Guest Post By Linda Ripoll

CounterCultureBeauty.com

With Valentine’s Day in sight, it’s time to start planning your romantic night look from your hair to clothes to makeup. If you are a classic, true romantic at heart, it’s pretty safe to assume that you will be wearing a gorgeous red lip in honor of the one day that we celebrate romance and love.

Creating a traditional yet luscious red lip for Valentine’s Day or for any night when you want to pour on the glamour is easy, especially with Milani’s latest launch – Color Statement Lipsticks and Color Statement Lip Liners. These high performance lipsticks and liners impart loads of color with just one application. Filled with vitamins A, C and E, the high wattage lipsticks come in several finishes including metallic, vinyl, cream, shimmer, pearl and matte.

Step 1: Pick out the perfect red lipstick. Finding the right red lip color for your skin tone is simple. Start with your skin tone. Are you cool or warm? Cool skin tones are those with pink undertones. One way to determine if you have cool skin is by looking at the veins in your wrist. If they appear blue or have a bluish tone, you most likely have a cool undertone to your skin. For those with warm skin tones, you will tend to have more yellow undertones. When you look at the veins in your wrist, they will appear more greenish or greenish blue.

Cool undertones look amazing in classic red shades such as; candy apple red and reds with blue undertones. Opt for Best Red, Ruby Valentine and Cherry Crave.

Warm undertones look amazing in orange red or fire engine red shades. Opt for High Voltage and Red Label.

Step 2: Before you apply your perfect red lip, you will want to prep lips by removing all dry or chapped skin. The best way to do this is by using a dry toothbrush and lightly rubbing the lips until they are smooth and soft.

Step 3: Prime your lips with a non-greasy or shiny lip balm. This step helps prepare the lips for your lip color by adding moisture and a foundation for the color so your lipstick won’t feather or bleed during application.

Step 4: Apply your favorite concealer or a dab of your foundation to your lips to help neutralize your natural lip color and create the ideal canvas for your red lipstick. This tip really helps create a dramatic result.

Step 5: With the Color Statement True Red or Natural Lip Liner, gently line your upper and lower lip. Once you have lined your lips, take a lip brush and blend the lines into your lip for a more natural look.

Step 6: With a lip brush, apply your lip color. Apply several layers of color for a more saturated and full effect.

Step 7: This is optimal. If you want a luscious finish, apply a matching red or clear gloss such as; Haute Flash Lip Gloss in Hot Flash or Crystal Gloss in Clear on top of the lipstick. If you want to go more traditional, do not include the gloss step.

With a killer red lip, your Valentine’s Day is sure to the most romantic night of your life! Smooches!