There’s a reason lipstick has stood the test of time. It’s one of the quickest ways to brighten your complexion, there are tons of color options, and most importantly, it has the capacity to deliver a boost of confidence in just a swipe. The trouble is, between smearing into your creases, glomming onto your teeth (we've all been there) and bleeding below your mouth, lipstick (especially the long-lasting liquid variety) can be difficult to apply correctly. That’s why we polled a few top makeup artists to find out exactly how to apply lipstick, so it looks (and stays) totally perfect, whether or not you're using a liner. Here’s our step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Gather your supplies.

Before you sit down in front of a mirror to get your perfect pout, here's what you'll need:

Q-tips
Optional: Micellar Water
Optional: Makeup Wipes
Optional: Lip Scrub or Lip Mask
Lip Balm
Lip Pencil
Lipstick
Translucent powder
Optional: Flat lip brush

Step 2: Apply Lip Balm

Celebrity makeup artist Millie Morales recommends using lip balms with ingredients like vitamin E, coconut oil, and shea butter to moisturize your lips before you apply lipstick. She cautions that balms with menthol are drying, however.

Step 3: Apply a pencil lip liner

This, of course, will help you define your lip shape, says Wilson, but it will also act as a barrier, keeping your lipstick in place.

To start, choose a pencil that has the same or similar color to your lipstick, then "create a straight line on the bottom center lip and just follow your natural line," Morales says. "Once you get to the top center of the lip, draw an X with the liner in the middle and color all of it in."

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