Face Up Tips: Lips

As you know, I'm still working on improving my techniques so I thought I'd share what I've learned. Here is my trick for lips.

I'm addicted to shimmer powders.

A little background on this head: She's a recast Volks SD16 Kira. Her original owner tried to blush her to match a yellow skin body, and despite all my scrubbing, I can't completely remove it. [Edit: I have since removed it and redone the faceup.] So, this is making one eyebrow look really goofy. Please ignore that for the sake of the tutorial.



 

1. Block out the face up colors. On the lips, dab some color in the middle on the bottom and on the sides of the upper lips. (For a more solid lip, dab color over the whole thing).

2. Continue to add color to those spots in layers, sealing as needed, until you get the right shade for your tastes.

3. Next, take a darker, complimentary shade and dab it on the middle of the bottom lip. You might need to add a couple layers of this color. You can add it to the top lip if you like.

4. Once this is done, thin out some brown paint or other color (I find brown looks best, but you can try a complimentary shade of pink or red or whatever) and go over the lip crease. I start from the outside and work in. It can take several brush strokes to get it just right. Make sure to do this on it's own layer so you can clean up stray paint marks with water without ruining the pastel underneathe.

5. Once this is done and sealed, we need to do lip lines. Using a sharp water color pencil or thin paintbrush, lightly draw lines from the inside of the mouth to the end of the colored part of the lip. Once dry, lightly blend some color of the lips on top. Seal.

No pics of this part because I broke my own rules.

• Rule number 1: Never paint acrylics on the same layer as pastels, or you'll ruin stuff. 
• Rule number 2: When you like something, SEAL it, then keep painting.

6. Adding shimmer powders: Either apply it over the course of several layers at the same time you're adding the lip color, or else mix a little with your gloss and apply it to the lips. let it dry,  and then add another top coat of gloss. For a matte look, don't add gloss at all.

The overall look isn't bad.

*By complimentary shade, I mean one that's similar to the one you're using or else looks really good with it. For example, if you're doing a really dark red lip, a light brown line won't look right, but a black or really dark brown line might.

Updated lips done with this same method: