Bobbi Brown's 10 Step Beauty Masterclass - Steps 5 & 6

By now we're well up on how to apply concealer and foundation; and we've taken a look at the mechanics of powdering and blush too. Today we'll be more than half-way through Bobbi Brown's 10-Step Beauty programme, designed to help you get the most out of your products and teach you some tricks of the trade.

Without further ado, lets move on to Steps 5 and 6, Lipstick/Gloss and liner. Why do lips at this point, you may be wondering? Basically, it's because once they're made up, you may see that you need less eye makeup, and the point of the system is that it provides a quick and flattering approach to everyday maquillage.

Bobbi has recently launched a new service which you can take advantage of in-store. It's called the Lip System, and it's a colour-wheel that helps match a shade to your natural lip-colour, meaning the days of lippy that doesn't suit are firmly over. "The most flattering shade will either match your lips or be slightly darker", she advises. Lipstick can be either applied direct from the bullet, or with a brush. The fullness of your lips will affect your choice too. "If you have thin lips, choose light-to-medium lip colour shades and avoid dark shades, which have a minimising effect", she says.

And she urges that you apply pencil afterwards. Why? So that you get the most natural look possible: "with liner, start at the top. Most women have a fuller bottom lip than top, and once you've lined the top lip, you may find you don't need to line the bottom one at all", is her rationale. The exception is when you're using gloss - "to make your gloss longer-lasting, line and fill in lips with lip liner before applying colour", she recommends.

Tomorrow I'll be tackling steps 7 and 8 - the all-important brows and eyeshadow.