Unlock the Secrets to Luscious Lips: Your Ultimate Lip-Contouring Guide for a Plump Pout Without Needles

Harper Rose2 days agoLast Updated: 13 April 2025

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This Lip-Contouring Guide Is Essentially Your Cheat Sheet for a Fuller Pout, Sans Needles

There has never been a time in history quite like now, where people are so captivated by their lips. While brows enjoyed popularity in the ’90s and have recently made a comeback—from ultra-thin and overplucked styles to the bushy “boy brows”—and skin has experienced a variety of beauty trends ranging from historical nobility applying lead-laced powders to achieve a pale complexion to today’s pursuit of glass skin, lips have truly stepped into the spotlight. Kylie Jenner marked this shift around 2016 during her King Kylie era with her noticeably fuller pout. Almost overnight, everyone was eager for a Kylie Lip Kit, a shot glass (let’s leave that lip-sucking trend in the past), or a filler appointment.

Although the demand for lip fillers remains strong, makeup artists have become adept at creating the illusion of fuller lips with the right products and techniques—no needles required. Considering that fillers can be costly, uncomfortable, and require more upkeep than lip contouring, mastering this latest lip-enhancing technique is certainly worthwhile.

**What Is Lip Contouring?**
“Lip contouring is a lip-lining technique that creates the illusion of larger, fuller lips using a cool-toned liner,” explains celebrity makeup artist Kasey Spickard, known for her work with Ciara Miller and Tayshia Adams. “It employs the same principles as face contouring, imitating the natural shadows of fuller lips.”

You might wonder why cool tones are necessary. Just like with cheekbones or jawlines, which are often contoured with cooler shades to mimic shadows, a slightly cool, deeper lip liner (or your favorite contour product applied with a small brush) can emphasize where a natural shadow would fall on fuller lips, making your pout appear more pronounced.

**Is Lip Contour the Same as Lip Liner?**
While there are countless TikTok tutorials on how to overline lips, it’s important to differentiate between contouring and excessive lip lining. Lip liner is a product used to define and enhance the shape of your lips, whereas lip contouring is a technique that often incorporates lip liner—but not the typical pink, red, or colorful varieties that match your lipstick.

“Contour for the lip is not the same as a liner, but you can achieve lip contouring with lip liner,” clarifies celebrity makeup artist and brand founder Katie Jane Hughes. “Typically, lip contouring is performed with face contour products around the mouth to enhance the appearance of volume.” Hughes, who has beautified many celebrities, has some clever tricks for creating makeup optical illusions.

The goal is to apply your cool-toned lip liner or contour product in areas where shadows would naturally occur—above the Cupid’s bow and below the fullest point of your bottom lip, right beneath where your lip protrudes above your chin. However, avoid the defined lines typical of standard lip liners. Instead, ensure that these shadows are blended thoroughly for a diffused, natural look.

**Below, we’ve outlined the lip-contouring process to try at home.**

**1. Prep Your Base**
Start by hydrating your lips with a balm or oil. Personally, I recommend applying a lip mask—like Laneige’s Lip Sleeping Mask—about an hour before makeup to allow for absorption. Just remember to blot your lips before you begin contouring to prevent any product from slipping off.

“I like to start by applying any leftover foundation or concealer from my beauty sponge onto my lips, followed by a light layer of powder,” shares Spickard. “This provides a base for the lip products to adhere to, similar to how a contour stick holds onto foundation.”

**2. Carve Your Shape**
Next, using a cool or gray-toned lip liner, focus on overlining the top of the Cupid’s bow and just below the center of the bottom lip. Buff it out with your finger or a dense eyeshadow brush. “Concentrate the lip contouring in these areas and avoid the rest of the lip line, or you risk looking clownish,” Spickard advises. Keep the contour limited to the center of your lips.

**3. Add Dimension**
With your upper and lower lips looking more voluminous, it’s time to integrate the rest of your lips into the look. “Blend this overlining downward onto the lip to create depth and the illusion of a ‘bigger shadow,’ which will enhance the appearance of fuller lips,” Spickard explains.

Hughes advises to stay within your lip line while deepening the corners of your lips for added dimension. “Adding small shadows to the pigmented parts of your mouth at the corners can enhance the volume effect,” she adds.

**4. Apply Your Lip Color**
Now that your lips are contoured, it’s time to apply your lip liner, lipstick, or gloss as usual, blending it lightly into the lip contour for a natural finish, as recommended by Spickard.

**Tips and Tricks**
While this technique is certainly less painful (and less costly) than lip fillers, it is not as long-lasting. To minimize touch-ups throughout the day, professionals have some helpful advice for achieving all-day wear.

– **Use a sealant:** “To ensure super-long wear, I apply a light layer of Duraline over my lip contour before my lipstick and gloss,” Spickard suggests. Duraline, a clear liquid that can be mixed into or applied over makeup, acts as a sealant for all-day, smudge-free wear.

– **Apply sparingly:** Hughes warns against overdoing the contour, no matter how tempting it might seem. “Make sure not to go too dark with your contour or bronzer,” she advises.

– **Powder, powder, powder:** “If you’re using a cream product, be sure to set it with a face powder,” she adds. Although applying powder to your lips may sound drying, it’s a pro makeup artist-approved hack that will keep your lip products in place all day.

As you explore this lip contouring technique, remember to keep it fun and creative. For more updates and beauty stories brought to you by HiCelebNews, be sure to stay tuned!