Beauty Practice — A Simple Guide to a Desirable Red Lip

A new Patter series dedicated to simplifying our makeup bags and indulging its pleasures. Chanel UK makeup artist Thom Walker shares a how-to for wearing, applying, and preserving a modern red lip.

Wearing a bold lip can be a minimal process, as well as a bold statement. I like to think of it as having the same visual impact you get from going to a gallery and and seeing a piece of modern art suspended in a room of simple blanc walls. Preparing yourself for a red lip can be such an enjoyable process—I like to start with a clean fresh face.

Using your favourite moisturiser and serums, make sure your skin is clean, hydrated and plump. Apply a little extra serum on the high points of the face, cheekbones temples and down the centre of the nose.

Next prep your lips using the Kiko Pure Clear & Scrub Wipes, great for removing dead skin to leave a perfectly smooth surface for your lipstick. Now, it’s time to grab a Q tip and generously apply Chanel Hydra Beauty Nutrition lip balm—do this about 10-15 minutes before you are ready to apply your lipstick.

I like to apply a little concealer around the nose and chin, it’s important to remove any unwanted redness in the skin when wearing a red lipstick—this helps create balance on the face. On darker skin tones you might need to lift the skin a little, any flat or slightly greyer areas, you ideally want to put warmth back in the skin. Using a slightly warmer concealer can help brighten your skin without having to use foundation on all areas of the face. Focus again on the corner of the eyes the forehead, nose and chin. I recommend using a long wearing concealer like Le Correcteur De Chanel as this will save you time touching up later.

Now you’re ready to apply Rouge Coco Bloom in shade Alive. Use a small compact mirror that can move with you, not only does this help you achieve the right shape in the right light, it’s also great if you need to touch up throughout the day.

Next you want to start filling in the rest of the mouth and building up the colour and for this I use a lip brush. I like to leave the corners of the mouth to the end, it saves time on clean-up and helps you achieve a more even shape. Once you have filled in all your lips, check the shape by closing your mouth and rolling your tongue across your teeth. This helps you see if you’ve gone over the lip edge—if you have, do a simple clean up using a small Q tip.

Now you have your desired shape you can use the lipstick to build up the colour again using the stamping method—this helps you to intensify the colour. Rouge Coco Bloom is a hydrating and plumping lipstick that instantly locks colour in place for an intense long wearing finish. The final look is a semi metallic finish that attracts light to your lips, leaving a spectacularly sculpted, shiny finish.

To help your lipstick stay on even longer—blotting will help even colour saturation, and allows you to build up any lipstick (sheer or glossy finishes) in-between each application. This will give your lipstick ultimate longevity. I recommend a thin tissue or just 1 ply from any tissue. My last tip—I like to comb the brows or apply a little brow gel for a minimal yet groomed look.