Red lips and clubbing in London go together like vodka and cranberry juice, jam and cream, or perfume and lace. However, there is a real art to doing red lipstick … I don't know how many times I've decided that an outfit would look awesome topped off by a pair of pouting red pretties, popped the cap on my 'Cherry Pie' tube of lipstick and smeared away … only to spend five minutes removing the train wreck that results! If you want to do red lips right for your trip to a nightclub in London this weekend, preparation and proper procedures are the key - we show you how.
Create a perfect base
Creating a base for your lipstick is a 3-step process. You'll need to:
- Exfoliate your lips with a lipstick-style exfoliant or lip scrub
- Moisturise your lips - use a cream-style moisturiser that soaks in rather than sitting on top of your lips
- Apply a lip primer to help your lipstick stay put, and stay perfect
Note that exfoliating and moisturising your lips to get them ready for red lipstick should ideally be an ongoing process, rather than a last minute task while getting ready. Keeping your lips nice is much easier than getting them to that state.
Consider how the rest of your face interacts with your lips
Colour matching is an important part of this step, but so is knowing how deep, bright and hard to go with the rest of your makeup.
You don't need to 'balance' out your lips with heavy eye makeup - just let your pout shine all by itself to avoid looking like a clown.
All reds are not born equal
You'll also need to pick the right shade of red for your skin tone. If you have:
- A dark complexion: Pick a burgundy style shade
- A yellow complexion: Pick a deep red
- A rosy skin tone or a hint of a tan: Choose plum shades or true red
- A fair complexion: Look for red lipstick with a hint of orange or pink base
Line and apply!
You're probably familiar with this part from all your other weekends of clubbing London. Just remember not to line past your natural lip line, or you'll look very unnatural!
