Not every elegant lip look has to be 100 percent sheen-free. Sitting happily at the intersection between matte finish and full-on gloss is cream lipstick, which features a smooth application and gel-like consistency, and tends to be noticeably more hydrating than its matte counterpart. Without the need to layer gloss on top of stick on top of liner, cream lipsticks are a less involved, but no less graphic, approach to red lips -- perfect for applying on the go and touching up easily throughout the day. (Recreate Emma Stone's creamy orange-red look with Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick in Gladiolus, $7.99).
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Hollywood Belle
To capture those classic, Old Hollywood red lips, take your cue from the modern-day Marilyn, Scarlet Johansson. Start by lining your lips with a pencil that matches your color of choice, then continue using your pencil to fill them in. Next, apply a bold, moisturizing red lipstick with a lip brush for enhanced precision (we recommend CoverGirl Colorlicious Lipstick, $6.99 in a deep, alluring hue like Seduce Scarlet).
To clean up the edges and make your lips look even more defined, use a concealer brush to dot a light-reflecting concealer onto your Cupid's bow (that's the little dip in the center of your top lip) and blend outward. For even more precision, you can trace the edge of your bottom lip with concealer as well. Put the finishing touch on your glamorous look with a dab of clear gloss. Then let Mr. DeMille know you're ready for your close-up.
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Supervamp
Even if you're not the nocturnal and/or Victorian type (and we're doubting Beyonce is either), a dark vampy lip is a fun way to put an edgy spin on your classic red. To get that deep, black-cherry hue, look for products with purple tones.
Begin by lining your lips with a black-violet liner, but don't fill in with the pencil. Apply your deep purple-red lipstick (try Lipstick Queen Bete Noire Lipstick in Possessed Intense, $40), and use a lip brush to thoroughly blend the area where the two colors meet. (Tip: Believe it or not, deep colors like this work well across complexions, from those with fair skin and blue eyes to darker skin tones).
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Romantic Flush
Red lips don't always have to look daring -- you can achieve a delicate, more glowing look with red lipstick as well.
The key to getting your lips to look like they are radiating color from within is to forgo liner. Makeup artist Dwight Allen O'Neal says to dot color in the middle of your lips and use your fingers to blend outward instead. You can do this with a stain, a lipstick, or both. O'Neal likes to apply the stain first (like a primer), do a second dab-and-spread with lipstick, then a third round with a tinted lip gloss or colored balm to help seal in your color.
To achieve a romantic, feminine aesthetic a la Sofia Vergara, opt for a red lipstick with soft pink tones. This slightly glossy, no-liner look is a little less precision-perfect than some, but hey, so is romance itself. (Try Maybelline New York Color Sensational Lipcolor in Red Revolution, $7.49.)
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Patent Finish
Want red lips that shine like vinyl? Today, luster of that caliber requires just one thing: a highly pigmented gloss. We're talking a product that has the application, texture, and glistening finish of a lip gloss, but the rich color of a lipstick. Don't believe it's possible? (Try NARS Lip Gloss in Eternal Red, $26).
Red lips are the little black dress of beauty -- glamorous, feminine, timeless. So timeless in fact that the use of red lipstick dates back to ancient Egypt, when Mesopotamian women would decorate their pouts in crushed semi-precious stones.
All that effort makes sense when you consider the facts. Lips are the body's most exposed erogenous zone, and even the softest brush against their sensitive nerve endings sends a wave of information to the brain telling us, that feels good.
So, like a good push-up bra, red lipstick only serves to enhance our goods. In fact (despite the rumors), men systematically prefer red lips on women. Get this -- in 2010, scientists from Manchester University showed groups of men a series of random images of women, and concluded that ladies with red lips received "the most prolonged gaze."
All things considered, you'd think red lips would be every woman's go-to look. But it takes Cleopatra-sized confidence to pull them off.
Here, your be-all-end-all guide to finding your perfect red -- the one that will give you the confidence and allure of a modern-day queen.
