How To Identify and Enhance Your Lip Shape

Much in the way that identifying your eye shape can help you figure out how to nail a sharp wing or perfect a smokey eye, determining your lip shape can help you get the most out of your lip makeup routine. While no two mouths are exactly the same, most types of lips fall into one of several common categories. Figuring out your natural lip shape can help you identify makeup techniques that’ll flatter your unique features.

If you need help getting started, keep scrolling. Ahead, we’re breaking down nine of the most common lip types and explaining how to identify yours. Plus, we’ll share a few makeup tips for every lip shape—and a look at some of our favorite lip products to accentuate your pout.

Lip Shape Chart: A Visual Guide

Like a fingerprint, lips are totally unique and vary from person to person. However, like faces, there are common categories that most lips fall into—these are what we refer to as lip shapes. A lip chart is a helpful visual tool that outlines different lip shapes, ranging from thin to round to heart-shaped and more. Having this visual representation can help you get a better understanding of your natural lip shape.

Common Lip Shapes

Here are descriptions of the different types of lips that are often found on lip charts. (Note: You may find that your lips are a combination of shapes, so don’t feel like you have to narrow it down to just one.)

1. Full lips

Full lips are generally considered the most common lip shape and are typically defined by a mouth that is equally plump on the top as it is on the bottom. More casually, “full” is also used to describe big lips, no matter how symmetrical or not they are.

2. Heavy upper lip

This lip shape is characterized by an upper lip that is fuller or plumper than the bottom lip.

3. Heavy lower lip

This lip shape is the opposite of a heavy upper lip. It’s characterized by having a lower lip that’s plumper or fuller than the top lip.

4. Wide lips

Wide lips are noticeably wider in length than they are in height. If you can see more than just a few front teeth when you smile, you may have wide lips.

5. Round lips

If your lips are nearly the same in width and height, complete with rounded edges, you have a rounded lip shape. Your lips may also appear full and doll-like.

6. Thin lips

Thin lips are the opposite of full lips. They tend to be slim and lack volume, and may be difficult to see when you smile.

7. Bow-shaped lips

Bow-shaped lips are full in size with a pronounced Cupid’s bow. The upper lip features a prominent dip in the middle that resembles the handle of a bow from an archery set (hence the name).

8. Heart-shaped lips

Like bow-shaped lips, heart-shaped lips have a prominent Cupid’s bow. However, while bow-shaped lips tend to have a wider, flatter bottom lip, the bottom lip of heart-shaped lips is rounded or even slightly angled, making the mouth appear vaguely heart-shaped.

9. Downturned lips

This lip shape is marked by lips that face slightly downward at the corners, giving the mouth a natural pouty look.

How To Identify Your Lip Shape

Because there are so many different lip shapes, and the differences between each can be quite subtle, it may seem tricky to determine yours. But it’s actually pretty easy. Here’s how to determine your natural lip shape in three simple steps.

1. Examine your lips in the mirror

To start, you’ll need any mirror you have available—a compact, hand mirror, or your bathroom mirror will work just fine. Then, position yourself in front of it and take some time to closely examine your lips. In particular, you’ll want to take note of how full your top and bottom lips are, how prominent your Cupid’s bow is, and whether your lips turn downward at the outer edges.

2. Compare your lips to a lip chart

After identifying your lips’ most prominent characteristics, compare them to the nine different lip shapes outlined above. You might clearly fall within one category, or maybe you are a little bit of one and a little bit of another. For example, you could have wide, bow-shaped lips or narrow, heart-shaped lips.

3. Take note of unique characteristics

Lastly, pause and consider what else about your lips is distinct. You may have a distinguished mole, a smattering of freckles, or a natural bold wash of color on your lips. It’s not just your lip shape that is uniquely you; it’s all of these little details.

Makeup Tips for Enhancing Your Lip Shape

Once you identify your lip shape, there’s a lot you can do to play it up. With the right makeup, you can make your lips appear bigger, smaller, rounder, or more symmetrical. Below, we’re sharing our best tips for flattering each type of lip shape.

For full lips: Enhance or tone down plumpness

If you want to play up full lips, try a glossy lip look—the shiny finish adds dimension and creates the illusion that your lips are plumper and fuller. For a simple look that works for every day, try lining your lips with the L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Lip Liner, opting for a color a shade or two darker than your natural lip color. Then, dab a clear lip gloss, such as the L’Oréal Paris Plump Ambition Hyaluron Lip Oil in Cristal Clear, onto the center of your pout. If you prefer tinted lip gloss, try one with a shimmery finish to help emphasize your lips’ natural fullness. Conversely, to deemphasize full lips, forgo the lip liner altogether or line slightly within your natural lip line. This draws the eye inward, making your pout appear less full.

For a heavy upper or lower lip: Balance with lip liner

You can use lip liner to even things out if one of your lips is fuller than the other. Use a liner in a neutral shade and line only the thinner lip, overlining it slightly to create the illusion of a fuller lip. You can also apply a volumizing lip gloss, like L’Oréal Paris Plump Ambition Hyaluron Lip Oil, to the center of your thinner lip to make it appear plumper.

For wide lips: Try softer, neutral lip makeup

When your lips already stand out plenty on their own (in the best way), you don’t always need to rock bold lip colors. You can make just as much of an impression with a soft nude lipstick or a sheer coat of gloss. We love the L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Satin Lipstick in Worth It for lighter skin tones, while the deeper berry hue Worth It Intense works well for darker skin tones. You can also highlight your Cupid’s bow to draw attention to the center of your lips and make your lips appear more balanced. For this, we recommend using a buildable, creamy highlighter, such as the L’Oréal Paris Lumi Le Glass Highlighter Stick.

For round lips: Use shine to enhance your lip shape

For round lips, we recommend choosing lipsticks and glosses with a satiny or glossy finish—the shine will catch the light and help accentuate your natural lip shape. Try a high-shine lip gloss, or, for a subtler finish, reach for a luminous lipstick. The L’Oréal Paris Paradise Balm-in-Lipstick with Pomegranate Extract is a great pick, and it leaves your lips feeling smoother with continued use (bonus!).

For thin lips: Overline and use a plumping lip gloss

There are plenty of ways to make small lips look bigger, and overlining is among our favorites. This technique involves applying lip liner just outside of your natural lip line to make your lips appear larger than they actually are. Done right, it can be incredibly convincing—the key is to keep the overlining subtle to avoid an unnatural look. If you’re having trouble nailing it, try overlining just the center of your lips, sticking to your natural lip line toward the outer corners. Then, swipe on a lipstick that matches your lip liner to complete the look.

If overlining isn’t your thing but you want to make your pout appear plumper, try swiping on a volumizing lip gloss. The L’Oréal Paris Plump Ambition Hyaluron Lip Oil gets our vote—it’s infused with hyaluronic acid and tripeptide and provides up to 24 hours of hydration for smoother, plumper-looking lips.

For bow-shaped lips: Define your Cupid's bow

Play up your natural Cupid's bow by defining it with lip liner. Take one in a shade that’s slightly darker than your lips, and create an X shape over your cupid’s bow. You can use the same liner to outline your lips (it’s up to you if you want to overline or not). For added definition, pat a bit of highlighter onto the very peak of your Cupid’s bow. The aforementioned L’Oréal Paris Lumi Le Glass Highlighter Stick is among our favorites—use one of the glassy shades for a subtle sheen or one of the glowy shades for a more distinct luminosity.

For heart-shaped lips: Play up your pout with red lipstick

It seems only fitting to pair heart-shaped lips with red lipstick. For a red combo you’ll instantly fall for, we recommend pairing L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Lip Liner in Always Red with L’Oréal Paris Infallible Matte Resistance Lipstick in Le Rouge Paris. If you prefer a glossier lip look, swap the matte lipstick for the L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Satin Lipstick in Le Rouge Paris and top it off with a swipe of the L’Oréal Paris Plump Ambition Hyaluron Lip Oil in Cherry Cherie.

For downturned lips: Create an illusion with liner and concealer

As you may have noticed, lip liner is an essential for a lot of these tips, and this one is no exception. But you’ll also need concealer. If you want to make your lips appear more symmetrical, apply the L’Oréal Paris True Match Radiant Serum Concealer to the corners of your lips, concealing their natural downturn. From there, you can use your lip liner to redefine your lips and give the corners a little lift. You can also apply highlighter (one that’s a shade or two lighter than your skin tone) just above your Cupid’s bow to highlight your pout and draw the eye upward. Keep in mind, though, that you shouldn’t feel like you have to alter your lip shape—you can also play up your natural pouty lips by swiping on a sultry matte lipstick, like the L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Intense Volume Matte Lipstick in Le Wood Nonchalant.

What To Do After Determining Your Lip Shape

Discovering your lip shape should open up a whole new world of makeup tricks and looks for you—it shouldn’t limit things. That’s to say, you don’t need to only follow the tips we shared above. Beauty is all about experimentation. So, get creative and have fun. Let your mood or outfit dictate your lip look for the day, or experiment with different trends, like ombré lips or glittery lips. There are so many makeup looks you can try, and enhancing your natural lip shape is just one route you can take.

Next Up: This Is The Best Blush Placement for Every Face Shape

Photo courtesy of L’Oréal Paris