Whether you don a clean-cut look at work or a dopamine glam avatar for a night out – a single swipe of lipstick can jazz up the look in a jiffy. And while the power wielded by this teensy-tiny stick is uncontested, it can take a toll on the pout. For the uninitiated, the tissues on your lips are more sensitive and brittle than the rest of the face. To add to the misery, the lips are devoid of sebaceous glands – depriving them of natural moisturization. This is why wearing lipstick on the reg may add to the dryness of the pout, giving rise to episodes of extreme flakiness.
Luckily, with the ‘skinification’ of makeup making waves, several moisturizing lipsticks have taken center stage. These formulations with satiating ingredients keep the pout moisturized and happy while granting it a brilliant pop of color. Win-win? We think so!
So, to help you attain pout perfection while upholding the health of your lips, we are bringing forth a list of ingredients you should seek in your lippy formulation. But before we jump to that section, let’s look at ways to keep the pucker moisturized and happy with some lovin’!
How To Keep Your Lips Moisturized And Nourished?
- Opt for a Lip Treatment: To promote regeneration and repair of the cells, invest in a lip treatment! This potent formulation expels dried or dead cells while hydrating the lips.
- Apply Lip Balm at Regular Intervals: Lip balms are wax-like formulas that form a protective layer on the lips to help retain moisture. They also carry a nourishing blend of ingredients like shea butter, vitamin E, and jojoba oil, amongst others to bolster lip health. Keep your lip balm handy and reapply after every two hours.
- Use a Lip Scrub: If you have severe lip dryness or flaking, add a lip scrub to your care regimen. This infallible blend consists of an exfoliant to remove the dead cells and an emollient to administer a hydration boost to the pucker.
- Avoid Licking or Smacking Your Lips: If your lips feel dry due to the weather or after a meal, use a lip balm to hydrate them. Don’t lick or smack them at any cost!
What are the Benefits of a Moisturising Lipstick
Other than prioritizing health, moisturizing lipsticks have a myriad of other benefits. Scroll further to see!
- Drag-free Application: Lipsticks with moisturizing power glide effortlessly without any drag or friction. They also reduce the efforts to reapply or retouch the pucker by granting you a single-stroke application.
- Fills the Creases: Moisturising lipsticks also fill in the creases and make the pout look chic and polished.
- Grants a Velvety Finish: Lipsticks infused with agents like shea butter, cocoa butter, and macadamia oil, amongst others, give your lips a velvety-soft finish.
- Enhances the Pout: Moisturising lipsticks adhere to the pout beautifully, granting it incredible depth and dimension.
- Creates an Illusion of Plumpness: As lipsticks with moisturizing properties are creamier and easy to maneuver, they can create an illusion of fullness or plumpness. Use lipstick to draw a small x on the cupid’s bow and work your way outwards. Now, fill in the area with the lip color and see the magic for yourself.
How to Find a Moisturising Lipstick: The Ingredient Glossary
As discussed, moisturizing lipsticks have taken over the beauty scene! And here is our ingredient glossary that you can skim through before making your next lipstick purchase.
- Shea Butter: An abundant source of fatty acids, shea butter helps deeply moisturize and nourish the lips. It is also a natural emollient which grants your pucker a soft, cushiony appearance while keeping episodes of dryness at bay.
- Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is a potent ingredient that forms a protective barrier on the lips to retain moisture. It also helps enhance the color of your pucker by improving blood circulation in the tissues.
- Vitamin E: Vitamin E has healing, repairing, and moisturizing properties. Additionally, this sought-after skincare ingredient also possesses slight plumping properties. Vitamin E also solidifies pucker protection by shielding it from photodamage!
- Cocoa Butter: This omnipresent skincare ingredient possesses healing properties and casts away chapped or flaky lips with use. It also delivers intense moisturization and hydration to the pucker.
- Humectants like Hyaluronic Acid and Glycerine: The two hydrophilic agents bind water molecules to the lips, making them appear fuller, supple, and glowy.
How to Make Your Lips Look Chic
Once you have the best lipstick, it’s time to put it to good use. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to wear best lipstick for a chic look.
- Apply a Moisturising Lip Balm: Apply a satiating lip balm to create a smooth, hydrated, and crease-free canvas for your lipstick. This manoeuvre lets your lippy glide on like a dream. If you grapple with chapped lips, use a scrub to remove dried cells from the pucker to help promote cell regeneration.
- Start with a Lip Liner: To create an illusion of plumpness or fullness, use a liner to overline the lips’ contour. This process also ensures that your lipstick stays intact and doesn’t bleed or feather, come rain or shine.
- Apply your Lipstick: For the best results, draw a small x on the cupid’s bow and work your way outwards. Fill in every crease and crevice on the pucker while applying this formula.
The lips, unlike the face, are devoid of sebaceous glands. This hinders their natural moisturization process, a problem further aggravated by prolonged wear of some (mostly liquid) lipsticks. However, as the craze around ‘skinifcation’ of makeup reaches a crescendo, more and more moisturizing lipsticks are available in the market. If you want a glistening, glorious pout, look for lipsticks with ingredients like shea butter, hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, cocoa butter, and macadamia oil. These ingredients keep the pout moisturized and happy.