Forget buying stains and special lipstick formulas to get the most wear out of lip colour. You can turn any formula - in any shade - into a long-wear lipstick by increasing the surface tension of the product. And it's super easy! All you have to do is prep and post-treat the lipstick application:
When lips have dry areas or flaking skin the lipstick will adhere unevenly and wear off more quickly in different areas. This causes patchy discolouration and a need to frequently re-apply your lipstick. No one wants to spend quality family time in the bathroom retouching their lipstick. Exfoliating the lips prior to applying lipstick will allow for an even application and a smoother texture of your finished lipstick.
Forget using expensive lip exfoliators. You already have the tool you need and you are already using twice a day anyway.
After you have finished brushing your teeth (and rinsed out your toothbrush) run the wet toothbrush over your lips. The bristles are soft enough to not cause damage to healthy skin and strong enough to remove all dry and flaking skin. The whole procedure should only take about 5 seconds. If you do it everyday you will never have dry, flaking lips again.
Once you have applied your lipstick it's important to slightly dehydrate the formula in order to create the maximum surface tension. Of course the colour must remain intact.
Make up artists use this hack all the time on runway shows to prevent lipstick from smudging during quick clothing changes.
Place a tissue over the painted lips and with a powder brush dust a translucent powder across the lip but on top of the tissue. This protects the colour of the lipstick but removes the excess moisture of the formula, thus increasing the surface tension of the lipstick.
You can bring light and a 3D quality to the lipstick without compromising the durability. Most people use a lip gloss to create light reflection in their lipstick. This will, however, add moisture and reduce the durability. You can achieve the light reflection with eye shadow - yep, that's right - eye shadow on the lips. Select a shimmer eye shadow either in white or soft beige and dab, with your finger, a small amount to the centre of the bottom lip (after the powder technique described above). Press the lips together to blend the eye shadow and lipstick together. The transformation will be amazing.
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