MadameNoire Featured Video

by Tracey Brown

From Hollywood starlets of yesteryear, to today’s pop culture idols of the runway and red carpet, red lipstick is eponymous with style, fashion and beauty. Red lipstick spells allure, glamour, sophistication and oozes sex appeal. A makeup must-have that is simultaneously a trend and yet a classic, red is on the lips of women of all ages and skin tones.

Hollywood sisters sporting a red pout Taraji Hensen , Kerry Washington, Zoe Saldana, Rosario Dawson and Tracee Ellis Ross instantly up their glam quotient with just a swipe of red lipstick. Catwalk queens Chanel Iman, Jourdan Dunn and Joan Smalls worked the Gucci runway with glossed-up red lips for Fall 2011.

Songstress Sade’s signature red lips are now on-trend for new millennium vocalists Jill Scott, Keri Hilson, Janelle Monae and Estelle. Each woman rocks the red lips with ease, yet each is wearing a different formula and shade that works for them.

When red lips are done right—meticulous application, seamless blending of lip liner and lip color in a flattering hue for your skin tone and undertone—you’ve got glam gold. Whether you have champagne and caviar cash or beer budget bucks, there is a red lipstick for you.

Red lipstick options span the color wheel—vampy vermillion, classic crimson, sassy scarlet, banging burgundy—so let your lips speak volumes with the perfect red. Many black women are left in a quandary about which red is best, and some still think their lips are a little on the “voluptuous” side to wear red lipstick. Don’t believe the “less-is-more hype”!

First, before we get into product recommendations, let’s start off with the steps to a perfect red pout:

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