Here’s the classic red lip however with a new way to wear it. That makes it the un-classic red lip, I suppose. It’s soft and diffused, the edges are patted down and blurry – it’s easier and much more wearable than the traditional hard-edged, punchy red lip but still vibrant enough to make it an overall total show-stopper.
A bonus fact; this look is ideal for people who can’t ever get their lip-line right. You blur out those edges very slightly and suddenly because you can’t even see the edge of your bottom lip, never mind put lip-liner on it, seems to matter that bit less.
I’ve used a marvellous matte lipstick, here – it’s the Joli Rouge Velvet in Spicy Chilli from Clarins. An orange-red that’s fiery enough to appear modern and punchy but not so yellow in undertone it makes your teeth look like they’ve been stolen in the Natural History Museum.
The Joli Rouge Velvet lipsticks are very well pigmented and – as the name suggests – velvety matte in finish. However they really come into their own when you start patting at them – the smooth, creamy formula becomes almost powder-like and soft, but with no of the obvious problems that applying a powder for your lips might present.
Talking about pressing powders to your lips; do you remember the Chanel Poudres a Levres from the Neapolis collection? Which had a balm and then a pigment powder to press on over the top – I loved it for the novelty and the ritual and also the beautiful kissed-off finish, though I must admit that I barely tried on the extender after my initial testing spate.
This patted-down powder lip includes a bolder, more striking finish – it’s proper lipstick, distressed in the edges. It’s perfection made imperfect. Wilful destruction. Takes 10-seconds but – I think, at least – gives everything a relaxed vibe.
How to do it? I’m almost embarrassed to write it out, because it’ll highlight the fact that I’ve just done a whole post on patting your finger over your lipstick, but that really is about it. I line (Max Factor liner in Red Rush is excellent, find it here*) and then I pat within the line to smudge it in.
Then I apply the lipstick straight from the bullet, usually – a lip brush seems to lay it on too precisely. (Although I actually do have to say that with bright colours such as this one, if you are incredibly clumsy then perhaps a brush is a good idea. We want “softly smudged”, not “applied throughout a power cut whilst three sheets towards the wind”.) Then pat-pat-pat with your fingertip, carefully and gently – the center one is best but I rarely utilize it to apply makeup when I’m filming since it looks as though I’m gesticulating at people in an insulting manner. So habit means that I use the ring finger, but middle is better. More control.
And that is it – only a delicate feathering of the edges, a blurring from the lines. Made possible by the great texture of the Joli Rouge Velvet from Clarins – I've many matte red lipsticks, but most of them won’t pat out as wonderfully because this one. I realise that softening out the edges of your lipstick isn’t revolutionary however in the current makeup climate of overdone flawlessness, I believe that this look makes a nice change. Thoughts?
I’ll pre-empt the issue as to why you’d put on lip-liner just to blend it in (why don't you skip it altogether?); if you’re at all like me, with gradually failing eyesight and an unsteady hand, you need that sketched in line to get your lipstick in remotely the right place. It’s a bit like having someone point you in the general direction of the donkey when you’re pinning the tail on – every little helps.
You can find Spicy Chilli at Escentual here* – it’s lb19.35. I did a makeup tutorial using this lipstick – the video is here, if you wish to see it in action. (Please be aware before you decide to watch that the video contains a fashion advertorial for Boden.)
