Five Tips for Achieving Larger Lips

Plump me up, please! And hold the needles. If you want larger lips but you don’t want to have to go under the knife (or needle) to get them, then follow these five makeup artist tips for larger lips. Plump that pucker au naturel.

You can have plumper-looking lips naturally by following these five steps. (Photo: Getty Images)

Exfoliate

Remember to exfoliate your lips. You can use a toothbrush and some Vaseline, or try something a little more sophisticated like Sara Happ’s The Lip Scrub, now in pink grapefruit, perfect for those Insta-selfies. It is the one-and-only lip scrub you will need.

Outline your lips

Use lip liner to outline lips before filling in with gloss or lipstick – don’t extend the line all the way to the outer corners of lips. Allow the line to look like it goes on forever. Making it darker in the middle will bring fullness to your pucker. Try any of the Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencils. The color lasts all day, and they help stop lipstick bleeds.

Overline that pout

This may feel like a throwback to your 90s grunge days, but lipliner is having a comeback (haven’t you heard?). When it comes to larger lips, a delicate line drawn just over your natural lip will do the trick. Combine this with the above liner tip and you will have lips that scream come hither. I am obsessed with the nude-ish mauve shade by Make Up For Ever, 604 Up & Down Tan. It is ideal paired with a mauve nude shade and it blends like a dream.

Make your lips look fuller with just four products. (Photo: Sarah Howard)

Highlight your cupid’s bow

Use a highlighter on your cupid’s bow (the area along the top of the lips that look like cupid’s bow). Model Jessica Stam taught me this trick and I love it. It really does give the illusion of wider lips. Try Hourglass Vanish Flash Highlighting Stick. It comes in five shades, but I suggest Champagne Flash for the cupid’s bow and a dot on the bottom center lip to give the illusion of larger lips.

Use lip paints

For some reason, lip paints paired with lip liner seem to give the biggest pout possible. Think Kylie Jenner. There are many amazing lip paints on the market, but Nars’ Powermatte Lip Pigment in Get It On is my favorite. It is the perfect nude-meets-mauve hue, without giving beige death mouth. It stays on for hours between food, drinks and even a kiss, while also making the mouth appear larger. Yep, matte works if you work it. If you can’t fathom a matte lip, gloss will always make the pucker more powerful. Dab a high-shine lipgloss on top of any lipstick for added dimension. Something that plumps your lips is perfect, like Too Faced Lip Injection.

Article by Sarah Howard