During my previous trip to Mumbai, my mom and I went out shopping to Palladium in the Phoenix Mills compound in Lower Parel, where we visited most importantly TBS and MAC, my most favorite stores in the world :) I had mentioned in my previous to previous haul post earlier that I had picked up a couple of stuff from MAC, one of which was "MAC Matte Lipstick in Chili". At the same time I picked out a Red Lippy for my mom as well (Ruby Woo), when my mom very vehemently refused saying that she will never be able to carry off a red lipstick. She was very adamant about no red lipsticks! That got me thinking and made me realize that a lot of women in India especially are not comfortable sporting a Red Lip. It could be something to do with the movie "Chameli" (for the present generation) and well some awkward and ancient ideas about the color Red for some. Very surprisingly though my mom and a lot many women of a similar age are comfortable with sporting maroon lipsticks! You think it could be something to do with Rekha? (Just a thought you know!)
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So anyways, this made me do a lot of Google searches and I realized a lot of women have made up their minds that either Red lipsticks do not suit them cause they are not porcelain fair or that they cannot find a perfect Red for themselves. Both claims I say is crap nonsense. Am I being too harsh here? No I beg to differ. I am not saying that these women are wrong, what I am saying is that they need to get out of their comfort zones or shells and explore for themselves what looks good on them and what does not. Beauty blogs, make-up sites are all meant to give an opinion of a product or a particular trend but what looks good on you is upto you to decide! Isn't it ladies?
Again, let me clarify that I am not saying that I know best, rather I am also always trying out newer shades of Reds and trying to settle the matter of if a particular shade of red suits me or not :P As you all know I love Red Lips and well I have gotten addicted to this trend. But this addiction of mine did not strike me overnight. It has been a long drawn process of reading reviews, trying out new shades and of course researching on the internet. And ladies today I would like to share with you all the results of my this research :P and indulge those of you who haven't as yet dared ro wear Red :) In the process I might step on a few feet, do forgive me and if you want we could take the discussion offline (this is what my lecturers used to say in college when they weren't sure of a particular debate's outcome :P)
So lets get started :)
1. The first thing I had done when I decided I wanted to wear a Red lip was google search "Red lipsticks for Indian Skintone". And what did that give me? It gave me site after site lengthy discussions on how blue based reds would suit someone with a cooler undertone and yellow based red would suit someone with warmer undertones. Well Ok! I am sure they know what they are talking about but ladies really practically speaking I am still not sure about my undertone being cool/warm. What if I say mine undertone is HOT? :P Ok kidding! But seriously? We Indians in general have all warm undertones (there are exceptions) but does that mean we cannot wear blue based Reds? That doesn't seem fair now does it? So I decided to give it a shot and I got myself my first Red Lipstick which was Colorbar Velvet Matte Lipstick in Hot Hot Hot. It's a typical Red and I am guessing that it is blue based. When I wore it, I tweaked it here and there and all that jazz and decided that it suited me when I wore it and then lightly kissed onto a tissue. The same held true for Colorbar Velvet Matte in Brick-O-La.
Next I got myself a Lakme Absolute Matte Lipstick in Classic Rose. Well that sure is a yellow/orange based Red and that suited me as is i.e. without kissing into a tissue. So basically I just proved to myself that I can carry off a blue as well as yellow based Red! So that means I am neither cool nor warm. So what am I? When I asked this to my guy, he said I am yellow! Well accepted :P
MORAL: The moral of this really long monologue ladies is that when trying out a Red lipstick, you need not stress on undertones and stuff, stress on the finish of the lippy and voila you will get your HG lipstick! In general, Indian women due to their warn undertones do suit orange/yellow based Red lipsticks more but one can confidently sport a blue based Red as well if it is of a matte finish (ensure this by doing the kiss the tissue trick :P)
2. Another sure shot way of knowing which shade of Red and what finish will suit you most is by retrospecting and by honestly remembering as to which Red Lipped celebrity made the Red Lip syndrome trigger inside us. Lets be honest now... 90-95% of us get our make-up inspirations from celebs or at least someone we saw somewhere. So all you need to do is picture the kind of Red Lips the said celeb/person was wearing and almost 80% of the times you can be sure that the same shade of Red in the same texture will suit you.
I for example was bowled over by Cameron Diaz in "The Mask". The Red lips that she sported were totally "SMOKEY" and that triggered the urge of Red Lips in me. She wore a yellow based red in a matte finish and sure the same shade and texture syits me as well :) (At least thats what Iliek to think :P)...
MORAL: We generally like a look on a celeb or anyone for that matter, which we know would suit us as well :) We will never like a particular look if we subconsciously believe that it wont look good on us :) It's plain psycology! ;)
3. The last and the most important point that needs to be covered when wearing a Red Lippy for the first time is to muster up courage for a public appearance. I am sure many of us had initially worn Red lipsticks pouted in the mirror but then removed it the moment we stepped out of the bathroom or the dressing room right? So how to get the confidence to wear a Red lipstick in a room full of people who may or may not know the glamor quotient of a Red Lip? What did I do? *ahem* I wore a Red lipstcik for the first time when I went out for a dinner date with my guy. The keywords here being "dinner" and "my guy only". Now you'll tell me that not all guys like Red Lipstick and that's where ladies you are all wrong! To be honest my guy has always maintained that he hates Red lips (even now), but when shown Cameron Diaz in The Mask, he did not even notice the Red lips, all he said was this is the best she has ever looked! I rest my case :P So anyways when I did wear my yellow based Red lippy for the dinner date (after Cameron Diaz sighting), he was too happy to see me in a similar lippy. And when finally heads did turn int he restaurant (now come on you all know Red Lips are a show stopper), he officially loved my Red lipstick ;)
Now that the first appearance was taken care off, I wore a Red Lip next for an outing where I knew only our closest friends would be present. Without much explanatin there, that outing was a success. And ladies that was enough for me and I was armed with a lifetime supply of confidence to spot a Red Lip :)
MORAL: Start out gradually and then when ready take on the world :)
I don't know if any of the three points above would help you get into a Red Lipstick mode but ladies always keep in mind that a Red Lipstick is the only product that has the power to glam you up on its own! It needs no assistance from any other product :)
