Stagnant or Magnet? What’s your look for V-Day?

Ah the red lip…it’s a hallmark of Valentine’s Day. And guess what? Anyone can rock one!
There are so many product formats now that anyone can wear just about any color. Don’t get thrown off by undertones and your hair color, blah blah blah. Try ‘em on and just look to see what you like!

The newer lip crayons can be very moisturizing and wonderful for women with long hair who like a shiny look but don’t want their hair to stick to their lips (like when one wears a gloss).

Make sure your lips are soft and “chap free”. Big brand tooth pastes like Crest and Colgate use Sodium Lauryl Sulfate as a foaming agent, which can be very drying. Try switching to something like Toms for a month and see if it makes a difference.

A red lip has to look luscious. You can’t have chapped lips or dead flakey skin on the puckers. I like Rodan and Fields Lip Micro-Dermabrasion stick to take off dry skin on the lips. I actually keep it in my shower. I like it to get warm, and then I slick it on my lips while I go about my business. I rinse my lips in the shower as the last thing before I get out.

For a perfect red lip for Valentine’s Day (or any day for that matter), powder down the lips with La Bella Donna’s compressed minerals and a concealer brush. This takes any oils away and also removes a lot of your own natural color so that you get the true color of the product that you are applying on the lips. Next, apply a “sticky” lip balm (my favorite is Lip Jao) so the lip product you apply afterwards has something to stick to. La Bella Donna’s double lip crayon in Luscious creates a fantabulous red lip. Use the crayon to both line the lips as well as fill them in with color. No “Tammy Faye Baker” allowed. One could stop there, but to amp up the red, add La Bella Donna’s lipstick in Blossom, and follow it with their gloss in Olo (a pretty gold). If you really want to ensure your lip line looks amazing, use that compressed mineral product with the concealer brush again around the lips to define the lip line.

Remember to blot between all these layers in order for the lip products to really last. If you do that, when packing your bag for the night ahead, you need only bring the lipstick or gloss or basically the last item that tops off your lips, as the layers should remain for several hours. When eating appetizers etc, only go for the truly bite sized pieces that you can fit into you mouth in one shot - no sliders or mini-sandwiches and multiple bite items, if you want to keep the lip products on!

So what’s it going to be? Stagnant or Magnet?!?!?!