The Swiper's 411 on red lipsticks

08
Aug

The Swiper’s 411 on red lipsticks

Readers Gn. & Crissy are definitely not alone. I bet that most of you are still either confused or on a hunt for that perfect red lipstick. The key to this hunt’s to know the basic color rules first:

All Skin Tones: Primary red with absolutely zero color base.

I haven’t found the perfect primary red lippie yet.

Cool Skin Tones/Pink Undertones: Plums, berry red, blackberry red, blue red (excellent teeth brighteners!), brick red, and pink red.

My fave blue reds (I’m addicted to them!) for cool tones: NARS Scarlet Empress, MAC Red, MAC Ruby Woo, and MAC Russian Red.

Warm Skin Tones/Yellow undertones: Golden, brown, orange, tomato reds.

My fave reds for warm tones: MAC Chili, MAC Spice It Up, NARS Shanghai Express, NARS Heat Wave (orange red, one of my HG bright lippies), and NARS Gipsy.

Gn. asked:

What’s the difference between a matte and satin finish?

Most companies just classify their lipstick finishes into three categories: matte, satin, and sheer. Matte has zero shine/gloss but lots of color, satin’s got probably 70% of color + 30% gloss, while sheer appears like a color stain on your lips that’s topped with shiny, thin glaze. Lipstick master MAC has this awesome cheatsheet on their lipstick finishes:

AMPLIFIED CRÈME Ultra-creamy. Quietly shiny. Colour-packed! Hi-res: hi-impact.
–> A personal fave! Checkout COSMO if you can. It’s a MLBB (my lips but better) for someone in between NC30-NC40 (like me!).

FROST Excellent colour payoff with medium to high frosted shimmer-and-shine finish.

GLAZE Low-colour impact with sheen-style finish. Glazes the lips, makes them shine!

LIP TREATMENT Colour-free. Texture-free. Provides natural healthy-looking lips.

LUSTRE Demi-sheer with wet-look lustre finish. Very slick. Makes lips look soft, smooth, ultra-moist.

MATTE Pigment rich with intense colour pay-off. No-shine, all matte finish.

SATIN Colour-rich. Soft satin, semi-matte finish. Conditions while adding intense colour.

For red lippie newbies and phobics, I always suggest that you start with either lustre or satin (finish). You get the red tint on your smackers but there’s not as much “commitment” as there is with matte. However, lustre and satin would also require touch ups every so often unlike matte that usually stays on forever. Still between the two, I’d rather go slow and try something not too shocking (and hard to remove or tone down) first than go full throttle in one shot. My fave trick of trade: road test your new baby. Wear your new lipstick around the house before going out so that you’re more or less comfortable with it once you take them out for a spin.

Andddd just because we love swatches, here are my fave red lippies. I hope my 411 helps and I hope you’ll all find the courage to swipe or meet your HG red lippie soon cause like diamonds, they’re also a girl’s best friend.

My HG reds for both personal and pro use
(note that the Shu Uemura lippie above isn’t frosted but just high shine)

MAC, NARS, Shu Uemura

5 Responses to “The Swiper’s 411 on red lipsticks”

Special mention! Weeeee!

Thanks for the tip! I actually went to MAC the other day and got myself Viva Glam I…and I love it! I tried Russian Red but it didn’t go well with me skin.

I’m actually sporting my new red lippie to work today, and got some good comments. I must say, this will definitely start my love affair with the red lipstick. Come next payday I’ll definitely be splurging on another one.

Mineral foundation and red lipstick is all I need. Thanks again!

gn.

August 7th, 2008

You’re welcome Gn. Oh yeah I think Russian Red is too blue red for your tone. VG is still blue red but has traces of brown reason why I think it worked for you.

Checkout Viva Glam III next payday. You might just like it.