orange-red in more detail.
Swatch on the lips, not the back of the hand. Thin lip skin lets the red of the capillaries show through (most visibly in lighter skin tones, per Skin Inc.), so sheer formulas pick up the natural lip color and the same tube looks different on two people.
Makeup artist Bobbi Brown told Glamour she prefers a lipstick that matches the natural lip exactly. For a beginner, that’s a forgiving place to start.
Liner follows the same logic. Keep it close to the lipstick or to the natural lip, because a liner several shades off leaves a visible ring (Maybelline India lists mismatched lipstick and liner among common mistakes).
How to Prep Lips Before Lipstick
Lips have no oil glands of their own, so prep does the job that natural sebum does elsewhere on the face. Exfoliate gently, hydrate with lip balm, then blot the surface so liner and lipstick can grip.
A 2004 study in the British Journal of Dermatology (Kobayashi and Tagami) compared lip and cheek in 303 Japanese women aged 21 to 80, tested in winter. Lip hydration came out lower, and the authors traced it to incompletely formed surface cells and a weaker barrier.
Skin Inc. puts the lip’s outer layer at 3 to 5 cells deep, against 15 to 20 in typical skin. That thin layer is why flakes show up under matte color.
For exfoliating, a soft lip scrub works, or a brown sugar and honey mix wiped off with a warm washcloth (Clinique, via The Zoe Report). Skip the toothbrush and the rough towel. Makeup artist Zoe Taylor describes both as abrasive on delicate lip skin (Marie Claire).
Sugar and honey count as a natural route, and there are more ways to exfoliate lips naturally if flakes keep coming back.
For balm, look for castor seed oil, ceramides, dimethicone or mineral oil. Pick a fragrance-free one, and avoid camphor, menthol and eucalyptus (American Academy of Dermatology).
A lip primer followed by a thin pass of neutral concealer is optional, but it gives dark or precise looks a clean base (Makeup.com).
Should balm go on before liner?
Sources split here.
Vitacost advises removing excess emollient, because a wax pencil or lipstick cannot hold onto a slick surface. Clinique and Live That Glow go the other way and put balm right after the scrub, with Clinique calling it especially important under matte lipsticks.
Both failure modes are real. Slick lips break the grip, and dry lips flake under matte color.
The workable middle is to apply balm, let it absorb as Glamour’s Lan Nguyen-Grealis recommends, then blot the surface with a tissue before lining.
When to skip the scrub
Cracked, bleeding or stinging lips get balm only. Skin Inc. adds that long-wearing lip colors can worsen dryness, so use them sparingly while lips are chapped.
The AAD says to see a board-certified dermatologist if chapped lips do not heal after two to three weeks of care. For lips that stay dry, there’s a separate walkthrough on wearing lipstick on dry lips.
How to Outline Your Lips Using Your Natural Shape
Trace the vermilion border, the natural edge where the lip meets the skin, then connect the peaks of the cupid’s bow to the corners of the mouth. Liner is optional, but it’s the easiest way to control that edge.
The vermilion border is the sharp line between lip and facial skin, and it’s the default path for liner. The cupid’s bow, the M-shaped peak of the upper lip, needs the most precision. Mouth corners are where overdrawing looks obvious fastest, according to makeup artist Tana D’Amico (via Zoomer).
Charlotte Tilbury suggests smiling at the mirror to tighten the lip skin and show where the pencil should go. Resting your elbow on a steady surface helps if your hand wobbles (Woman&Home).
For the pencil itself, a full guide covers applying lip liner from start to finish.
Blend the liner inward with a lip brush so no hard line sits against the lipstick (makeup artist Diane Buzzetta, via Bustle).
Is liner necessary?
The experts in Woman&Home treat liner as non-negotiable, and Clinique uses it as a barrier against feathering. Charlotte Tilbury is more relaxed and says lipstick works without it. Makeup artist Emily-Jane Williams says liquid lipsticks applied with a brush or their own applicator can give sharp edges with no liner at all (SheerLuxe).
I’d line dark shades and matte formulas, where edge mistakes show. Sheer and tinted color can go without.
If the edge still strays, a cotton swab with a little concealer or makeup remover cleans it up (Andrew Grella, via Live That Glow).
Thin lips
Slight overlining is the standard fix.
- Overdraw a little at the fullest point of the top and bottom lip (L’Oreal Paris UK).
- Round out the upper line and connect the cupid’s bow, but overline only the center of the bottom lip (Meghan Nguy, via Allure).
- Start at the cupid’s bow and line just outside the border, then soften with a lip brush (Diane Buzzetta, via Bustle).
- Beginners should keep the exaggeration around the cupid’s bow (Ehlie Luna, via Marie Claire).
Not everyone agrees. Live That Glow’s author sticks to the very edge because overdrawn lines can look unnatural.
Shade and finish change the result as much as the outline, and the guide to applying lipstick on thin lips goes further on both.
Full lips
Full lips rarely need overdrawing. Follow the natural border and put the effort into symmetry.
Makeup artist Alexandra DiBlasio notes that liner can even out a lip that sits smaller on one side (Marie Claire). Draw a slightly thicker line there and keep the other side on its natural edge.
Bullet, Brush or Fingers: Which Applicator Should You Use?
A lip brush gives the cleanest edge. The bullet is quicker and puts down more color per pass, and fingertips are for a soft wash. Formula narrows the choice, and the look you want settles the rest.
Glamour’s artists favor the bullet for density and speed, and one of them calls brushes optional. Flipping the bullet helps with the edge. COVERGIRL’s tutorial runs the pointed end along the curve of the lip like a liner, and the New Straits Times reported the same flip in May 2024 (the flat side hides the lip line, the pointed end shows it).
Charlotte Tilbury’s guide uses a square-tipped brush for the sharpest result. Makeup.com recommends a brush for dark shades because it controls both placement and the amount of product.
For a blurred, stained look, use a finger. Glamour’s artists dab color on that way for the softest effect, and makeup artist Emily-Jane Williams tells SheerLuxe that fingers give a different result from a wand, suited to a subtle wash.
Soft edges come from blending, and there are more techniques for blending lipstick into the lip line.
Charlotte Tilbury’s team prefers a brush while Glamour’s artists mostly stay with the bullet. Both hold up, because they solve different problems.
Dark, matte or liquid color gets a brush or wand, since mistakes show. Everyday cream and satin go straight from the bullet.
How Application Changes for Liquid, Stain, Matte and Cream Formulas
Liquid formulas need thin layers and time to dry, and stains need bare lips. Matte does best in thin coats, while cream or satin forgives most mistakes.
| Formula | Best applicator | Technique change | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cream or satin bullet | Bullet or brush | Build in layers, blot between | Less opaque per coat |
| Matte bullet | Bullet or lip brush | Thin coats | Emphasizes dryness |
| Liquid matte | Wand or lip brush | One thin layer, dry fully | Cracking, patchiness |
| Stain or tint | Fingertip or wand | Bare lips, center outward | Patchy on slick lips |
With liquid, work from the center outward and let each layer dry before the next. Pressing the lips together to blend, a habit carried over from bullet lipstick, leaves a patchy, flaky finish (Max Factor).
Cracking is the usual complaint, and Nykaa’s guide advises against piling on more color. Blot gently and reapply one thin layer instead. This walkthrough on how to apply liquid lipstick covers getting it even.
Stain and tint want clean, dry lips. VE Cosmetics warns that balm, oil or gloss right before a tint stops the formula from gripping, so very dry lips get balm earlier in the day and a wipe-down before color. NYX puts lip stain wear at 4 to 8 hours, depending on prep and activity.
Finish changes the application too. Matte packs the most pigment into a single swipe (Iba Cosmetics), while satin builds up but covers less per coat (GMA Network, 2020). Cream is the waxier, more hydrating option (Estee Lauder).
Project Vanity’s lipstick guide treats shine and pigment as inversely related, though it flags that as a simplification with many exceptions.
On wear time, MAC states 8 to 10 hours for matte lipstick in both bullet and liquid formats, with liquid ahead on longevity. Maybelline India’s comparison reaches the same verdict and gives bullet the edge on comfort.
The finish trade-off gets a closer look in this comparison of matte versus satin lipstick.
How to Blot and Set Lipstick So It Lasts Longer
Makeup artists tend to run the setting routine in a fixed order.
- Apply the first layer of lipstick.
- Blot with a tissue (regular two-ply is fine for this).
- Hold a single ply of tissue over the lips and dust translucent powder through it with a fluffy brush.
- Remove the tissue and apply a second layer.
Bobbi Brown makeup artist Hollie Ellis says the tissue lets a light dusting land on the lips while the excess is blotted away. That’s where the extra staying power comes from.
The powder step has its own walkthrough in this guide to setting lipstick with powder.
Not every artist powders through tissue. Laura Mercier’s Michel Coulombe applied powder directly onto the first layer, as I’m a Beauty Geek reported. Makeup artist Diana Carreiro goes with blot paper instead of tissue because it absorbs emollients without disturbing the pigment.
Filling the whole lip with liner before the lipstick goes on is another option. Ellis says it helps the formula stay put on top, and editorial artist Mary Irwin calls a waterproof liner filled in completely a solid base for long-wearing color.
Licking the lips breaks the formula down and dries it out (Smytten). Eating and drinking take a toll as well, and on liquid formulas the inner lip fades first, so touch up there (Swiss Beauty).
Daily habits matter as much as technique, and a broader guide covers more ways to make lipstick last longer.
Why Does Lipstick Feather, Bleed or Go Patchy, and How Do You Fix It?
Feathering comes from fine lines and excess oil at the lip edge, patchiness from thick or rushed layers, and lipstick on teeth from product left on the inner rim.
| Problem | Cause | Fix | Prevention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feathering and bleeding | Fine lines, oil at the edge | Swab off, powder around the mouth, redefine | Fill lips with liner, set with powder |
| Patchy or cracked color | Thick layers, rushed drying | Blot, reapply one thin layer | Thin layers, full dry time |
| Lipstick on teeth | Product on the inner rim | Finger pull | Keep color off the inner rim |
Feathering and bleeding
Revlon names fine lines around the mouth and excess oil along the lip line as the two main causes.
Finish plays a part. A Thrive Cosmetics artist, Fredrik Stambro (via Beautylish) and Mary Irwin (via Dermelect) all tie shine to bleeding, and Irwin adds that matte formulas are the least likely to bleed.
If color has already crept out, remove the excess with a cotton swab and powder carefully around the mouth before touching up (makeup artist Rebecca Casciano). Redefine the shape with liner, then add lipstick back with more color toward the center (Red Apple Lipstick).
For prevention, RMS Beauty founder Rose-Marie Swift picks a liner that matches the natural lip tone, so the color fades without leaving a stenciled outline. More fixes are collected in this guide to stopping lipstick from feathering.
Patchy or cracked color
The instinct is to add more. That makes it worse.
Nykaa and Smytten land on the same fix, which is to blot the rough spot gently and reapply a thin layer of the same shade. Smytten adds that licking the lips or putting balm over the lipstick breaks the formula down.
Lipstick on teeth
Close the lips around a clean index finger and pull it out, so the excess lands on the finger instead of the teeth. The trick shows up in almost every source.
A blot before the finger test leaves less to remove, and the less lipstick on the innermost edge of the lip, the less rubs off (W24).
There are more options in this guide to keeping lipstick off teeth.
When the fix does not hold
Revlon lists two reasons bleeding continues even with liner. Either the liner does not fill the whole lip, or it isn’t set with powder and slides when lipstick presses on top.
A Thrive Cosmetics artist places eyeshadow primer around the lip perimeter to block oil migration. Revlon prefers a concealer barrier, a powder step and thin blotted layers.
Red Apple Lipstick traces deeper creases to collagen loss and dehydrated skin. When the lines are the cause, technique only treats the symptom, and a softer finish suits those lips better than another layer of matte.
Lipstick Application FAQ
Which lip should I start with, top or bottom?
Either works, since no source treats the order as a rule. COVERGIRL’s tutorial starts with the bottom lip, and a Glamour artist presses the lips together afterward to pass color to the top, a move that only suits bullet formulas.
Can I wear lip gloss over lipstick?
Yes, once the lipstick has set. A long-wearing formula underneath holds up best (Vitacost), and the steps for layering lip gloss over lipstick are covered separately.
How do I get an ombre lip with regular lipstick?
Apply color mostly at the center of both lips, then tap the lips together to blend it outward, as COVERGIRL’s tutorial does. Liner filled into the corners deepens the edges for a stronger gradient, and there’s a full guide to doing ombre lips.
What stops lipstick from transferring onto a face mask?
Blot, then press translucent powder through a tissue. Bobbi Brown’s Hollie Ellis says the routine gives a smudge-free result with or without a mask. Liquid formulas also stay put longer than most bullets, according to makeup artist Emily-Jane Williams (SheerLuxe).
How do you remove long-wear lipstick without irritating your lips?
A bi-phase makeup remover on a cotton pad lifts matte liquid color with light pressure, according to the blogger behind Project Vanity. Wipe gently instead of scrubbing, then put lip balm back on.
What to Carry for Midday Lipstick Touch-Ups
A midday touch-up needs very little. Pack a tissue and a cotton swab along with the lipstick you wore, and add translucent powder if you want to re-set it.
Blot first, swab stray color off the edges, then add one thin layer. Blotting leads because the next two steps only work on a surface free of excess product.
Formula sets the timing. MAC’s wear claim for matte and NYX’s claim for stain, read together, put stain first in line for a touch-up and matte last. Both are brand figures, so independent wear testing is the only thing I’d expect to reorder that list as of October 2026.
Meals put any formula to the test, and there are practical tips for eating with lipstick on.
She started writing on the site after fielding the same questions from clients and friends often enough to just write the answers down: which red won't turn orange on a warm undertone, how to keep lipstick from feathering into fine lines, why a "12-hour" formula rarely survives dinner.
Every review on the site follows the same rule she uses with paying clients: wear it first, then decide if it's worth recommending.
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