LIPSTICK & LIP PENCIL

Lip Pencil

Lip liner pencil can be a very inexpensive and versatile item. In addition to lining the lips, you can also wear them alone as a long-lasting lipcolor. I love to wear my Winks Brandy pencil like this. This is a great way to use a lip pencil that doesn't go with any of your lipsticks. You can wear the pencil alone, or under or over lip gloss, Vaseline or lip balm. Lip balm is longer lasting, but more matte. Wearing pencil over gloss will create a sheer look. A touch of transparent frosted lipstick (try Wet 'n' Wild #550A or #555A), or a light colored frosted lipstick over pencil can also add moisture.

You can also layer lip pencil under or over lipstick. Use lip pencil under lipstick for really long-lasting color. Use lip pencil over a glossy lipstick to make it a little more matte and make it last longer. You can also use a pencil over or under lipstick to change the color. You may discover that you have a lot more color choices in your make-up bag than you realized. With very moist or greasy lipsticks, it works better to use lip liner pencil instead of lipstick to adjust the color (but you can just use whatever you already own). A brown will tone down a bright lipstick, a rosy color will brighten up a brown (Winks Burgundy or Fuchsia), or you can use a dark plum to deepen a color and make it more dramatic (Winks Berry, or Wet 'n' Wild #715). A beige pencil will lighten a color, a pink or peach will lighten it and change the tone a little. Experiment and see what you like. You may find that a color pencil you don't like for lining looks great when used over (or under) a different shade of lipstick.

I also find lip pencils very convenient to carry. I carry several lipsticks in my purse and one medium brown lip pencil- Wet 'n' Wild #666, that works with all the colors as liner. I also use it over any colors that are too bright to tone them down. Its much quicker and more convenient than layering a brown lipstick for touch-ups. A versatile, neutral color like this one is a money-saver because it can be used as liner with practically any lipstick color.

The color pencil you use to line your lips will affect the color and look of the lipstick. Whether you match it, go darker, browner, or rosier/pinker, the lipstick will tend to take on the tone of the liner color. I prefer to use a reddish-plum liner (Winks Plum or Wet 'n' Wild #662) with red lipstick because the red pencils usually have an orange cast or are too bright. You can use a darker liner in the daytime if you blend it very well or apply it very lightly after you apply the lipstick. A darker liner worn with your daytime lipstick can make it more dramatic for evening. Just keep it in the same color family. Don't use a dark brown unless you are wearing brown lipstick. The most natural look is to match the liner to your lipstick or go only slightly darker or lighter. You can also use a lip liner in a fleshtone, the same color as your lips (I like Winks Brandy), or a soft brown (like Wet 'n' Wild #666).

Fixing the texture of lip and eye pencils. If you have a pencil that is too soft or keeps breaking when you try to sharpen it, put it in the freezer for 10 minutes. For a pencil tip that is too hard, try warming it between your fingertips. If that isn't enough, try rubbing a drop of baby oil or moisturizer into the tip. Wipe off the excess and test on the back of your hand first. For a pencil that has really dried out or hardened, you can let the tip soak in a little bit of baby oil. However, this probably means the pencil is too old to be using and you should just toss it and buy a new one. Yes, I have taken a match to the tip of a too-hard eye pencil, but for safety's sake I'd rather you just trash it and spend the extra buck on a new, soft one.

Lipstick

Keep in mind the saying "there is nothing new under the sun." There are many standard lipstick shades that you will see again and again in different lines, with different prices, different packaging, and different advertising angles to make them appear new and different. As you familiarize yourself with colors, you will begin to see this and recognize the standard shades everybody sells. Then you can assemble your own collection from really inexpensive lipsticks. With this collection of your favorite colors and a few well-selected additions, you will then be ready to mix up just about any shade imaginable. You can then experiment and make new shades or copy other shades when you get bored or something catches your eye in a magazine, instead of being tempted to go out and purchase new and maybe expensive lipsticks to get some new colors.

Custom Mixing and Adjusting lipstick shades. I understand the allure of department store lipsticks. Every line has such beautiful, subtle variations of shades. And they are all right there to try on and see just how great they look on you. I got tired of the time and expense involved in searching for the perfect shades of lipstick, and having a case full of "misses." With my light olive skin, getting a shade that really looks right can be tricky. Not too warm or brown, and not too cool and bright. After some practice and experimentation, I finally feel in control. I can mix up just about any color and nuance of shade I want from very inexpensive lipsticks. I am no longer a slave to the department stores spending $13-$16 for that perfect shade. I can also get many looks out of fewer lipsticks which is a real money-saver.

Usually when I wear a new shade home that I tested in a department store, I can mix up a copy of the shade with the lipsticks in my case. Just think, with only $15-$20 of very inexpensive, well-selected lipstick colors, you could mix up just about any shade you see or can imagine! With some experimentation, you never know, you might discover a gorgeous original shade that could become your trademark. You can finally get good use out of your entire lipstick collection by mixing and adjusting colors to suit your taste and skin tone. You can use a $1 lipstick to make that expensive lipstick that wasn't your color wearable and pretty. The best part is nobody else will be able to go out and buy the same shade! You will be an original! When someone asks you what lipstick you are wearing, it is fun to be able to say, "Oh, its just one that I mixed up myself."

I once scraped out what was left from about five L'Oreal lipsticks that were worn down to the bottom. They were plums, reds, roses, and pinks, and didn't all look that great on me. I scooped them all into a little plastic pot and mixed them together. While out shopping, a lady complimented me on my lipstick and wanted to know what shade I was wearing. I couldn't tell her! I'm more set in my tastes now, and do fewer experimental mixes. I know better what looks good on me so I make fewer purchasing mistakes. I often just use beiges and browns to tone down some shades that are too bright or pink, or to lighten or darken a color. I also use a light, neutral frost occasionally over my matte lipsticks. Often, I fall in love with a lipstick and how it looks in the tube, then find it goes on lighter or brighter. I use these techniques to make the color look on my lips how it originally looked in the tube. I've been doing a lot of experimental mixing and problem-solving with colors for this web site. I hope this info helps you. Have fun!

I will be mentioning different lipstick colors by number from the Wet 'n' Wild collection. This is the line that I use, am most familiar with, and they cost less than $1 each. You can use just about any brand you choose and still get the same effects. In that case just use the Wet 'n' Wild display at the store as a color guide so you know what I am talking about, and then you can go buy the same colors in any brand you like. However, long-wearing matte formula lipsticks will not work as well for layering and mixing colors, nor will very sheer and greasy lipsticks. But it can still be done. You can mix lipsticks from different brands and different formulas. However, sometimes you won't get ideal results when you mix different formula types, but sometimes this can improve the texture.

Technical tips for layering lipsticks. Mixing two lipsticks together first before you apply them will give you a slightly different look than layering one on top of another. I like to layer to "adjust" a color, and I prefer to mix when I am mixing up completely new shades. Experiment with both methods and see what you like. However, with some color combinations, you will not get the desired effect from layering and you will have to mix them. You also cannot layer more than 2 or 3 colors, you will have to mix them. Either way, you will need to apply the lipsticks with a lipbrush. When I layer a lipstick, I usually put on a regular coat of the first lipstick, and a lighter coat of the one on top. If the bottom color is applied too thin, the top color will dominate. Sometimes it helps to blot the first layer with a tissue to keep the lipstick from getting too thick. This really helps when trying to lighten a color. When I layer lipsticks, I am usually adding a brown or beige to tone it down and either darken or lighten it, or adding a light frosted lipstick. If you use too much of a brown or dark brown, you may have to add some more of the original color again on top. The layering method involves some amount of mixing and blending the colors while they are on your lips with the lipbrush. You can also apply them both directly from the tube which is easier for touch ups on the go, but it is easy to get the lipsticks on too thick and sometimes when using the tubes, the top lipstick does not want to adhere well to the bottom one. You also cannot blend the colors into each other as you can with a brush. You can try layering different lipstick brands and formula types, and you can also layer clear and colored glosses on top of lipsticks.

I scraped all my lipsticks out of the tubes and mashed them up into a palette which I find much more convenient for mixing and layering colors. I can really see the colors clearly, and all of them at once, and their relation to each other. I also don't have to fumble with a multitude of tubes anymore.This may not be for everyone, because it limits your options for touch-ups and you've got to love using a lipbrush! I go more into palettes and the various options and solutions for the touch-up problem in Organizing Your Make-up.

For a sheer "stain" effect: You can layer a very thin coat of  lipstick on top of lip balm or a touch of lip gloss. Another way to get this effect is to blot your lipstick so only the stain is left and apply gloss.

Technical tips for mixing lipsticks. I prefer to mix colors when I am mixing up completely new shades. Experiment with both methods and see what you like. Mixing the colors vs. layering them will give you a different look. However, with some color combinations, you will not get the desired effect from layering and you will have to mix them. You also cannot layer more than 2 or 3 colors, you will have to mix them. I mix lipsticks for a single use using the side of my hand as a palette. I take a scraping of each lipstick with a toothpick and mix. Apply with a lipbrush. If you have a lipstick color you really hate, and have decided to mix up a whole new color with the whole lipstick, you can buy little plastic pots with screw on lids at the drugstore that work great for this. Many make-up lines also have great containers that they use for giving out samples of products. Wash these out and re-use them. If you are going to mix up several colors, plastic pill boxes can work well. Just try small samples first to make sure you like the results before mixing the whole batch. I have had to trash more than a few failed experimental concoctions. If you invent a shade you really love, then you can mix up a whole pot of it and carry it around with you for touch-ups, instead of mixing it up each time you put your make-up on. Use round toothpicks or small popsicle sticks (buy them at a craft store) for your mixing. You can mix lipsticks together, even different brands and formula types, and you can also mix clear and colored glosses together or glosses with lipsticks to create your own colored glosses.

Have a matte lipstick that is too drying? Try layering lip gloss over it, or scrape the lipstick out of the tube, put it into a pot and mix in some Vaseline, lip gloss or lip balm to make the formula more moist. This will also make the color more sheer.

Making lipsticks frosted. Despite what I've said before about frost in other products,  I do like frosted lipstick. I think most women can get away with frosted lipstick for daytime or work if it is a soft or neutral enough color with only a subtle shimmer. These look great day or night. The more vivid and darker frosted shades tend to look best at night. Even though I like frosted lipsticks, they are still not very versatile and therefore not where we should be spending most of our make-up budget. I would often fall in love with a gorgeous vivid frosted plum or cherry red shade and then rarely wear it because it was just too much for daytime. There is a better way to get the best of both.

A frosted lipstick you can only wear one way, but a matte lipstick can be worn as is or frosted. I also prefer the more subtle effect achieved by adding a touch of frost on top of a matte lipstick  to the look of regular frosted lipstick. As I mentioned in the eyeshadow section, you can use a light touch of any light frosted (or matching) eyeshadow over your lipstick to add some sparkle, or just in the bottom center of your lower lip for a sexy pout. The light frosted blush from most blush duos and frosted highlighter powders also work.You can also buy one light colored frosted lipstick, a clear frosted lipgloss, or a transparent frosted lipstick (#550A, #555A) and use it over any of your matte lipsticks to achieve a frosted look. I use a rosy-beige frosted lipstick (#510) alone, or over other colors to make them frosted. It lightens the color slightly. To avoid this, you can just add the frost in the center of your lips only where the light hits them and this will also make your lips look fuller.

Any light frosted beige (#543A), pink, or peach, or a metallic color will work well. Wet 'n' Wild also makes a frosted gold lipstick (#551), a silver (#513A), a light beige/champagne (#547A), and some other colors like a lavender (#553A) and a light green (#546A). Remember you can also use any light frosted lipstick on your cheekbone, your browbone and the center of your eyelid. You can also use any of these frosted lipsticks over clear gloss or Vaseline (cheapest) for a soft, sheer shimmer.  Frosted eyeshadow can also work well either mixed with lip gloss or applied over it with your finger. Just don't use too much powder or it could get "gummy". You can experiment with mixing or layering different colored frosted glosses with your lipsticks. These are lots of really pretty and inexpensive lip glosses in the low-priced lines.

Toning down colors that are too bright.  Match the "adjusting color" to how dark or light your base lipstick color is. Use a nude or beige (#532B, #512A. #507A -  I use as my standard beige to apply over colors), medium brown (#549), or dark brown (#533B). #506A is a terrific brown in between #549 & #533B. It looks really great over red. You will usually just need to layer a coat of the beige or brown over your base color. This is also a great technique for making vivid frosted colors more wearable for daytime.

Darkening colors. Medium and dark browns or blackberry (#508) can be used to darken other shades. Browns are more neutral. Blackberry will give the lipstick a plum tint. If you don't mind changing the color, you can use any darker lipstick you have on hand such as a deep red (#509), plum (#522,#544), or purple (#545) over it.

Lightening colors. Beige (#507A), nude, and light beige (#532B) colors can be used to lighten and tone down colors while minimally affecting the shades. Light pinks and peach can also be used to lighten colors but will alter the tone slightly. You can also dilute the color by mixing or layering a little bit of the color with some lip balm or gloss. If you don't mind adding some frost, you can mix your color with some transparent frosted lipstick (#550A, #555A). These will lighten your lipstick without affecting the color. Another method is to mix the lipstick with a little concealer.

Remember: You can use any powder product such as eyeshadow, blush, or bronzer as a lip color. Just scrape a little off the pan and mix with a little lipgloss or Vaseline. You can also apply the lip gloss first, or lip balm and apply the powder color over it with your finger. If you wish, you can also mix different powders together to make different colors before you apply it. This is a great way to see if you would like a trendy lipstick color on you such as dark purple or blue, before you spend your money on one. You can also use a cream blush on your lips for very sheer and soft color. Apply it with a fingertip, not a lip brush.

Mixing up new colors or changing colors. You can be creative and mix just about any combination of colors together. Peach with pink. Beige with pink for a very natural (and hard to find) lip-toned color. Maybe you can finally make that purple or orange lipstick into a wearable shade ( but I bet bright orange, corals and peach will be back soon). Try pinks (purple and pink make lavender), and/or beige or brown with purple. Try pinks, reds, beige, frosted beige, champagne, peach, or browns with orange.  Mixed together, orange and purple make a pretty berry color. They can be great colors for adjusting other lipstick colors. Purple (#545), to make a color more blue-toned, and orange to make a color more warm-toned. You can mix purple from plum and pink. Orange or yellow lipstick can be used to turn a blue-red into a more orange fire-engine red. Purples, pinks, cherry's and plums will make a color more blue-toned.

I am very picky about reds. I don't like them bright. So I use dark brown over red to make it a deeper, but more muted red. I love red with a medium brown over it. It makes a very pretty, soft and wearable medium red. Light Beige and red make pink. The darker the beige, the more raspberry it gets. Pink can be layered over or mixed with red, and then if it is too pink or bright for your taste, you can add a little medium brown and turn it into a more natural looking mauve. Blackberry over red turns it dark plum, and would be great for a red that is too orange. Red can be mixed with plum to make a cherry red. Purple and red make plum. Light beige and plum make mauve. The lighter the beige, the more purpley the mauve, the darker the beige, the more brownish.

A terra cotta (#504A) or a rust color is also a good color for mixing and making shades warmer. Try a little over a red to warm it. Or add some terra cotta to a pink or mauve. Terra cotta mixed with light beige can make any depth of peach you desire. Try mixing terra cotta with a small amount of red, and then apply medium brown over it. Terra cotta also makes a very pretty warm neutral with medium brown layered over it.

Have a bright cherry pink/red? You can mix it with light beige to turn it a lighter pink, then mute it with brown if necessary to make a mauve color.You can also use it to make shades that are too "dull" brighter, or put over brown. Bright coral/cherry/pink? These colors are the most fun to experiment with. It's amazing how wearable you can make them. Try this experiment: First mix it with some purple or blackberry to turn it into plum and add medium brown (the less purple or blackberry you add, the more berry and less plum it will be). Set some aside and mix the rest with red. Take some of that and mix with a medium beige for a pretty raisin with a hint of terra cotta. All three of the shades you have now are beautiful, current, and very different than what you started with.

Copying and inventing shades. Look at the color closely, or visualize what shade you want. One lipstick will have several aspects of colors to it. For example, if it is a Plum - is it more Red? Purple? Or Brown? Is it Cool, Warm Toned, or Neutral? Is it dark or light? Bright or muted? Is it frosted? What tone does the frost have? Clear? Gold? Yellow? Peach? Lavender? Blue? Pink?

For more subtle and unusual shades, look very carefully. Try it on the side of your hand in addition to your lips so you can get a really good look at the color. Also check it out in daylight. What combination of colors do you see in it? Reds? Browns? Pinks? Purple? Is there a warm peach or terra cotta tone in it, even if it also has some pink, purple or burgundy in it?

Wear the color home on your lips, and if you can, keep it on your hand. Get your lipsticks and toothpicks out and start your mixing. Usually most colors can be duplicated with no more than 2-3 shades with a little mixing, and maybe layering the final frost or brown on top. Wipe the color off of half your lips and apply your mixture to compare. Once you learn how to copy shades, you may never feel like forking over $15 for a lipstick again.

As you get more advanced, you can start copying colors from sources other than testers. You can just study a lipstick in a tube, a blister pack, or a drugstore display, and figure out what colors you need to use to duplicate it . The hardest thing to do is to copy a color you see on a model in a photograph. You can't always see the color clearly, and lighting, photo processing and printing can alter colors. Also, a color can look different on different women because of the underlying color of their lips and how it is applied. It can be really hard to get it to look exactly like it looks on her. But it never hurts to try. You just might be able to do it! I prefer to cheat by reading the fine print and getting a good, clear look at the color in the tube at the store.

Here are some examples of colors I have duplicated:

#504A  +  #510  = Prescriptives Avant Garde
#518B or #520C + #504A + #510 on top = Stila's Luce
#522 + #541A + #510 on top (if you want it lighter)  = Stila's Plum Lipshine color
#509 + #504A on top =Bobbi Brown's Burgundy
#545 + #549 + #510 on top = Bobbi Brown's new frosted plum

Not into mixing and matching your own lipstick shades? Here is another alternative to department store lipsticks. One of the Drug Emporiums in my area sells lipsticks by the Cosmetic Factory for $1.46 each. These are versions of department store lipcolors. They have versions of colors from Chanel, Christian Dior, Clinique, Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, Lancôme, MAC, and Prescriptives.They have 80 colors. Also, check out the Beauty Buzz web site.They have a section called "look-a-likes" which lists drugstore copies or matches of your favorite department store cosmetic colors. In addition to lipsticks, they have lists for a variety of cosmetics.

Here are my favorite Wet 'n' Wild shades and how I like to wear them.
These are the regular formula. It is a creamy, glossy lipstick with a stain.

#510 a light subtly frosted peachy/rosy-beige. I wear it alone, and I wear it over everything. This is my favorite frosted lipstick. It is very subtle and the perfect neutral.
#550A a transparent and very subtle frost I've used over other colors. It will not alter the color of your lipstick.
#555A is very similar to #550A, but it is whiter and the frost is bolder.
#547A is a light beige/champagne frost color. The frost really shows up so I like to put this one over other lipsticks just in the center of my lips.
#509 a blue-red I wear browns over. I especially like #506A over it which is a brown in-between #549 and #533B
#535A is an orange-red. I like to wear browns over it.
#501 is a bright orange-coral.
#518B is a light, natural, muted beige-pink that I use more beige (#507A) over, but many of you could wear it as is.
#520C is a raisin/mauve that I wear as is or with medium brown (#549) over it.
#522 is a plum/fuchsia that also becomes the "perfect" plum with medium brown (#549) over it. I also put #533B (dark brown) or #508 (blackberry) over it to make a dark plum.
#504A is a rust, terra cotta shade that I like alone, and it is especially pretty with #510 over it. I use #532B (a very light nude) over it to turn it into peach. I also like medium brown (#549) over it. It turns it into more of a neutral tan. I like to mix or layer this color (#504A) with mauves to make a warm rose. It is also very pretty with a touch of #522 over it.
#552 is a gorgeous frosted ruby red. I like to mix it with a little # 541A, a dark frosted bronze, to deepen it.
#530B is a frosted pinkish-purple/plum.
#542 is a bright cherry/ fuchsia. If you like Revlon's Cherries In The Snow you will like this color.
#524E is a pink/mauve, with a slight purple cast.
#528 is a very pretty light frosted pink.
#517A is a pinky mauve, a little warmer than #524E. I like to use brown #549 over it to turn it into a very neutral pink-brown.
#549, a basic medium brown, becomes a very wearable shade with #510 over it. It also turns into a very flattering bronze with gold frost # 551 over it.
#545 is purple.
#554 is a lip balm/gloss hiding among the lipsticks.

#747A is one of the matte formula lipsticks. It is a basic peach. I like to apply it over #504A to turn it into a deeper apricot.
#766 of the precious metals is a deep gold frost which applied over #504A becomes copper.