MAKE YOUR LIPS LOOK BIGGER WITH OUR FIVE KEY TIPS

We all want lips that look their best. Soft, smooth, healthy — and just a touch more plump? With a handful of lip products and a dash of deception, that plump, pillowy pout is all yours.

1. SET THE BACKDROP

You’re serious about your lip look — so don’t go near a lipstick until you’ve exfoliated your base. The technique is simple: gently buff over your lips with a washcloth to remove dry skin and stimulate blood flow to the area. This creates a just-bitten look, before you’ve even got started.

2. LEARN YOUR LINES

The easy, instant way to get plump lips is, quite simply, to fake it. Our ultimate cheat? Strategically placed lip liner.

Tracing ever-so-slightly outside your natural lip line makes lips appear a whole lot fuller — and doing it with peak precision means your dirty work goes undetected. Dessin Des Lèvres Lip Liner turns you into the artiste, with a creamy matte crayon that lets you sketch out your ultimate lip shape. Et voila! Your masterpiece is preserved for up to six hours.

Now to colour outside the lines. Starting from the cupid’s bow, work outwards, shading in the outer corners. This gives the illusion of shade, simulating fullness in the centre. Artist, incoming.

PRO TIP: Trace around the outside of your lip line with Touche Eclat High Cover Concealer, and blend out for flawlessly defined edges. Follow with a dab of original Touche Eclat Concealer on your cupid’s bow to accentuate shape and volume.

3. CAST THE SPOTLIGHT

Now we’ve given a lesson on liner, the finish is all up to you. For a matte lip look, draw the eye towards the centre of your lips by attracting light to the plumpest parts. No magic wand needed — just a lipstick shade lighter than your liner. In fact, the lighter the shade, the plumper your pout appears… But you’ll need to strike a balance between plump and natural if you want to keep your cover.

With a semi-matte finish and full-pigment colour, Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Velvet Radical Lipstick takes on the body and density of velvet, rendering lips to their fullest with weightless, creamy comfort. And creating the effect is effortless: apply pressure on the largest part of the square bullet and allow the pointed tip to do the definition for you.

4. TURN UP THE VOLUME

For those who aren’t shy of a light-reflecting finish, pump it loud and wear it proud. The largest lip looks are impossibly smooth, strikingly glossy and bouncy — like jelly.

We won’t sugar-coat it. Or maybe we will — Rouge Volute Candy Glaze gives up to eight hours of vibrant, lustrous colour and juicy nourishment from pomegranate extract, cold-pressed mango oil, vitamin E and hyaluronic acid. Combined, these plant extracts cancel out dryness, smooth over the cracks, and plump out creases to full effect.

5. POLISH IT OFF

Prefer unadulterated PVC plumpness and patent shine? Seal off your look with a high-impact gloss, à la the ‘90s. Vernis À Lèvres Vinyl Cream Lip Gloss offers creamy colours plus an enamel-like lacquer that holds its lustre for up to ten hours straight.

Swipe it over lips alone after liner, or over the top of your favourite lip colour for a look nothing short of voluptuous.