Bright red lips used to scare me.
Think 80s. Shoulder pads. Dynasty. Alexis Carrington. That’s what bright red lips were to me. Scary, highly intimidating and not at all my thing. It can age you instantly if it isn’t done right.
Not long ago, bright lips came back in fashion. Suddenly young ladies were sporting bright red lips. Bright coral lips even. I thought they looked fabulous! I remembered seeing Akisa wearing a strong red shade on her lips once, and I thought she looked absolutely gorgeous.
“I want you out of here, your pathetic, your loathsome, your despicable majesty!” – Alexis Carrington
I can’t remember when it was that LeGeeque dared me to wear a bright red lipstick to dinner. I’ve never stepped out of the house with anything brighter than a rosy or dusky pink, so it was quite a feat. I was so self-conscious at the train station thinking that people were looking at me funny and wondering what the hell I was doing wearing such a bright red lipstick (it was Revlon’s ColorBurst Lipstick in 090 True Red; incidentally, it was also my very first bright red lippie). I was very worried about getting lipstick on my teeth as well, so I was always looking at the mirror. Thought you saw a vain nutbag checking her teeth every 10 minutes? Yeah, that could have been me.
As time went by, I slowly started wearing brighter colours on my lips. It was when I stumbled upon Tom Ford’s True Coral that I completely fell head over hills in love with bright lips. Don’t you just love it when a lipstick can do that to you?
I also began wearing brighter lips during the day, when I would only wear it in the evenings before. And you know what? It gave me a boost of confidence. I’m no longer worried that people are thinking I’m nuts for wearing red lipsticks during the day. I’ll be “Oh yeah, you’re looking at it, and you want it too, don’t you?” Of course, they could still be thinking I’m a nutbag, but I’ll be a hot nutbag, don’t you forget about that 😉
So that’s my story about bright lips. If you’re never tried it, oh darling you’re missing out! Don’t think you’re too old for bright lips. I once saw a gentlewoman (oh yes, she certainly was one) in her 70s (I think) and she was wearing a black dress, a strand of cream pearls around her neck, perfectly coiffed grey hair, and beautifully drawn bright red lipstick on her lips. We were on the bus, and I simply couldn’t stop admiring how elegantly stunning she looked.
I’m still trying to convince my mum to get on board with bright lips, but I fear that might take me a while. It doesn’t have to just be a classic red. Tangerine and coral are beautiful shades on the lips too. It jazzes up any outfit and gives you a burst of confidence. Go for it!
Do bright lips freak you out? Or are you in love with it? What’s your favourite, go-to bright lippie?
Bright lips still will freak me out sometimes especially with really bright red lip colour. I’m still trying to overcome this! Lol =D Hopefully someday I won’t be too cautious about going out with bright red lip! =)
Michelle: Bite the bullet and go for the red lips, Michelle. It’s amazing how good you’ll feel 🙂
Actually it never has. I started out with a rose/berry lipstick (never a lipgloss gal) and then I went brick red (It was a lipstick from TBS I wore down to the nub!) and I guess I never looked back. Its only in recent times that I’m going lighter as opposed to brighter LOL! I guess I went by the philosophy that if you’re going to wear lipstick, why not make a statement instead of hiding?
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Paris B: See, that’s why you’re my guru! 😀 I couldn’t do it until I was dared by LeGeeque. I’m too kiasu to turn down the challenge 😛
I have recently got on the bandwagon of bold lips! It’s bright pink. I love it but dare not apply too thick! The disadvantage is that when I eat or drink, it leaves stains everywhere and my lips will look washed out 🙁
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Amanda: Bright pink! I love bright pink! That’s the drawback about bright lips, so it’s vital to layer it, blot, layer, blot, layer. This way, even when you eat and drink, it won’t fade too much 🙂
Someone recently just gave me tomford’s true coral as my birthday present! I fell in love with the color instantly when I have it swatched on the back of my hands but til now, I still feel weird stepping out of my house with it and would always wipe it off before leaving the house ><
Charlotte: You lucky duck! No no no no no don’t wipe it off! It’s such a gorgeous colour. Promise me you’ll give it a try and walk out of the house with it 😀
I always loved bright lips but only from afar. I never had the confidence to wear it myself… Until one day I bought a lip stain and tried it, and LOVED the colour. Since then I love wearing a bold red lip! Its funny to think it took a lip stain to get over my fear of lipstick. 😀
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Kaye: Lip stains are a great stepping stone to bright lips. Well done Kaye! 🙂
They used to freak me out, but not anymore. I thought I couldn’t pull off bright red lipstick, but then I tried it and I loved how it looked! I still don’t wear it that often though because I prefer to emphasize my eyes with bright shades and I wouldn’t wanna go overboard.
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Gio: Bright lip colours look great on you Gio. Then again, so do your gorgeous eyes, so I know what you mean by wanting to emphasise them 😉
I think bright lips require a lot of attitude to carry properly otherwise they can really make the wearer look over-the-top. I personally haven’t yet tried bright lips but would love to sometime when I get the perfect shade 🙂 the first snap is awesome, btw 🙂 is it yours???
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Swati: Haha nah. I wish those lips were mine. It’s just a stock photo 😛
I LOVE bright lips! I favour Tom Ford’s Cherry Lush, though; I really wanted True Coral but that washes me out something awful. But yeah, I was the same as you. My first lipstick was MAC’s Spice It Up and the first time I wore it, two of my friends (both admittedly more experienced than me at using makeup at the time) both looked at me and said “it’s too dark.”
I think it took me about a year to work up the nerve to wearing bright/bold lips and the first few times I did it, I felt so self-conscious. But now I do bright lips almost every time I wear makeup (aaaaaand sometimes when I’m at home and need a pick-me-up), and I always feel like I own the world. (And my friends also say that it suits me. XD)
Good on you Margy! The Cherry Lush is gorgeous. I’ve seen that on my friend, and want to get that one next. It took me a long time to get used to wearing bright lips (and a dare to even wear it out of the house!), but once you get past that hurdle, I feel exactly like you do. Own the world! 😀
Somehow I really like bright lips. Not only in red, but in any bright colors as well. For eg. Orange, like really orange. I even wear bright lips to work, but of course, not orange, more like red and plum, coral.
Yea, so overall I like bright lips!
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Vonvon: Bright lips rock. I don’t know if ORANGE orange will work with my skintone, but I’m game to try 🙂
I generally don’t like neon pinks unless it’s on someone like Joan Jett. I really, really love reds though. But please! 1) Make sure they work with your skin tone, and 2) If you have really bright lips, easy on the rest of the makeup. It looks great in adverts to have black and neon blue eyeshadow with 80s blush and bright red lips, but not in daily life.
I <3 red-toned or orange-toned lipsticks, but my skintone hates them. They turn coral or neon pink on me. Blue-toned reds or brown-toned reds however, *those* turn true red or a colour like light through burgundy wine. Which is funny because my skin is awfully yellow/green-toned. What to wear on the eyes? Deep browns, smoky greys or black, pale golds or silvers. Sometimes I can do a little colour, but it has to be more subtle unless the bright lips are very sheer.
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Thurisaz: Very true. If the colours do not suit the skintone, best to stay away from it. It can make us look washed out or just plain wrong.
I used to rock the matte red lip in the late 80’s early 90’s with my bleached hair and doc martens. I don’t look that cool anymore! lol
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Annabella: OMG the 90s matte lips! I used to rock that too! I didn’t do red, but I did used to wear this dark purple. I thought I was so cool and all that, but in retrospect, man that was an awful, AWFUL colour on me 😛
We’ll always look as cool as we feel 😉
I used to be terribly scared of bright lip colours, thinking the same as you, that everyone was staring at me. But the more I wore them, the more I liked them, and the more I didn’t care! Its so much more fun being bright 😉 The same goes for clothes though, I wore a neon yellow jumper this last weekend, I could tell I was being looked at, but I’m proud to be a bright spark during winter! haha
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Rachel: Well there you go! Good on you for giving it a go. I think bright lips are fantastic during winter. It’s already so dark and dreary, why add to it with by wearing dark colours eh? 😛
My mom only wears bright lipstick!! In fact i find her look good in bright lipstick!
As for me, I only go for matte neutral pinkish colour, maybe it’s due to my shape? I have full lips, I worry if i put on bright lippie, all people could see is my big lips only 😛
Fiseel: How awesome is your mum! Mine’s still too chicken to wear bright lips. I’m still trying to convince her that she’ll look absolutely fabulous in bright lippies. Gah! 😛
I have a few friends who have very full lips, and when they wear bright lippies, yowza. GORGEOUS. Don’t even have to do much to the eye makeup, let the lips speak. Do give it a go 🙂
I love red lips but ..I don’t like the sensation of some lipsticks on my lips…when I want red lips I use that Tony Moly lip tint :p and it’s great! I hace red lips for hours 🙂 and if I want a little bit of shine…lipbalm and voilá!
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Idaira: Lip tints are fantastic for giving you that hint of red lips without being over the top. I love using them especially when I’m time-poor but still want rosy lips 😛