Make Your Lipstick and Lip Gloss Last

Whether it's cold weather or hot weather, your lipstick and lip gloss will fade due to a number of common, unavoidable factors. Everything from the wind to your own body temperature can affect the wear and last of your lip makeup. There are a few easy ways to get your lipstick and lip gloss to stay perfect all day long, while still keeping your makeup looking natural and kissably soft.

Keeping your lips moisturized all day is one of the most important things you can do to make your lipstick last. Using a natural moisturizer on your lips before you actually apply lipstick or lip gloss is a great way to ensure the moisture content of your lips for a long time. There are a few all-natural lip moisturizers on the market, and it's easy to do it yourself at home using pure aloe. (If you mix pure aloe with coconut milk, it makes a great lip moisturizer that works equally well on the sweat-prone skin on your forehead, because it cleans your skin naturally without adding too many unwanted oils.) You can also try to avoid licking or biting your lips during the day, too.

Another problem even the long-wear lipsticks and lip glosses share is the wind and sun exposure that you're undoubtedly going to face during the day. The sun and wind aren't good friends with your skin at extreme levels as it is, and your lips are extra sensitive to the effects of temperature and humidity. Using a moisturizer or balm with an SPF 15 or over is a great way to help protect your lipstick all day, no matter what the climate.

Sticking to a matte shade just above your moisturizer should be a no brainer. Matte and opaque shades can be applied lighter or darker to give you the desired shade you want all within the same color lipstick. If you like the shiny look, then covering your choice of matte shade with a complementary gloss or lip shimmer will pull together everything beautifully and leave your lips looking unique and irresistible.

Shimmering, shining, glossy lips look great with any style. When you choose your shade of shimmer or gloss, make sure that the shade complements your lipstick. If you want to just wear gloss or shimmer without the lipstick, make sure the shade complements your skin tone. Wearing the wrong shade on your lips can throw your entire look off, especially if it doesn't match the rest of your makeup! Choosing the right colors that blend well together will help your lipstick and lip gloss looking great all day, even if it tends to fade a bit.

Most women close their lips around some paper towel or tissue directly after applying the finishing touches on their lip makeup, because it gets rid of the runny residue that might get on your teeth or rub off on your drinking glass - or someone's clothes. It's important to make sure that your lipstick isn't getting on everything. If it's rubbing off everywhere, it's obviously not going to stay on your lips!

A good way to keep your lipstick in place without rubbing too much off with your tissue is to use a foam makeup sponge instead of a tissue. The sponge will absorb the excess moisture and oil from your lips that would otherwise rub off, while gently pushing the lipstick that will stay on all day further into your lips, leaving them looking softer and letting your color settle faster.

Last but not least, when you're drinking or eating, make sure you take your makeup into consideration! Don't shove food in your mouth and don't sip too hard - you could leave stains on glasses and end up eating some of your own lipstick.

These things are pretty easy to remember, so keep in mind that you need to moisturize, layer your colors appropriately, and let your makeup set in before your lipstick will be perfect for the entire day.