“You know how to whistle, don’t you Steve? Just put your lips together and … blow.”
- Lauren Bacall in To Have And Have Not
by Elissa Frittaion
Women have been wearing red lips longer than you might think. Egyptian queens Nefertiti and Cleopatra deepened their lip colour with red clay. Britain’s Elizabeth the First stained hers with mercuric sulphide. Doomed French sovereign Marie Antoinette rouged her lips. Clara Bow, Greta Garbo, Anna May Wong, Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe – each actress had a different image, but all wore red lips. Billie Holliday, Courtney Love, Gwen Stefani – distinct voices coming out of red mouths. In the 1950s, elegant Lisa Fonssagrives always wore red lips when modeling haute couture, but so did the vivacious and notorious Bettie Page, who quite decidedly did NOT model clothes, if you know what I mean.
Red lipstick is not as popular today as it once was. There are 2 main reasons for this, in my opinion. The first is simply that red lipstick is high maintenance, and it looks high maintenance. It looks ‘done’. It also makes the woman wearing it look less accessible. Currently, our society favours a look that appears low maintenance. Although of course, it’s not … careful highlights, collagen injections, Botox, Pilates, french manicures … these all take a lot of time and effort, but no one is supposed to admit that. Pale lipglosses and loose hair communicate an easy bedroom sexiness, a girlish and non threatening appeal. Brigitte Bardot never wore red. Red lipstick, like an elaborate hairdo, brazenly states that you are in control. It’s obvious. It’s powerful. It’s not in the least bit girlish.
This brings me to the second reason. Over the years, our society has become increasingly obsessed with youth. I don’t think anyone will argue with me about this. For the last decade or so, everywhere we looked there were hyper sexual pop stars who are just halfway into their teens, both male and female, and there were full grown adults trying to emulate them. Not that long ago, it was the other way around. When hyper sexual Madonna exploded into the public eye the scene in 1985 she was in her late 20s – and wearing red lipstick. Millions of teenage girls tried to emulate her. By the time Vogue and Blond Ambition happened, she was in her 30s, wearing red lipstick still. I can tell you what shade it was. It was Russian Red, by MAC, and Madonna’s penchant for it sold a billion lipsticks and helped the then tiny company begin to grow into the monolith corporation it is today. But now, Madonna is in her 50s, wearing loose hair and pale lipgloss, dating 22 year olds and trying her best to look girlish.
It is true, red lipstick will make you look older, but older is not a death sentence. Remember when you were little, and all you wanted to be was a grown up? Older means mature. Adult. Sophisticated. Strong. In control. A force to be reckoned with.
There are a billion shades of red lipstick out there. I often hear women say “Oh, I can’t wear red.” This is not true. There is a colour for everyone. Blue based, orange based, sheer, matte, glossy … believe me when I tell you there is one for you.
Application Technique:
- Exfoliate and moisturize your lips first. Red shows everything.
- Some makeup artists say that to put lipstick on without lipliner is fresher and more modern. However, this is only a good idea if you are very young and have firm, unlined lips. Otherwise, red lipliner is really necessary to prevent bleeding. Unless, of course, you are going for the Courtney Love circa 1993 look. MAC makes my favorite red lipliners, Cherry (a bright red) and Vino (a deep wine red).
- You can apply whatever colour have found (MAC has a great range of reds, if you are not sure where to start. I am also partial to Makeup Forever and 3 Custom Colour) straight out of the tube, or for more precision, you can use a lipbrush. If you are layering, which will make your colour last longer, you might try a lip stain first (BeneFit’s BeneTint is tried and true), then your liner and colour. If you want extra shine, blot, then add a little gloss.
That’s it. Not so hard, right? But you must be prepared to do upkeep during the course of your day/evening. Bring a mirror, and bring your lipstick. Check it periodically. Touch it up. Like I said, it’s high maintenance.
So, consider red. A colour favoured by virgin queens and painted hussies, by screen goddesses and rock stars, by funny ladies and working women and femme fatales. The colour of love, strength, blood, and fire. We are biologically attracted to it, but society teaches us that red means stop, danger. Any toreador will tell you that red is dangerous, but then again, they wave those red flags on purpose, so they must like it.
Consider red. It says come here, but be careful. It says I am feminine, but not the weaker sex.
It says kiss kiss, bang bang.