Lipstick is like a punctuation point for your face. A bold one can help you feel confident, a nude one, the height of chic.
Plenty of us reach for it every day as part of our beauty routine. The only real question is, which colour and finish will it be today?
With trends evolving so quickly, it’s hard to deliver a definitive statement about what’s in style right now – dewy shine is everything but matte is still major too.
It’s good news if you’re faithfully devoted to a specific colour or shade. One colleague in particular will never go anywhere without applying her lippie in YSL’s Number 19, a bold fuchsia pink. Another swears by NARS’ classic red crayon in the shade Dragon Girl, apparently also one of Taylor Swift’s Go-To red lipsticks.
Both, with their cream and matte finishes, are reliably steadfast when it comes to staying put. But with the return of more glossy, shiny lipsticks to popularity, so too comes the challenge of preventing colour from moving around over time. Slippery finishes, it has to be said, are notorious for spreading and settling or ‘bleeding’ into the fine lip lines around your mouth, ones that become more prominent as we age.
It can be enough to put us off wearing a more distinctive colour altogether, but that shouldn’t be the case. With some fantastic new long-wear lipstick formulas on offer and some clever application tips, keeping lippy in place without constant surveillance is easier than ever.
Here’s what you need to know to stop lipstick bleeding:
Prep your lips
Gently exfoliating your lips with a sugar scrub, or by rubbing with a wash cloth or muslin cloth, will remove any dry skin and flakes which can catch lip colour and make your lip line appear uneven. Afterwards, ensure your lips are dry and free from any lip products like lip balm or oils that will encourage colour to slide over the perimeter of your lips.
Try a transparent lip pencil or liner
Used as a waxy perimeter to contain colour, a clear lip liner – like Dior’s Rouge Dior Contour Universal Liner – is an invention more people should know about. A colourless lip pencil won’t help re-shape a lopsided lip or create the illusion of volume the way a nude-coloured one can, but it can be useful to prevent lipstick bleed.
Apply it on the very outer edge of your lips slightly onto your skin and then apply your regular colour over top as usual, just not quite to the edges. If you use the clear liner over the surface of lips first, it can also help anchor colour applied afterwards for longer.
L-R: Dior Rouge Dior Contour Universal Liner; Sephora Collection Universal Lip Liner; MECCA MAX Pout Pencil in Muse; Patrick Ta Major Headlines Precision Lip Crayon in That’s Why She’s Late
Use a liner
If you’re not going the clear route, tracing your lip line and filling in lips with a lip liner in a colour close to your lipstick will give it something to adhere to.
Blot your lipstick
It’s an age-old trick for a reason. If you are wearing a classic bullet lipstick rather than a liquid one, blot gently after you have applied, or between coats if you’re applying more than one. It will remove that slippery top layer that loves to slide around and spread into creases around the edges.
Simply pick up a piece of tissue, put it between your lips and press your lips together gently so you don’t remove the actual colour. If you want to go the extra mile, rest a thin, single-ply tissue on your lips and use a fluffy powder brush to apply a touch of translucent powder to lips through the tissue to help colour set.
Choose a long-lasting formula
You don’t have to forgo bright colours or shiny finishes if you choose carefully. A more waxy product like a crayon colour or lipsticks with a matte finish are less likely to bleed or smudge.
New liquid lipstick formulas, like Maybelline Super Stay Vinyl Ink Liquid Lipstick that has a fab shiny finish and Lancôme’s L’Absolu Rouge Drama Ink that feels weightless on, need precise application. However once they are dry, they do a fantastic job of staying put and looking great without feathering or becoming patchy.
Consider injectables
It’s not for everyone, and you’ll need to seek expert advice if it’s right for you, but judicious amount of lip filler has been used by professionals to help smooth the ‘barcode lines’, or fine lines around lips.
It’s important to first acknowledge some habits can make these lines worse, like repetitive pursing motions by using a straw, or dragging on a cigarette or vape, so it’s worth addressing these challenges first. Nicotine can also play a part in skin damage in the area. Nicotine is thought to constrict blood vessels, which restricts the flow of oxygen and nutrients to your skin cells and leads to an increased production of an enzyme that breaks down collagen.
Dr Ellen Selkon, cosmetic medicine doctor at Auckland’s Clinic 42, says lines above the lip can often be treated with a combination of very fine filler application and botulinum toxin. “This can either be injected right across the lip or specific lines can be individually targeted. It is important to also treat the lip border as this stops the bleed of the lines.”
Microneedling treatments including Dermapen can also be beneficial to prompt the production of new collagen and elastin in the area for a smoothing result.
