The TikTok Make-UpTrend You Should Try For Fuller Lips

The TikTokers are at it again. The latest viral makeup trend to hit the social media platform promises the perfectly full and plump lip look of your dreams, using only non-permanent methods.

Ever since Kylie Jenner popularized the full-lip look in 2015, social media platforms have been going crazy trying to recreate the drastic change without the price of getting lip fillers (via People). From wasabi lip masks, to spreading pepper flakes or cinnamon over your lips, some influencers even resorted to sucking on a shot glass to achieve the coveted pout. And while these practices might give you temporary results, they're not worth the burning and bruising to get there!

Thankfully, creators are perfecting a no-pain lip plumping alternative, and it's not just longer lasting, but it also happens to come right out of the Kardashian lookbook, as well — contouring. Whether with a normal contour palette, or using self-tanners for a semi-permanent look, the results will give you perfect pouty lips.

Contour has long been used by the beauty community to emphasize jawlines, highlight cheekbones, and even hide double chins. Now, the same principles of shadow and light are being used to achieve more voluminous-looking lips. 

There are two main techniques for contouring your lips: pre- and post-foundation application. Incorporating the lips as part of their pre-foundation contour routine, TikTok user @Amanddajustyne applies contour around her mouth. Far from the usual C or 3-shaped contour application, she applies the darker shade on the outer corners of her mouth, lifting up alongside her lip's bow towards her nose, and at the bottom of her lips towards the chin. The trick is to continue with diagonal lines in between the corner shades for a "snatched" look. After blending the darker shades out, she applies foundation, her upper lips instantly looking like they were professionally filled. The finishing touch? Apply concealer at the bow, and slightly above the outer corners, and you've got yourself fully contoured, plump lips!

The other, perhaps a more traditional route, includes using a brown lip pencil to slightly over-line your lips. Place contour powder or cream underneath your chin, and right above your chin, and after blending it will make your lower lip look fuller (via L'Oreal Paris). 

YouTuber Jenny Gonzalez, however, opts for contouring inside the lips. After applying concealer on the outer corners of her lips, she contours her lip line, and then applies highlighter (or lipgloss) to the center for a voluminous look.

Other TikTokers have used the same principle — lining your lips with a slightly darker shade to create depth — with a slightly more permanent product. Self-tanners, popular for the added glow added to your skin during the summer, are now being used to get the lips of your dreams. 

The process goes something like this: apply your favorite self-tanner onto a thin angled brush, brushing off the excess. Then apply the product to the outline of your lips, going right onto the lip-line. Each self-tanner has its own set of instructions for how long the tanner should stay on before being washed off, so follow the directions accordingly. Refinery29 also recommends using a tanner with a tint "so that you can see exactly where you're applying the product."

The technique results in a seamless fuller lip. The darker outline not only helps create depth, but it preps the lips perfectly whether you're wearing lipstick or going sans tint. Unlike the contouring, which comes off with the rest of your make-up at the end of the day, the look will stay on for at least a couple of days (via Paper).

While the FDA has approved sunless tanners for external use, the chemical products should not be applied to the "lips or any body surface covered by mucous membranes" (via the FDA). Exercise caution to be sure you're only applying on the lip-line, and use a self-tanner safe for sensitive skin and the face (via Refinery29).