Red is undoubtedly a powerful color, and when it is on your lips it is a sign of courage, dominance, sex appeal, femininity, sophistication and glamour.
For many years, red lips are worn by women who want to leave a strong impression. Fashion icons like Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe have successfully rocked the red lip, and now Hollywood is in love with red lips more than ever.
Now that the season for parties is coming, red lips are tempting option for many women. If you wear a red lips, you can portray a sense of style and sophistication. Here is everything that you need to know about how to wear the irresistible red lips that will highlight your style and will complement your look.
How to choose the best red lipstick for your skin tone?
Thousands of women tend to avoid red lipsticks with the excuse that they don’t look good with red lipstick, but fashion experts are categorical – for every woman there is a red lipstick that complements her.
The makeup market offers different shades of red lipstick. On one side that is good news, but on the other hand, it increases the chances that you’ll choose the wrong shade of red lipstick. A red lipstick that’s perfect for your skin tone can make you look sexy, sophisticated and attractive, and the wrong one can make you look intrusive and distasteful. Therefore, the first step is for you to learn how to choose the best red lipstick for your skin tone.
Experts agree that the red lipstick should complement the color of your skin and hair, not the clothes. Here are some tips on how to choose the best red lipstick for your skin tone:
If you’re:
Blonde with a dark complexion – Choose warm bright tones. The best selection are red lipstick in a shade of coral, orange or copper.
Blonde with a light complexion – Choose lipsticks with blue undertones. The best selection are lipsticks that have a hue of pink or purple color.
Brunettes with a dark complexion – Choose warm tones with dark brown base. The best selection are lipsticks that have bronze or gold base.
Brunettes with light complexion – Choose lipsticks in shades of strawberry or raspberry. The best choice are the so-called deep red lipsticks or lipsticks with dark red and purple hues.
Red hair with a dark complexion – Choose lipsticks in warm shades that have a brown base.
Red hair with a light complexion – Choose lipstick in a darker shade like red wine. Redheads should avoid lipsticks with orange hues.
However, the best method for selecting the perfect shade of red lipstick is to test them out. Test as much shades of red as you can. The shade that is right for you shouldn’t make you look too pale nor to make your teeth look yellow.
Tips: If you have small lips, don’t choose red lipstick in dark shades. Just as the dark clothing makes you look thinner, the dark red lipstick will make your lips look thinner too.
Easy tips for applying red lipstick
Prepare your lips. The red lipstick draws all the attention to your lips, so you shouldn’t allow them to look dry or chapped. Soft smooth lips are excellent base for easy and smooth application of red lipstick. Exfoliate your lips with a toothbrush or easy homemade lip scrub. Apply a lip balm, wait for 2 minutes and remove the excess lip balm with a napkin. Apply a small amount of primer, take 1 layer of thin paper tissue, place it on your lips and apply a transparent or mineral powder over it. (this step will make your lipstick last longer).
Line and fill in your lips with lip pencil. Red lipstick should look neat and any smudge from the natural lip line will look messy. Also, over time the red lipstick tends to start to ‘bleed’, i.e to melt. To avoid this, and to make the application of red lipstick easier, it is absolutely necessary to use a lip pencil. The lip pencil should be in the same shade as the lipstick. Carefully line the contours of your lips and then fill in your lips with the lip pencil. Applying lip pencil on your lips also helps the lipstick to last longer.
Apply lipstick. Red lipstick, like all other lipsticks in bright strong color is best applied with a lip brush. With the brush, start to apply the red lipstick from the middle of your lower lip, and then carefully apply it toward the edges. Apply it on the upper lip too. Finally, open your mouth and apply the lipstick to the outer corners. This is an area that women often forget, so when they speak this becomes very apparent.
Give your lips some shine. Matte lipstick can make you look a bit older, but you can use it if you wear red lipstick everyday. But for an evening look, it is best if you put some lip gloss on. Lip gloss will make your lips look fuller. Some experts recommend to apply a lip gloss only to the middle of your lower lip, so you’ll create an illusion of fuller lips.
Extra tip for an evening party:
Combine classic with classic. Red lips are the best choice if you are planning to show up at a party wearing a little black dress. The red color will help you to break the monotony of black clothes, and you won’t worry about finding too many accessories. Little black dress + red lipstick + classic cat eye = simple and elegant combination that leaves the unmistakable impression of style and sophistication.
Red lips are powerful enough by themselves, so you need to make sure that the rest of your makeup is minimal. For the eyes use nude eye shadows and put a little blush on your cheeks.
Extra small trick: It is better to apply the lipstick first, then to do your eye makeup. That way you’ll know when to stop with the eye makeup and you won’t overdo with the eye shadows.
