Pouty lips are in. Unfortunately, not all of us were blessed with full, large lips. Luckily makeup lets us sidestep our genes. Here’s what you need to make those lips look luscious.

The Base

Like the base coat on your nails or the foundation on your face, all good beauty work starts with the first layer. For lips, you’ll want a peppermint balm since peppermint is a great way to increase blood flow to the lips, making them naturally redder and plumper. This balm also moisturizes, helping separate dry skin from healthy skin.

The Brush

Probably the strangest part for those of us that are learning lip work for the first time is the toothbrush technique. The idea behind this is that the smoother the lips are, the more light they reflect. The more light they reflect, the fuller and thicker they look. After allowing the moisturizer to sit for about five minutes, take a toothbrush, dip it in water and gently brush your lips in concentric circles. This will pull away the dead skin, leaving only the fresh, smooth stuff behind. In addition, the stimulation will cause blood to rush to the lips, again creating a fuller, darker look.

The Shape

Now you’re ready to go big. For the most part, models that pose with those larger lips don’t actually have lips that big. It’s all movie magic in that the lips are painted on. To achieve this, concealer is applied to the lips to make them the same color as your skin. This increases the canvas size, letting you draw on whatever lip size you want. Most use a lip liner to create the outline and then color it in. As for color, choose nudes and pinks for a fuller look.