How to Darken Any Lip Color You Already Own — No New Purchases Required

Just as diligently exfoliate the skin of your face and body several times a week to get rid of dead cells, do the same for your pout. But don't use the same product on your mouth as you would anywhere else. Your lips require more gentle, natural ingredients, because the skin there is delicate. We like Tarte Pout Prep Lip Exfoliant ($16) and French Girl Rose Lip Polish ($15).

You can also DIY with ingredients you probably already have sitting in your kitchen cabinets. Try this DIY sugar scrub made from white sugar, honey, and coconut oil.

This is one of the most old-school tactics in the book, but we’re still mentioning it because, well, it works like a charm. First, select a lip shade along with a liner that’s several shades darker. Hot tip: MAC ($18) has 40 colors to choose from.

Apply your shade, then line your lips not one but three times to make the color even darker. Next, add a few swipes of liner to the inside of your lip in the direction outward to meet the edge of your mouth. Use a small brush to blend the two colors into one darker shade.

Chances are that the eyeliners you own come in darker colors than your lipliners. (For instance: everyone has a black eyeliner, but not everyone owns an onyx lipstick). You can sometimes use those eye shades on your lips. In fact, the regulations of pigments for eye makeup are just as strict as those for lipliners, and the two products use pretty much the same ingredients. That said, you should still read the ingredients carefully before trying this and not use lipliners on your eyes because the color additives used to create those pigments are not totally eye safe.

Start with a black or deep brown eyeliner, like Anastasia Beverly Hills Waterproof Crème Color ($18), and shade around your lip. Then, fill the inside of your lip. Next, take your desired lipstick shade and apply it on top. Use your lipliner brush to blend the colors together as you did with that hack we just mentioned.

Eye shadow is one of the most underrated multitasking beauty products in the book. You can use it to enhance just about every other makeup application, from bronzer to under-eye concealer. Guess what: you can also use shadow to darken a lip shade. Makeup artist Jenessa Michele recommends trying a black or gray eye shadow shade to deepen reds and purples.

Using the back of your palm as a palette, blend in one or a few shadow colors. Next, in a separate part of your palm, blend in some of your chosen lip shade. Finally, use a brush to combine the two as if you were mixing two colors of paint. After that, you're ready to apply it to your lips.

If you’re looking for the perfect pick-me-up for your favorite lip shade, the ombré effect will be your jam. Sure, it sounds like it takes a ton of time and effort, but the reality is that it’s pretty easy and can be done on your way to work.

First, apply a lip shade of your choosing — let’s say berry. Then, apply a vampy lipliner that’s at least twice as dark as the first shade. Be sure to only put this on the outer corners of your lip, not in the center. Dab a tiny bit of concealer in the middle of your lips to brighten things up and contrast it from the outer edges.

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but still worth mentioning that you can create a totally different shade by mixing two unsuspecting colors you wouldn’t think go together. For instance, a chocolate brown shade like Palladio Herbal Lipstick in Coffee Bean ($6.50) combined with a bright red you might reserve for the Fall or Spring, like Dior Addict Lip Glow Color Reviver Balm in Raspberry ($34), will create a beautiful deep plum shade that was made for Winter nights. Go ahead and have fun with this technique, and create as many bespoke shades that become totally your own.