When it comes to statement makeup, you can’t go past a red lip to really puck a punch, A red lip has been empowering women since the 1920’s. It’s a timeless look that will always be on trend. A bold lip can be quite daunting at first and can be a tricky one to master!

Follow my tips and you will be rocking a red lip in no time!

1 – Start by exfoliating your lips, your lipstick will stick to any dry or chapped skin – Not sexy! the total opposite of what we are trying to achieve here!  I love exfoliating products like Sara Happ’s ‘Vanilla Bean Lip Scrub’ is a delicious, vanilla flavoured, exfoliating lip treatment, ideal for dry lips. You can make your own at home by mixing a teaspoon of oil (Coconut is my Fav’s) with some sugar (coconut sugar is best, but anything will do)  light scrub over your lips and then wash excess away.

2 – Hydrate! apply a small amount of lip balm and leave to sink in while you apply the rest of your makeup. Remove before you apply your lipstick. You can also use a primer – I love ‘Lip Insurance’ from Too Faced, it helps your lipstick glide on and increases the longevity of your lipstick and also prevents feathering – yay!

Top Tip

Highlight your cupids bow with a shimmery highlight or neutral iridescent powder  (silvery tones for fair skins and golden tones for darker skin) it will make your lip line pop, so you can trace & mark out the contour of your lip it more easily. It also make your lips look fuller – who doesn’t want that?!

3 – Lip liner –  use a liner that is a similar colour to your Lipstick for a pillar box red try ‘Redd’ or ‘Brick’ my MAC, make your lips slightly taught and trace around the edge of your lip. Fill in your whole lip, it will make your lipstick last longer. Try using short feathery strokes for easier control.

4 – Fill in your lip, always use a brush! I always use Shu Uemura ‘Kolinsky’ 7H Brush – its a game changer, you can use the curved edge to shape the peaks and the flat edge to get in the covers and for the bottom lip!  Give yourself a fake smile in the mirror to make your lips slightly taught, be confident with your strokes, blot and then re-apply!

My go to red lip lipstick at the moment is ‘Dolce Vita’ by Dior – its a true red – great on most skin tones – looks fabulous!

Pukka up beauties SMA xx

Photography // Rhyees Wedes

Hair & Makeup // Nicola Johnson

Model // Courtney @ Chadwicks