While elite celebrity makeup artists aren't in most of our budgets, thanks to social media, these ultimate pros are able to share their tips and tricks with the masses and we are so grateful. One such benevolent makeup maestro is Ash K Holm, whose client list is quite frankly ridiculous; JLo, Ariana Grande, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Megan Fox, Heidi Klum, Eva Longoria, Shay Mitchell, Ashley Graham... it goes on and on.
And this week, the genius behind so many legendary pouts has shared her signature 90s lip look, featuring the most artful overdrawing and shading.
She starts by slightly overdrawing the centre of the top and bottom lip with a Buxom lip liner in shade 'High Def Honey': "Once you slightly overdraw the centre of the top bottom lip, I like to flip the pencil around and use the brush on the other side. So I'm just shading the lip liner that I've already placed, just to soften up the line."
While we couldn't find the exact liner in stock in the UK, this RMS alternative also has a handy built-in brush.
Keeping the liner tight to the lip line on the sides and corners, while filling them in with liner, she explains this is how to create a 'poutier' look. "It's really important to completely shade in the corners on the top and bottom. So that way you get a nice contoured lip look."
She then uses the brush again to fade out those contoured corners, leaving the centre bare: "So we can put something really light in the centre to really give the lips that 90s contrast."
She finishes up using the buxom pluming polish in shade 'Samantha', telling fans and followers: "It's just gorgeous for the centre of the lips. It really created that balance."
Buxom Buxom Full On Plumping Lip Polish Gloss - # Samantha 4.45ml
If it's good enough for literally all of Hollywood...
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Elena Chabo is Cosmopolitan UK's former beauty writer, working on everything from buzzy celeb news and trending beauty, to sincere first-person reviews and engaging video content for social media. She also creates meatier features and expert-led how-to guides, for print and online. Her passion for Black beauty, textured hair, and the ways beauty interacts with culture, society, identity and relationships, quickly took over her writing career and led her into beauty journalism. Following an MA in Magazine Journalism in 2017, she cut her teeth across various roles at Stylist Magazine, before taking on a Digital Writer role at Good Housekeeping. It was here that beauty took centre stage and she launched and ran the site's first stand-alone beauty section. Remaining at Hearst, she joined the Cosmo beauty team in 2022. Find her on LinkedIn.
