Wearing red lipstick is an art in itself. There are a few ways to make sure your red lip is on point.
A red lip can go wrong very quickly if it’s not applied with care. There’s just so much that can go wrong. It can make your teeth look yellow if it’s not a good shade of red for you. If it catches on the dry skin on your lips it and quickly end up looking more 'Halloween' than 'movie starlet'. It can bleed around the edges of your lips and you end up looking like the Joker. Or it can simply look really messy if you draw the outline on wonky.
Exfoliate
There are a few easy steps you can take to prevent any of those errors occurring. We like to prep our lips well before sporting a red lippie. If you are a super organised person, you might plan in advance what way you’ll be wearing your makeup for a night out. If that’s you, then you can do your lip prep the night before. Use a nice lip scrub to exfoliate your lips and get rid of any dead skin on the surface. Then go to bed with a nice lip treatment on and let it soak into your lips overnight.
If you’re not so prepared, give them a gentle scrub before you start your makeup. Use a very light scrub like a sugar scrub that won’t irritate your lips. Then apply lip balm to soak into your lips while you apply the rest of your makeup. This will make sure you have a nice smooth surface to apply the lip pencil and it won’t drag against dry skin.
Perfect your base
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The next thing that helps a red lip look really clean and precise is well applied foundation around your mouth. We often miss the skin closest to the edge of your lips. It’s important you bring your base right up to the lip line or even slightly buffed into your lips. If you don’t get the foundation right up to the lips you’ll see a very slight discoloration at the edges where some of your skin's natural red undertones can show through.
Prepare and prime
Another great little helper in the red lip process is a lip primer. They are made to adhere to the lipstick - a Velcro, if you will, that keeps your lipstick in place for longer. They also make the colour appear more opaque if you want a really strong red lip. Most primers have a silicone-y texture that create a lovely slip on your lips so the product glides on easily. This will really help when you are trying to draw the perfect curve on your lips. It also stops the pencil from dragging at the edges giving a jagged edge.
The same steps will work for any dark bright lipstick if you find it difficult to get a flawless application.
