How to enhance your pout with matte OR glossy lippy

Matte lips or glossy lips - it's a matter of preference for most of us. But when it comes down to enhancing your pout, which one wins?

Makeup trends tend to repeat themselves through the ages. There is rarely a trend or a technique that crops up that we haven't seen in some form before. The matte lip was huge in the '40s and has made a comeback in the naughties with the Kylie Jenner lipstick phenomenon. Glossy lips were huge in the '90s and will remain forever timeless as far as we are concerned. It's a tough question as to which one wins out when we're talking about matte lips versus glossy lips but here's why we think glossy wins.

As with all makeup techniques, we feel there is a time and a place for everything. We also always say that there are no rules in makeup. Therefore, this question can't have one true answer but more of a mass preference. Matte lipstick hit our Instagram feeds with a Kylie Jenner-shaped bang a few years ago. She single-handedly set one of the biggest ever makeup trends in motion.

It has to be said, that while Kylie makes matte lipstick look really attractive - she has insanely perfect, huge lips. She also has a sallow skin tone so deeper tones will look lighter against her skin than they will against paler skin tones (ahem, that's us Irish). The point is, often what looks good on Kylie doesn't look good on everybody else. The other thing to consider is that her makeup looks are heavy so you generally need to wear a lot of foundation to go with your matte lipstick.

If all the above points make you think a matte lip might not suit your look you could turn to gloss. In essence, gloss is always going to be easier to wear and more flattering. This is due to the simple fact that our lips are naturally moist. A gloss is always going to be closer to your lips natural state so it's easier to pull off. Gloss makes your lips look smoother and fuller where matte can catch in dry skin and actually make your lips look smaller. If you don't like to wear much face makeup, a matte lip will make any blemishes and redness in your skin more apparent.

The time and place for a matte lipstick is when you are wearing a deep, dark shade of lipstick and you need it to last all day. Glossy finish lip products are more likely to bleed so in this instance we vote matte. Overall, glossy wins for us at the more universally flattering, easy to wear choice.

What do you prefer? Matte lipstick or lipgloss?