#BeautyTipTuesday: #DabitDontDragit

source: polished.tv

Taking care of our lips may be one of the simplest things in our beauty routines. Applying lip products is habitual for most of us, whether it's in the form of a balm, stain, tint, lipstick or gloss. And it's so quick and easy to do, that it's seldom inconvenient. I do this as I'm locking the door, while I'm putting on my jacket, or sitting in the car waiting for the gate to open/close. Sometimes, I even apply it as I'm walking into wherever I need to be.

Although applying lip products has become second-nature to most, we're all lip-care sinners. The application of lipstick is so glamourous in ads, movies and music videos. I especially love the lipstick slow-mo. It's so seductive and beautiful. Except the part where SHE'S DOING IT WRONG! Okay, that's a tad dramatic.

#DabitDontDragit

Our lips are delicate and we need a little restraint. We should be patting and dabbing on our lip products, instead of dragging lip products carelessly across our beautiful faces. The stratum corneum that covers the lips is super thin, we have no sebaceous glands to lubricate our lips naturally, and water loss on the lips is a whopping 3-10 times higher than the rest of the body The natural colour of your lips is a result of the underlying blood-vessels, and (again) the super thin skin covering it, allowing the red and pink (and blue, in winter) tones to shine through. I think that's pretty cool, but I digress. We need to treat the lips with the same gentle care as we do our eye areas. You don't need much pressure applying good lip products. By dabbing instead of dragging, there's less "stress" and stretching on the very thin skin covering on your lips, and it's less likely to be chapped as a direct result of your application method. I've done this, it ain't cool. And neither was that lipstick.

YES, you can get the same, intense colour without dragging your lippies. Just keep dabbing, and use a lip brush. I do this with red lipstick. I dab it until it's as intense as I like it, and then I dab my lip brush in the same colour and fill the bits and pieces closest to my lip line. I also define the vermillion border with a lip brush or soft lip pencil and VOILA! Same-same. And obvs you can use your lipgloss applicator in the same way. I love the soft brush of Bourjois's Rose Exclusif Lipgloss and the sponge-tip applicator of Essence's XXXL Nudes lipgloss.

So dab-dab-dab, pat-pat-pat, dab-dab-dab. And dab some more.

#DabitDontDragit

Have you mastered applying lip products without dragging? Any tips and tricks?

Miss B