The world went mad for lip liner this year, and in 2026, we’ll be experimenting with new ways to use it. Enter Katie Jane Hughes—makeup artist, founder of her eponymous KJH Brand, and the woman behind some of Dua Lipa, Lily Allen, and Hailey Bieber’s most show-stopping looks—who has taught countless beauty fans a thing or two about makeup application (head to her TikTok if you’re not there already). Her prediction for next year? “Crisp, hard-lined lips are out, and soft, pillowy, blurry lips are in.”
Think of it as a kind of “halo” lip. Hughes first encountered the look early on in her career, while assisting on a photoshoot. Rather than keeping a bold red lip sharply defined, the makeup artist softened and blurred the edges with a brush. “It looked super effortless,” Hughes recalls. “I just thought, oh, that’s cool.” Now, she name-checks fellow makeup artist, Nina Park, as someone who nails the look time and time again.
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Now this soft, diffused lip is back — and it’s here to make your lips look cushiony-soft and that little bit fuller, but in the most natural, girl-next-door way.
The toolkit is simple: a matte (not shimmery) cream bronzer, a fluffy pencil brush, and a lip contour crayon. Then you can get to work. “Take a bit of cream bronzer and really work it into your brush,” Hughes advises. “Then skim that bronzer around the perimeter of your mouth, creating this bronzey halo.”
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Instead of tracing your usual lip line—the point where the color naturally begins—apply product along the pillowy part of the lip where it holds volume. “The safe zone is where your lip line has color,” Hughes explains, “but the bit that has volume is, in my opinion, the fun zone.” You then keep any color products to follow within the natural lip line. The result? Lips that don’t look overlined, but do look fuller.
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From there, Hughes builds in a contour crayon, tracing just inside the bronzer to create dimension, before going back in with the fluffy brush to blend once more. She uses her Sculpture Stylo, which is not only designed specifically for this kind of sculpting, but can also be used on the eyes. “I use the shades Etch or Chisel on myself most, then darker shades on more melanated complexions,” she explains. “I used a blend of the two on Lily Allen recently.”
Once the shape is set, it’s time for color. This can come courtesy of another lip liner, a lipstick, or even a cream blush. Simply dab it into the centre of the lips to complete the halo effect—soft, pillowy, and dreamy.
Below, Vogue-approved products to recreate the look.
