Lip Service: Top Tips For Wearing a Bold Block of Lip Colour

At a new YSL lipstick launch last night — Rouge Pur Couture: commit it to memory; I assure you you'll want it — YSL ambassador Natasha Severino shared the insider's guide for wearing bold lipstick.

Illuminate: Natasha applied YSL Touche Éclat Radiant Touche around the outside of the natural lip line. Pourquoi? It reflects the light and creates an "optical illusion" of a bigger pout. Noice.

Line them up: Any pro will tell you that lip liner is an eeesential part of applying lipstick. Gently trace your natural lip line, using backward and forward motions, not one poker-straight line. This helps it to look more natural.

Blending: So you're not left with the trashy liner look once your lipstick fades throughout the day, Natasha recommends lightly blending the liner down into the centre of your lips with a lipstick brush.

Keep reading . . .The application: Next up, apply your first coat of lipstick with a brush—using the side of the brush, not the tip, to avoid the brush splaying and spreading product everywhere. After you're done, blot with a tissue to take off the residue and really push the product into the lips. Then re-apply.

Powder room: Thought you were done, huh? Well Natasha's got one more handy hint to share: powder. Gently place a thin tissue over your lips — split a standard tissue in two — and then dust over some loose powder. Pressed won't work as it features oils. This really helps to set the lipstick so that it won't go anywhere. It also leaves the look with a matte finish which works well with punchy colours. If you're still wanting a hit of creaminess, add a little lip product to just the centre of your top and bottom lips. Voilà.

YSL Rouge Pur Couture will be available from October 3. Stockists: 02 9931 8888.