The statement lip was a major trend on the Spring/Summer 2018 catwalks this September, but many of the designers put a somewhat softer spin on the classic makeup trick.

Gone are the razor-sharp lip lines of old. This season is all about a less precise outline, resulting in more of a highly-pigmented stain, with slightly blurry edges for a sweeter, more “lived-in” look. It could be seen at Missoni, where the strawberry-hued lip color was smeared lightly across the lip line, and at Chanel, where a layer of gloss kept things slightly wishy-washy.

The bold plum color worn by the models at Agnès b was equally bleary, while at Trussardi it appeared almost completely rubbed-off at the corners. Vivienne Westwood took the concept to slightly more extreme lengths, rubbing scarlet lipstick out towards the cheeks and chin for extra impact.

There are several ways to go about recreating this perfectly imperfect look. One, as illustrated by celebrity makeup artist Lisa Eldridge in a tutorial, is to fill in your lips using a lip pencil rather than a liquid color or lipstick. This gives a lower-impact coverage, which, when coated with a slick of lip gloss, results in the soft, elegant look required. Another method, as championed by Youtube beauty vloggers Sichenmakeupholic and Simply_Kenna, is to apply a bold colored lipstick to the center of the lips and then ‘feather’ it outwards using your fingers. A second (or third) application in the very center, as needed, will generate the faded edges that are so in fashion this season. JB