Do you remember those beauty starlets in those old movies? From Marilyn Monroe to Grace Kelly. They looked gorgeous in their sinfully red lips…

Let me start by saying: There IS a red lipstick for everyone. Yes, one for you too. Now before you say ‘but I don’t wear red lipstick’ or ‘it simply doesn’t suit me’, let me tell you to simply read this article, simply try what I’m recommending and I will challenge you to say wearing red lipstick doesn’t make you feel like the ultimate femme fatale. Red lips are a classic that will never go out of style, thank the lipstick gods. This is the little black dress of your make-up bag, ladies…

Red lipstick is a versatile fashion accessory that can be teamed up with any outfit, taking it from zero to hero faster than you can say Chanel Red. It is a well-known fact that wearing a splash of red lipstick can make your teeth look whiter. Great. Being red it can also highlight other red marks or veins on your face. Not great. So make sure you skin is in good condition, perfectly primed and in tip-top glowing form.

Remember the secret lies in the rest of your face. The paler the skin, the bigger the pop. Skip eyeliner, load on the mascara to top and bottom lashes to open up the eyes and dust on some powder to eliminate shine.

Start with your lips by making sure all dead bits of skin are removed to leave lips soft and smooth.

The next step involves lining your lips with a liner. Red lipstick tends to ‘bleed’ into the lines around the mouth and lipliner avoids this.

Then, choose the right colour. If your complexion is pink, rather stick to plum shades, while girls with yellow undertones look better with warmer reds with a brown base. Personally I prefer a blue undertone red. Every women should find her signature red. Mine turned out to be MAC‘s Ruby Woo. Pure love! Think 1920’s matt red lips and you’re spot on.

When wearing nail varnish, although clear varnish is a safe option, black on nails seems to never ever go out of fashion thank heavens, if you decide to wear red, make doubly sure the red is exactly the same as your lipstick.

Lastly give yourself time to get used to it. Look at yourself several times during the day to get accustomed to your new lip shade.

So the 13.7million dollar question is: is red lipstick classy or trashy?

Here’s what some would say:

*red lips are unnatural, who’s lips are that red anyway?

*it’s ‘loose’ women who wear red lipstick

*it’s too much, take off all that make-up, woman!

Not only are these accusations as wrong as wearing crocs, they are utter nonsense. Here’s what I say:

*it enhances the natural reds and pinks in our lips

*it’s classy and will never go out of style

*it’s glamorous and all women want to be glamorous

So what do we do? Do we toss the red lipstick and go au naturelle for our men? Or do we stand up and support those red lipped diva’s before us, go out, look the world in the eye rocking a red lipstick?

It’s your choice…

Posted by Eloise Dreyer Hair & MakeUp