Kittymao Beauty

Make up/Model: Steph

Photography: Ade

For the perfect base to beautiful lip product application, here are some quick tips, tried and tested by yours truly!

• Drink that water everyone has told you to drink! The slightest lack of water could very well be the cause of your flaking lips, so drink up and make sure you’ve got your insides covered before we carry on!
• Exfoliation: Brush your lips after brushing your teeth? Agh! A much painless, less irritating way would be to take a nice and warm shower and after you get out, gently rub your index finger along your lips to slough off the dead skin that has become soggy, and voila, smooth lips! Slather on the lipbalm after this step!
• For a homemade exfoliating scrub, all you need is some extra virgin olive oil from the kitchen, and some raw sugar. Mix both so you get a paste, which you can apply to your lips, preferably after a shower, and scrub those flaky bits off!

• To prepare for a big day, apply a thin layer of your eye serum on your exfoliated lips before going to bed (what is eye-safe is generally lip-safe, but this doesn’t mean you should eat it or apply it on broken skin) – and then put on a thick thick layer of balm. I’m suggesting something really emollient like Vaseline, or Elizabeth Arden’s 8-hour cream. What happens is that the high quality of humectants (components that attract water) in your eye serum will draw up the moisture from deeper layers of your skin into your lips, and the balm will seal in the moisture, leaving soft and plump lips in the morning!
• Reapply lip balm as per needed! Some balms which contain menthol, although can give a nice refreshing sensation, can dry out your lips. My personal favourite lip balms are Burt’s Bees Replenishing Lip Balm (available at Sephora), The Face Shop Plus +1 Lip Care Cream Vitamin (available at The Face Shop stores) and Lavera Basis Lip Balm (not available in Singapore)