Yesterday whilst ghost writing an article for a friend, I found myself faced with the question 'What is your favourite summer accessory'. Now for any of you who know me, you will laugh at the idea of me knowing anything about fashion; I barley know how to spell the word. If an item of clothing is black and actually fits my ten feet long legs than it's my 'style'. So I'm sitting there staring at the iMac and I'm like what is my favourite accessory? Do I lie? Do I make something up and try and discuss how flattering the hem line of callouts are? At this stage I was on the verge of pulling my weave out with stress so I decided that I only ever really put my faith in ONE thing to 'complete' or 'compliment' an outfit - and when it comes to summer?
It's M.A.C's Candy Yum Yum!
*Over lining lip tutorial included!
The neon, matte lipstick has the intensity levels pigment that made me fall in love with M.A.C in the first place. No lipstick I have ever worn has given me the colour, dept and pay off like M.A.C lipsticks do and CYY is an incredible example. It's one of those lipsticks that I put on before leaving the house and three glasses of wine in - still haven't even considered making that trip to the bathroom to top it up. It's the talking point of any outfit I wear and it gives me this alter ego confidence that I wish I could hold onto forever. The second I have the cool-toned bubble gum colour on my lips - I feel transformed.
I sometimes feel that people see a colour like this and they instinctively step back. 'I could never wear a colour like this' - 'I am way too old for a colour like that', trust me I have heard it all. The number of clients I have tried to talk into this colour during make overs that have looked at me as if I had seven heads is unbelievable. I hear 'I wish I could pull this off' and trust me, you can! Before I jump into the over lined lip talk I'm going to go through a few quick tips on how to wear Candy Yum Yum and of course any bold, vibrant, seemingly scary colour like this!1. Prep your lips : Colours like this tend to stain, it's the one downside of such heavy, staying pigments. For me it's a tiny price to pay. Before starting my makeup the first thing I do is use my EOS (or any lip balm) to my lips. That gives it the entire process of my makeup to sink into and moisturise my lips giving the colour a better base to sit on.
2. Decide on your focus : If your lips are going to be your focal point (which they tend to be with a lip like CYY) make sure that you take that into consideration when you are doing the rest of your makeup. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying you can't still wear a smokey eye or wear glitter pigment, but try and make sure that you are COMPLIMENTING your lips instead of COMPETING with your lips for the spotlight.
3. Know your colours : Like I was saying earlier about different colours suiting my different hair colours you should try and figure out what works for you. There are zero rules in make up but we can be realistic. I will pull of a lilac lipstick with my blonde hair and a spray tan, but there is no hope I'm wearing it with dark brown hair and my porcelain pale skin. The mirror does not lie. Remember it doesn't matter what people say or think about your 'style' but if something doesn't look right in the mirror, it might be for a reason!
4. Be willing to splurge : I hate spending large amounts money on makeup - if I can get something in a drug store that dupes a Chanel bronzer I'll never step foot inside a department store again. To me, I'm going to be using makeup for the rest of my life so I might as well try and find the cheapest way to do it. However there are some things you need to splurge on and a good bold lipstick is one. If I'm buying nudes I'll buy them from anyone but when it comes to a lipstick where I want strong pigment and a staying power I can be proud of - I will always go to the bigger makeup houses.
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| Top image : NO products Bottom image : Finished look! |
1. Conceal your lips, I personally use a lighter shade M.A.C pro-longwear concealer than my skin colour and apply it all over my lips with a beauty blender.
2. I apply a stroke of a grey toned powder with an accent brush (or some people use bronzer - I find grey toned gives you a lot more dept) under the natural line of my lower lip to create more shadow.
3. Then I go in with a lip liner and for this look above I used the Candy Yum Yum lip liner that is pretty new to the M.A.C lip liner range. My biggest tip with going for the 'over lined' look is to only over draw at the top of your cupids bow. If you create height to your cupids bow, and then connect that peak back down to your natural lip line you will create a very natural looking shape. With lip liner I tend to not fill in my entire lip and just colour in the corners of my mouth so they are a bit bolder when I apply lipstick.
4. Apply your lipstick - in this case Candy Yum Yum generously across all of your lips. Although I said this works with every lipstick I personally would never over line if I was going to use a lipstick that wasn't matte or if I intended on wearing all over lipgloss. If you do - it really highlights the 'drawn on' gap between the lips and the liner with the light shadows you are creating through the application of a light attracting product!
5. I love ombre lips, so when I get my finished lips I take a cream concealer all around my mouth on an accent brush to give my lip a really strong bold up, and then I take a tiny bit of the concealer onto the centre of my bottom lip to create a 'light' area, again fooling the eye into more space/depth.
I hope you enjoyed this look into how to create a bold lip!
-Kellyhope xo