Like a shot of caffeine for your face, a slick of red on the lips will make you look a thousand times more awake in just a few seconds. From a classic white t-shirt to an off-duty (or mum-duty) grey jumper, it goes with everything – and as an added bonus it helps to detract from any coffee stains/banana smears/carrot dusty hand prints you might have going on. Plus, the stark contrast of colour also means that the white of your teeth and whites look much brighter.
If it’s your first time trying a red lipstick and it all feels a bit high maintenance for you, swipe your finger over the bullet and pat it on for more of a lip stain finish. You can build the colour up as you get used to wearing it. To keep it looking modern, a tip I learnt from the make-up artists backstage at Fashion Week is to diffuse (or smudge) the edges with a cotton bud (something all mamas have in their bathrooms) once you’ve applied it. This helps it to stay put and makes it look a bit more ‘lived in’, like you’ve been rocking that red for ages.
From orange-red to cherry-red, forget rules about picking one that depends on your skin tone or the time of year and just go with what you fancy. Here’s our ‘lipstick wardrobe,’ the ones we keep in a draw and drag out on mornings when we fancy making a little bit of effort. Just add sunglasses.
