When is it ok to wear a Red lip? ‘Tis the season to be daring. With the holiday season upon us, so begins the work parties and formal balls. This is a perfect time to find your perfect red. Having a pop of red on your lips means less maintenance when it comes to the rest of your makeup. With your lips being the focal point everything else can be subtle. Let’s face it, throwing on a lip is much easier then spending time on an intricate eye.
With a red lip, your skin
tone must be even, so you will need a good foundation or tinted
moisturizer. Otherwise, you look
over done when your lips should be the focus. From there, you only need a little on the eyes, an eye base
to even the skin tone, brighten the lids, a lot of black mascara, and a soft
matte brown shadow color in the crease.
With defined brows, a touch of a warm toned blush, and you’re good to go
with a fresh no fuss look that makes a statement. The idea is to look like you
tried but not too hard.
Here are a couple suggestions
for when you’re shopping for a red that suits you. First, consider skin
tone. Blue tones usually look best
on fair skin; true reds typically look good on warm to medium skin tones and
dark red to burgundy look good on dark skin tones. If you have small lips, I
would stay away from darker burgundy’s as they can make your lips look even
smaller and can give you a harsh look. But, there are always exceptions to the rule
so just play around and see what feels comfortable. Second, consider texture. If you aren’t ready to commit to a full shade of red
lipstick, take baby steps and check out a red lip-gloss. There are even some nice soft red tints
out there that have treatment with hints of red pigment. If you’re not ready
for lips, there a many new red nail polishes out for the holiday season.
If
your going for a classic look instead of the rebellious rock and roll look,
there are a couple tricks to a flawless red lip.
•
First - Exfoliate your lips with a soft scrub or toothbrush
•
Second - Line your lips with a lip liner either by using the same color lip
liner as the lip stick or use a warmer tone for a more subdued look. Pick a lip
liner that can be sharpened to a sharp tip for a clean look and feather inward
so there are no harsh lines. Lip liner prevents your lip colors from bleeding.
•
Third - Blot your lips with a little translucent powder as this will hold your
lip color on longer.
•
Forth - Apply your chosen red lip
color and you’re on your way to stopping traffic.
It’s a good idea to blot your
lips to get rid of excess color so you don’t get lipstick on your teeth.
November and December are the
months that most cosmetic lines come out with their limited edition red lip
colors so I will share with you some of my favorites that are definitely worth
checking out.
Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro is
a collection that is a stain that has a velvety finish. It looks matte but
feels hydrating. Check out 400- The Red or 402 - Chinese lacquer. I would not
use your fingers to apply unless you want your fingers stained for hours, but
at least you know it works.
Laura Mercier Crème smooth lipsticks are a new collection
that are long wearing and also have treatment with Olive Oil and Vitamin E that
nourish the lips. The crème formula enriches lips with a semi-lustrous finish.
Some go to’s are Sienna and Merlot.
I had a client come in to
pick up some gifts for her assistants so we decided to do a little touch up on her. I told her you have this unique signature haircut you need a
signature red lip to go with it. She said this is my signature haircut but I
heard after 40 you shouldn’t wear red lips so I have been sticking to the beige
pink colors. I said let’s just try it as everyone is unique. We used Sienna
from Laura Mercier with Red Chocolate lip liner and she really came to life.
She said you were right this is ME!
Women are being more daring with their makeup so toss out the old rules
and have some fun with it!
