When the edge of a nude crayon looks thicker on one side, I stop and look at the tip before I add more colour. The set I use has six nude and brown crayons, and a heavy hand makes the soft-matte finish sit in a ridge.
Clean lips first
I wipe the lips and give them a gentle exfoliation. Colour on dry flakes will not sit flat. I am not chasing a full face. I only want the lip line to be readable.
The sharpened tip
I use the sharpened tip to trace my own lip line. That line is a contour, not a new shape drawn outside the lip. If the tip is blunt, the line goes wide and the two sides stop matching. I sharpen, then I trace again rather than covering the wide line with more crayon. A blunt tip is the usual reason the two corners look different.
Filling without a second tool
These crayons are meant to do the liner job and the colour job. I tilt the crayon and pull the side of the tip across the centre. The finish is soft-matte. I keep the pressure even so the brown and the lighter nude, if I use two from the six, meet without a stripe.
Two shades, still one line
If I want a deeper brown at the edge and a lighter nude in the centre, I still draw the edge first with the sharpened tip. The lighter crayon only fills. I do not let the lighter one cross the line I already set. Mixing them in the middle of the lip, instead of at the edge, is how the soft-matte finish goes patchy.
The minute I wait
The formula is waterproof and meant to be non-stick once it has set. I wait 60 seconds before I press my lips together or take a drink. If I skip that minute, the colour moves and the line I just drew is the part that goes first. I cap the crayon while the minute runs, so I am not tempted to redraw a line that has not set. The six shades stay in the tin until the next clean start. I keep the application notes for this set on pecolovers.co.uk.
