You know the feeling – your makeup is looking flawless and you finish off the look with the perfect shade of lipstick. Then before you know it, it looks like you never put lipstick on to begin with and your amazing makeup looks incomplete!

You’re in luck.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make your lipstick last longer on your lips – meaning less reapplying for you and more time for your lips to shine!

Step 1: Make sure your lips are smooth as silk by keeping up with a routine before you even think of putting lip color of any kind on. Exfoliate your lips once a week and moisturize them every night with your favorite lip balm. I swear by Beauty Bakerie’s Sugar Lip Scrub because it gets the dead skin cells off while keeping my lips soft as the same time. Finish off with Lucas Paw Paw Ointment nightly right before hitting the pillow and your lips will always be ready for your next makeup look!

Step 2: Next, it’s time to get down to business and put your fave colors on! Start by applying a good quality lip liner to the entire lip area – line the edges, then fill the lips completely in. You want this to be a similar color to the lipstick you’ll be choosing to help the color stand out. It’ll also last longer, because once the lipstick and lip gloss fade away, you’ll be left with the base color of lip liner you applied. I’m a big fan of the Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat Lip Liners because they’re super smooth, creamy, and last well.

Step 3: Now it’s time for the main event – your lipstick! Of course I have to shout out Emerge Cosmetics here. The Luxury Matte Lipsticks offer that cult-favorite matte look without drying the lips while the Cream Lipsticks offer a high shine finish with a buttery feel on the lips. These lipsticks by definition are long lasting without the commitment of liquid lipsticks, but if you layer them with the steps in the blog post, you’re sure to get beautiful, all day wear!

Step 4: I don’t know about you, but I live for a good shiny lip! So now it’s time for the lip gloss to top everything off. The Emerge Cosmetics Luxury Lip Glosses offer high shine in a non-sticky formula to make your lips POP! Add to the center of your lips for a pouty look or all over to finish the look.

BONUS STEP: You might want to skip this step if you finished off the look with lip gloss since it provides the opposite result. But something I discovered when we had to wear face masks and I was experimenting with how to make the makeup last longer underneath it was that adding a bit of translucent powder on top of lipstick helps it to last longer and minimize transferring. This can be especially helpful during events like your wedding day! I like the Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Microfinishing Pressed Powder because it’s finely milled, smooth, comfortable on the lips, and doesn’t cause flashback in flash photography. Simply rub your ring finger in the powder and tap it all over your lips and you’ll end up with a matte lip look.

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Lauren