Beauty / Samosa-Proof That Pout: The Ultimate Guide To Mastering The Perfect Red Lip For Diwali

Samosa-Proof That Pout: The Ultimate Guide To Mastering The Perfect Red Lip For Diwali

Beauty Oct 25, 2024

by Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

The lady who always sets the standard for beauty is the inimitable Aishwarya Rai, whose red lip looks set ablaze this timeless beauty staple for 2024 and beyond. For the upcoming beautiful festival of light, Diwali, red lips are a wonderful way to infuse the centre of the diya into your festive looks. This blog explores how to create a lasting, powerful Pondicherry pout that is samosa-strong from day to night.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Credit: IG @ aishwaryaraibachchan

Red Is For Everyone

Red lipstick is intimidating because no matter the shade, a swipe of lipstick will draw attention, and it is a quick way to look effortlessly sexy. Some people shy away from red because they feel it is too strong or high maintenance; I beg to differ on both points. There is a shade of red lipstick for every South Asian beauty and depending on the texture and your choice to use lipliner, the look can be soft or strong.

Miss France 2024, Eve Gilles. Credit: IG @evegillesoff

To select a shade, you should determine if your skin tone is cool, neutral or warm, consult your vanity and jewellery box. Look at your foundation, because this product is typically classified as cool, warm or neutral. Another way to determine skin tone is to confirm which jewellery looks great on you. If you find that silver flatters you, then you are neutral-cool, conversely of gold laves you radiant you are likely warm.

Canadian Actress, Gabriella Sundar Singh. Credit: IG @gabisundarsingh

Once you have determined your skin tone, it is important to enter the beauty aisles with an arsenal of adjectives that will help you to determine which shades fall into the cool, neutral and warm categories. Below is a table with a non-exhaustive list of sample terms:

TONE	ADJECTIVES
Warm	Tomato, Fire
Cool	Merlot, Scarlet
Neutral	Claret, Cherry

Preparing The Lips

The first step in my beauty routine is to apply a lip balm such as Ghlee Lip Balm (I love the Chai scent, as it is sweet and spicy), because it is colourless and has a waxy finish. The ghee penetrates the lips quickly and softens them. By the time I have completed my skin care, and make up for my complexion and eyes, my lips feel lush and are ready for colour. Since the product penetrates fully, my lip product never slides off my lips.

**Rock Red Lips for Diwali. Ghlee Lip Balm.** Photo Credit: www.shopghlee.com

Lip Liner – Neutral Or Red

Red is powerful colour, and if it bleeds or smudges, it is immediately evident. The best way to ensure that the lipstick remains on the lips, is to outline the lips and fill in the centre with liner. Below are some important application tips:

Line your lips in quadrants, i.e. start by lining from the outer corner halfway to the cupid’s bow, and then repeat on the other side. Once the top is done, return to the corner and repeat the same for both halves of the bottom lip.
The advantage of the quadrant approach is that if your lips are asymmetrical, you can hone the line in conformity with the quadrant’s actual shape and create the optical illusion of full, even lips. For example, the left peak of my lip is slighter rounder than my right peak, so I spend a bit of time creating a higher peak on my left upper quadrant.

The above tips apply to all shades of lip liner and the question arises which one should you pick: red or neutral.

The advantages of a neutral lip liner are:

It is economical because you can use the same lip liner for a variety of lip shades, including red;
The neutrality tones down vibrant shades of red, so if you are new to red, this liner will help you adjust to the power of the red lip.

The advantages of a red liner are:

You can fill in the lips with liner so it creates an excellent surface for the lipstick pigments to meld with and when you eat samosas and pakoras, there is always a leftover veil of colour;
Its effect is so strong that it enhances the power of the red and can draw attention away from tired eyes.

Once you have chosen your shade, texture is important, because a dry pencil will tug at the lips and make them look dry. I like a creamy pencil that stains the lips, and I wholeheartedly recommend the Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme Lip Shaper because I love that I can click the bottom of the component and the perfect amount of liner is exposed. The formula, like its lip gloss brethren has a plumping effect, so within moments of lining my lips, I feel a tingle and my lip line looks ready for business. If your lip contour has lines which results in lipstick bleed, this liner’s plumping formula can help to fill in and temporarily inflate the depressed areas. Moreover, the collection contains a sextet of neutral shades, so there is a neutral liner to be found for all South Asian beauties. The collection has expanded to include vibrant shades like Happily Ever After, a stunning cherry red, that is impactful.

If you are new to the red lipstick game and want to start off with gloss but fear its smudginess, Stila’s Lip Calligraphy collection presents an interesting option. I recall when Stila launched a series of lip stains liners that were like skinny markers, and they stained my lips. The newest iteration of this concept, the Calligraphy Collection has a refined tip that permits you to apply the stain daintily and in a sense tattoo the lips. I suggest defining the lips with this product and then apply a matching gloss.

Now For The Fun Part!

I humbly suggest that there are as many red lip products as there are stars in the sky, which means that there is a red lip product for you! In this section I start from the softest, glossiest product and end with the unabashedly matte finishes.

If you are just starting, I recommend a soft gloss that is easy to apply, which is why I recommend the Stila Plumping Lip Glaze in the universally flatter shades Amor and Sistene. These two soft shades of red come in a convenient clicker pen so you can apply the gloss with a built-in brush so you can ensure that the product gets into the corners of the lips. Moreover each shade plumps the lips and the subtle sparkles makes the lips shine.

If you want a bit more pigment and lots of convenience, try Mango People Multistick in Jalebi (a bold red orange that is fantastic on deep skin tones) and Cherry (a deep burgundy red that suits all skin tones). These sticks contain fruit extracts (cherry), mango butter and Ayurvedic herbs (ashwagandha, brahhmi and triphala) so they will nourish your skin while adding luminescent pigment, to the lips, eyes and cheeks. This is a great swipe and go product that allows you to explore the beauty of red on different areas of the face.

If you want to combine sophistication and lasting pigment in one fell swoop, then I recommend trying the Estée Lauder Silk Matte Lipstick shade in Heartbeat, a stunning pure red wit neutral undertones. The lipstick glided easily onto the lips, and since the bullet is skinny, there is a minimal chance of passing over the lip line, so you can apply it directly from the tube and maintain maximum control. The matte finish creates a soft stain, so if you indulge in your love for namkeen or mitthai, you will still have a veil of colour on the lips. I also love the packaging, as it is a festive shade of gold and the textured finish, match well with South Asian glamour.

If you want unabashed glamour from package to lips, the Guerlain Rouge G collection is perfect! Reimagined by world renowned makeup artiste Violette Serrat, this collection contains 14 shades of red lipstick that come in either satin or matte finishes. The first step is to select a case which can be paired with any shade in the collection. I love the leopard one, because it is sexy, glamorous and since the leopard is textured, I can just reach into my purse, and without looking, pick it out by touch alone. It also has a convenient mirror that is exposed when you open the bullet, so you can apply liner and lipstick whilst looking at the case.

The red lipsticks are stunning and as someone who loves a bit of shine, I enjoy shade 520 Le Rouge Profond because the pigment is rich so it stains my lips but the formula is light so they feel hydrated and look shiny. The red shade enhances my complexion because its intensity is medium and flirts towards deep red fruity, rather than wine, shades. I also love the soft fragrance, that remind me that I have adorned my lips with the magic of a maison de beauté. Once you start to explore the 14 shades, you will master the lesson: red is for everyone.

Red Lips – Our Birthright

Being brown comes with a plethora of beauty blessings, not the least of which is to carry a powerful, red lip with aplomb. As we head into a busy holiday season where we can celebrate that light triumphs over dark, simplify your beauty routine by using red lips as the beauty focal point. Aishwarya, Mindy, Eve and Gabriella amply demonstrate that all shades of brown skin glow with red lips.

Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

Author

Meena (@meenalaregina) always loved the idea of exploring the non-conventional idea of beauty. Having grown up as a pimply chubby teenager, she wanted to see the change in the world that best reflected your uniqueness as well. Her well-received collection of blogs where she tries on various beauty p...

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