Soft, diffused, and natural, lip contouring brings definition and fullness without making makeup look harsh. Lip contour is an irreplaceable technique for creating pillowy lips - without the harsh lip liner overline that defined the 2010s.
Explore the best lip contour makeup products and the easy-to-follow method for creating a look that's softly intentional rather than overdone.
What Lip Contour Actually Is
Lip contour goes beyond defining and overlining the lips with lip liner. The technique involves the use of light and shade to make lips appear fuller, more symmetrical, or more defined using liner and lipstick.
Lip Contour Versus Lip Liner: What Is the Difference?
Lip liner defines the edge of the lip. Lip contour uses that definition as a starting point, then provides contrast, dimension, and the appearance of fullness with a lighter center shade. Lip liner can be part of the technique, but without the lighter center fill, the result is definition rather than a true contour.
What Two Products You Need
Two products are all you need to recreate the contour effect: a great lip liner and a long-lasting lipstick. The liner builds a darker outer definition while the lipstick fills the center in a lighter, complementary shade. To get the combination right:
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Choose a shade from Revlon’s collection of best-selling lip liners
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Pick a Super Lustrous Ultra™ Lipstick shade that’s one to two shades lighter than the liner (not an exact match) to create the light-and-shade dynamic that creates the contour
How to Choose Your Lip Contour Shades
Lip liner and lipstick shade selection can feel overwhelming, but it comes down to two variables: skin tone and desired result. Skin tone guides which shades will look natural on the lip, while desired result determines how much contrast to build between the liner and center shade. Greater contrast between those two shades also creates the appearance of fuller lips.
Choosing a Liner Shade for Natural Lip Contour
The best lip contours don't look harsh. A natural result comes from choosing a liner close to the lip's natural color but slightly deeper:
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Fair to light skin tones: dusty roses and light mauves
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Medium skin tones: warm browns and brick-adjacent nudes
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Deep skin tones: rich plums and deep berries
Contrary to popular belief, a dark liner isn't required to create a contour effect. The contrast between the liner and a lighter center lipstick is what defines the shape.
Choosing the Center Lipstick Shade
Choose a center lipstick shade that’s one to two tones lighter than the liner and works within the same color family. A warm brown liner pairs beautifully with a warm nude lipstick. A plum liner goes well with a berry or mauve center.
A lipstick shade that is one to two tones lighter is a perfect match for achieving the lip contour effect. Exactly matching the lipstick shade to the lip liner flattens the contouring effect, while going more than two tones lighter can look patchy at the blend line.
Revlon’s Super Lustrous Ultra™ Lipstick line provides a broad selection of ultra-moisturizing lipsticks that are easy to match with our lip liner collection.
How Two-Tone Lips Create the Fullness Effect
The two-tone lips effect uses contrast to reshape how lips read. Darker shades visually recede a surface, so a deeper perimeter makes the lip edge appear sculpted and defined. A lighter center pulls the eye forward instead, creating the impression of fullness.
The two-tone lips effect follows the same visual logic as face contouring, just on a smaller canvas. In contouring, the bronzer makes the hollows of the cheekbones and jawline recede, emphasizing them in contrast to the surrounding bone structure.
Step-by-Step Lip Contour With Revlon Lip Liner and Super Lustrous Ultra
To understand how to contour lips, one needs to understand the essential preparatory, priming, lip mapping, and shade application steps that result in the perfect pillowy lips.
Step One: Prep and Prime the Lip Surface
A smooth surface lets the lip liner glide cleanly rather than drag across dry patches. Skipping this step is the most common cause of uneven liner application, particularly at the Cupid's bow. Preparation involves two simple steps:
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Exfoliate and apply a light layer of lip oil or balm.
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Blot away excess moisture with a tissue before applying the lip liner.
Step Two: Map the Outer Shape With Lip Liner
Lip liner delivers both the definition and fullness of the lip contour look. The emphasis at this step is on a soft, diffused result rather than a harsh overline.
To carefully map the outer shape of the lips:
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Start at the Cupid's bow and draw short, light strokes outward toward the corners rather than one continuous line. This approach gives you more control over the lip shape and makes corrections easier.
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Add volume by tracing just outside of the lip line. We recommend moving just one millimeter outside the natural lip edge to help make the lips look fuller without making them look obviously drawn on. Staying within two millimeters of the natural line keeps the result convincing at conversation distance.
Step Three: Shade the Outer Corners With the Liner
After outlining, use the liner to lightly fill in the outer quarter of both the top and the bottom lip. Deepening the corners makes the center appear to project forward by contrast.
Completing the process only takes two steps:
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1. Take the liner and lightly fill in the outer quarter of both the top and bottom lip. This approach deepens the corners of your mouth, which makes the center of your lips appear to project forward by contrast.
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2. Blend the edge of the shaded area inward with a finger or lip brush before it sets. A clean blend line separates a natural-looking contour from a two-tone look that reads as mismatched.
Step Four: Apply Super Lustrous Ultra to the Center
The center lipstick provides the tonal contrast that makes the contour work. The goal at this step is a soft gradient, not a hard line between the liner and the lipstick:
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Apply Super Lustrous Ultra™ Lipstick to the center of both the lips, leaving the outer corners uncovered.
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Press and blend the lipstick inward where it meets the liner, using a finger to soften the transition.
Don’t add several layers of lipstick to the lips. A light press in the center and a gentle outward blend gives more control than swiping the full bullet across the lip.
Step Five: Blend and Clean the Edges
A softened outer edge is what separates a natural-looking contour from a drawn-on overline. To blend and clean up the edges:
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Use a finger or concealer on a fine brush to clean up any color that has strayed outside the liner line.
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Press a finger along the entire lip edge to soften the outer liner line slightly to give the contour a more diffused, natural finish that reads as naturally fuller lips. The softer line contrasts with a hard, sharp outer edge used in traditional overlining that often reads as drawn-on.
Adapting Lip Contour for Different Lip Shapes
Lip definition looks different depending on the starting point. The two-product technique works across lip shapes, but a few small adjustments make it more effective for each one.
Thin Lips
Many people with thinner lips want to make the lips look fuller. To accomplish the fuller lip look:
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Overline by one millimeter at the cupid's bow and along the lower lip center to add width and volume to your mouth.
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Keep the corners of your lips close to the natural line. This will help the overdrawn shape read as a natural extension of your lips rather than an obvious redrawn silhouette.
The lighter center lipstick shade matters more for thin lips than for any other shape. It's the element that creates the impression of fullness.
Uneven Lips
Lip contouring is an effective method for bringing greater symmetry to the mouth. By naturally drawing the eye toward the center, the technique reduces the visibility of asymmetry without requiring a dramatic correction.
Full Lips
Full lips benefit from definition rather than added volume. The contour technique works in reverse here: keep the liner at or just inside the natural lip edge rather than overlining, and use the lighter center shade to maintain natural volume without adding more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Review our commonly-asked questions on perfecting the lip contouring technique and the lasting power of a lip contour.
How do I stop lip liner from looking obvious or harsh?
The fix for harsh liner is the application. Use short strokes rather than one continuous line, then a finger to blend along the outer edge after outlining.
Do I need a separate contour liner or can any lip liner work?
Any lip liner in the right shade works. The product doesn't need to be labeled as a contour liner.
The color relationship between the liner and the center lipstick matters more than the formula. A Revlon Lip Liner in a complementary shade to the Super Lustrous Ultra™ center color delivers the same result as a dedicated contour product at a fraction of the cost.
How long does a lip contour last compared to regular lipstick?
Because the liner fills the outer corners before the lipstick goes on, the contour base holds even as the center lipstick fades from eating or drinking. The shape stays intact longer than it would with lipstick alone. A mid-day touch-up with the center shade is usually enough to refresh the look without repeating the full technique.
Get the Two Products You Need for Lip Contour
The lip contour brings soft-focus fullness to the lips without the harsh overline typically associated with 90’s supermodels and 2010 viral beauty trends.
To recreate the lip contour look, create definition and fullness with one of our best-selling lip liners and match with a complementary lighter shade from our Super Lustrous Ultra™ Lipstick line.