Legit Makeup Tricks For Faking Fuller Lips

Often wondered how to make your lips look bigger using just the contents of your makeup bag? Here are five ways to fake the most fabulously plump pout.

From Scarlett Johansson to Eva Mendes, some of the world’s most beautiful women have, well, the most beautiful lips. Now, don’t get us wrong, bee-stung lips aren’t the be-all-and-end-all, but they’re so simple to nail, even the most makeup-challenged can achieve the heady heights of a fuller pout. So why wouldn’t you?

Of course, the options for faking fuller lips are many and if you’re looking for more permanent or semi-permanent procedures like lip lifts, implants or dermal fillers, then a visit to your plastic surgeon or doctor is the best place to start. The Botox Lip Flip, for example, is the hottest lip augmentation treatment to have right now. It involves injecting Botox above the top lip to make it relax and therefore ‘flip’ up. It doesn’t actually add volume to your lips (that’s what filler – or lip gloss! – is for), but it’s said to make your lips certainly 'appear' fuller and more defined. Anyway, we're just putting it out there. We’re all about options, you see.

If you’re after less dramatic results, however, that require zero needles, no downtime, and give you an immediately plumped-up pout without the commitment (and pricetag!), then makeup is really all you need. 

Read on for five of our favorite ways to achieve fuller lips with your makeup.

1. Dry Lips Are A No-No

Just like your skin, dry, dehydrated lips are never going to look their plump best, so keeping them hydrated is essential. The annoying thing is that the skin on your lips contains no sweat or sebaceous glands which means they don’t produce sebum (oil) to help keep them moisturized. You therefore have to do all the hard work for them.

The best ways to moisturize your lips? Apply a non-irritating, fragrance-free lip balm, or Spin-On™ Lip Gloss (packed with shea butter!) regularly and drink lots of fluids. You could even invest in a bedroom humidifier to help hydrate your lips (and your skin – bonus!) overnight. Oh, and try not to lick your lips. Saliva may feel good for a grand total of ten seconds, but when it evaporates it'll cause your lips to feel even drier than before. 

The other great way to prep your lips for pouting success is to gently exfoliate once a week. This improves circulation, removes flaky dead skin cells and helps your lip balm do its job properly. And sure, you could invest in a fancy lip scrub but honestly? You can easily make your own with a little baker’s sugar mixed with olive oil. You could also work a soft toothbrush or damp facecloth over your lips for 20-30 seconds. Just remember not to rub too hard but use gentle, light circular motions only – the skin on your lips is super fragile.

2. How To Contour Your Lips

Face contouring will always have a place in our hearts – especially as our Fold Out Face Palette, along with its custom-created contour powders, make it SO easy to achieve. However, makeup contouring isn’t all about your skin. Your lips can get involved, too. In fact, thanks to TikTok, lip contouring has been big news in recent months and, while it sounds kinda tricky, it’s really not.

Our favorite and oh-so-simple way to contour your lips is to grab a soft, flat makeup brush like our Essential Eye Brush. First, dampen it slightly with clean water, then dip it into the darker of your two contour powders; it’s the one that’s slightly darker than your natural skin tone and best for creating shade. Try not to pick up too much product – natural is always best! – then blend a subtle amount of color just below the centre of your bottom lip. This emphasizes the shadows that naturally form around the line of your bottom lip, making it look instantly more plump.

You can also do the same on your top lip, and/or in the outer corners to add a lifting, smiling effect. Pretty neat, huh?

3. Always Balance Light With Shade

To really maximize the volume of you lips you need to create light as well as shade. 

For a natural, daytime look, grab your light contour powder – something you would normally use to highlight your cheek bones or brow bones – and press the smallest amount into your cupid’s bow, again using the Essential Eye Brush. If you’ve previously applied a dark contour powder, blend the lighter shade between this and the line of your lips.

You could also trace the entire outline of your lips if you want to create even more contrast and definition. And if you fancy a little extra pizzazz (ha, do people even use that word anymore?!), dab a little shimmer powder along the cupid’s bow. Gorgeous, 3D lips here we come.

4. What’s The Best Lip Color For Fuller Lips?

No matter if you’re a lipstick or a lip gloss kind of girl, by far the easiest way to fake a fuller pout is to ditch the dark lip shades and stick with paler colors like baby pink, nude, gold and light earthy tones. The paler your lip shade is, the bigger your lips will look. It’s called science.

Shimmer, glossy formulations also reflect light more than matte tones, further enhancing the voluptuousness of your lips. That's why we go for gloss, every time! We suggest you do the same ;)

5. Time For The Coloring In

To line your lips or not to line your lips? Well, we believe this is all down to personal preference and not really that necessary if you’ve already contoured, but still, it can certainly help create a poutier look if that’s your jam.

The key, again, is not to go too dark with your lip liner – keep it subtle with one shade darker than your natural lip color at most. And for the most even-looking finish, try starting at the outer corners first, lining inwards towards your cupid’s bow.

To finish, it’s all about the king of pouty lips: gloss. If you prefer a stronger color, sure you can fill in your lips with lipstick, but it won’t make your pout look anywhere near as full as lip gloss. It’s all about light reflection, you see. You could apply gloss over the top of your lipstick if you like, and in fact, concentrating a small amount in the center of your lips only is a great way to make them appear fuller. But why do that when all-over gloss is so darn fabulous?

Our gorgeous Spin-On Glosses are totally non-sticky and super hydrating which makes them extremely wearable, day and night. Oh, and they come in five gorgeous shades to suit all tastes and skin tones – eight if you go all in with The Boss Gloss Bundle!

For the poutiest pout, we recommend Glam Peach which is subtly shimmery and just the right shade of pale to have your lips looking totally gorge and full of volume. Swipe it over both your top and bottom lips, starting in the center and working back and forth to ensure even coverage. 

Happy pouting, people!