Any Diva Can Wear A Red Lip!- here's how!

Is there any more feminine and iconic a look for a woman than clean , bronzy glowing skin and a lush red pout? So classic, so sexy, so easy. Especially should you be in a hurry and require a date night/evening look fast, or if you are a bit pale and need a pop of colour. ( Do forget red should you be very tired, it may accentuate dark circles and redness in the face, try instead a light reflective pink gloss to bring a lightness to the visage.)

Don’t think it’s easy? Well, you haven’t found the right red yet, either in texture or colour, read on for some simple pointers to get you noticed in-

Just the right red!

For some reason many women don’t take advantage of this most elegant and enduring of looks as they seem somehow intimidated by it. Could it be they don’t want to get noticed? Nah- I think it’s because they have this idea that red is high maintenance, indeed for some products it can be, I am here to convince you that with the right choices you can also seduce with that gorgeous “French Girl” almost casually worn lip!

#BEFORE THE LIP COMES THE FACE

As a red lip is a strong look it puts the focus on the mouth area, the first consideration should be to balance the rest of the face leaving the lips as the star of the show. For me personally this means a fresh, glowing complexion using a light reflecting smoothing foundation and cream highlight and bronzer, worked back with a strong but fluffy eyebrow and almost nothing on the eye itself save a light wash of gleaming shadow in a neutral tone to unify the lids colour and the merest hint of mascara on the top lashes only for definition. Any heavy liners or complicated five step eye shadow routines will steer the attention away from the mouth and head you firmly towards either try hard territory, or worse, “I am a drag queen in my downtime” land!!!!

So keep it fresh faced and then concentrate on the mouth, your look will then be effortless and that’s what we want isn’t it lasses? IE I woke up like this and just added lippy as a sign of good manners!

#TEXTURE-

This is where a lot of ladies go wrong as the texture that works for you will have a lot to do with the condition of your lips, your age and the level of pigment that you desire. For example-a young girl who doesn’t want to look made up but DOES want to look as if she has been eating cherries will do very well with a translucent balm such as those from Burt’s Bees or a sheer lipstick such as Essence.

Beautiful sheer lippies, from left - essence Colour Up Shine On in 06, “( worn in the image above where I am wearing the floral silk shirt, such an easy red, so plumping for the lips!)“, Benefit “ benetint”, Clinique “Black Honey”( this one I have been wearing since high school and it STILL looks fab!)

A mature woman might however struggle with a slippery formula as it migrates into lines. Either then use a waxy pencil around the perimeter of the lips for border control , OR I think better yet, use a lip primer such as the Mac prep and prime, this gives a stickiness that helps lipstick adhere and then any formula can be used. Another way to get a “ just bitten your lips “ sheer look for the mature mouth is to line the entire lip with a waxy yet moisturising pencil or chubby stick, rub the colour into the lips with your finger ( No a lip brush won’t give the same bloom!!!), then if needed apply a non slippery balm on top. Won’t move and looks fresh and casual !(My personal view is that a mature beauty is best suited to a bold matte velvety red lip, beautifully applied, she usually has the chutzpah to pull it off!)

The gold standard of red hippies is the cream formula, no great commitment but still enough bang for your buck and naturally flattering. For a young mouth it’s simple, just apply straight from the bullet, for an older mouth it makes sense to use a lip brush ( a straight ended one is most precise) and most importantly do choose a good quality lipstick with plenty of pigment, the cheaper ones sometimes don’t have a concentration of colour and you have to use more to get any payoff, defeats the cheaper price point AND the colour goes everywhere! So—- if you don’t get payoff that you like after one pass of the product, leave it out! And- always test lip colour on your fingertip, not the back of your hand , the fingertip is most like the colour and texture of your actual lip. You’ll get the most accurate read that way.

The advantage of creams is that they have a lovely smooth feel on the lips , are easy to apply and are only medium maintenance. As long as the pigment payoff is enough there are some really good lip colours in the mid price range, two of my faves include the shades below-

Rimmel, Kate Moss Collection ,lasting finish in 111, Kiss of life

Rimmel, The One, 510, Best of the Best

Red cream lipsticks in the high end spectrum are plentiful, I truly believe the Tom Ford colours are the best ( closely followed by Pat McGrath) , they are so rich in pigment and continue to leave your lips hydrated hour after hour and they don’t pill. The new label Pat Mc Grath has some perfect reds ( the shade “Elson “ is a true marvel) as well as local Aussie label issada. One really cute lippy label is Besame, their lip colours are based on iconic shades from the golden age of screen and history, my fave is 1941 “Victory Red”.

High end creams- from left

Issada, Poppy (orange red), Tom Ford, Cherry Lush and Narcotic Rouge( both clean blue based reds), Mac- Russian Red. ( brick red)

Lastly, the big daddy for red lipstick-

The Full Bodied Matte!

My personal fave cause when I do something I really go for it! I don’t wear red often so if I commit I go all out!

Now- I don’t believe that the matte mouth should look hard or dry and since I have been using a primer my red lip game has changed irrevocably. I can now wear a matte red comfortably after exfoliating the lips well, applying a balm, letting it sink in whilst I do the face, wiping away any excess, then applying the primer underneath the serious matte rouge!

Key here is to-

Prep with powder around the perimeter of the mouth,(stretch your lips out so you get into every nook, also when applying lip liner, really makes a difference)applied with a tiny brush, then use the primer and wait 15 seconds till it becomes tacky. Apply lip liner around the whole mouth for staying power, then lastly apply the full bodied lip colour whilst sucking on a glass of pinot) kiddin’, or am I ?. Again rub the pigment into the lips with your fingers, then blot with one layer of tissue and reapply if needed for concentrated colour.

Result?

An intense red that looks as if it’s coming from within rather than being painted on, it’s a much more modern and sleek look than just applying any old how.

Some fantastic matte reds?

Budget Matte lipsticks, from left

Rimmel, Provocalypse, Kiss me you fool, Maybelline Matte ink, Pioneer

High end matte lip colours, from left,

Christian Dior, Diorific Kohl #751, Mac, Ruby Woo ( worn by Nicole Kidman for Moulin Rouge, fun interesting fact!)

#COLOUR

Last, but most important consideration-

a red lip that suits you!

Colour is more important than texture or application technique as red is such a bold tone it can really have huge impact and effect on your complexion, either good or bad depending on your choice of hue. There are different points of view for example with my light olive complexion ie warm tone I am told I can get away with orange reds. Indeed I can, but they have to be applied perfectly and can make my teeth look yellow. An orange/red I can wear well is tangerine as it has some pink in it. Thus I prefer to create a higher contrast and go with a blue based red with a pinkish tone, this makes my blue eyes pop, my skin look brighter and clearer and my teeth super white! If you are mature woman you will have lost some natural pigment in your overall colouring, I believe a higher contrast red is lively and more flattering in this case.

My advice is to take your time to find your perfect red and when you do, stock up! Idea? Try a red lippy with nothing else on your face and whilst wearing a white T-shirt to not distract the eye, the right red will wake up your visage straight away, the wrong red and you will look peaky! Then- every time you go shopping take a couple of tiny tester pots with you, sales staff will give you a sample ( disinfected of course!) which you can try for a few days to see if you get compliments. It’s really worth taking your time with this as when you find your true red-

You will IMMEDIATELY know it!

My lifetime red? Mac- Relentlessly red, it’s actually more watermelon in tone and would suit most medium to fair skin tones. Yes I also love and adore the above high end reds, but there’s just something about this shade that makes me look alive and as if the colour just flatters every part of me!

So Divas-

Don’t ever give up on the Holy Grail red for you, have fun in the search and let me know how you go!

Seeya,

Les xxx

AKA the Champagne Diva!