Have you been to Barnes and Noble and picked up a copy of Luca Magazine yet?
I have an article in this issue (just in time for all your holiday parties) that is all about how to apply the perfect red lip.

All images in this post were photographed by Kelly Cappelli,
Hair by Lisa Marie, Makeup by Corinna Cooke

HOW TO APPLY THE PERFECT RED LIP

Nothing says "hello, gorgeous," quite like a sensational, bold red lip!

Red lips are the perfect accessory for winter. They're fun and flirty! Once the new year arrives with its bleak, dull, gray days, and spring feels like it's never going to get here, a feisty red lip adds excitement to your look and your day.

Red lips make such a statement; you barely need anything else. They look fantastic with a pared down makeup look for day, then add a cat eye and structured brow for night. They dress up jeans and a white shirt, compliment an all black ensemble, and pair up perfectly with a party dress and faux fur.

Check out these 5 steps to perfect your pout and wow the world!

1. Exfoliate

Dry, flaky lips don't look good in red. To pull off a red lip, you need to have silky smooth lips, so the first step is to exfoliate. You can use a store bought lip exfoliator, or you can make one at home. A super soft baby toothbrush makes a perfect lip exfoliator,  as does a warm washcloth. Just remember to be very, very gentle. If you rough your lips up, they'll still look dry and flaky.

2. Hydrate

After exfoliating, and ideally, a couple of hours before you get ready to go out, apply liberal amounts of lip balm, and let your kisser soak it in. Your lips need to be nicely hydrated so that your red lipstick looks smooth and luscious. Before applying your lip liner, you'll gently blot the lip balm away.

3. Line Your Lip

Red lipstick needs to know its boundaries, and you want to color inside the lines. Use either the lip liner that matches your lipstick or one that's a shade or two darker, (for a little extra dimension), to give your lip a perfect, crisp outline.

4. Stain and Apply

The perfect red lip has more than one layer. Apply your red lipstick, then blot with a folded tissue to help set the first coat into a stain. This step is super important because it stops your lips from looking patchy as the top coat wears off! Now apply a second coat, making sure to stay inside the lines.

5. Get Precise

Run the edge of a lip brush through your lip liner, making it disappear into your lipstick while giving your lip a crisp, fresh edge.

My Favorite Red Lipsticks

In this story I use Infared Matte from Smashbox

I'm all kinds of crazy for Charlotte Tilbury Red Carpet Red

One of the greatest blue based reds ever made is MAC Ruby Woo

Keeping It Simple ~ Makeup For Spring 2016

 I just had a new editorial come out (a couple of weeks ago), and I think it's one of my favorites. So I'm showing it to you today. 

Keeping It Simple

French girls understand the key to beauty is keeping it simple.
Create a beautiful complexion opting for a sheer foundation instead of a heavy one, add a little accent to the brow and then complete the story with a lovely lip.
I wanted to evoke a little Parisian beauty for this fashion story, and keep it on trend for Spring 2016. 
You can read about the major makeup trends for Spring 2016 here
and find out about the red lips I'm loving for the new season.

The 6 Best Red Lipsticks For The Holidays

A red lip is the perfect accessory for the holidays!

It's bright, it's fun and with one quick swipe can turn your look from boring to bold.

photo by Kelly Cappelli
Makeup by Corinna Cooke

A well defined brow paired with a kick-ass red lip is classic. 
It's also a quick and easy look to pull off. 
A red lip makes such a statement on it's own that you can scale back the rest of your makeup, keeping the eye and cheek simple and letting the lip do all the work for you.

My favorite red lip look for the holiday season is a rich, matte lip paired with glowing, luminous skin. 
Check out 6 of my favorite matte reds for the holidays:

The 6  Best Red Lips For The Holidays

Tatcha Kyoto Red is a geisha inspired red that is universally flattering - it looks great on everyone. And it packs a serious punch.

It's a matte lip with a silk finish.

Tatcha Kyoto Red

Lipstick Queen Velvet Rope Matte Lipstick in Black Tie.

Lipstick Queen Velvet Rope lipstick in Black Tie

This gorgeous, lightweight matte lipstick

Tom Ford Lip Color in Cherry Lush

Tom Ford Lip Color in Cherry Lush

Tom Ford believes the lip is the focus of the face and has the power to define your whole look. No wonder his lipsticks are so luscious!

Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Vesuvio

Nars Pure Matte Lips are super pigmented and very long wearing, which is ideal when you are going bold - you don't want to be wearing a lipstick formula that requires a lot of maintenance and upkeep.

MAC Lipstick in Ruby Woo

MAC Lipstick in Ruby Woo

Ruby Woo is a timeless, iconic red lipstick that will never go out of fashion. 

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Red Carpet Red

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Red Carpet Red

One of my all time favorite red lipsticks, Red Carpet Red hasn't been around very long, but will become another of the iconic red lips. It's wonderful.

Lip Rescue! 5 Lipstick Quick Fixes

Lipstick might just be the ultimate beauty product.
You can lighten and brighten any look with a quick swipe of vibrant lip color. You can tone down a makeup look that is too bold with a soft lip. No time to put on makeup? No problem - throw on an over-sized pair of sunglasses and a bright lip and you are good to go!
Your lipstick can make or break your look.

But wearing lipstick does sometimes come with challenges, from your lips drying out, to bleeding, to making a mess all over your teeth. Here are 5 lipstick quick fixes.

Lipstick Problem: Your Lipstick Bleeds

Bleeding or feathering lipstick can totally blow your fabulous look. Here is the fix: powder around the outside of your lips to make sure your foundation or BB Cream is set. Line your lips with a skin toned nude liner, or with a liner to match your lip color.

Apply your lipstick with a lip brush, taking care to pull the lip brush through your lip liner, pressing the lipstick firmly into your lips.

Lipstick Problem: Your Lipstick Dries Out Your Lips

Here is the fix: change your lipstick formula - maybe matte lips aren't your best look. Change your lipstick brand - some companies make really drying formulas. Or apply a super hydrating lip balm 20  minutes before you apply your lipstick, and allow it to really soak in. Gently blot with a flat tissue prior to applying your lipstick. If your lips still get dry, top them off with a thin veil of lip balm. Try Tatcha Camellia Nourishing Lip Balm 

Lipstick Problem: Your Lipstick gets On Your Teeth

Not only does it look awful, but it's embarrassing too! And we've all had it happen. 

Here's the fix: Apply your lipstick with a lip brush. This helps to really press the lipstick into your lip. Next make your lips into an O shape, insert your index finger, wrap your lips around it, and pull your finger back out of your mouth. The lipstick that would have landed on your teeth will now be wrapped around your finger.

Lipstick Problem: Your Longwear Lipstick Won't Come Off

When your longwear lipstick doesn't want to come off it normally looks really awful too. Your lip looks dull and stained, and longwears tend to dry your lip out and make the product look chunky and gritty.

Here is the fix: Apply a layer of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly or some olive oil, and let it soak for 15 minutes before gently removing with a cotton pad. Quick makeup artist hack? Soak a cotton pad with Makeup Forever Sens Eyes, hold it against the lip for a few moments, then gently lift away the longwear lip stain.

Lipstick Problem: Your Lipstick Fades Too Quickly

So you love that punchy, bright lipcolor, but it fades or looks uneven within a couple of hours?

Here's the fix: maybe it's the formulation? Try a super saturated lipstick with a strong color payoff like Temptu Color True Lips.

Or, prep your lips before you apply lipstick by making sure they are not too slimy with lip balm. After blotting fill the entire lip in with the matching lipliner to your lipstick. Apply a coat of lipstick, blot it with a folded tissue, then take a new tissue, separate the two layers into one ply, pres it against the lip and apply a thin veil or setting powder on top of the single ply tissue, then remove it and add another coat of lipstick. This should make your lip color hold.

3 Ways To Wear Red Lips This Valentine's Day

3 Ways To Wear Red Lips This Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is best served with a bold red lip.
A red lip is sexy, it can be fierce, it demands attention, and it is the calling card of the vixen.
But if you are a girl who doesn't normally wear red the mere thought of that can be overwhelming! 
If a red lip seems scary, or feels like too much work, here are 3 easy ways  to slip into a sexy Valentine's rouged moue.

lipliner and gloss

1.   Ease your way in to red by lightly coloring your entire lip with a red lipliner, then adding a clear gloss.

lipliner and lipstick patted in with your finger

2.   Want something a little more substantial but still keeping it muted? Shape your lip with a red liner then pat a soft red lipstick on with your finger. You can control the intensity by tapping on a little more or a little less depending on your mood.
In the picture above we kept it super soft and subtle.

3.   Feeling a little more emboldened? 

bold, matte, red lip

Try out a velvety matte red lip. Shiny red lips can slip and slide, and often men cringe at the thought of kissing them and getting it all over their face.
Matte is the easiest way to wear red as it doesn’t move or bleed and stays on your lip rather than your glass. Or your man.
And it's sexy.

Looking for a new red lipstick?
Check out How To Choose Your Perfect Lip Color here

and The Best Red Lipsticks post here
I am also crazy about the new Temptu Color True red lipstick. Check it out in the link above.

The model in this story is my assistant Whitney, and all images were photographed by Jessica Savidge (www.SavidgePhotography.com)

If you liked this post please share it with your friends on your social media. (and join me on mine - see the sidebar on the right)
Also I would love to hear about your favorite red lipsticks! Drop me a line in the comments section below and tell me all about them!

How To Find Your Perfect Shade Of Red Lipstick

Ever notice how some girls can just own it in red lipstick, and others really don't?

image via I'm Not A Barbie

Red can be overwhelming, but there are a few tricks to mastering it.

First up, if you don't normally wear red, ease into it. Sometimes a red gloss can be a good stepping stone to get you used to such a strong color - you don't need to launch straight into red in its boldest form.

Next, know which undertone is right for your skin.

image courtesy of en.paperblog.com

If you are fair skinned, try a blue based red.
If you have an olive complexion you will look better in an orange based fire engine red or a brick red.
If you are dark complected a deeper more burgundy based red will look amazing.

A true, movie star red (like Julie Hewett Rouge Noir) looks amazing on pretty much everyone.

The key to owning it in a red lip is to keep everything else simple.
Keep your foundation clean, accent your brows and keep your eye almost bare.

Be a little bit more specific with your application - red needs more definition. A messily applied beige is neither here nor there, but a messily applied red lust looks awful.

Cameron Diaz, jeans, white shirt and red lips

A final note: don't save red lipstick for when you're dressing up. It looks killer with jeans or cutoffs and a white shirt.

image from blondeambition07