3 Tips To Make Your Lips Look Fuller & Your Smile Brighter With Makeup

A classic red lip is, well, classic any time of year, but this week everything's coming up crimson. Valentine's Day is on the horizon, which inspires even the most casual makeup fans to sport a cherry pout. It's arguably the most effortlessly festive look, after all. 

Lipstick feathering—or bleeding—refers to when your lip color escapes from your natural lip line, often spilling into the vertical lines above your upper lip. These creases come naturally with age, and no one can evade lip lines forever (though you can learn how to soften their appearance here), but they do make wearing lipstick, especially darker hues, more challenging. 

The solution lies in the prep—namely, primer and lip liner. "Apply primer—it can be the same primer that you use for your face—around the lip area, then blot the area with translucent powder before lipstick application," Nechelle Turner, global makeup artist for Jane Iredale, previously told mbg about keeping lipstick in place. 

Your lips lose volume with age due to a drop in collagen, and a darker pigment can make them appear even thinner. So makeup artists often recommend overlining the lips when wearing red lipstick to make the final look appear fuller. 

You don't want to go overboard here and extend the line too far. The liner should still connect with your natural lip line, just hanging ever so slightly above. 

From there, I personally like to use a blotting technique with my lipstick. As opposed to swiping on the color, which requires much more precision, I take the bullet and press it into my lips, patting layer after layer until I achieve the desired color payoff. 

As you age, you may notice your teeth becoming more susceptible to staining as your enamel naturally weakens. There are of course some oral care tips to combat this (find them here!), but don't underestimate the power of color theory. 

You see, blue and purple sit opposite orange and yellow on the color wheel, so using these tones can cancel out the appearance of discoloration on the teeth. So when wearing red lipstick, choosing one with blue or purple undertones can help your teeth appear brighter and therefore more youthful.