Beauty Squared Beauty Lessons: The Perfect Red Lip

A reader asked us to do a post about red lips - what products and tools to use and the steps to achieving the perfect red lip. 

In this post we'll look at the products you'll need, including the lip colours, and what you'll need to do to wear a red lip. No major sacrifices, we promise, but the red lip is a powerful thing and must not be worn casually (OK, maybe once and a while it can be). This lesson will focus on doing a classic red lip like Marilyn Monroe or Dita von Teese. 

What you'll need:

• the lipstick (see Step one)
• a lipliner that matches your lipstick
• a clean, dry toothbrush
• Kleenex
• a rich, moisturizing lip balm
• a lip brush

Step one: Choose your product. 

You'll want to choose a matte lipstick in a bold true red, like MAC's Ruby Woo (widely known in the beauty world as a universally flattering red). If Ruby Woo is not for you, check out NARS' Dragon Girl or MAC's Russian Red. 

Step two: Prep your lips. 

Wash your face and prep with moisturizer. Using a clean, dry toothbrush gently exfoliate your lips in a circular motion. The skin on your lips is thin so be gentle. This step will remove any dry, dead skin.

After exfoliating, apply a rich, creamy lip balm. It will absorb into your freshly scrubbed lips and provide a smooth surface for your lipstick application later. Moisturizing your lips before applying lipstick will also help to keep your lips from drying out.

Step three: Perfect your skin. 

You'll want to have the most perfect skin you can possibly achieve if you want to pull off this kind of lip look. If your skin is good on its own, lucky you! Otherwise, foundation, concealer and powder need to be applied. Take the photo of Dita above as your inspiration as well as this one of Marilyn Monroe.

You want an even-toned, well powdered (but not powdery) complexion. Keep the rest of your look simple and neutral but polished - a bit of eyeliner, some false lashes (if you like), neutral eyeshadow, some light blush or bronzer, and well-groomed brows.

*My favourite way to wear a red lipstick in this classic style is with a line of liquid eyeliner, flicked out at the end, a neutral matte eyeshadow that matches my skin tone but brightens it (IE. MAC Brule) on the lid, a neutral matte crease colour like MAC Wedge, and a soft highlight on the brow (IE. MAC Shroom).  Maybe a little bit of Wedge underneath the eye. Lots of mascara and maybe some false lashes. I'll use a soft, warm blush to softly contour my cheeks and temples or add a soft pink to my apples, very, very lightly. I'll shape my brows into the classic 50s shape (slightly squared off at the start and gracefully arched and elongated).

Step four: 

Line your lips. First blot your lips to remove any excess lip balm. Any excess will make your lips slippery and your liner and lipstick will have trouble adhering. Messy! With a sharpened lip liner line the outside of your lips carefully. The best way to do this is is to smile with your lips closed to draw the skin of your lips as taut as possible. Follow your natural lip line and if your lips aren't naturally even, make adjustments as needed with the liner. Check your work in the mirror to ensure that you've drawn an even line all the way around your lips.

Use a Q-tip to erase any mistakes. Sharpen the pencil if you need to. With a Q-tip soften the edges of your lips if they appear too harsh or if you've drawn outside the lines.

Once you've got the shape you want, fill in your entire lip area with the liner. This will ensure that when your lipstick wears off you won't be left with an outline of red around the outside of your lips.

Step five: Apply lipstick. 

Using a lip brush is very important when you're applying a bright, dark or bold colour. It allows you to have a lot of control over where you apply product and where you don't. You want a small, flat lip brush for this.

Take a small amount of lipstick onto the brush. Start with a little because you want to have as much control as possible applying it. You can add as you need to. Where you start applying is up to you - but it may be easier to go along the outside of your lips and work in. In the centre you can be a little less cautious with your application but make sure to go slowly around the edges. 

Step six: Blot and powder. 

When you've got a layer of lipstick on, you'll want to blot. This has the same effect as blotting the excess lip balm off before applying lipliner. It'll remove excess lipstick and leave more of a stain behind which will make your lipstick last longer. 

To do this, separate a piece of Kleenex into two layers. Press one of these layers onto your lips. Using a brush that's been dipped in powder or a powder puff with powder on it, press powder lightly onto the tissue. A small amount of powder will transfer through the tissue onto your lips but not enough to change the texture or colour. This will make your lipstick last longer. 

Step seven: Apply lipstick. 

Apply another layer of lipstick on top of the blotted and powdered layer. 

Step eight: Blot. 

Using the second layer of tissue, blot your lips again by pressing them against the tissue. 

 

You're done! You should now have your completed, perfect red lip that will last and last. 

*Note: I used a photo of my full face even though I'm only wearing foundation, concealer and powder (no mascara, eyeshadow, brow colour or blush) apart from the red lipstick, to show how I could possibly go out just like this. The red has that much of an impact and it shows how keeping the rest of the face simple (even this simple) is so important. 

There are other ways to wear a red lip, aside from the look detailed in the steps above. You could use the same lipstick and tap it lightly onto your lips using your finger to create a stained effect. You could top it with a gloss to make a high-shine red lip. You could use a sheer red lipstick for an everyday red lip with clean skin.

One of my favourite ways to wear a red lip is with clean skin, a bit of soft gold eyeshadow, a tiny bit of blush, strong brows and lots of mascara. In the photo below, my red lips are NARS Dragon Girl Velvet Matte Lip Pencil. It's a simple, glam look without looking too done.

For some more red lip looks, please check out the posts here and here.

A red lip is not the easiest makeup look to achieve, but it's definitely worth mastering. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments below!

30s style manicure

A Cutex ad from the 1930s

The other day I saw a story on Jezebel.com about how to do a 1930s manicure. I wondered about this as it had never occurred to me that 1930s women would've done anything that required how-to lessons. But reading on and doing some Internet research I discovered that the chic 1930s lady did do something really interesting with their nails. 

Dita von Teese with a 1930s style manicure

Ladies of the Art Deco and Great Depression era used to paint just the centre of their nails, leaving the half moon cuticle and tips of their nails bare. Towards the end of the decade, they left only the half moon cuticle bare and painted all the way to the tip. Colours ranged from corals and reds to greens and the popular shape was an almond shape. You can read more about it here.

I'm fond of vampy nails and unexpected colours like grey, bright green or orange lately and I've never had even a french manicure, so I thought I might try this edgy retro look. 

MAC Nail Lacquer in Vintage Vamp,
Sally Hanson Complete Salon Manicure Polish in Polar Bare
 and french manicure nail stickers

What you'll need:

• Base coat
• Bottom colour (a light shade like white or fleshtone)
• French manicure stickers (available wherever nail products are sold)
• Top colour (red, coral or burgundy if you want to keep it authentic)
• Top coat

The first step is to apply a base coat and allow it to dry. Then you'll want to paint your light shade all over your nail. You can use any light colour, sheer or opaque. Try a pearly pink, peach or white. I had hoped the white shade I'd bought was more opaque but it did what I needed it to.

Let the polish dry and then let it dry some more. You'll be putting stickers on top of the polish so it needs to be as hard as possible. 

Next, place your french manicure nail stickers - one on your nail tip and one along your half moon cuticle. This is much easier to do on your non-dominant hand so you might want to get someone to help you. I'm right-handed so the finished nails on my right hand aren't as clean as the nails on my left hand. This is probably something that comes with practice as those of you who do your own french manicures probably know!

Press the stickers down so they adhere to the skin and the nails as closely as possible. You don't want any of the darker shade to seep or bleed underneath the stickers. 

Your nails should look something like this once the stickers are in place.

Kinda cool-looking, right?

Apply the darker shade, overlapping the stickers slightly, with as many coats as needed to get the effect you want. Allow the polish to dry in between coats completely but after you've applied your final layer, you want it to almost completely dry before you remove the stickers.

This is my hand with one coat of Vintage Vamp applied.

When your nails are almost completely dry, carefully peel off the stickers. 

Here is my finished hand. I always end up getting polish on my skin but in the morning when I shower, it peels off. With a Q-tip dipped in polish remover I cleaned up the mess a little for the photos though.

It's a very cool look as well as being retro, although I bet no one would guess that it's retro.

I did a more traditional 30s manicure but of course, this look can be done with any combination of colours. What about using black as your base and green on top? Or yellow and orange? 

I love this look, what do you think?

C.

EOTD: Smoky Purple and Blue

One of the Venomous Villains pieces I bought back in the fall was the Maleficent Mineralize eyeshadow in My Dark Magic. I love its swirls of pink and purple and grey and black and blue and of course, its shimmer. But it sat untouched for a while because I didn't know how to use it. 

Close-up of My Dark Magic

But I finally did one evening when I was going out and loved it on my eyes so I thought I'd share it with you. Here's an impromptu shot I took via Photo Booth on my Macbook.

And here's the recreation of the look taken with a better camera. Please ignore my right eye as it is done in a different look. My right eye look can be see here.

Here are some close-ups of my eye look. Please note that the intensity of the look is diminished by the flash on my camera. Shimmer as well as pigmentation is reduced and when looking at this look with the naked eye, the look is much more intense. I love you, camera flash, but why must you make my makeup look so much more diminished?

Products used:

Base: 

• Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 Anti-Aging Moisturizer
• Lush Colour Supplement in Light Yellow (foundation)
• MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer in NC20 
• Korres Wild Rose Compact Power Brightening/Flawless Finish in WRP1

I like my base products to be to be somewhat glowy and natural-looking. I don't mind if there is some redness or discolouration showing through as long as most of it is covered but I don't look like I'm wearing a mask. My brows I left natural, although if I was wearing this look out I would've used a burgundy eyeshadow to help them match my hair colour better.

Eyes:

• MAC My Dark Magic Mineralize Eyeshadow from the Venomous Villains collection (Fall 2010)

My Dark Magic Mineralize Eyeshadow and brushes used

The beauty of the Mineralize eyeshadows is that you can use the entire blend of colour or just use parts of the blend, like just the plum pockets, just the pink pockets or just the dark blue-black of My Dark Magic. I swirled a thick eyeshadow brush all over the eyeshadow to get a blend of all the colours and smudged it onto my lid, heavily from the lashline to the crease. I used a broad, flatter brush to blend it up above my crease and also to smudge it all the way along my lower lashline, working it right into my lashes. I then used bits of pink and purple specifically to smudge onto my eyelid, to intensify the colour and add dimension. Why not, eh?

• Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Ransom
• MAC Pearlglide Intense Eye Liner in Industrial

L-R: Urban Decay 24-7 Eye Pencil in Ransom and MAC Pearlglide eyeliner in Industrial

I used Industrial, a metallic periwinkle blue (swatches and another look using it here), along my top lashline, smudging it into my lashes and layering it to get a good colour. With my broad flat brush I smudged it further but not too much, as brushing the Pearlglide shadows can diminish their shimmer. 

I used Ransom, a very pretty bright iridescent purple, along my lower lashline on top of the smudged My Dark Magic, as well as in my waterline.  The same flat, broad brush was used to smudge it further.

My mascara is Benefit Bad Girl, multiple coats for lots of thickness and length.

Cheeks:

• MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon  
• MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle

L-R: Pink Swoon blush and Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skin Finish

I applied Pink Swoon, a very pretty, bright, sheer pink blush on the apples of my cheeks and used Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skin Finish on the tops of my cheekbones and swirled in a half-circle up along my eye socket and onto my brow bone.

Lips:

• MAC Frost Lipstick in Costa Chic
• BareMinerals Lipgloss in Birthday Cake

L-R: Birthday Cake gloss and Costa Chic lipstick

For my lips, I wanted definition and some colour but mostly shine. When you've got heavy eye make-up you want to keep the rest of your makeup soft. A touch of colour and shimmer on my cheeks and lips is all I need. I applied Costa Chic lightly, blotted it and then topped it with some Birthday Cake, which despite its colour is quite sheer and a very pretty easy-to-wear shade.

So there you have it, my smoky purple and blue EOTD. 

Let me know what you think!

C.

EOTD: Antique Smoky eye

This is an eye look that came together as I was getting ready to go out to celebrate a friend's birthday. I wanted to do something sultry and smoky but also something different. I used pewters and greys and MAC's Heritage Rouge pigment to do a half-half eye look. I call it my Antique Smoky Eye because I used greys and pewters and of course Heritage Rouge!

It's a fairly basic eye look and you can use pretty much any combination of colours, from the dramatic to the neutral. This one though gave me the chance to use Heritage Rouge - a colour that can veer a bit too much to the red side (and make me look sick!). The red adds a pop to my eye colour as does lining my waterline with black eyeliner.

I wanted a slightly messy half-half eyelook so I let the colour bleed into each other a little. It's not a straight line down the centre of my eye. 

What I used:

As a base, I applied MAC Greasepaint Stick in Dirty to my whole eyelid, heavier on the outer corners than on the inner corner. I smudged it with my finger and had to work quickly as the Greasepaint sticks dry quickly. 

MAC Greasepaint Stick in Dirty

On the outer corner I applied MAC eyeshadow in Smut, smudging it from the lashline up to the crease and blended it slightly above with a clean brush.

MAC Smut

On top of Smut, I layered Laura Mercier eyeshadow in Pewter. This is one of my favourite eyeshadows - it's a medium grey-taupe with hints of khaki green and gold.

Laura Mercier eyeshadow in Pewter

I went back and forth with Smut and Pewter a little, adding a little more of each and blending with a fluffy brush.

Finally I applied Heritage Rouge on the inner corner, from the lash line up to the crease and buffing it out slightly above. Pigments are well, heavily pigmented so they go over other colours very well. I smudged it a bit messily onto the Pewter/Smut in the middle.

Tip: When you want a heavier application of eyeshadow, whether it's a pressed powder as Pewter and Smut are or if it's a loose pigment like Heritage Rouge, using a flat brush (like MAC's 242 and 252 brushes) will give you that application.

MAC Pigment in Heritage Rouge

To finish the look, I smudged a black pencil eyeliner onto my waterline, top and bottom for a smoky eye effect and smudged it slightly into my lashline. Then I curled my lashes and coated them with lots of black mascara. You want as much as possible for a dramatic smoky eye look like this. 

I've also done this look using MAC's Smoke & Diamonds instead of Smut/Pewter, with Heritage Rough on the outside half of my eye and without the black waterline liner. It's more subtle than the above look but I think the Heritage Rouge is too much on the outside corner - it makes me look a bit sick!

The Smoke & Diamonds is a richer consistency however and looks soft and rich, nearly as much so as the Heritage Rouge.

MAC Smoke & Diamonds

As always, clicking on the photos will open them in another window and give you a larger image if you want a better look.

C.