How to Wear Gold Lipstick

You love to cover your wrists in gold bangles and drape your neck with golden chains, but what about your lips? Even if you wear gold jewelry almost every day, you may not have considered that your pout could be painted with your metallic color of choice. But what better way to complement your accessories than with a coordinating lip color? The answer is, there is none. Give your makeup a lavish look by smoothing on a gold lipstick instead of your normal nudes and pinks. Trust us, you’ll love this gilded makeup look—and it won’t cost you anywhere close to the price of covering yourself in gilded jewelry. Keep reading to find out exactly how to wear gold lipstick, including how to find a lip liner to layer underneath and what to do for the rest of your beauty look.

Step #1: Pick the Right Shade

When it comes to lacquering your lips with gold, you aren’t obligated to sport a single shade. If wearing gold lipstick happens to strike your fancy, there are a variety of metallic options to coat your lips with. It’s up to you whether you’d rather rock a true yellow gold, rose gold, shimmering champagne, or a darker old gold shade. Like rose gold? Try the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Paints/Lips Metallic in Moon Lust.

Step #2: Scrub Your Lips

As soon as you have your shade selected, you can get started on decorating your lips in a gold tone. But before you actually break out your lipstick of choice, whether that’s a liquid lip or a bullet, you’ll need to prep. Start by exfoliating your lips with a sugar scrub, which can help give you a soft, smooth surface to apply your lipstick. Try the L’Oréal Paris Pure-Sugar Smooth & Glow Face Scrub,  L’Oréal Paris Pure-Sugar Purify & Unclog Face Scrub, or L’Oréal Paris Pure-Sugar Nourish & Soften Face Scrub, each of which can be used on both your face and lips.

Step #3: Apply Lip Liner

If you want a lip look that won’t wear away faster than you can take a sip of water or blow a kiss—which of course you do—it’s a good idea to line your lips before applying lipstick. In case finding a lip liner in the perfect shade of gold proves challenging, you can always use a clear lip liner. These invisible pencils may not seem worthwhile, but they can help stop your color from bleeding and ensure it lasts longer. Can’t beat that!

Editor’s tip: Instead of applying lip liner only along the perimeter of your lips, try using it to fill in your lips completely.

Step #4: Go for the Gold

Now it’s time to apply your lip color. Cover your lips in the golden product of your choosing, going over where you just used lip liner. That’s all there is to it!

Step #5: Add a Gloss

We love matte makeup as much as the next person—if not more—but it’s undeniable that gold makeup and shine are a perfect pairing. To really recreate the look of your favorite high-shine metal, top your lipstick off with a lip gloss, like the L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Le Gloss in Golden Splash.

Step #6: Complete Your Look

Once you’re satisfied with how you’ve gilded your lips, your work isn’t done. After all, gold lipstick shouldn’t be the entirety of your makeup look—you’ll want to finish the rest of your face. Matching your gold lips to more gold makeup may be tempting, but try rounding things out with subtler shades instead. That way, your lipstick can serve as the statement piece. As a compromise, choose highlighter and blush with a touch of golden shimmer. Then, throw a cat eye into the mix and you’re good to go.

If you want to switch up how you wear your gold makeup, that’s not an issue. Gold isn’t only for your lips, it’s perfect for eye makeup, too! Just head on over to our article on How to Wear Gold Eyeliner next.