Beauty Trend: The Matte Red Lip

After an overwhelming amount of pretty, glossy nude lips at the Golden Globes, makeup artists turned back to the catwalk for inspiration at the SAG awards last weekend and came up with a bold matte red lip in a range of shades.

At the Jason Wu Spring 2013 show Diane Kendal for MAC had sent out models with cherry red lips saying: ‘The inspiration is Helmut Newton—this really strong, sexy woman with a bold mouth—quite glamorous,’ while at the Prada show Pat McGrath also saw red with ‘a strong overdrawn lip’ and at Burberry Wendy Rowe went for a striking forties-inspired red.

We spoke to makeup artist Gina Brooke, who has worked with Madonna since 2003 including four world tours and stars including Anne Hathaway, Gisele Bundchen and Gwen Stefani, about the look.

‘A red lip color was popular at the SAG awards because the color is classic and timeless,’ said Gina. ‘Wearing a red lip instantly exudes confidence, empowerment, femininity and of course sexuality.’

‘I love nothing more than a red lip. In fact, I can’t seem to leave the house without putting on red lips. It’s the quickest and easiest way to look polished without spending so much time applying the rest of my makeup.’

‘The best way to achieve the perfect red lip is by using a lip liner to define the shape of your lip it will also give you much more precision. I’ve been obsessed with Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Lip Waterproof Lipliner Pencil in 8c, True Red, and Aqua Rouge lip color in 8, Iconic Red. I actually collaborated with make up for ever to crate Aqua Rouge 8 when searching for the perfect red lip for Madonna during her MDNA tour because its smudge proof, water proof and kiss proof.’

‘The biggest mistake women make is applying red lipstick to the corners of the mouth, in time, this can create a joker like appearance once the red starts to move. I prefer keeping it matte because the color stays in ace and allows you to have more control when wearing it all day.’