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July 16, 2021
19 Minute Read 3.5k views
- In This Article:
- Best Lipstick Brands According to Makeup Artist Mehak Narula
- Lip Care Routine
- Before The Perfect Application
- Mehak Narula's Recommended Matte Lipsticks
- Mehak Narula's Recommended Gloss Finish Lipsticks
- Mehak Narula's Recommended Cream Finish Lipsticks
Best Lipstick Brands According to Makeup Artist Mehak Narula
Yearning to know about Best Lipstick Brands? Ladies, take note! Wearing lipstick has a positive effect on your Psychology. It may help you feel smarter, boost cognitive performance, and feel a sense of overall enhancement in self-esteem, attitude and personality, say scientists. In short, lipstick has the ability to change our looks, shift our moods, and give us confidence.
Lipsticks have been an essential part of all women’s lives. What would we ladies do without the invention of lipsticks? It makes us feel sensual, saucy, and appealing, without us having to do too much. And in just a minute, our look and our style are changed. A good lipstick can make us feel worth it and we are glad that it came into our lives.
Lipstick is a highlight of every woman’s beauty routine and an essential to every make-up bag. It’s one of the few products that can be a look all on its own.
Popular lipstick shades have often been a direct result of cultural and climate change. Although colors and ingredients have changed over the centuries, the purpose for wearing lipstick remains the same: to express your inner being. Thereby, adding to a woman’s overall attractiveness and ability to express individuality. The wonderful thing about lipstick is the endless variety and adaptability in color and composition.
Some women have very lightly pigmented lips, so adding a bit of color, can simply help lift up their face. It looks healthier and brighter without having to apply a ton of makeup. Matching lipstick to an outfit can complete your look beautifully. Furthermore, lipstick defines your lips and gives your face more structure.
Lip Care Routine
A regular lip care routine can help keep your lips soft, smooth, and supple throughout the year. The skin on the lips is fragile, sensitive, and more prone to drying out. Your lips don’t have the sebaceous oil glands found elsewhere on your skin. This leads to dryness and chapping, especially in cold, extremely hot, or windy weather.
Hoppingo approached Mehak Narula, a makeup artist in Gurgaon to get her recommendations on the best lipstick brands available in the market today. Along with her preferred brands, she also explained how a regular lip care routine was as important as skin care and the best way to prepare your lips for the perfect application each time.
Moisturizing your lips with a lip balm or ointment that hydrates and seals in the moisturizer are of utmost importance according to Mehak.
Look for ingredients like shea butter, petrolatum, Hyaluronic acid in your favorite lip moisturizer brands.
She recommends keeping a lip balm close at hand and keeping lips moisturized at all times. An added SPF helps protect your lips from drying out in the sun.
Exfoliating the lips gently with a soft toothbrush and oil once a week helps get rid of the flaky and dead skin. But do not exfoliate if the skin is dry or cracked.
Hydrating yourself from within by making sure you have plenty of water helps your lips stay soft. According to Mehak, cracked lips can also be a sign of dehydration.
While you might instinctively lick your lips to keep them moisturized, doing so actually leads to more dryness, she explains. Licking can also cause yeast to build upon the lips. This may lead to a condition known as angular cheilitis or painful inflammation at the corners of the lips. Do not peel or bite your lips as it can tear and irritate the skin further.
Before The Perfect Application
These are a few steps before you actually apply your favorite lip color to your lips that will make it look perfect and help the color last all night. However, If you’re opting for a lip stain, you can skip the steps since stains are all about adding a little sheer color to your lips without making them look too painted on.
If you are wearing a foundation of any sort, bring it down over your lip line to block it out lightly. This will help those who have a very well-defined lip line or have redness over the lips or on the sides.
Importance Of A Lip Primer
A lip primer does not get as much important as a face primer although it does the same job for the lips. The primer prepares the lips for the lipstick and helps it last longer. It prevents chapping, flaking, and peeling. Mehak recommends the following brands for Lip Primer.
1. Dior Lip Glow Lip Balm
2. MAC Prep and Prime Lip Available at Nykaa.
3. Indulgence Essentials Pout it Lip Oil available at Nykaa.
Besides these, in her opinion Vaseline, Borolin, ghee, and coconut oil work just as well as a quick home fix for a lip primer.
Vaseline’s benefits come from its main ingredient petroleum, which helps seal your skin with a water-proof barrier. This helps your skin heal, and retain moisture keeping your skin healthy.
Borolin contains Lanolin which is a natural product and acts as an excellent emollient.
Coconut oil Works as an intense moisturizer that ensures smooth and dewy skin. The lauric acid in coconut oil has nourishing properties that seep into your skin
Ghee has been used as an Indian skincare routine since ancient times due to its antioxidant properties which make the skin supple.
Once your lips are primer-ready, the next step is choosing the right lipstick Formula.
Different Types of Formulas
With all the options in the market, the different types of lipstick can get a bit overwhelming.
Here is a quick round-up of different kinds of lipsticks and what makes them unique.
Over the years, lipstick has evolved and now we have the option of choosing from hundreds of lipstick shades, formulas, and textures. The texture and the formulation should be given importance while choosing a lipstick shade.
Traditional Lipsticks
Traditional Lipsticks are made with waxes, oils, and pigments and are available in the form of a stick. Stick lipsticks have the widest range of finishes, from high gloss to creamy to matte, and typically have the largest variety of shades compared to other formulas, depending on the brand.
Liquid Lipsticks
Liquid Lipsticks are the newest and fastest-growing formula. Though each formula differs, liquids are typically known for full opacity and all-day wear. They apply, as the name indicates, as a liquid, but unlike traditional lipsticks, they fully dry down on the lip to a velvety finish that doesn’t budge. Their packaging is similar to that of a lip gloss, as they are in a tube and applied with a wand with a doe-foot applicator on the tip. If you want irresistible lips, a liquid is the way to go. Because they dry down and wear well for so long, however, some formulas tend to be a little drying.
The make-up artist recommends her favorite brands,
1. Smashbox always on LIQUID lipstick Available at Nykaa
2. Huda Beauty, Liquid Matte available at Nykaa.
3. Fenty Beauty, Stunna fluid Unlocked lip Paint, Available at Amazon.
Lip Stains
Lip Stains were a precursor to liquid lipsticks, as they, too, are a liquid. The difference is that a stain is heavily pigmented but sheer, so your lips will be tinted, but still show through the product. It’s like a natural flush of color. They are very thin and light on the lips, and the color stays for hours until it wears off. The lipstick stains are all about color, and not about shine or gloss. Lip tints are usually long-wearing and can come in a variety of pigmentation levels, from almost sheer to vibrant and bright.
Stains are great for casual wear that you don’t have to constantly check up on or reapply. They are great for days when lipstick feels too much. Also, many lip stains double as cheek tints. If you want solid color with a less shiny look, lip stains are ideal. They are lighter than matte formulas and give a nice color that can also be layered with another shade.
A lipstick stain can sound a bit scary to be putting on your face, but they are not. According to Mehak, If you don’t want a lipstick that takes a lot of time and effort, stains are a great option. However, they tend to make the lips dry so it’s best to apply lip balm before using them.
Recommended Lip Stains
1. Benefit lip and cheek stain available at Nnnow.
2. Clarins water stain available at Shoppersstop
3. M.A.C Versicolour Varnish Cream Lip Stain Available at Shoppersstop.
There are new innovations in lip products every day, so you’ll hear about lip crayons and lip pencils, which usually fall in the lipstick category, and lip creams, which tend to be a liquid tint with less stay power than a traditional liquid lipstick.
Lip Crayons
A lip crayon has the added benefit of being a lip liner and a lipstick all in one. You can use it to line your lips, then to fill them in.
Lip crayons tend to be a lot easier to use in terms of precision The pointed tip on a lip crayon allows you to easily line and fill in your lips. If you want to give your pout a satin or sheer finish that lasts, apply a thin layer of lip crayon first, then add your lip gloss on top. It will help it to stay put. Mehak’s go to brands for Lip Crayons,
2. Faces Canada Matte Finish Lip Crayon
3. Maybelline New York Super Stay Crayon Lipstick
Lip Liner
The purpose of lip liners is to define your pout and prevent bold colors from bleeding. They can also be used to overline your lips to make them look fuller. Liners are more dense and dry than lipsticks, so they cling to the lip longer.
With a liner, you will be able to color the edges of your lips perfectly. Once your lipstick is applied, use the lip liner to finish the look. Some people use a liner that is a different color than lipstick. However, it is best to stick with something that is a similar color. Lip liners might take a bit of getting used to when it comes to application. We recommend using,
1. Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Precision Glide Lip Liner
2. M.A.C Lip Pencil
Lip Tints/ Tinted Lip Balms
If you want your lips to have color, but worry about dry or chapped lips, then the tinted lip balm is perfect for you.
Lip tint is very similar to a lip stain and is a preferred method for people who do not want to reapply and spend time on their lipstick. The lip tint is easy to apply, and available in a wide range of colors. You can make your lips look great with minimal effort.
Since lip tint is usually a lighter, less vibrant product, it also does not moisturize your lips for too long. If you have dry lips, you may need to add a moisturizing lip gloss along with the tint.
Lip balms are a must-have, especially if you are prone to having dry and chapped lips. If you find yourself reaching for your lip balm very often, why not get one that also adds beautiful color to your lips, find a shade that makes them look like your lips but better. Lip balms are like lip tints or stains with hydration.
1. Bobbi Brown Extra Lip Tint
3. Benefit Cha Cha Lip Tint
Lip Gloss
Lip gloss is different than glossy lipsticks. It is often used when a person wants to have some color on their lips, but does not want a bold lip color effect. Lip gloss can be applied on top of lipstick to make it look glossy or to add depth as in the case of glitter gloss. You will usually need to apply lip gloss more often if you want to keep your lips shiny and moisturized all day. You can put lip gloss directly on bare lips, and it does a great job of moisturizing your lips. Mehak’s Lip Gloss suggestions are,
1. M.A.C Power glass Pumping Lip gloss available at Shoppersstop and all M.A.C stores.
2. Lakme Absolute Plump and Shine Lip Gloss, available here
Lipstick Finishes And Formulas
The lipstick comes in a wide range of finishes and formulas. With so many options available, choosing the one that works best for you can be a bit confusing. Glossy and matte are two of the most popular lipstick finishes on the market, but with very different formulas. If you’re trying to choose between glossy and matte, take into consideration the shape and texture of your lips. If you have dry lips choose gloss and avoid the drying matte formulas. Also, take into consideration the overall look you’re trying to create, along with the occasion it is for.
Matte lipsticks
Matte lipstick is formulated very differently from glossy ones. Every lipstick has certain key ingredients: wax, oil, and pigment. However, their ratio is what determines whether a lipstick will be matte or glossy.
Matte lipstick has more wax and pigment and less oil, which makes for a rich opaque product that is deeper in color and long-wearing. They give the lip a luxurious, velvety finish, which helps the color appear more rich and vibrant. Matte lipsticks need a more skilled hand to apply but they are great for a more dressed-up look.
If you love your lip shape and want to highlight them, matte formulas are ideal for you. They are highly pigmented with no shimmer, drawing eyes straight to your lips. Use a lip liner to provide a little extra effect if you are going for a sophisticated and modern look.
Matte formulas work well for evening looks. However, if you work long hours or have very little time to reapply your makeup during the day, a matte lip is a great solution for you. Most formulas last from 6 to 8 hours after application. Carry along with a moisturizing lip balm in case your lips get dry.
These lipsticks typically last longer since they are less moisturizing, making them harder to rub off. However, this makes the overall texture of the lipstick drier and more likely to settle in the cracks of your lips.
Matte lipsticks are not recommended for women with dry lips. So make sure to exfoliate and moisturize your lips if you like using matte lipsticks.
Mehak highly recommends M.A.C Retro matte lipsticks.
Her favorite Nude color is Mehr and she claims Ruby Woo from M.A.C to be the Best Red ever for Indian skin.
It’s interesting to know that this particular matte shade Ruby Woo was launched in the 1990s and to date remains M.A.C’s best-selling shade in the U.S., and M.A.C’s second-best-selling shade globally.
Mehak Narula’s Recommended Matte Lipsticks
Bobbi Brown Crushed Lip Color, available here
Mehak Narula’s Recommended Gloss Finish Lipsticks
Glossy formulas, in contrast, are extremely simple to apply especially when you are short of time. They glide on smoothly and don’t require the time that matte formulas demand.
A glossy shine, suggests a dewiness that looks both fresh and youthful. Smooth on a glossy lipstick with high shine to create the illusion of plump, young lips.
The bold look of matte lipstick can be a bit overwhelming in broad daylight. Glossy lips look more natural and complimentary during the day. Glosses need to be reapplied a lot more often than matte formulas, but since they are so easy to apply, you don’t even need to carry a mirror.
Choose gloss or cream formula when your lips are chapped. Lipsticks with a glossy finish are the most hydrating of all lip color formulas. If you suffer from dry lips, avoid matte and use a glossy finish. The glossy sheen will help to disguise the dry appearance of your lips and hydrate them at the same time.
Adding shine to your lips will make them look bigger than they are. For women who have very small lips, gloss lipstick can work very well. Some people use cream lipstick with a coat of gloss lipstick on top. This combination can help you with both color and the impact you want. A gloss lipstick tends to stand out more than cream lipstick.
1. Charlotte Tilbury Superstar Lips, Available at Nykaa.
2. Lakme Absolute Gloss is available on Amazon.
Mehak Narula’s Recommended Cream Finish Lipsticks
The cream lipstick is a bit different than the first two options on our list. It is more subtle and low gloss. Cream lipstick glides on easily and provides a perfect balance of texture with a hint of gloss. They look cushiony and creamy and deliver high-impact color in one go. While sheer lipstick is higher in oil, cream lipstick is higher in wax, giving it a greater degree of staying power. The buttery soft texture doesn’t bleed or dry. They have a soft-matte finish, perfect for those who don’t like matte or glossy lipsticks. They are perfect for when you want the color and the nourishment.
Unlike matte and glossy lipsticks, creamy lipstick is often used to create a natural day look. This kind of lipstick adds color to the lips without drawing extra bold attention.
Creamy lipsticks recommended by Mehak are,
Faces Canada weightless creme Lipstick available here
Maybelline New York Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipstick, available here
3. Lakme9-5 Primer + Creme Lip Color, available here
Satin Lipstick
Satin lipstick can also be referred to as semi-matte, or in-between a matte and glossy finish. They have a soft shine that helps lips appear softer and plumper. Satin tends to be the best of both worlds as they are comfortable on the lip, they usually have a bit more moisture to them and feel better for longer.
Sheer and satin lipsticks are very similar. The satin lipstick is great for moisture and a high gloss look. One of the things to remember about satin lipstick is that it has a high oil content. Sometimes lipsticks with high oil content need to be applied more often than others.
Frosted or metallic Lipstick
Frosted lipsticks were the rage in the ’90s, on the red carpet and runways. These lipsticks reflect light and make your lips shine and sparkle which in turn also makes them look plumper and fuller. Some of these lipsticks also contain shimmer that adds extra shine to your lips and makes them look appealing. If you are interested in flaunting this lipstick, remember to moisturize your lips since these lipsticks can also get very dry and might crack your lips.
Sheer Lipstick
Sheer lipstick has a very little tint. … This kind of lipstick is used by women who want a nude look with their makeup.
Sheer or satin lipsticks give your lips a soft appearance and are perfect for your nude makeup days. Incredibly soft and hydrating, sheer lipsticks add a bit of color to your lips. These lipsticks are enriched with moisturizing ingredients to keep your lips soft and supple. It’s a good choice if your lips are dry. However, they are not long-lasting and require frequent touchups These differ from a lip stains because sheer lipsticks provide a moisturizing barrier and feel comfortable on the lips, whereas stains simply stain the lip without moisturizing.
For some reason, the sheer lipsticks always look darker in the package than they do when you put them on so keep that in mind while choosing the color.
Let’s hear what Mehak has to say about lip care, lipsticks, her favorite shades, and more.
Some Interesting Lipstick Facts
1. One of the most expensive lipsticks in the world is Guerlain’s KissKiss Gold and Diamonds Lipstick, which costs $62,000./ 4,62,4378 INR.The tube is made from 110 grams of gold and studded with 199 diamonds.
Bonus: You get to pick 15 refillable shades, (at that price, that’s the least to expect). Furthermore, you can personalize it with stones like rubies and emeralds. It can also be custom-engraved and comes with its own black wooden case, lip brush, and black suede pouch. Take a look,
2. According to a study conducted by the University of Manchester, men stare longer at red lipstick on women than bare lips. They were most entranced by red lipstick, staring at it for an average of 7.3 seconds, while their gaze lingered on women with pink lipstick for an average of 6.7 seconds. They only glanced at women with bare lips for an average of 2.2 seconds.
3. Did you know that women, who wear lipstick daily, eat approximately 2 kg of lipstick in their entire lifetime?
4. In the 1500s, people in England believed that lipstick had magical healing powers. Queen Elizabeth also had the same belief and applied lipstick heavily even when she was ill. She had half an inch of lipstick on her lips at the time of her death.
Based on what you read, Here’s how you can create your lipstick arsenal.
Keep these 7 things in mind.
- What formula works for you.
- Which applicator works for you.
- Which type of lipstick works for you.
- What colors do you prefer? Maybe nudes for the day, or dark colors for night and gloss for work from home.
- How much lipstick do you apply? Based on this you can select the size you need to buy.
- What’s your budget?
- Based on what influencers/ celebrities/ experts are using.
Do share what your lipstick arsenal looks like.
Hope you can make a well-informed purchase instead of impulse buying something you may not use or like.
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