The Ultimate Guide to Pulling Off Bold Lipstick
Photos: Rex USA (3), Getty Images, Rex USA, Getty Images (3)
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Dawes - LWF the/REX Shutterstock1/8Vamp It Up
The combination of the skin tone and lip color announces, "I'm a badass English rose who may or may not also be Snow White." When your skin is this fair, a vampy lip color is really all the personality—and makeup—you need. "There's sort of a fresh innocence that happens," says makeup artist Troy Surratt. "It's quite classically pretty and glamorous." We like Nars Audacious Lipstick in Jeanne.
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PIXELFORMULA/REX Shutterstock2/8Warm Yourself Up
"To complement the warmth of her skin tone, the orange undertone of her red mouth is both bold and warm," says Surratt. It's basic math: warm skin plus warm lipstick plus awesome hair and a great coat equals one stunning look. (If you don't know if you're warm or cool, here's a favorite trick of makeup artists: If you like silver jewelry, you're probably cool; if gold looks better on you, you're warm.) Try Clinique Pop Lip Colour + Primer in Fab Pop.
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Silvia Olsen/REX Shutterstock3/8Pack a Punch
The easiest—and sexiest—way to update a black-and-white dress inspired by the Plymouth Rock era is raspberry lipstick. Notice how you can't really look away from her semishiny deep-red mouth? That's a pretty good indication that your lipstick is working. Go for a glamorous one, like Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in F-Bomb.
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Getty Images4/8Commit
We'd be smiling, too, if orange-red lipstick looked this great on us. The key to wearing such a traffic-stopping shade during the day is to skip all other makeup to throw the attention on your mouth. Then smile at the photographers snapping your picture. We love Surratt Automatique Lip Crayon in P.O.C.
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Middlemass/REX Shutterstock5/8Keep It Rich
Here's something we hadn't considered: "Blackberry lip color has a tooth-brightening effect," says Surratt. And that's saying nothing about how well it goes with a severe haircut and brightly printed dress. Look for a matte or semimatte shade with no shimmer unless you are actually en route to a goth ball. Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy Liquid Lip Potion in Savage Garden is perfect for this look.
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Getty Images6/8Go Deep
Remember when blackberry lipstick was exclusively the property of the goth look? Yeah, we barely do either. "It's now become a cool, fashion, urban color," says Surratt. "It's not exactly mainstream, but forward-thinking urban girls are obsessed with these deep shades." Juxtaposed with fair skin and fairer sunglasses, the shade has even more potency. Try a superdark version, like Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Witches.
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Getty Images7/8Play With Pink
In a weird way, this is almost a monochromatic look. "The bold mouth paired with her bare, rosy complexion and rose-colored glasses—all of those colors are like sisters to one another," says Surratt. If you're ready for that much commitment, make sure all the shades of pink have the same undertone—cool pinks go with cool pinks and warm ones go with warm ones. We like Maybelline New York ColorBlur by LipStudio Matte Pencil in Pink Insanity.
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Getty Images8/8Pretend It's a Neutral
If you can look past the shirt—and if you can't, that's totally understandable, too—check out how her caramel skin tone plays up the warm undertones of the lipstick. It's almost as if this lip color is a neutral, which it most definitely is not. "That hint of warmth is what makes the lip color universally flattering and feminine," says Surratt. Try Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick in HD Orchid.
