How to Get the Perfect Red Lip

It’s the holiday season so I’ve been breaking out my red lipstick more these past few weeks than I have all year long. Since I had Teddy, I haven’t been wearing my normal array of red lipsticks since I spend all day giving him kisses on his sweet chipmunk cheeks. I was chatting with a friend about this recently and she mentioned that she never wears red lipstick since she isn’t certain she’d be able to pull it off without messing it up.  Well once I heard that story, I figured it was time to dust this post out from the archives and share it again.

I love that something as simple as red lipstick can make me feel so dressed up even if I’m wearing a simple outfit. Wear red lipstick always feels seasonally festive this time of year as well. So here is a quick and easy guide to getting that perfect red pout for your holiday parties coming up this month. I still love and regularly use all the products featured in this post.

A quick note about finding your perfect shade of red. If you’re a one-and-done kind of gal, I’d recommend that you head over to your local department store and have an expert at a beauty counter help you find a shade that matches perfectly with your skin tone. I’ve found that this solution tends to be the easiest. Otherwise, you might end up with a bunch of different shades that don’t quite give you the effect you want from your red lipstick.

Now onto how to get that perfect holiday red lipstick!

Prep work

The base to any perfect holiday red lip look are health lips and let me tell you that chapped lips and red lipstick (especially of the matte variety) are beauty arch-nemesis. Start by doing the basics the day or night before: drink plenty of water, apply lip balm, and use an overnight lip treatment.

Prior to doing your makeup, apply a little lip balm to a Q-tip and buff all over your lips. You’ll be amazed at how much dead skin that can buff off alone. Apply a bit more balm and let it soak in prior to applying your lip color.

Primer – While to some primer is an unnecessary additional step, I’ve found that it makes a difference in my lipstick’s longevity and the health of my lips. What primer does is create a barrier between your lips and the lip color as well as help even out the canvas of your lips to allow the color to apply more smoothly. They can also help with fading, feathering, and moisturize your lips from under your lip color.

After allowing a lip balm to soak into the lips, gently pass your primer over the lips much like another clear balm. MAC Prep+Prime Lip is fantastic but I also love NYX’s Lip Primer as it helps cancel out your natural lip color as well, allowing for the true lip color to shine.

Line Your Lips

From trial and plenty of error, I’ve learned that lipliner is essential to the perfect red lip. It maps out the shape of your lips (something difficult to do when working straight from the tube), gives you lipstick something to stick to adding to its longevity, and can amplify the color as well.

Start applying liner by mapping out the shape of your lips. Using short dashed lines draw an X on the cupids bow, < and > on the corners of your mouth, and a straight line in the middle of your lower lip. (this is what it should look like) Finish off the outline by connecting the lines together. Next, gently fill in the entirety of your lip with the liner. Gently blend with your finger or a Q-tip if needed.

Apply Your Lipstick

Now for the fun part. As far as picking out your best shade, the quickest way is to go to a beauty counter and talk it over with a knowledgable salesperson. Relying on the drugstore is one way to spend money on shades that don’t end up not looking so great and end up in the trash. Sephora, MAC, or your favorite beauty counter in a department store like Nordstrom are the best places to find your perfect red.

You can apply lipstick either straight from the tube or with a lip brush. From the tube requires a steadier hand but is quick for on the go while using a lip brush allows you to layer more product in thinner layers (read, making it last longer) but is more time-consuming upfront. Either way, apply one layer of lipstick everywhere that you just filled in with the lip liner.

Make it Last

To help your lip color last longer, there are several things you can do.

First off, blot the lip color with a piece of tissue by pressing your lips up against the tissue, then pressing the tissue between your lips as if you were biting it. Apply another layer of lipstick and repeat.

For even more stay power, take another piece of tissue and pull the two pieces apart so you are left with two very thin pieces of tissue. Placing one of these thin pieces of tissue over your lips, gently pat some loose translucent face powder over your lips. This will make your lipstick matte and help it from transferring.

Finally, to keep lipstick from getting all over your lips, put your finger between your lips and pull it out. This will remove any color that might be on the inner part of your lips and might find its way onto your teeth.

My Favorite Shades

Since everyone has a different skin tone and skin undertone, you’ll have to experiment to find your favorite shades. I have warm undertones with a lot of yellow in my skin tone. While a beauty counter is a great place to go to find out what type of red suits your skin tone, once you know you can find tons of great options at the drugstore. (Insider tip: Lots of high-end and drugstore cosmetic companies are owned by the same parent company and often have similar products. ie YSL and L’Oreal, see a full list here).

I tend to like deeper shades like MAC “Dubonnete“, “D for Danger“ and Estee Lauder “Black Wine“ (but I think it has been discontinued) because they make my teeth look whiter. I also love hot tomato reds like Nars “Heatwave“ and Maybelline Matte “Craving Coral“, which is a very similar shade from the drugstore. A few other favorites are Rimmel Kate “10“ (true blue red) , Revlon Balmstain in “Romantic“ (deeper red but more sheer color), and Revlon Lip Butter in “Candy Apple“ (bright red and very moisturizing).