Easy Guide for the Perfect Red

Here's the typical situation - You are sitting on the couch reading your favorite magazine and that month's trend report idolizes reds and the necessity for you to wear it this season; so, being the hopeful fashionista that you are, you get in the car and head down to the drugstore.  You make it to the makeup aisle and see the dozens of reds stacked up side to side, all looking almost identical. This is the part where you start to go a little crazy.  To help you out I have created a simple guide to find the best red for your skin tone.

Steps

Step 1: Determine whether your skin is cool or warm.  Cool skin will have blue or red/pink undertones. Fair skin will fall into cool. Warm skin will have yellow undertones. Beige and darker tones will fall into warm.
Step 2: Cool tones will look for blue-red lipsticks.  The blue will compliment your fair complexion and not be too bright for your skin.  Warm tones will look for orange-red lipsticks.  The orange will compliment your natural warmth. (Tip: the darker you are the brighter your lipstick can be)
Step 3: Put it on and immediately you feel a bit more glamorous.  The most important part to wearing red is to be CONFIDENT.

Tips

Tip #1: Exfoliate lips for smooth application.  I use E.L.F. Studio Lip Exfoliator ($3.00). 

Tip #2: Use lip balm or chapstick to prevent cracks. 

Tip #3: Line and fill in lips with a lip liner that corresponds with your lipstick shade. This will make the red adhere to the lips and last longer. 

Tip #4: Buy drugstore lipsticks until you find the perfect color, then you can hash out more money for a higher end brand. 

Examples

Cool - Revlon Matte Lipstick - Really Red ($6.99), Maybelline Color Sensational Lipcolor - Red Revival ($7.49)

Warm - Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Color - Fire & Ice ($6.99), Maybelline Color Sensational Lipcolor - Very Cherry ($7.49)