How to wear a red lipstick for day and for night : Tips from Laura Mercier Global Makeup Artist Michel Coulombe

Red lipstick – the one makeup item that makes any woman look instantly glamorous. It is also the one makeup item that most women will dread the most. Yet red lipstick can be worn both day and night.

I recently had the chance to derive some pearls of wisdom from Laura Mercier Global Makeup Artist Michel Coulombe who flew in all the way from Toronto, Canada. I also caught the preview of the Laura Mercier Art Deco Muse Winter/Holiday collection and I was absolutely taken by the metallic eyeshadows and the beautiful red lip colours. I’ll tell you about them another day 😉

But for now, Michel Coulombe probably realised how fearful most women are of wearing a red lip so he gave some tips on wearing red lipstick for day and night. You don’t have to fear it 😉

Wear Red Lipstick in the Day

For the day time, wearing a full on opaque red lip can be a bit much. So here’s an easy way to do so.

• Use a lip brush, pick some colour off the tube and blend on the back of your hand to sheer it out.
• Dab the colour on your lips, starting from the middle of your lower lip and then to the sides.
• Keep the colour light and sheer and use the remainder colour to shape and define your lip.
• Repeat for top lip.

The colour for the day can be kept light, almost like a stain. If you like you can top it up with gloss. Done this way, the lip colour can actually last longer too.

Wear Red Lipstick at Night

For the evening, you want something more opaque and eye catching.

• Using a lip brush, take colour from the tube and apply to lips in a dabbing motion.
• Start from the centre of the lower lip and then to the sides.
• Shape and define the lip. Keep colour opaque.
• Layer with a lip lacquer or pigmented lip gloss and blend the colours for something more striking.

For the evening, you want something that will last. Dabbing on the lip colour helps it adhere better and last longer on lips. Also, using a longlasting or matte or semi matte lip colour will help it stay on longer. The layer of gloss or lip lacquer is optional but a good one will make the colour look more intense and add some shine.

When wearing a bold red lipstick, keep eye colour soft but defined and cheeks a soft colour. You don’t want to have too much colour or it will look too overwhelming; and this way, you look polished, not trampy 😉

If you have been balking at wearing red lipstick, try the tips for the day time. I find that applying red lipstick lightly with a lip brush helps sheer it out and make it easier to ease into wearing a red lip. I will be employing that tip for the day, because I never quite realised just how “much” a full on red lip can be in the day LOL!

Sometimes though, I’ve found that wearing a full on red lip even in the day, does do wonders. It makes people pay attention (even if they could just be mesmerized by the lips) and it makes me feel lovely and feminine in a male dominated room 😉

Red lipstick: Love it or Afraid of it?

If you answered the latter, I hope these tips helped you. As with everything in life, if you don’t try it once, you’ll never know if it will suit you 😉 Good luck!

Paris B