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Highlight your lips with these lipsticks, lip liners and lip gloss from Revlon, Max Factor and other popular brands

Lipsticks brightens and enhances your appearance! It is the final touch to facial makeup. Lip cosmetics are now available in sticks, tubes, pencils, as liquids and in pots.

Most lipsticks consist of a fatty base to ensure that the product stays firm and solid. At the same time, efforts are made to make the product soft enough to cover the lips smoothly and with the minimum of pressure. The colour in the lipsticks is provided by pigments or by dyes. These should not fade off too quickly but should stay on the lips while you eat, drink, smoke and kiss. It is also equally important that no unsafe chemicals are used as the product is often swallowed.

Experts argue over whether you should apply lipstick or lip liner first, so the solution is that you should just try it both ways and see what turns out better on you. The makeup masters all agree on this fact though: your lipstick and lip liner should match and blend together. 'Never' apply a lip liner that is darker to your lipstick in an effort to make the lip liner stand out. That was an awful, awful '90s trend and everyone was glad to see it pass.

Even girls who don't usually wear makeup have been known to slap on some lipstick from time to time. There are lip gloss (which comes in a little pot or tube with a wand) and frost, matte and cream lipsticks (which come in the famous lipstick stick). Try out all the different kinds of lipsticks to find out the ones you are most comfortable wearing (they are all quite different in texture).

Every beauty conscious woman must be aware of the shade of lipstick to be used which should be commensurate with the shape of her face, curves of lips, complexion and her clothes. Moreover, one must take into consideration age, colour of hair. Carelessness can damage the looks. Lipstick is considered a morale booster, and is essentially helpful in giving her self-respect and self-confidence.

How to apply Lipstick?

Lipstick is used to beautify lips but if applied shabbily, it looks ugly.

1. Before putting on lipstick clean lips with a piece of cotton wool swab dipped in cleansing milk. Lipstick does not gives lustre if lips are not clean. Do not use soap because lips have soft skin.

2. Put on foundation cream, let it dry

3. Apply lipstick by first drawing an outline followed by filling it in. Lipstick can be applied with a brush but it requires skill and practice. If lipstick spreads on lips, apply powder on lips, let it dry and then apply lipstick. Many times it is not very comfortable to apply it while standing, because hands may shake and spread it. So, it is more comfortable to use dressing table, rest your elbows on the dressing table.

4. Put on lipstick on the upper lip, followed by lower lip. Use lighter tinge first and then darker for glow.

5. After applying light tinge, keep a tissue a tissue between your lips and wipe off extra lipstick with tissue paper.

6. Then use dark colour.

7. Blend both the colours with a brush.

8. Use of vaseline or cream gives lustre to lips after applying lipstick.

CHANGE YOUR LOOKS WITH CORRECT APPLICATION OF LIPSTICK

Lipstick can change the look of lips - broad lips can be made to look thin and thin lips can be made to look broad and shape of lips can also be moulded to some extent.

- For a Small face use light shade on lower lip and darker tinge on upper lip.

- For thin Lips, apply light shade on upper lip and dark on lower lip. This will make your lips look slightly broader. You can also make your lips look broad by increasing the outline of your lips.

- For broad lips reduce the outline considerably.

- Uneven lips can be given desired shape according to your face by making an appropriate outline.

- For thickness apply two coats.

Tips for Choosing Colour of your Lipsticks

Choose colour as per your age, the occasion and the clothes you are wearing.

- Natural shades suit the girls.
- Working women should not use bright shades while going to work.
- Young women with fair complexion between eighteen and twenty-five should use pink shades.
- Women with dark complexion between eighteen and twenty-five can use orange shade.
- Women between twenty-five and forty should go in for lighter shade.

Lipstick according to Colour of your Eyes

- For brown eyed women, pink is recommended.
- For black eyes, use light crimson.
- For blue eyes, use scarlet and subdued brown.
- For greyish eyes, use orange shade.

Lipstick According to the Colour of your Hair

- With black, orange shade will suit.
- For grey hair, use pink.
- For golden brown, use scarlet.

Lipstick As per Colour of your Dresses

- With orange shade of your dress, use pink lipstick.
- With pink dress, use crimson.

You cannot match lipstick with each dress you wear, but try to match as much as you can.

Lip Liner

Lip liner goes around the perimeter of your lips and is used to define them and keep lipstick in place. Lipstick clings to the lip liner and is therefore less likely to rub off. Lip liners typically come in pencil form.

Why should a Lip Lining pencil be used?

A lip lining pencil has a harder consistency than a lipstick and is used to outline the lips so as to clearly define their shape. It is a great aid, if your lips are not perfectly shaped: you can make the lips appear thinner or fuller or you can draw an uplifted comer if your lips hang. The outlining of the lips in addition, prevents bleeding of the lip product into the tiny lines that are present around the mouth, giving the lips a sharp; defined outline.

Lipsticks and your Lips

Lipsticks are the most commonly used lip make-up. They come in a variety of colours. The colour of the lipstick you use should match not only with the rest of the makeup but with your dress and with the rest of you as well. Remember pale skins would need soft colours, while darker skins can carry off the more vibrant shades.

Why does the colour of lipstick change on the lips?

When your lipstick changes colour or 'turns blue' on your lips, after a period of wear, it is an indication that it needs to be reapplied. This change occurs because the so called true colour of the lipstick (the colour you see in the lipstick case or on the lips immediately after application) has worn out more quickly than those components of the lipstick which are responsible for the adherence and these chemicals generally have a slight bluish tone.

Habits like biting or picking the lips intensify the problem, since they help remove the true colour even more quickly. If your lips are not dry and clean, when you are applying ­ lipstick, the colour loss is more rapid. You would face this problem less frequently brown or brick shades, since these pigments tend to keep their colour better than pink or mauve shades.

Lipsticks seem to come off rather easily nowadays as they are less heavy and less staining than they were before. This is because they contain more waxes and emollients to give them a sheer glossy finish - something which todays costumer wants.

Remove the Lipstick

Remove the lipstick before going to bed. It is advisable to use a good quality product. Sub standard product can spoil the skin.