If there's anyone who's come to the forefront of fashion and beauty in 2014, it's Kylie Jenner. While her sisters are taking the Hamptons, marrying Kanye West, and walking for Marc Jacobs and Chanel, Kylie has taken a more quiet approach to fame. She's still hustling like a Kardashian, what with turning out a shoe line for Steve Madden, a clothing line for PacSun, and writing a book series with her sister Kendall, but where Kylie is really pulling ahead of the rest of her family is creating her own standout look.
In a family with such a signature style, Kylie adds her own edge. She's one part Tumblr, one part SoHo, and one part Beverly Hills. She may have grown up before our eyes as the littlest sister on "Keeping Up With The Kardashians," but thanks to her Instagram and a couple of key red carpets, Kylie finally has all eyes on her, and people can't stop talking.
One topic people can't seem to stfu about is Kylie's lips, and for good reason...
They're amazing.
The lips that launched a thousand headlines. Did she get injections? Did she get plastic surgery???
No. She got a makeup artist. A very good makeup artist who is contouring nose, sculpting her cheeks, and most noticeably, making her lips look larger, fuller, and more eye-catching than anyone else's.
Since we can't seem to stop talking about Kylie's lips, I am going to show you how to get them without dropping a ton of money on your own makeup team.
I'm the perfect person to show you how to fake big, full lips, because like Kylie, I have a very thin top lip.
Thin lips are a true struggle, but luckily, they're also an easy fix. With just two products and a little bit of practice, you can make your lips just a little bit fuller, or you can really commit to full on, head-turning, Kylie Jenner status.
Essentially, what we're doing is overlining our lips, or drawing on the lips we'd like to have. The key to this is a good lip liner, and a lipstick of the same color. Kylie often wears a nude lip color, but when she goes dark, it really accentuates and shows off her overlined lips.
For this tutorial, I opted for a dark lip to really make this look pop.
I used NYX Lip Liner Pencil in Prune, a very dark black cherry that goes on smooth and is very easy to work with.
It is malleable when you first draw it on, so if you need to do it over, you can start fresh without having to bust out the makeup remover. Once it dries down, it's not going to budge.
To start, simply line your lips.
This will give you a clear idea of where you're starting from, and how much you're going to be coloring outside the lines, so to speak.
Below are my lips lined to their natural edges. Not an ideal look, not worthy of a Jenner.
From here, you're going to slowly and carefully (or not, your call) start building up your lips to make them fuller. Stay away from adding liner to the sides of your lips. It's tempting, but in the end, doing so will end up making it look almost clown-like. Focus more on the middle of your bottom lip where it juts out most. Next, add volume to your cupid's bow, the two little points that your top lip makes just below your nose.
I focus more on my top lip since it is virtually nonexistent. I first make the points of the cupid's bow higher, then I fill in the valley between the two points, to make it proportional so I don't end up looking like Jessica Rabbit. Little details like this make all the difference in changing the shape of your lips. Ariana Grande's makeup team sometimes draws completely over her cupid's bow for super-plump looking lips.
It's all in what you're trying to achieve.
For as much of a difference as this technique makes, in the end, you're actually doing very little. Don't try to achieve the look in one pass of lip liner. I use short strokes of liner to achieve the perfect shape, and then trace over it to ensure my line is clean.
One you've got the perfect shape, fill in with a similar lip color. I used another NYX product because I like to keep it in the family, NYX Butter Lipstick in Licorice. I love this black cherry lipstick because while being dark, it is still pigmented with enough deep red and purple to look flattering on every skin tone.
The Butter Lipstick is highly pigmented with a nice satin finish which is perfect for a color as dark as this. It provides nice, even coverage and won't dry out, crack, or flake off. I love a good matte lip, but when I'm straight up lying about the shape of my lips, I like to be sure that they're going to look great all day long without worrying about too much maintenance, and I need to know that the product is going to stay where I put it. I mean, I would drop dead if someone said "Uh, Tynan? I think your top lip just came off."
Swipe on the lipstick, pat on the lipstick, brush on the lipstick, whatever you have to do to get the color even and feel comfortable. I brushed on my lip color so I could blend my natural lips up into the clean line of the lip liner, or, my fake Kylie lips. Once I achieved coverage I was happy with, I threw caution to the wind and went over my new large lips with one more swipe of lipstick and BOOM, I was ready for my Instagram closeup.
What do you think of the before and after?
Personally, I think it's very Season 8 vs. Season 9 of Kylie's lips on "Keeping Up."
This takes a little practice to find the shape that works best for the shape of your lips and face, but once you figure out what works best for you, it's a breeze. Do you like Kylie's large lips? Is there a technique or product that you use to exaggerate one of your own natural features? Comment below and tell me all your secrets!
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