How to Overline Your Lips (Without It Looking Obvious)

Full lips are something to be desired, but not everyone is naturally given the volume in their pout to obtain this look on a daily basis. While we’ve seen this trend all over Instagram (cue Kylie Jenner), it can certainly be intimidating at first when trying to pull this look off ourselves. Seeing as fillers and injectables are a path many choose to change the shape of their natural lips, these options aren’t always available or affordable to all. Learning how to shape your lips and slightly over-draw with lip liner is key when wanting to give yourself more fullness without spending your money on expensive treatments.

Keep scrolling for a complete and easy (we promise) guide on how to overline your lips without it looking obvious.

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Assess Your Lip Shape

When wanting to overdraw your lip shape, this first step is essential. Since everyone has differently shaped lips, knowing what kind of shape you have and where you want to add fullness will help you immensely when deciding where to begin. For instance, if you want more volume in your upper lip versus your bottom, keep that in mind before starting to draw out your lines. You’ll want to keep the focus on your upper lip more, but also have the bottom half of your lips look consistent. The more you become comfortable with your lip shape, the easier this will become over time.

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Choose Your Color

Whether you’re wanting to do a nude lip or something bolder, having a lip liner and lipstick that match is essential when pulling this look off. When you first start practicing, you might want to choose a more neutral color until you get comfortable with drawing your shape. When it comes to the lip liner and lipstick, be sure the colors complement each other and aren’t too drastic. (For instance, you don’t want an obvious difference in color between your lip liner and lipstick). For this tutorial, I’ve chosen to use a pinkish nude tone.

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Prep Your Lips Properly

Dry or chapped lips are sure to put a damper on the seamless overlined look you have in mind. Before you break out the lip liner, start with exfoliating and moisturizing your lips. Lips that are properly exfoliated and moisturized will keep your lipstick from flaking throughout the day.

Exfoliating and moisturizing take less than a minute of your time. Simply rub on your lip exfoliator for approximately 30 seconds, wipe away the dead skin cells, and swipe on your lip balm of choice.

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Fill In The Outer Corners

As you can see here, my lips look fuller but not in a way that screams “This was done with makeup.”

FAQ

• How do you overline lips without lip liner?
  

  You can still achieve an overlined lip look even if you don’t have lip liner available. Follow the typical method you would use to line your lips with lip liner but substitute the pencil for a lip brush and lipstick.

• Can you use eyeliner as lip liner?
  

  While eyeliner can be a suitable stand-in for lip liner, it’s important you check the ingredient list before applying. Some eyeliners may have ingredients you wouldn’t want near your mouth. If you’ve determined the ingredients are safe for use on your lips, you’ll want to prep with extra lip balm as eyeliners can be drying. You should also select a cream eyeliner pencil for the closest consistency to lip liners.

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