How To Get The Perfect Red Lip

BEAUTYVIDEO

May 12

6.15.20

I've been getting my makeup done professionally for more than 10 years now but no matter how carefully I watch the makeup artist on set apply a beautiful red lip, I just can't seem to master the look myself when I get home. I've watched, I've practiced. I’ve tried lip liners and lip sticks, but still I can never get it quite right. I assume I am not alone in my quest to learn how to do the perfect red lip, so I enlisted my friend and professional makeup artist Erin Parsons to teach me how to achieve the PERFECT red lip, all on my own!

The first step to achieving the perfect red lip look is let the red lips be the star of the show. Erin suggests keeping the brows and skin clean and simple. A thin layer of tinted moisturizer and lightly filled in brows is all you need to create a blank canvas for the lips.

Erin recommends prepping lips with a sugar scrub, such as Jeffrey Star’s Velour Lip Scrub, to buff away any dead skin and leave the lips looking smooth. Doing this also brings color to the lips, creating a natural guide for the placement of the lip liner. “When you scrub the lip you bring color to the mouth,” she says. “When you look into the mirror you can then take your lip liner and follow where you see the color.”

After you scrub and apply some balm to the lips, Erin says to gently begin lining the lips with a soft red lip liner only where the natural color of your lips are. Her secret trick is using a secondary lip liner in the same color family, but with a pointer and sharper tip, to fill in any missing spots to really get the color placement as precise as possible. If you are like me, you probably won't nail the perfect shape in your first try, but fear not, Erin suggests having a pointy Q-Tip and some makeup remover on hand so you can clean up any mistakes you make along the way.

After you’ve created a basic outline with your lip liner, you can then use your lipstick to fill in the entire lip. Erin recommends skipping out on a lip brush and apply the lipstick straight from the tube to your lips, starting in the middle and working your way towards the outer edges of your lips with the product.

This next tip was a top secret and one that I've never seen another makeup artist do on set! Erin taught me to use some loose powder, a thin tissue and big brush to lightly sweep pressed powder on the lips to give a matte effect. “It mattifies the lip and it helps it [the color] stay on,” she says.

And last but not least, Erin directed me to apply a second layer of lipstick to lock everything in place. “It really seals the lipstick in so it lasts a long time and you shouldn’t have to touch up so much,” Parsons says.

With these tips and tricks (and a whole lot of practice with some makeup remover and pointy Q-Tips on hand), I think we all will finally be able to master the perfect red lip on our own!

Learn how to get the PERFECT red lip with tips from makeup artist Erin Parsons