Things You'll Need:
- A trip to a makeup counter
- Mirror
- Tissue
- Makeup remover toilettes or liquid
- Decent lighting
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Step 1
First things first. You need to figure out what tone range you fall into. Are you a cool blue red or a warm orange red? To figure this out, just look in the mirror at your complexion.
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Step 2
If you’re fair, then you would benefit from colors in the cool blue red range, which helps brightened up skin and balances out tonality, while creating a “depth of lip,” with the rich, deep red that will be beautiful against fair skin. Colors in the warm orange red range would be too glaringly bright for fairer complexions.
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Step 3
For medium to darker skin tones, a red from the orange red family will work best on this skin color. Orange-based reds are punchier and are for people who can handle attention--because of the intensity of the color. Warmer/darker complexions have an innate brightness to their skin. An orange red lipstick would create more light and depth to darker skin, which helps balances out its own tonality. If a dark complexion were to wear a blue red color, it would be too cool in tone and sallow out the skin.
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Step 4
Once you figure out which color range you fall into (cool or warm), then it’s time to play and experiment with different hues of red. Since red is such a strong pigment, you just need to dab a little on your finger and apply it to the lip.
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Step 5
Lightly blot your lips to remove excess color. This will ensure that you see the true color on your lips.
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Step 6
You can apply strips of color onto your hand to compare all the different shades, but it won’t be as accurate on the skin of your hands as it would be if you apply it directly to your lips.
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Step 7
After you’ve sampled one red on your lips, remove it with some makeup remover poured onto a tissue and rub it off or simply use a disposable makeup remover cloth.
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Step 8
Repeat the above steps in trying out another red and wiping it fully off before you start again with yet another shade of red.
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Step 9
Continue playing around with the different shades until you find one that perfectly suits your face and complexion.
