Nothing screams, “I’m ready for the holidays!” quite like a red lip. It’s classic, and IMO perfect for every holiday festivity. When you’re enjoying drinks and delicious food, the last thing you want to be worrying about is if you’re lipstick is bleeding or on your teeth. Bright lips can be high maintenance if you aren’t wearing a good product. If there is even a chance my lipstick is going to take away from a night of fun, I won’t wear it. So when I tell you these are my ride or die reds, I mean it!
Prep
If your lips are dry and chapped, do some of the following below to make sure you get the most beautiful application.
- Use a lip scrub. You can make your own with some brown sugar and olive oil, or they are pretty affordable at the drugstore.
- Use a tooth brush. Gently exfoliate using the bristles of a toothbrush (preferably, a new one you aren’t using on your teeth).
- Apply a lip mask. Leave it on when you’re doing the rest of your makeup and hair. Then, remove right before applying your lipstick.
(After scrubbing them off with a makeup wipe.)
Fenty Beauty Stunna Lip Paint in Uncensored $24
Pricey, but SO worth it. This shade is the perfect red for every skin tone, and it’s so pigmented. It dries down to a matte, but not drying. It stays on allllll night. Trust me. I wore this on New Year’s last year and didn’t have any issues with it. The applicator might be a little weird to get used to at first as it’s more rounded, which was a little difficult to make the sharp Cupid’s bow, but I just used a lip brush, and it was fine.
ColourPop Cosmetics Ultra Matte Lip in Creeper $6.50
If I want to feel 100% confident that my red lip isn’t going ANYWHERE, this is what I grab. I’m telling you this dries down to a completely matte, transfer proof lip. Like if you make a mistake, it’s going to be hard to fix, because it’s so pigmented and long-wearing. This doesn’t bleed or budge. Just make sure to hydrate your lips before using this. Because the formula is so matte, if you have any dryness, it might be noticeable.
NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella $27
This one is more of a wearable red for me. When I want a redder lip, but I don’t want it to shout, “Look at my red lips,” this is what I grab. It’s really soft on the lips while still staying matte. This doesn’t have the staying power of a liquid lipstick, so you will have to touch up throughout the day, but I expect to do that with anything that isn’t a liquid lip. You could also use this as a lip liner.
Jordana EasyLiner in Sedona Red $2.50
With red lips, I try to find products that I don’t need to use a liner for (like the two liquid lipsticks above), but if I want a red liner this is my go to. It’s really creamy and glides on nice. I also like the shade of this because I can use it with my blue-tone reds and my more orange-tone reds.
xx,
Nicole