The Power of Red Lipstick: A Guide to Pulling Off the Look

There is something about red lipstick that makes every woman feel empowered and sexy. You can be wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but once you put on that red lipstick you instantly become vivacious think Marilyn Monroe. Scarlett Johansson, who’s featured in red lipstick for Dolce & Gabbana’s ad campaign, brings modern femininity to classic beauty. Every woman can pull off the sultry look, no matter what skin tone they have.

When choosing a red lipstick, you just want to remember to get one that looks good with your undertone. If you have a warm undertone, then go for warmer reds, and if you have a cool undertone, then go cooler. If you aren’t sure what type of undertone you have, there are a few tricks to finding out. You can look at the veins in your arm (always best to do in natural light), and if they are more blue, you have a cool undertone, if they are a bit green, you have a warm undertone. If you can’t tell, here’s another trick: if gold jewelry looks better on you than silver, you have warm undertones, and vice versa. If they both look good on you, you may be able to wear both warm and cool shades of red.

Once you’ve found the perfect hue, make sure to apply lip liner first (it doesn’t have to be the exact color of the lipstick but should be similar) because you don’t want the color to bleed. I also like to fill in my lips with the liner as a base, in addition to shaping my lips. Also, make sure your lips are smooth if you are using a matte lipstick, you don’t want your lips to look dry or flaky.