I Tried TikTok's "Gym Lips" Trend: See Photos
"Gym Lips" Is the Easiest TikTok Beauty Trend I've Tried
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The minimal makeup trend isn't going anywhere, and TikTok's latest beauty obsession is proving it. Everyone on the app has been obsessed with what's being called "gym lips," a trend that helps you create natural-looking lips with only two products that you probably already own. The term "gym lips" was first coined by Kelli Anne Sewell, an NYC-based makeup artist. Sewell posted a TikTok video where she talked about initially starting the trend on Instagram and how it quickly took on a life of its own.
@makeupxka let’s bring gym lips to tik tok lmao #gymlips my go to liner is @Kevyn Aucoin in divine or @ABH Cosmetics in hazelnut w a lip treatment over it.
♬ original sound - Kelli Anne Sewell
To test the hack, Sewell says all you need is a lip liner that matches your exact lip colour and a lip treatment. She mentions that for the latter she usually reaches for the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm or the Laniege Lip Treatment Balm, but as long as the product is something that will hydrate your lips it will work. The end result is juicy and plump lips that don't look too made-up and are simple and natural enough that you can even get away with wearing them to the gym.
I love the no-makeup-makeup look, and I'm all for anything that looks natural and requires minimal effort, so the gym lips trend sounded right up my alley. I opted to test it out a few weeks ago, and I've been utilising the hack ever since.
The first time I tried it, it took a while for me to find a lip liner that perfectly matched my lip colour, but I ended up going with Hailey Bieber's favourite lip liner, the Make Up For Ever Artist Colour Pencil in Anywhere Caffeine (£16.50). After selecting my liner, I outlined my lips. I already have fairly large lips, but I decided to over-line them just a tiny bit as the TikTok video instructed. I then filled them in using the same product. I have discolouration on my lips from spending too much time in the sun without wearing SPF, so I was happy to hear that Sewell suggested filling in our lips with lip liner to cover up the area. I saw some TikTok videos that said to only outline your lips and not fill them in, which definitely wouldn't have worked for me. Next, it was time to finish everything off with my lip treatment. Keeping with the Hailey Bieber theme, I opted to use the Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment, not yet available in the UK.
When I sat back to survey the results, I was impressed. I don't usually over-line my lips, but surprisingly, I really loved the look it gave me. I've been looking for a way to cover up the discolouration without looking too overdone, and this trend definitely worked for me. However, since the trend is dubbed "gym lips" and I usually only spend two hours max at the gym, I was curious to see how long the colour would actually last.
True to its name, this look really only lasted me about two hours before I needed to reapply. However, that's typical with most of my lip looks and I wasn't too concerned about it; I just dutifully reapplied every two hours or so.
Overall, I found this trend to be extremely simple to test out, but gave a result that was definitely worthwhile. It utilises products I already had at home, only in a different way than I normally would. As I mentioned, I've been wearing my "gym lips" quite frequently ever since, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. If you've been looking for a natural lip look that you can try out with products you probably already own, definitely give this trend a try.
