On Trend: Bright Lips, How do I look?

I’ve been swooning over bright colors since the first time I saw a pic of Kerry Washington rocking bright red on her voluptuous lips. That was last year. And what do you know — bright lips are still trending in the beauty world as we head into 2012.

I will admit that it can be difficult to find the perfect bright lip. Your skin tone, the shape of your lips, and your eye color all play a big part. Not to mention what you might be wearing that evening. I cringe at the site of red lips, red dress, red nails, red shoes — too much!

I’m no makeup artist but as a consumer and makeup enthusiast, I’ve learned a bit about this trend. Follow my 3 handy tips and trust me you will fall completely in love with bright lips too …

1. Know what you want before you get to the counter & Don’t give up. — It’s quite possible that you will find the right bright lip color on the first trip. I spent about 20 minutes in Walgreens searching for a red. I took the top off of 2 sticks and realized one had an orange tone and another a burgundy. I didn’t want the orange, I was thinking it looked more like Halloween makeup. I also knew I wanted matte and not gloss. I had this vision of a hooker with bright red glossy lips trying to ruin my adventure. So you see, I went in with expectations. Red. Matte. Cheap. I’ve get the fancy YSL another day.

Color #1: Red Revival by Revlon

2. Think outside of the box. — When a beauty blogger first mentioned pink for my lips I thought she was bonkers. But she said ‘trust me this will look great on you’. And she was right. My pink is one of my favorite fun and flirty colors. If you are still unsure about trying a different color, be sure to ask for a samples so that you can play around with the color before you purchase.

Color #2: Spellbound by COVERGIRL

3. Less is more. — There’s no need to paint your entire face with color. Keep it simple with heavy liner on your eyes. For a more edgy look, try smudging the liner with a q-tip. Wear your red with black and white for the ultimate chic look.

Color #3: INGLOT #65