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One does not simply wear any red lipstick. The right kind of red should complement your skin tone; make your teeth look whiter and your face much more vibrant. Here are our tips on how to do the perfect red lips:
Finding the Right Red for Your Skin Tone
A great red lipstick should complement your skin’s undertone. To know your undertone, check the veins on your wrist. If your veins are green or olive, then it’s likely that you’re warm-toned. If they’re bluish or purplish, you are cool-toned and if they’re a combination of green and blue, you are neutral-toned.
If you have fair skin with cool undertone, go for reds with blue undertone. For medium-skinned women, reds with a slight yellow or orange undertone should suit your coloring. For dark-skinned women, go for darker shades of red like burgundy or wine.
Prep Your Lips
Red lipsticks—particularly matte ones—tend to be unforgiving to the lips. Pigment from the lipstick could pool in fine lines or catch on flaky lips — and that’s not a good look! So prepping before application is a must, especially if you are using red lipstick with a cream or matte formula.
First, exfoliate the lips using any toothbrush. Gently scrub the surface of the lips to remove dead skin cells, wipe it dry, and then swipe a nourishing lip balm after. Your lips have to be well moisturized because some reds are so drying!
The Right Application
There are two ways to apply a red lipstick. First, you have statement lips that feature precise lines. Then you have stained, glossy, barely there red lips. If you are aiming for statement red lips, you will need a lip liner and a lip brush.
For statement red lips, start by lining your lips with a lip liner with a shade that’s close to your red lipstick. Then with your lip brush, swipe a generous amount of color and then carefully fill in your lips. Using a lip brush—as opposed to applying the lipstick straight from the bullet—gives you more control over the intensity of your lip color.
For glossy, barely there red lips, apply a thin layer of red lipstick to your bare lips straight from the bullet. Blot the lip color once and then swipe a clear gloss over the stain.
For Fuller-Looking Lips and Long-Lasting Lip Color
For plumper, fuller-looking lips, go a little over your natural lip line with the liner and do not accentuate the Cupid’s bow ala Kylie Jenner. To give your lipstick longer-lasting staying power, you can either fill your lips completely with a lip liner prior to applying the red lipstick or blot the lip color after the initial application and swipe another layer of red lipstick.
For Pigmented Lips
Some women tend to have highly pigmented natural lip color so wearing a lighter shade of red doesn’t yield the right color of the lipstick. To prevent this, lightly pat an extremely thin layer of foundation or concealer over your lips prior to lipstick application. This should neutralize your naturally pigmented lips so the real color of the lipstick will show better.
Avoid Red Lipstick From Migrating to Your Teeth!
One of the most common problems of wearing red lipstick is that the color tends to migrate to the teeth. Here’s a nifty trick that many supermodels use to prevent this issue, blot your lips once and insert a clean finger into your mouth. Close your mouth around the finger so excess lip color inside your lips will stick to your finger.
Tone Down the Rest of Your Makeup
If you’re wearing a strong lip, make sure the rest of your makeup is toned down so colors don’t clash. Ideally, don’t do a strong eye makeup or prominent cat eyeliners. Don’t overdo the blush either. Keep your cheeks fresh with a barely there flush of color.
