Is The Secret To The Perfect Overlined Lip Hidden In The Alphabet?

Full lips are a coveted beauty feature — something about that extra plump just grabs the attention of everyone in the room. Overlining your lips is the makeup secret for the look of voluptuous kissers. Gen Z associates this trick with Kylie Jenner and her trademark lips, but overlining dates back decades. Before Jenner, it was Lil Kim, and before the rap goddess, it was Marilyn Monroe. Overlining has long been the clever lipliner hack that guarantees a gorgeous pout.

However, overdrawing your lips takes skill, and it is easy to make a mistake. The biggest issue is having the liner seem obviously out of place — you don't want to look like you can't color between the lines. Or worse, your lips can look swollen instead of full and luscious. If you've been stumbling over the right method of overlining your lips, fear not. We have the hack to help you perfect your lip look every time, and it all starts with the letter O.

To overline like an expert makeup artist, the key is all in the letter O. Instead of applying liner completely offset from your entire lip line, you're only going to overline the centers of your top and bottom lip. This technique is also known as "oval-lining" and creates a style that appears natural.

To oval-line, start by making a small dash with your lip pencil above your cupid's bow. Next, make the same tick mark under the center of your bottom lip. You want to make the lines just outside of your lip's border. If you overdraw too wide, it'll be obvious and almost clown-like. Now, you'll connect these two points with an oval, leaving you with an O in the center of your lips. Finally, outline the rest of your mouth, staying true to your lip line.

See, the letter O has just become your favorite vowel. With your new defined lip shape, you can finish your makeup with your favorite balms, glosses, and stains. Now your kisser can rival a Bratz doll yet look like you were born with it.

Experts have spilled their tips on how to overline for fuller, natural-looking lips, and it all starts with the right liner. Celebrity makeup artist Diane Buzzetta shared with Bustle, "For a more natural overline, find a neutral or pink lip pencil shade that is closest to your natural lip color with similar undertones." Then you can go in with vibrant lip colors — just don't let your purple lipstick bleed over your newly drawn lip lines.

However, for the most volume, lipstick alone isn't the answer. Makeup expert John Stapleton told Ipsy, "Lip gloss always adds fullness." For a simple look, go in with a nude lipstick before layering your gloss on top. It helps to lightly blend your lip shade into the liner for a seamless transition. Stapleton, a senior national artist at M·A·C Cosmetics, suggests "using something like an iridescent powder or eyeshadow with an angled brush just to add dimension into the top divet of the lip." These simple tricks will get you the perfect pout.