Everyone should love a nude lip. I live in nude lips, I have a drawer brimming over with nude lipsticks, and I constantly find newer, better nude lipsticks to covet.

But over my years of trying new lipsticks and rediscovering old ones, there are a few products in my lip product arsenal that I've discovered really works for me. Here are my favourite products, listed in order of application, for your reading/viewing pleasure.

And trust me, this really works.

The first thing you need to do is prep that canvas. You need to hydrate and moisturise those lips, and make sure that you remove all lip flakes.


My go-to everyday lip care product (this is something I discovered about a month ago and have been using non-stop since) is the Kanebo Sensai Cellular Performance Total Lip Treatment*. I am convinced that this lip treatment was sent straight down from heaven, because it worked miracles on my dry, chapped lips (I always have dry, chapped lips). Now, I know a lot of lip care products that can restore my chapped lips, but this is the only product that also made them look plump, moist and, for lack of a better term, juicy. My lips started looking better than they ever had, and I became hooked. I usually apply this before bed as a sort of lip mask. It works a right treat, and I think everyone should own this!
Side note: You are also meant to apply this product on the skin around your lips (and I'm guessing this is why my lips looked so plump and juicy) because it actually helps to restore the skin in that area and reduce and prevent the formation of pout lines.


Then comes the 'chuck-in-your-purse' lip care product that has been my fail safe for about a year now - the Simplicité Angelica Lip Care Balm. This lip balm is light and non-greasy, and lightens the colour of the lips just a little bit - perfect when applying nude lipstick. It is moisturising and convenient to carry around, and I love the light texture that makes it so easy to apply and wear.

Now it is extremely important to remove all flakes and chaps in your lips when you apply any sort of lipstick, and there is an easy way to do this. Before you start applying any makeup to your lips, slather on a thick layer of this lip balm onto your lips. Then, move on to the rest of your face. When you finally come back to the lips, take a cotton bud and rub it onto your lips in small rolling motions - this will catch any chaps in your lips, and the lip balm will have softened these flakes enough so that they will be easy enough to remove.

Moving on to the actual makeup application, here's what I do achieve the perfect, full nude lip.


Lip liner is not essential, but is perfect when you want fuller lips, or want to correct uneven lips. It provides a nice base for your lipstick to stick to, and makes it easier to apply your lipstick because you know exactly where it needs to be applied (I don't use lip brushes and apply straight from the bullet with nude lipsticks, as they are more forgiving than darker lipsticks). My favourite nude lip liner is one from No 7 - their Perfect Lip Liner in Nude. It is the perfect colour for most lip and skin tones, and is affordable enough that you can use it everyday to colour in the entire lip without feeling guilty about it.
In the picture tutorial below, I applied the nude lip liner to only one side of my lips, to show you the difference between the lips before lip liner, and after.


Next, apply your nude lipstick. As I mentioned before, nude lipstick can be applied straight from the bullet because you don't need perfect lines. Another thing I like to do is rub the lipstick in a little at the edges, because this gives you the illusion of a fuller lip by 'erasing' the lip line and allowing the overall lip shape to 'extend' a little bit. My absolute favourite nude lipstick is the Tom Ford Private Blend Lip Color in Blush Nude*. This is a gorgeous beige colour with a hint of pink, and isn't too light, so it won't wash you out. I recommend this for anyone with skin tones from the very lightest to about medium, and if you have dark skin and are a fan of light-light lips, this still won't wash you out as long as you have a lip liner well-suited to your skin tone applied underneath. Tom Ford is available on counter at David Jones both in Melbourne and Sydney.


Finally, if I really want to highlight my lips, I apply a lip gloss. My current favourite is from Candy Doll, because these sticky lip glosses are really long-lasting and hardly require any touch ups at all. The colours are moderately pigmented and add just the right amount of colour to nude lipsticks, if that was what you were looking for. I personally like layering the darker pink lip gloss on top of my beige lipstick, because then it gives you that 'milky pink' look that I adore. The only people I wouldn't recommend these to are people who live in windy areas, and who like to wear their hair down. Your hair will stick to it like it was super glue.
The amazing Candy Doll range is available at Sasa and Watsons outlets, as well as online on Tokyoniki.com.

Below, I've attached a little picture of my overall lip routine, I hope you enjoy it!


So that is more or less my full, nude lip routine! I hope you guys found a useful tip or two from reading this post, and if you have any questions at all, let me know :) Thanks for reading!

* These products are available for purchase online with worldwide shipping at www.harrods.com.

Estée Lauder has, again and again, managed to impress me with new formulas, innovative new collections, and beautiful, vibrant colours. Now they've done it yet again, with a brand new collection of makeup, this time formulated in a gel texture with sheer but beautiful colours, in their Pure Color Cello Shots collection.


I was sent three products to trial from the collection - the Pure Color Sheer Rush Gloss in Hot Fuse (Ltd. Ed.), the Pure Color Cheek Rush in Hot Fuse, and the Pure Color Sheer Rush LipShine in Hot Fuse.

The colour 'Hot Fuse' is what I would describe as a deep raspberry red, but the textures of these products make this deep colour pretty wearable. Swatches shown below come out looking pretty different because of the different textures, though the Cheek Rush and the Lip Shine are pretty similar once applied. The Gloss is a little lighter and less deep, which makes for a beautiful combination when paired with the LipShine (shown in the picture below).


The Pure Color Cheek Rush in Hot Fuse is by far my favourite of the three - it is a lightweight, jelly-like blush that really settles into the skin and creates a lovely, sheer stain. Only a teeny, tiny bit of this is needed (about the amount shown in the picture below) per cheek, because this is really quite pigmented. This was formulated as a stain, so even though it is pigmented, it pretty much disappears into the skin once you start blending. To get a stronger wash of colour, simply apply another layer. Blending is easy, but needs to be done quickly because once this product settles, it really doesn't move! Be careful not to go overboard though, applying too much of this tends to make your makeup look quite unnatural. If you're looking for a stronger wash of colour on your cheeks, best to stick with a cream or powder blush.


This is what a thin layer of the product looks like on my cheeks, worn here with the Pure Color Sheer Rush LipShine in Hot Fuse.


The LipShine is another beautiful product - so easy to apply, and it looks great on the lips! I have lips that are slightly more pigmented closer to the outlines of my lips, so almost all sheer lipsticks look pretty bad on me. I was afraid that this lipstick would be the same, but surprisingly, it hid the outlines of my lips well, so that there was an even wash of colour. It is very moisturising and easy to apply, and does dry down to a nice, raspberry-toned stain. I was both surprised and pleased with the performance of this lipstick when I wore it on a night out. I was expecting to have to touch up my lips every couple of hours or so. Instead, it just went from a glossy raspberry red to a beautiful red stain, shown in the picture below:


Finally, here is a shot of me wearing the Hot Fuse lip products together:


I am highly impressed with the quality of these products, and I will definitely check out the lighter colours in this collection to see how they fare on my skin.

Hello everyone! I am back with more lip-smacking Maybelline NY swatches - today I'm swatching the Color Sensational High Shine Glosses.

Packaging
I have to admit, the packaging on these glosses is a little bit strange. No logo, no print on the tube, only a little sticker at the very bottom telling you the name and number of the gloss. I wasn't very impressed, especially since the silver caps started chipping and peeling even before being put in my makeup bag or drawers.
The doe-foot applicators, however, are perfect. They are small enough at the tips so that precise application is possible, which is very convenient, especially with the darker colours.

Product
The glosses are high-shine, and not at all sticky on the lips. I hate sticky lip glosses so this is a big plus for me. Some of the colours (10 and 20) have a little bit of glitter to them, which isn't a deal-breaker, but I tend to gravitate towards the creamier, solid colours.
They have a nice, large range of colours, and I found that almost every single colour complimented my skin tone.


Performance
I love the shine on these glosses, as well as the pigment. They have an average wear time (about 2-3 hours), so you will need to bring your lip gloss along with you for reapplication throughout the day.

They do look wonderful layered over a lipstick, and the darker colours really make your lips pop if you layer them over a similar-coloured lipstick, but they look perfect on their own as well for a more toned-down, everyday look. Check out the swatches above, as well as full-face shots below:


My absolute favourite colours are the 80, 110 and 120 - which happen to be the most pigmented colours in the range, along with 40 and 90.

All in all, I really highly recommend these glosses. They are amazingly pigmented, and therefore eliminate the need for a lipstick. I am all about low maintenance so these are perfect for me! They are available in stores now and retail for AUD 15.95 per tube.

These products were sent for the purposes of review and consideration in accordance with this site's Disclosure Policy.

You may or may not remember my 'Nude Lip Series', that I started about a year ago. I was a huge fan of nude lips back then, and today, nothing has changed.

I have since added about a dozen or so nude lipsticks to my collection, and I've decided that it's high time I update my series. I am starting with a brand new lip gloss that only just launched - the Sisley Phyto Lip Gloss. I was sent the colour 'Nude' to add to my nude lip series, and here are my thoughts.


Packaging
Sisley has really upped its game packaging-wise! This lip gloss comes in a clear plastic rectangular prism, with sleek metallic details on the rim and cap, quite similar to Burberry's packaging, except without the check.
The applicator is a small lip brush, which is a good size for precision application (more relevant if you're using the darker colours in the range).

Product
The lip gloss is quite thick and sticky out of the tube, which translates into a longer wear time, so I'm not fussed. Once applied, the texture becomes more creamy, so it is very easy to wear.

It is a darker brown-based nude, so it looks very natural on the lips. If you're looking to whiten your lips, then you need to have anything from a dark olive skintone and below. If you're looking for a natural nude, then this is perfect if you have lighter skin. Here is a swatch of the lip gloss:


Performance
I found this lip gloss very flattering. For a lip gloss, it lasts for a decent period of time on my lips - about 3 hours or so without drinking or eating. Reapplication is definitely necessary with this, as with all other lip glosses.

I also found that no matter how thick a layer I apply, the lip gloss does not bleed outside my lips - this is a big plus for me, because I don't wear lip liner. This, plus the decent wear time, is probably due to the sticky formula. The stickiness of this lip gloss did bother me a little though, perhaps because I am now used to wearing light, creamy lipsticks.

Lip glosses are all about the shine, and this gives me a lovely glossy look without any use of shimmer or glitter, which is great because lip glosses with shimmer or glitter tend to fade very messily and leave glitter trails all over your face.


Pros vs. Cons
Pros

• Pretty packaging
• Decent wear time
• Flattering colour

Overall rating: 4/5

The Sisley Phyto Lip Gloss retails for AUD 60 at Sisley counters.

This product was sent to me for review and consideration in accordance with this site's Disclosure Policy.