Every woman that wears lipstick or lip gloss wants to switch up her look sometime, and lip color is really the easiest way to do that. There are all sorts of options out there for each of us to choose a more glamorous look-at-me red lipstick and then a not-so-boring nude lipstick.
Here are some rules to work with for each color.
NUDE:
#1. Go ahead and plan the rest of your makeup around your nude lips. You can go heavier on your eye makeup and lips if you’re wearing a nude mouth. Smokey dramatic eyes or winged tip liner, a la Jessica Simpson, are a great compliment to a pretty pale lip.
#2. Prep your lips with a natural colored lip liner to give your mouth some sort of definition. MAC’s Spice lip liner ($13) is a must have for most lip colors. To make sure you don’t look like you have ring around the mouth
- First apply your favorite lip balm.
- Second apply your liner starting in the center of your mouth (top and bottom) and gradually fading out the line as you go towards to the corners of your mouth.
- You DON’T need a complete dark line all around your mouth.
- Putting the liner on after the lip balm keeps the liner nice and light. Last, fill in your lips with your nude lipstick or gloss.
#3. Nudes are tricky, so avoid the shades of nude that tend to go beige because you’ll look slightly “dead”, and there’s nothing pretty about resembling a corpse. Try to go for nudes with a peachy or pinky tint to them.
Your Nude Cosmetic Options:
Stila Cosmetics – “Emily” (a pinky taupe creme) OR “Miranda” (sheer nude) lipsticks- $17 Chanel- “Nude” (satin lip color)- $30
CoverGirl True Shine – “Powderpink Shine” (frosty pink nude)- $6
RED:
#1. Pick the right shade for your skin tone. Reds can be tricky, so go by these rules and try a couple out before picking a signature red.
You’ll be surprised by all the different options and how the right color red can brighten up your whole face and smile! For those of you with fair skin, try a classic red with a blue base. For those with medium/olive skin, go for orangey based reds. Of course dark skin needs a brownish deep brick based red.
#2. Depending on how dramatic you want your red lips to look, you can choose to line, or not to line! It’s your choice.
- A modern take on red lips is to just apply straight from the tube with no liner (ALWAYS be sure to apply red lipstick on clean, exfoliated, non flaky lips)
- Add a tad of clear lip gloss (MAC’s Clear Lipglass ($14) makes them shinier than ever, it does have a slight tacky feel, but it definitely makes your lips have a gloss that no other product can touch). Or the classic red lip requires a few careful steps.
- First, use a lip primer to keep your color from seeping into your fine lines around your mouth.
- Then use a matching red liner that you also fill in your total lips with as a good base.
- Finish up with your red lipstick, blot with a kleenex and apply a 2nd layer for staying power.
#3. Contrary to the total face look with the nude lipstick, when wearing a red mouth, keep everything else really clean, simple and toned down. Pretty skin, perfect eyebrows, plus lots of mascara keeps it simple enough to carry off the red lips.
Your Red Cosmetic Options:
L’Oreal Paris Colour Riche lipstick -“British Red” (classic red)- $9
MAC cosmetics- “Russian Red” (blueish bright red)- $14
NARS- “Jungle Red” (semi matte bright red)- $24
Have fun switching up your look from day to night – and there’s no rule that says the perfect hot mama red lipstick can’t be worn at 9am to work for that big presentation or even to the grocery store at noon – throw everyone off and feel glamorous while doing it!!
