Here are tips for applying lipcolor and choosing a lip shade.

Applying Lipliner
A lip liner pencil is a must for defining lips and keeping lipstick from bleeding. Lip pencils should be the same color or slightly darker than your lipstick. The lipliner pencils should be sharpened and then flattened slightly on the end by strokingit once or twice on a surface. Pencils with a soft texture tend to wear off more quickly than firm textured lip pencils. Start with a lip pencil to outline lips as close to the natural edge as possible--without extending beyond the lip line. Draw in edges to even out uneven lips to make both sides symmetrical. Fill in the lips with the pencil before you apply your lipstick to make color last longer. Use a cotton swab to soften line for a more natural edge. Dust a little powder lightly over your lips before you apply lipstick. This will help lipstick stay on longer. Check out our firm-leaded, 100% natural lipliner pencils.

Applying Lipstick
Use rich colors that go with skin tone. Choose a color that is bright enough to liven up your face but not so bright it over takes your whole look. Sometimes, dark shades that can harden and age your face and too soft shades that can make you look washed out. Experiment to see what works best for your look.

The best way to apply lipstick is to use a lip brush, load it from your lipstick and brush it on. Apply two coast with a dusting of loose powder between coats. This will make lipstick last longer. Try a dab of lip gloss all over lips for a dramatic wet look or just a dab on the middle of your lower lip for a subtle dewy presentation. Check out our Luminous Lips Lip Lacquer in our More Beauty & Glamour Products Page.

Choosing Lipstick Colors
Lipcolors that work can vary greatly, based on individual taste. Here is a very broad, simplified breakdown of tgcosmetics.com shades that generally work for specific skin/hair types. But don't limit yourself, Experiment to find what works best for you.

• Light to Dark Blond hair/fair skin: Soft pinks (better on younger skin), watermelons, salmon, warm pinks, pink browns, plum reds, soft tomato reds, corals, mauves, rose and rose browns (Misty Mauve, Parisian Pink, Dune Rose, Raison, Apricot Toast, Quartz, Champagne Rose, Infinity. Mulberry, Eruption, Silk, Geranium, Sweetheart, Sheer Power, Cafe, Desert Blossom, Rustique)
• Brown hair/fair skin: Warm reds, warm mauves, pink mauves, pink beiges, soft browns, terracotta, plums, and soft plum. (Dune Rose, Rustique, Raison, Porsche Red, Mulberry, Eruption, Infinity, Devotion, Scarlet, Sheer Power, Desert Blossom, Matador Red, Cafe)
• Brown hair/medium skin: warm reds, deep reds, rich deep pinks, pink browns, deep mauves, pink beiges. (Dune Rose, Rustique, Raison, Scarlet, Porsche Red, Mulberry, Sweetheart, Matador Red, Rouge, Rum Raison, Eruption, Sheer power, Rouge, Cafe, Vamp. Madness, Blaze)
• Brown hair/Olive skin: Light browns, deep browns, soft browns, velvety chocolates, red browns, plum browns, wine browns. (Cafe, Rustique Mulberry, Eruption, Mulberry, Scarlet, Rouge, Rum Raison, Madness, Quartz, Dune Rose, Vamp, Attitude)
• Auburn to Red hair fair skin: Raison, bronzes, coppers, orange browns, sheers, soft beiges, brick reds, brown reds. (Rustique, Raison, Quartz, Goddess, Eruption, Sheer Power, Desert Blossom, Rum Raison, Attitude, Dune Rose)
• Black hair/Fair skin: Raspberry reds, blue reds, geraniums, fuchsia, rose, medium pinks, berries, burgundies, soft plums. (Misty Mauve, Geranium, Champagne Rose, Mulberry, Porsche Red, Sweetheart, Parisian Pink, Infinity, Devotion, Matador Red, Rouge, Madness, Blaze)
• Black hair/Afro-American skin: Nude pinks, nude beiges, mochas, coffees, mahoganies, chocolates, berry shades, dark plums, wines, burgundies (Infinity, Goddess, Apricot Toast, Quartz, Mulberry, Eruption, Silk, Sheer Power, Cafe, Rustique, Vamp, Rapture, Roube, Rum Raison, Madness, Misty Mauve, Attitude.)
• Dark hair/Asian skin: Sheer, beiges, pinks, plums, brown plums, bright reds, deep reds, pink mauves, mauves. (Misty Mauve, Parisian Pink, Dune Rose, Porsche Red, Apricot Toast. Quartz, Infinity, Mulberry, Silk Devotion, Scarlet, Sweetheart, Sheer Power, Matador Red, Madness, Vamp, Rouge, Blaze.)
• Brown hair/Mature skin: Natural and deep tone shades of warm reds, warm mauves, pink mauves and soft plums. (Misty Mauve, Infinity, Scarlet, Geranium, Sweetheart, Matador Red, Rouge Porsche Red, Raison, Sheer Power, Desert Blossom, Cafe)
• Gray or white hair/Mature fair skin: Roses, mauves, warm reds, rich colors in creamy textures. (Misty Mauve, Champagne Rose, Devotion, Apricot Toast, Infinity, Geranium, Sweetheart, Matador Red, Scarlet, Mulberry)