A bright, 'bold' lip. Help please.

[BringMeTea]

I have recently decided to break out of my comfort zone and have bought a couple of lovely new lipsticks (Nars Grace and the Red Square pencil if that helps).

Problem is they just smear around or wear off in the middle and leave an unbecoming outer rim of darker colour very quickly. Is this how it is? Do people who regularly wear a bold lip just reapply and check in a mirror every 15 minutes for fear of looking like The Joker? Do I need other kit? E.g. A lip liner which I haven't owned for 25 years. Or do you have use a lip 'primer'? They're also rather drying which is further disappointing me. So. Any advice or do I have to shuffle back to my sheers and pass these lovelies on to my 18 year old niece?

I have both of those NARS lippies and find that they last for ages and wear off evenly. Do you wear them on top of/under lip balm? That might make them slippery and more prone to moving or wearing off. Do they smear/wear after eating? That's normal. Often if I'm about to eat something cumbersome I wipe off the lippie and re-apply it when I'm done.

Do you find you press your lips together a lot or bite your lips? That might be moving things around a bit more than normal.

Thanks Zachary I don't use lip balm aswell. I do eat and drink! I guess it's just a more high maintenance look. I am so unused to it that I spent (only worn each once so far) much time worrying and mirror checking. Not very cool. I LOVE the colours though. They even make my teeth look whiter.

Bright lippies are higher maintenance than natural colours, but on the up-side you don't seem to need to wear much other makeup to look "done" when you've got a bright colour on. I find them especially good if you're feeling tired, they seem to distract attention from zombie eyes!

I have a NARS lip pencil and it lasts all day, despite eating a greasy Chinese take away for dinner. No lip balm. Apply, blot, apply another coat, blot again. Done.