How To: Holiday Red Lips

It's no secret I love a red lip, especially for the holidays. But red lips used to intimidate me--no more! Today I'm gonna show you how I wear them PLUS my collection of reds--there's something for everyone here!

1--Exfoliate lips to remove any roughness or flaking (try this DIY version or this one) and then add lip balm to moisturize. I do this before I apply my makeup and let it soak in.

2--So I've applied my makeup, my hair is done, and the red lips are the final step. Wipe off the lip balm and choose a lip liner that matches the color of the red lipstick you're going to wear. Outline and fill in lips. This serves as an outline and barrier. I fill them in for extra coverage. I prefer not to use a nude pencil, concealer or eye lid primer, since my lips aren't very pigmented naturally.

3--I apply the lipstick. Since I have small lips, my lipstick keeps its shape, so I use the pointed end to help keep the lines crisp. I'm wearing MAC Ruby Woo--a matte red but it looks so good on everyone.

4--I also use a lip brush to apply and spread out my color--you can see I've got some spots to fill in. The brush allows for more precision. Some swear by lip brush alone, but I prefer both.

5--Time for clean up! Use concealer and a small concealer brush to clean up around the lips for a nice, crisp line. This prevents it from looking messy. I used a nude liner here and then blended it out with a small brush. I find my fingers tend to make the color bleed, so I don't use fingers to blend.

6--To make sure the red lipstick lasts (Ruby Woo really does), take 1 ply of tissue and blot lips. Then take the other ply (or a clean section) of tissue and place over lips. Dust over them with translucent powder to set.

Here I am wearing a few of my favorite red lipsticks--to see my collection, PLEASE KEEP READING...

Revlon, Jordana, Revlon x 2, J.Cat

I didn't include my lip stains, because I've already talked about them here, but I recommend them for those just starting out in red.

So here we go--and I really think I'm missing some! Crazy. Anyway, I'm starting with my red lip crayons. I love these for super easy and fast application. I'm wearing the Jordana Twist & Shine in the top right square in my collage pic. It's SO cheap, too.

Lise Watier, Be a Bombshell, L'Oreal, NYX, Jessie's Girl

Here we have my glosses. This is a mix of high end and drug store. The NYX lip cream in Amsterdam is one of my faves. I tend to stay away from too cherry of reds, so the Be a Bombshell doesn't get as much use.

Essence, Rimmel, Revlon, Rimmel, Milani

Next up we have my Drugstore reds. These are mostly crimson with some true reds thrown in. I'm wearing the Essence one in the collage pic--yellow shirt.

And now for the high end ones, part one. The MACRHPS is a bright brick orangey-red and is one of my FAVES. I'm wearing it in the bottom top left pic with Charlie!

Here are the rest of my high end reds. I'm wearing Ruby Woo in today's tutorial as well as my latest video and bottom left pic in the collage. The Kat Von D is a fave.

And finally, when it comes to wearing red lipstick (or stain or balm or gloss), wear whatever shade(s) you like. I used to be obsessed with this color red for this shade of hair, but really, it comes down to what you think looks good on you. If I had listened to "the rules" I would have never tried the different shades of red, so be adventurous and give these tips a try! If you'd like to know the name of a shade, let me know.