Let’s face it, if you love make-up then you’re probably also obsessed with glitter. No night out at Swingers or WHQ is complete without it, and even if you’re going for a classier or more dressed-up evening you swap the glitter for masses of highlighter, so you still look sparkling. But where does this addiction to sparkle stop? Glitter and highlighter can extend to most of your face, but not your lips. This, my lovely beauty addicts, is where lip toppers come in.
Lip toppers are thin liquids (think of them like a cellophane), often with glitter or some other sparkle in them, which you apply either directly to the lip or over your favourite matte lipstick. They aim to make your lips pop and stand out by adding shine and vibrancy. Brands such as KKW Beauty, Lime Crime and Jouer have fully embraced them, selling a wide range or different colours and consistencies. But, are lip toppers a compliment to your already beautiful glowing face, or just a bit ridiculous?
Image Credit: @jouercosmetics (Instagram)
To be honest, there are lots of ridiculous trends out there. From Christmas brows to wavy eyeliner (yes, I said it, wavy eyeliner needs to be left in 2017), it would be quite easy to dismiss lip toppers as nothing but a quick trend for most to ignore. However, I do not believe this is the case. We are not talking about the highly impractical, extremely drying ‘glitter lips’ trend here, as lip toppers are effectively gloss-like in consistency. Their texture means they nourish and moisturise lips, rather than drying them. They could easily be confused with a gloss, they just tend to be a bit more sparkly!
They’ve also been around a long time, so can’t just be classified as a quick to disappear trend. Whilst popularised by KKW and Fenty beauty, Jouer and Lime Crime have been stocking lip toppers for as long as I can remember. Although these are often in bright colours (Lime Crime stock a popular shade called ‘Trip’ which is a lilac colour) there is very obviously demand for vibrant lip colours to complete dynamic looks. That’s not to say all lip toppers must be as daring as this, however, as there are lots of shades you could incorporate into daily looks. Lime Crime’s shade ‘Dope’ and Jouer’s ‘St Tropez’ are gorgeous nude colours that could create a subtle but shiny make-up look, either on their own or on top of your best nude lipstick.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BevVBashKkY/?hl=en&taken-by=limecrimemakeup
So, lip toppers cannot simply be dismissed as a fad. Whilst some of them require you to be happy with more daring looks, a lot of them simply aim to add that little something extra to your every-day look. With their gloss-like consistency, it would be easy to wear the subtler lip toppers out anywhere, even to your lectures. I imagine they would add that little bit of life everyone who has a Monday 9am needs! I really believe more people should look at incorporating lip toppers into their make-up collections – I know I did and I’ve never looked back.