To prep your lips for coloration, a top quality lip balm is virtually nonnegotiable. “Utilizing a balm covers and fills in any little gaps in your lips in order that coloration would not sink in, and it retains coloration from attaching to dry patches that may flake off,” notes Patinkin. Hopefully, you have scrubbed most of them off, however a top quality balm can soften any lingering bits you might need missed. “A tinted balm might help improve a lipstick coloration, however a transparent balm will give a more true learn,” she provides. Search for emollients that construct up the pores and skin barrier and soften out microcracks—for instance, mindbodygreen’s lip balm incorporates shea butter, coconut butter, and vitamin E, in addition to moringa seed oil for a heap of fatty acids and antioxidants.
Nevertheless, timing does matter: Apply your lipstick proper after swiping on a balm, and the colour will possible slide proper off. Patinkin recommends making use of your balm quarter-hour or so earlier than your make-up routine—like whenever you get out of the bathe or begin doing all of your hair, as an illustration. That method, the formulation has sufficient time to sink into the pores and skin and soften your pout. In case your lips nonetheless really feel slippery whenever you’re prepared to use lip coloration, be at liberty to make use of a tissue to blot away any additional product.