The color red is exciting, stimulating and powerful. Red on your lips is bold and appealing to the eyes. Red lip color makes a strong statement; it is a look at me color, it commands attention, and is the color of love, luck, passion and sexiness.
Red lips have been considered beautiful across many cultures throughout history. Geishas painted tiny bright red lips on their faces. Ancient Egyptians painted their lips red and lined their eyes with khol. Snow White is described as “Hair as black as ebony, skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood”. Victorian beauties kept their complexions pale and lips red. Who can forget Hollywood starlets such as Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly, who looked gorgeous with very red lips and perfectly powdered noses. Marilyn Monroe was a screen goddess with her blonde hair and red lips. Elizabeth taylor was the ultimate seductress with her siren red lips.
Throughout history, women have been painting their lips red. Red lips draw attention, can hold a man’s gaze and are the ones that get the second glance, drawing attention to every pout and even the slightest smile. Pick a color that goes with your skin tone, wear it with confidence and you can’t go wrong.
So how to find the perfect shade of red for you? Finding your shade of red is not only powerful, but can make you look beautiful and elegant.
If you have a cool undertone (blue veins in your arms OR pinkish or bluish hues in your skin), you can go for a true red lipstick or any red lipstick with pink, plum or blue undertones. The beautiful thing about a red with a bluish undertone is that it can make your teeth appear whiter!
If you have a warm undertone (green veins in your arms OR yellow or peach hues in your skin), you can use a warm red lipstick with a coral/orange undertone. For warm skin tones, go for coral red/scarlet, or any orange-red lipstick.
For dusky complexions, berry reds or reds with browns and earth tones will suit you. Go for a brick red or one that is brownish or a berry colour.
Here are a few tips and tricks to follow when you put on really red lips:
1) Either highlight the eyes or the lips. Not both at the same time. If you go for a bold mouth, go light on the eyes, and use lighter, more natural eye makeup.
2) Since red lip color can be strong, it’s important to tone down your style and keep it to a minimum. You don’t want to overdo it by wearing red clothes and/or too many red accessories.
3) Red blusher applied too heavy handedly can make you look harsh or clownish instead of sensual.
4) Remember, you can look absolutely stunning in a red bold lipstick and heavy black eyeliner/false eyelashes/dark, smoky eye makeup with a hint of red blusher.
But these rules of keeping everthing else to minimum when wearing a red lipstick does not apply to all. There are some women who can even get away with red lips, coral eyeshadow and look amazing wearing a red gown all at the same time. If you have seen Indian weddings, you must have seen how stunning a bride can look wearing a red lipstick, a red saree or a red bridal outfit. So how much red you can wear at a time varies from person to person and so is an individual decision.