How To: Vixen Red Lips.

Red lips are a classic, everybody knows it. There are lots of shades you can wear, depending on your skin tone and hair color. Your red lip color should be an obvious fit for you- it should stand out alone, as well as bring out your skin and hair tones.

If you have fair skin look for more coral tones and oranges:
Listed below are some of my recommendations:

• AVEDA "Star Coral" Lipstick
• NYX "Indie Flick"
• CHANEL "Enthusiast" Lipstick
• My Pick: MAC "Morange"

for medium skin go for true reds, and really rich oranges:

• Chanel Rouge Allure in "Lover"
• MAC "Ruby Roo" Lipstick
• My Pick: Clinique in "Red Red Red"

For dark skin look for colors that are deep and rich- if these colors are too light they will create too much of a contrast and create a harsh look.

• CHANEL in "Bloody" 
• AVEDA in "Rare Orchid"
•  MAC in "Absolute Power"
• My Pick: AVEDA in "Tanzanite"

Now that you  have found the perfect shade for your skin tone, we'll talk about application:

1. Prep your lips. 
You can have a gorgeous lip color, but if your lips are flaking and dry then I promise it won't be worth it! Exfoliate your lips. You can start by brushing them with your toothbrush while you are brushing your teeth. "Kiss Me" by Philosophy works great!

An inexpensive alternative to Philosophy, is to take a reusable mascara wand (You can usually buy them in bulk for under 3.00) and any kind of lip balm, preferably thick, and apply it to the mascara want. Then use the bristle end of the wand to exfoliate your lips, brushing back and forth on you lips for at least a minute. Because Mascara wands are meant to be used on your eyelashes (one of the most delicate parts of your face) it will not be harsh on your lips.


2. Prime your lips.
You can use whichever primer you like. Some good choices are Urban Decay Lip Primer Potion or  MAC Prep + Prime.

3. Line your lips.
 I recommend matching your lip liner to the same brand as your lipstick, mostly because it will match better than any other brand. I like to line not only my lips, but also fill in my lips with the liner as well- it gets really good coverage and helps the lipstick adhere to your lips for longer lasting wear. It also makes the color pop more.

4. Take a concealer brush, or a Q-tip and apply foundation to the out line of your lips (around your mouth) This will help them to look more natural around your mouth.

5.  Apply your choice of lipstick and if you like glosses, or if you are using a Matte lipstick, you can apply a gloss... I personally love the Matte look, so normally I opt out of glosses.



Here is my finished look!


In this picture I am wearing Clinique "Red Red Red"- it is such a glamours color, and definitely gets you that Hollywood Scarlet look you are looking for!

Here I am wearing CoverGirl Outlast in 430

<3 mykel