Whether you’ve been a fan long enough to remember her iconic meat dress or are just now trying on Little Monsterdom with her latest album, there’s one thing you likely already know about Lady Gaga: she never plays by the rules. As if 13 Grammy’s weren’t enough, Lady Gaga recently dipped her toes into entrepreneurship by launching her beauty brand, Haus Labs, best known for its highly pigmented products.
Launching a beauty brand gives you plenty of opportunities to play around with different colors, formulations, and product combinations to find what works best for you. Well, Monsters, make sure your lips are primed and ready: Lady Gaga just shared her genius hack for sculpting full, pouty lips without using a single lip liner.
So, how does she do it? First, Gaga lines her lips using the Edge Precision Brow Pencil ($22)—yes, a brow pencil—in Cinnamon, which creates a shade to mimic the natural shadow that happens around fuller lips. Then, it’s time for the iconic Le Monster Lip Crayon ($22) in not just one but three shades: Mocha Matte, Cerise, and Rose. Lady Gaga first applies the Mocha Matte shade, a deep brown, to the outer third of her lips, then a quick application of the Cerise shade, a bright red, to the center of her lips. After that, Gaga blends the two shades with a quick coat of the shade Rose, a dusty pink, over her lips.
Using a darker color on the outside of the lips and a brighter color on the center creates dimension that brings the center of the lips forward, which paired with the "shadow" color of the brow pencil creates a poutier shape. Using a third shade ensures that her lips are cohesive, without any stark lines between the center and outer shades. And what’s a pout without some plump? Lady Gaga tops her look off with the PhD Hybrid Lip Oil ($24) in Tint to add even more fullness and shine to the center of her lips.
Now, she may not have used a lip liner as most people would, but she does an amazing job at creating a plump lip with tons of dimension. It’s just more proof that Lady Gaga needs no permission, rules, or guidelines to have and do it all—including her beauty routine.