Red lips are haute.
Some people think that wearing them is too much work, or too difficult to make perfect, but they’re a really easy way to look classic. And in a pinch, red lips and huge sunglasses can hide a multitude of sins from the night before.
When you do wear red, make sure you keep everything else pretty neutral. I really love a light gold eye with classic black liner and a bronzed cheek. A soft peach is also really pretty for your blush, and compliments a orange-based red really well.
Don't wear pink blush, silver eye shadow and red lips all together. It's not pretty or elegant, they all add up to clownish.
Make sure that your skin is also looking good. Cover any redness in your skin with a full-coverage foundation, and make sure to conceal any imperfections and under eye areas well. Great skin will make your lips pop, and blotchiness will make you look unkempt and sloppy.
To create the perfect red lip you need a few basic things; a red lipstick, a red lipliner, and a silicone-based primer.
To start, choose your red. As a general rule, darker skin tones look good with a blue base and lighter skin tones look better in brighter, orange based reds. Olive skin tones tend to look better in blue or brown undertones. Blue undertones also make teeth look whiter. I'm wearing an orange red on the left, and a blue red is on the right. These were taken on the same day with the same face makeup. J
If you are unsure as to the undertones in a lipstick try this: swipe it on your hand, and wipe it off/smudge it. You should be able to see the undertones better when it is on your skin, and it is spread out a little thinner. Here, the top is the blue base red, and the bottom is the orange.
I like using a matte lipstick, because my lips tend to bleed, and a matte will further prevent that beyond a primer and liner. I also tend to do red lips on only occasions where I, or the person I am doing makeup on, agree to “behave.” L Smudged red lips are an easy way to spot a hot mess. Don’t be “that girl.” J
Put on your lip primer first, then do all your makeup as the primer sinks in. I like Cover FX's MintGlaze Lip Primer because it really moisturizes lips underneath your lipstick. But please, please, please let it soak in, or let any other primer set before you put on your red lips. You need that tackiness to grab the color.
I like to start from the middle in… a lot of people like to outline and fill in. Practice what’s comfortable for you. The reason that I start in the middle, is I like to see the shape of the lip come out a bit before I decide the way I want to line them. So I start with the red lipstick in the center of the lips, and work out a bit, but not to the edge. I like using a longwearing lipstick that doesn’t have a topcoat. I like MAC's Pro Long Lipcreme in Prolong, a bright true red. I then step back and look at the lines of the lips. If I want to line outside the lips, this is the time to see the shape I want it to take.
I like to use a liner that either exactly matches the lipstick, or is slightly darker. Not too dark, you want them to match, and to also have the same undertones.
After you line the lips, then you can take the lipstick and fill in the lips again, this time up to and blending with, the lipliner.
You can choose to blot and reapply the color, or if you are using a long-wearing red, you’re good to go. Braver people and artists can do a glossy red, or a gloss on top. I like the aesthetic of a bold, red matte lip, but a shiny red is also really pretty. Note that beginners should try a matte lipstick first because it is easier to wear and keep on. Or you could end up like Haley from American Idol and have lipstick all over your face, with only Ryan Seacrest to tell you. That’s sad. And no one likes being laughed at. J
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