From The Straits Times    |

Credits: TikTok/@notkatiefawn, @thefashionfreakk @lawlessbeautyofficial

If you’ve been spending a few hours on TikTok every day, you may have come across loads of beauty trends that have taken the beautysphere by storm. Some are hits and some are misses.

But more recently, there’s a new makeup trend that has gone viral on the platform and it has been said to give you fuller, plump-looking lips without going under the needle. 

Enter gym lips. The term, first coined by makeup artist Kelli Anne Sewell, is the minimal lip look she likes to wear to the gym. Instead of relying on lip filler, tingling plumping glosses, and suction devices, people are now turning on this new hack as a form of lip enhancement to achieve the coveted juicy, plump pout.

@victorialyn

The Gym Lips trend‼️👄🏃‍♀️Comment below what your lip liner/lip treatment combo is⬇️💕IB: @Kelli Anne Sewell 😘

♬ Feel No Ways – Drake

Now, at first mention, I assumed that the gym lips trend had something to do with some form of exercise for your mouth. Thankfully, it’s anything but that. Instead, the gym lips look is more reserved for days when you’re hitting the gym, or even when you’re out running errands. It’s simple, and natural and doesn’t make it look too overdone as compared to the kind of makeup you’d wear for a night out.

How to do gym lips

Credit: Her World/Shazrina Shamsudin

Basically, the coveted ‘gym lips’ look involves slightly overlining your lips with a liner close to your natural lip colour before filling them all in with that same pencil. After doing so, all you have to do is to apply a thin layer of lip treatment over your lips, ideally one with a bit of gloss, for a more lush and plumped effect.

First impressions

I was really curious as to how the gym lips trend would look so I had to try it out for myself to see if it was really worth the hype. 

Here, before I started outlining my lips, I applied a thin layer of Vaseline to moisturise my lips and made sure that it wasn’t chapped to ensure that the lip lines goes on smoothly. Then, I used a lip liner to outline my lips, and made sure that I filled in the bottom of my lips for more coverage. One of the few habits I have is to overline my cupid’s bow to accentuate my lips a little more, so I can achieve a fuller pout. 

Credit: Her World/ Shazrina Shamsudin

After doing so, I applied a thin layer of lip treatment all over my lips – of which I used the highly raved Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. I’m a huge fan of the brand’s lip sleeping mask, and I’ve gone through a handful of them because it works wonders for my lips. 

Overall thoughts

I would say that I was quite impressed with how it turned out. My lips look a lot fuller and plump, and I love how moisturising it feels, thanks to the lip mask. 

Credit: Her World/Shazrina Shamsudin

However, I do have a few concerns about this trend. Firstly, I was quite disappointed with how long it lasted. After a few sips from my cup, or even leaving it untouched for hours, I felt that I would have to reapply the mask over and over again, to make sure that it stays put. After trying this multiple times, with different lip lines and lip treatments, I found that the colour transfers really easily upon contact and I would constantly have to touch up every now and then. Moreover, it’s also not mask-friendly, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re out for a full day.

On top of that, the whole process of re-applying can be quite troublesome for some, and you might find that you’re better off using a plumping gloss since it only requires one step and you can easily re-apply it whenever you want to, and you might just achieve a similar result as well. 

Alternatively, I would suggest, replacing the lip liner with a lip stain instead (like Benefit’s iconic Benetint), if you’re looking to have a lip colour that stays. Nevertheless, you might still need to reapply the lip mask every now and then to ensure that it stays glossy throughout the day.

In summary, I would say that the trend does give you a fuller pout, and it does look good in front of the camera. However, if you’re looking for something that will truly last, then this new makeup trend is not really worth trying. 

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