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Reader E sent us this interesting query…
Increasingly, I see ladies in all situations and events wearing pink or lip-colored lipstick. Seems like the days of Revlon’s Volcanic Red or Love That Red are now only in the print magazines. Or perhaps only when the lady is actually wearing red clothing (oh, that’s really dated, matching the lipstick to clothing). What says Corporette?
A few months ago we attended a conference and were shocked — shocked, we tell you — to see how many of the women speaking on the panels were wearing red lips. They looked great, don’t get us wrong — but we couldn’t fathom how they trusted a red lipstick enough to keep it on for a whole hour and a half of speaking. Pictured: red lips isolated in white, originally uploaded to Flickr by TaniaSaiz.
It seems like there are a few pros, as well as cons, to the red lip. First, if you wear little-to-no makeup and suddenly add a red lipstick, it immediately dresses you up, adds color to your face (great for photographs, also) and yes, conveys a bit of authority as well as femininity. And, because you’re wearing a red lip, no one will fault you for not wearing any other makeup. However, the major con is that the red lip can fade unevenly, leaving an unpleasant (and aging) “line” around the outer rim of your lip. Furthermore, the shade is absolutely essential — a great red can make you look alive and sexy and confident and powerful, but a wrong red can make you look dead and unfashionable and frumpy. Finally, another con (as we see it) is that a red lip will almost always leave a stain on a coffee cup, a napkin, a wine glass, etc. — it seems to float there between you and your colleagues, as if it were a flag saying “I’m High Maintenance.” Better yet? The red-lipstick-stain-on-teeth look.
Having weighed these pros and cons, for our $.02, we go with a nude/light plummy lip when we’re in a “must look confident and authoritative without checking makeup” situation. We also wear this look when we’re going out on the town — it allows us to add a lot of emphasis to our eyes without being “overdone,” and hopefully the eye makeup will survive a night of dining, drinking, and talking. (Specifically, we like to mix the L’Oreal Infallible LipColour, Nutmeg 800 with a MAC Pro Longwear Color (we think it’s Night Rose, but our tube is ancient), and then top everything with the L’Oreal Infallible Never Fail Lipgloss, Barely Nude 815.) But — that’s just our $.02 — and if we had found in our travels a red color that we liked and stayed put reliably we might change our tune. Let’s take a poll — readers, what do you wear? And in comments, please let us know specifics — brands and colors, as well as any tricks you use to get your lipstick to stay put.
girl in the stix
Try Clinique’s Juicy Apple lip gloss–a sheer sunny red that looks good with everything.
Senior lawyerette
I only wanted to post my rave review of CoverGirl Outlast All-Day Lipcolor – it comes in 2 tubes, one color, the second moisturizing gloss. It really does last and last, without leaving residue on glassware, etc. It even lasts from morning through the night even after having washed my face. I’ve gone through 5-6 colors, none of which do it for me. I’ve returned about 3 at CVS, but, frankly, am embarrassed to keep buying and returning.
But I’m also inspired to comment on all of the postings. You are all such a great group of women with obviously diverse views and experiences, and willing to share.
I’ve run the gamut from 1950s makeup as a teen, through 1960s Cleopatra a la Elizabeth Taylor, to 1960s-70s hippie no makeup, and now, suddenly have restarted wearing makeup: 30+ spf sunblock (had a couple of skin cancers), some kind of minimal foundation, eyeliner NOT Cleopatra-like, and blush and lipstick. I was inspired to do this after seeing a recent photo of myself, in which I looked as if I’d died and they forgot to do dispose of me. I do look more alive now with makeup.
Jen
Jane Iredale’s Terra Cotta lip liner, followed by her Iced Mocha lip gloss creates the perfect lip color and gloss for work or play. The gloss is a pretty neutral nude/pink, and lasts okay, although it doesn’t work so great without at least a little eye makeup, for me. BTW, my husband prefers me with nude/pink lips! I used to wear red lipstick not realizing how harsh it looks most of the time against fair skin tone. A little color goes a long way, and I don’t need the deepest red to “go red,” but instead prefer a sheer red lip gloss.
SJK
I use a MAC lip pencil in mahogany. I use only lip pencils from a department store brand. My skin is too sensitive for most lipsticks. To minimize the inevitable fading, I apply the color, blot it with a piece of facial tissue, and then apply the color again. The lip color lasts at least several hours (in which I drink many cups of tea.) I picked up the trick from a TV anchor woman, although she recommended using a pencil for the first applicaiton and a lipstick for the second application.
Kathryn
I don’t see it mentioned here, but red hair is making a comeback, and I switched to a great red shade recently. It is definitely ‘power hair’, and wearing the deep red lipstick with red or copper hair is overkill. You end up looking like an anime character. I focus a little more on the eyes by doing a pale smokey eye and go for corals or nudes on the lip.
TinyDancer118
My favorite red is Sephora’s store-brand Always Red lip stain. It stays put well and is the absolute PERFECT shade of red.