Amidst the current surge of nail art comes a new trend in temporary body art; for lack of a better term, we’ve dubbed it lip art. Lip appliques and foils in a wide variety of designs from florals to animal prints to glitter rockstar lips are appearing at beauty shows across the country and making their way into salons as a retail item and as an add-on service for make-up artists.

Ravid Yosef, VP of marketing at Violent Lips LLC (whose Daisy lip applique is shown in the photo), says the trend started on the edges of the country, with the company’s top markets being Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, and Chicago. “It’s pretty amazing to see the reactions we get,” Yosef says. “A drop of the jaw is usually followed by, ‘OMG. What the heck is this and how does it work?’” Violent Lips releases new designs each quarter, with its most popular appliques in 2012 being the American flag, followed by its Glitteratti Collection.

We recommend creating an accent nail to match the lip pattern or to select a complementary polish shade so it’s not too matchy-matchy.

GET THE LOOK
Glitzy Lips, http://www.glitzylips.com
Orgasmic, http://www.qualitybeautysupply.com
Trendy Nails Unlimited, http://www.trendynailwraps.com
Violent Lips, http://www.violentlips.com

Watch a lip applique how-to video on NAILStv: nailsmag.com/video/violentlips