THE POWER OF A RED LIP
Watching Maleficent and Angelina Jolie slay with her red lipstick ( MAC Russian
Red to be exact) got me thinking about how you can spot a “take no crap” woman by the fact that she wears no makeup, not a slick of it, except for one thing: a bold red lip. A lot of power women do this and, as with fashion designers who – maybe unexpectedly – seem to wear only black basics , it displays a simple self-assuredness. These are women who Get Things Done.
I am one of the women who often goes makeupfree
aside from a red lipstick (on a night pout .... typo intended).
But in my case it is more down to laziness, losing eyeliners and mascara, and being exceptionally bad at actually applying make-up. I can state with more certainty than Einstein’s theory of relativity that I am not in the power women clan. But the thing about a red lip is that, precisely because it is the look of those who have it totally together, it instantly elevates the rest of us. It also signals that you have made an effort, even though that effort has probably taken a single minute.
Everyone suits red lipstick, whereas other shades can wash out complexions, not suit, or terrify. Red is the mark of the femme fatale. Think
Marilyn Monroe, Angelina
Jolie, Rita Hayworth and Gwen Stefani just to name a few. Refreshingly, it is also something that draws the attention and complements facial structure. It is not designed, as with concealer or foundation, to hide. It is the lipstick equivalent of heading the boardroom meeting and walking into the party, shoulders back, chest out. It is also an affordable, accessible slice of glamour.