Lip liners can bring to mind some horrifying images of stark dark lines and mismatched lip color. But lip liners aren’t meant to be clown makeup at all.

Lining your lips will help define them, and keep lipstick from bleeding. The key is the shade you use and the method of application. Choose a shade that closely matches your lip color or you may choose a neutral shade that compliments your skin tones. Make sure your lip pencil is sharp so you can make a finely drawn line.

Women with thin lips who want them to look fuller are often advised to apply the lipliner outside the natural lip line to create an illusion of fuller lips. This technique is used by professional makeup artists but often goes awry when attempted by an unskilled hand. If you decide to use liner to alter the shape or appearance of your lips, make sure you have a steady hand and don’t overreach. Lines drawn too far above or below the natural lip line look unnatural and clownish.

The best method is to line very carefully, drawing from middle to corner on the upper lip, just on or inside the natural lip line. Draw from corner to corner on the lower. Then apply liner to the whole lip, use much less product and blend with a fingertip. This will make a base for your lipstick and increase it’s wear time. Finally, apply your lipstick or lip color and finish by blotting excess.

The history of lipstick is one of varying degrees of popularity over the last 5000 years. The first recorded use of lipstick was by Queen Shub-ad of ancient UR, about 3500 BC. Lipstick gained favor in ancient Egypt, but was made of some suspicious substances, a few of which could be poisonous. Always ahead of the times, the ancient Egyptians viewed all makeup as being more indicative of status than gender and so both men and women might use lipstick. Lipstick in ancient times was made of ochre, crushed red rocks, and even lead.

Elizabeth I of England made lipstick popular with her devotion to it but also believed it contained magical powers to heal. After her death, the church saw danger in this magical connection. The wearing of lipstick eventually came to be viewed as attempts by women to bewitch men with false beauty. In the American colonies they were more wont to follow the example of the French who indulged in all forms of lip rouge and makeup. But in the 1800s, when Queen Victoria declared makeup to be “impolite”, it caused lipstick to again fall to the domain of actresses and prostitutes.

In turn of the century America, suffragettes began to wear lipstick as a symbol of the new female emancipation. In the 20s, young women increasingly wore lipstick as they threw off what they considered to be stuffy ideas of the past. By the heyday of Hollywood in the 1940s, the use of lipstick and other makeup by starlets solidified lipstick’s image as desirable in the American woman’s mind. Today, wearing lipstick is as routine for most women as wearing deodorant. Some may wear lipstick only when they are going out in the evening but the majority of women wear it every day. Today’s woman considers lipstick an essential part of “putting on her face”; in fact, many women refuse to be seen without it.

Almay makes perfect lips as easy as 1-2-3 with their coordinated sets of lipliner, lipcolor and lipgloss. There’s no guesswork about which shades to use and you can use all three products for color and shine. To make it easier, they are expertly coordinated by color groups: Neutrals, Pinks, Berries and Reds.

Almay Ideal Lipliner contains aloe and vitamin E so you know it is moisturizing. They recommend that after lining you fill in the entire lip to extend the wear of your lip color. Follow it up with Amay Ideal Lipcolor in a coordinating shade or choose the Almay Ideal Lipgloss for added shine. Use both with the lip gloss as your shiny topcoat for extra long-lasting color and a complete look. Easy as 1-2-3.

Lipstick looks great until you eat or drink coffee and it becomes wiped-off, smudged-off and well… gone. I personally hate that tell-tale red crescent moon on my coffee cup. Before kisses, even my six-year-old son asks “are you wearing lipstick”? Even at that age, males don’t want to wear your lip color. Regardless of what makeup we forego, lipstick is one of the basics that transform your look. Still, lipstick’s tendency to be transferred to anything our lips touch and the need for constant reapplication throughout the day makes it difficult to maintain.

Why not try one of the long-lasting, smudge-proof lipsticks? There are a few on the market but I am going to recommend Revlon’s Colorstay Soft and Smooth Lipcolor. The color palette includes 36 shades meaning there is one for nearly everybody. The color lasts for hours, meaning less time spent re-applying and you won’t have to hand out a tissue with every kiss.

The main complaint women have regarding all smudge-proof lipcolors is that they tend to feel drier on the lips. The different feel from oil-based lipsticks does take some getting used to but it’s worth it for color that won’t need to be reapplied so often. If you want a glossy rather than a matte finish, Revlon makes Colorstay Overtime Lip Color with a 99% moisture topcoat. Both last up to 8 hours.

Revlon’s Colorstay retails for under $10 at most drug and department stores.