After a little guide about Nude Lips today I want to talk about a great classic: Red Lips.

Red Lips are maybe the greatest way to pull out your femininity, they have been a classic through many decades. Sexy and classy at the same time red lips are a statement, indeed. Maybe you have some fear to wear statement lips, you are worried of being “too much”. But I think it’s a self confidence matter. You have no fear to wear a red lipstick. You have fear of being judged by a still sexist society. You have fear of being seen as silly, superficial. As a slut. Just because sexism rules, so you have to conceal your feminine features if you want to be taken seriously. Statement lips, red lips show to the world that you can be feminine and smart, that you don’t conceal yourself.

Beauty and clever? Yes, men: it’s possible, deal with it.

So, red lips. There are so many choices, so many reds. With my colours and skintone I absolutely prefer cool reds, with a blue undertone (and your teeth will appear whiter) and I think they are generally more flattering.

With strong colours, usually I prefer satin or matte finishes and long lasting formulas in order to avoid bleeding and fading throughout the day. Plus, it’s better to use a lip liner: it will help your lipstick to stay on longer. For the same reason I don’t like red glosses, it’s far better a red liquid lipstick with a super long wearing formula, because you don’t want to look like Joker.

The focus will be mainly on your lips so be sure to prep them well with scrub and moisturizer.

These are my picks to achieve perfect red lips. As lipsticks my choices are Mac: I think they have the best formula for lispticks. They are not low cost, so if you’re in a budget I may suggest Nyx Round Lipstick in Electra (review) if you want a creamy formula or Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss in 111 Kiss of Life (review) if you prefer a matte finish and a warmer tone. Obviously – among Mac – there are tons of choices: from the classic Russian Red to darker, vampy tones such as my beloved Diva.

First of all, you need a lip liner to contour your lips, then fill your lips blend the colour to achieve a full coloured lips: this step will make your lipstick last longer without bleeding. My choices are Mac Beet Lip Liner for cooler reds and Alverde Naturkosmetik Soft Red for more balanced reds.

left: Mac Beet Lip Liner
right: Alverde Naturkosmetick Soft Red

Then it’s time for lipstick: as I said I prefer satin, matte finishes because they are “safer” and you can’t forget them without retouches. I chose Mac Runaway Red and Mac Ruby Woo. I simply love them. I find them suitable for all occasions and I have only to put them to feel me well.  They don’t bleed and last forever. In order to avoid mistakes it is better to apply them with a lip brush.

Ruby Woo
Runaway Red

If you prefer another kind of formula I think it’s worth Madina Milano Revolution liquid lipstick, an old limited edition product unfortunately. It’s matte and long wearing without drying out your lips, texture is like red velvet.

top to bottom:
Runaway Red
Ruby Woo
Madina Milano liquid lipstick

So, what are your favourite red lips products?