#lip tips

Keep your lips healthy with these simple tips!

Hi Loves, My lips are one of my favorite features on my face, so I like to take good care of them. Does this mean I have excessive amounts of lip products? Yes it does. Does this mean that I can give you some good reviews of different lip products? Yes it does! I am currently using 16 lip balms. I know that’s a bit much, but I actually go through lip products quite quickly. I always have one in a…

- Warm orange juice. Sort of a marmite deal, but you'll get all that vitamin C up in this bitch (no colds for you sonny-jim) and the warmth is soothing for any sore throats you may incur.

- Tea and honey. Coffee and honey. Consume a hive of bees. Okay, so don't actually do that last one, but honey coats your throat and makes it all smooth for your vocal chords.

- Alcohol is not your friend. While it may drown your sorrows, it's also really dehydrating and terrible for your throat. If you're going to drink this week, pop a lozenge and make sure you've got (lukewarm) water beside your bed.

- Quarantine. If one of your friends is sick, STAY AWAY. Seriously. If all of your friends are sick, then I’m afraid it’s a lonely time for you.

If you're one of the silly billys who's already dying or lost their voice, here's more ways you can help it.

- No dairy. Lol, we know this isn't going to happen. But if you do end up buggering your throat, it'll absolutely help. Dairy makes your throat all mucus-y which leads to a post-nasal drip effect (sexy) which hurts your vocal chords.

- Don't take a vow of silence. This might sound counterproductive, but lack of use ain't so good for your vocal chords. Don't go nuts with the talking, but it won't harm your chords to make a bit of noise.

- Stay away from ice-cold drinks. It might feel good going down (eheheh), but the stuff actually messes with your vocal muscles. Same applies to boiling hot drinks, although I imagine that’s less of an issue.

- The cure-all miracle*: Hot water with ginger, lemon and honey. Holy shit this stuff is amazing. Try it.

I’ll admit I’m daring when it comes to outfits, but makeup – that’s a different story. I’m intimidated by bold lip color in particular, so I often stick with neutral glosses in seashell pink and golden shades. Part of the reason why bold lipstick can be intimidating is because you love it in the tube, but when you put it on, your skin color gives way to an unflattering pallor, and your lips are so bright they seem to jump off your face. The reason for this beauty phenomenon is that this color doesn't compliment your skin tone, nor does it reflect your natural lip color. While many guides exist trying to direct you towards the right lipstick color based on the strict categories of flesh color – fair, olive, dark, etc. – I find these confusing and largely unhelpful. Many people find themselves stuck in between two categories and thus don’t know which shade to choose. If you’re faced with this dilemma, here are my two go-to tricks for choosing a flattering lipstick shade.

Trick 1 for Neutral Lipstick: While at Harper’s Bazaar, I learned that to pick the right nude nail polish, you must compare it to the natural color of your nails. My nails for instance have a mauve-y undertone, so the nude polishes I opt for are not based in yellow or pink, they have a slight purple undertone. I think this same trick can be used to pick your go-to nude lipstick. Hold a color up to your lips and see if it resembles your natural lip color – darker or lighter, sheer or pigmented, it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s in the same color family.

Trick 2 for Bold Lipstick: On the other hand, to pick a non-neutral lipstick, you need to work off of your skin tone. To do this, identify your undertone – is it pink (cool) or yellow (warm)? Look on the underside of your wrist: if your veins are blue, you’ve got a cool pink undertone, if your veins are green, you’ve got a warm yellow undertone. See both blue and green veins? Then you’ve got both pink and yellow tones, meaning you have a neutral skin tone and can go either way. Once you’ve decided which undertone you have, now you can pick a lipstick color.

Warm lipstick for yellow skin undertones, those with medium, golden, or tan skin: Choose a color with a warm orange, yellow, or golden base, think coral, earthy pinks, rusty red, plum, berry.

Lipstick Queen, Endless Summer SPF in Stoked

Lipstick Queen, The Metals in Nude Metal.

Urban Decay Revolution in F-Bomb.

Cool lipstick for pink skin undertones, those with fair or dark skin: Choose a color with a cool blue, purple, or silver base, hot pink, rose pink, cherry red, raspberry, mauve.

Lipstick Queen, Endless Summer SPF 15 in Perfect Wave.

Lipstick Queen, The Metals in Wine Metal.