- Prep.
Smudge on a liberal coat of creamy moisturizer, let it soak in for a few minutes, then buff off with a soft toothbrush (preferably clean and tooth-paste free!).
- Plump.
Lip plumpers, which give your lips a temporary "sting," can really make a difference. The $10 drugstore variety will last for an hour, while the $100 makeup counter brands will hold up all evening.
- Line.
Choose a shade of lipliner that matches your lipstick exactly and be sure to line inside your actual lip line. Never try to "overline" to boost the size of your pout.
- Brush.
Use a lipbrush to apply lipstick. Not only can you control where the color goes (your lips are a coloring book; stay in the lines), but you can control how dark the shade is.
- Pucker.
Bypass the embarrassing red teeth fiasco by puckering up around your index finger, then pulling it - and any overzealous lip color - out.
- Prevent the red lipstick from "bleeding" by applying a touch of concealer around the border of your lips.
- Don't play up your eyes. "Pair red lipstick with the lightest possible eye makeup," says lipstick designer Poppy King. A little mascara and beige shadow will do.
- Classic red is universally flattering. Pink- and orange-reds look great with olive skin tones, while blue-reds look best on fair-skinned girls.
- red lipstick
- matching red lipliner
- lip brush
- concealer