Le Classique: Timeless Red Lips, Black Liner Makeup Look
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Sure, it’s a party. But sometimes you just want something simple, straightforward, and FLATTERING to wear. Something that is still going to look good when you look at a picture of yourself 30 years down the road.
That, or you’re channeling a 40s/50s Pinup for Halloween this year.
Here’s a VERY simple breakdown using shades and textures that are good for all ages, skin tones (or gender - hey, go for it), though I updated the eyes just a bit so it’s softer and more modern. Otherwise, there are countless great 50’s makeup tutorials around and I don’t really need to post another…
Items you need:
- A deep satin or matte taupe (highly recommend MS17 from BH Cosmetics if you like natural-looking definition; it’s a very soft shade that looks dark in the pan but really softens out to a color that looks like shadow, so it’s perfect for defining).
- Face powder
- Black gel liner (not liquid, not pencil!)
- White, beige, pale yellow pencil (no shimmer please)
- Black mascara or natural looking false lashes
- Warm blush (I’m not going to tell you what shade since different colors suit different people; just avoid neon pink and bright orange)
- A red RED lipstick and red liner (I heart Ruby Woo by MAC for that impossibly-intense true scarlet, but if you have VERY dark skin, a luscious “noir” shade like Diva might be better.)
Step 2: With a soft blending brush, I filled in the outer half of my lids with a soft taupe brown, then used the remainder on the tip of the brush to stroke along my socket line. The color should fade as you go inwards. Don’t pull the color all the way down to the inner corners. Stop at the center or about 2/3 in.
Then do the same with the lower lash line. The brown should not be too dark and obvious. If you lower your lids and look into the mirror, it should look like contours/shadows.
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Step 2: Now the drama. I used a thin brush (use one of those with bent handles if you’re not used to brush liners) to apply a flick at the outer corners first. The angle, as you can see, is just SLIGHTLY curved up, instead of straight. This is where it differs from the usual Pinup look where the liner is thinner and angled lower.
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Step 3: To finish adding that touch of drama that’s more Sofia Loren than Marilyn Monroe, draw another line from the outer tip STRAIGHT in towards the center of your lid. You get a triangle.
Fill it in, and you get that hot-mama “Rroowwrrrr” cat-eye look.
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Step 4: Instead of going full-on glamorous, I’m smoking out the top edges of the liner with a Q-tip so it becomes a softer, smokier line instead of a harsh one. Be careful not to overdo this as you could make a mess instead.
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Step 5: Go ahead and do your blush, contouring, etc. I usually keep it simple and light when I’m doing a strong lip. I used my usual Bourjois Little Round Pot shadow #15 as a blush.
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Step 6: The LIPS! For maximum lasting power, apply lipstick, blot gently with a sheet of tissue, then apply a second coat. When you’re done, THEN tidy up the edges with your lip pencil. Applying the liner last means you get a very crisp line, but you will never end up with a “dark ring around your lips”.
If you’re going to “reshape” your lips a bit and do that at the very end with the liner because you can take a really good look then and make sure everything is balanced and looks the way you want. When you draw in an exaggerated lip with a pencil first, it could turn out really over the top when you fill in with lipstick after that.
![The Cult of Ruby Woo Retro Matte Lipstick: Lip Swatch and Color Comparisons!
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You know I previously posted about how I keep going back to the MAC counters to swatch Ruby Woo. (And thank you to those of you who sent me messages about how I could get it to work better!) Well, I hated the texture of those display lipsticks but I kept suspecting that they got that way because of how MAC staff sterilize their lip product by dipping them into beakers of alcohol.
Note on sterilizing lipsticks: Please, everyone, just wipe the top with a sheet of clean tissue to remove most of the dead skin cells, dust, etc that might have settled there, and then use a spray bottle to mist the top of the lipstick with alcohol (everywhere it might touch the lips). This kills the bacteria. THEN, wipe on a clean section of tissue once more to remove the last bits and the bit of lipstick at the top that might have been “changed” by the alcohol.
Don’t dunk the whole thing into alcohol because over time, that’s going to screw with the natural oils in the lipstick and change its texture.
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As it turns out, I was right, and a fresh tube of Ruby Woo is NOT hard, dry, crumbly and a pain to get on. It IS more dry than MAC’s other mattes, because this is a “retro matte” texture, but I don’t find it any more drying than most mattes. It’s not as lightweight as Revlon Really Red, but I don’t really love those because they contain too much silica (what makes it more silky feeling) and aren’t as pigmented and opaque as I like. The silica and lower pigment content is also the reason why many shades go on patchy and uneven, or quickly become so as the day wears on.
To illustrate, I swatched it with 2 other of my favorite MAC reds; (L-to-R) MAC Diva, MAC Russian Red, MAC Ruby Woo.
If you’ve tried many modern matte lipsticks, you’ll know they are still quite creamy feeling since most people do not enjoy a really dry lip. On their own, they look matte, but there is still often a tiny bit of sheen when you just apply them (see Diva and Russian Red).
Well, Ruby Woo has zero sheen. It’s a true, powdery, fire-truck, red-red, as opposed to a deeper red like Russian Red. MAC describes these 2 as blue-reds, but I really beg to differ. They are red-reds, which means they lean neither towards yellow (coral undertones) nor blue (magenta undertones). This means it can appear different on different skin tones. If you’re more yellow-toned, it will look more yellow. On porcelain pink-toned skins, it will look like a blue-red.
The best thing about this lipstick is that it’s so matte but it doesn’t look dull (it looks darker in the tube than against the skin due to the natural visual contrast against skin). In fact, it almost glows and lights up the face. (I don’t wear blush with it.)
Lip swatch: MAC Ruby Woo
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Tips for wear:
Prep your lips to make sure it’s not flaky and chapped. Remove any excess lip balm prior to application.
If you have a dark lip line, make sure to cover the lip line with a little bit of concealer or flesh-colored lip primer.
Apply a coat (you can use a lip brush but I love just applying it straight from the tube) and gently blot. Stop right here if you just want a light layer of color.
[Optional] Apply red lip pencil to shape and define the lip if you need.
[Optional] Apply a second coat of Ruby Woo if you want a super-intense red lip. Blotting again at this point is optional.
You can also top it with a little clear gloss for a Maraschino cherry lip but I love how it looks matte.
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One More Lipstick Tip:
All lipsticks will go on creamier and then “set” slightly more matte after a couple of hours, as the environment and your lips will draw away the emollients/oils in the product. What you’ll be left with is more pigment. Always get a slightly creamier formula than you intend as what everyone will see an hour later is different from what you see when applying.
So it may not be necessary to blot a lipstick like Ruby Woo a second time, unless it’s for the sake of making it bullet-proof (aka super-long-wearing). It will end up very matte as the day wears on.
Myth-Busting:
Many people think Revlon Mattes are more moisturizing and less dry than traditional lipsticks because they apply smoother, but that’s a misconception caused by the “silky” feel of silica. If you check the ingredients list, they actually don’t contain the emollients present in most lipsticks, and contain mostly wax, silica and pigment. Combine that with the fact that silica absorbs oil, and you have lipsticks that are in fact more drying for your lips over time.
It’s a convenient (and cheap) way for companies to make something smooth and matte without having to increase the pigment content in their lipsticks.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyhx0gL5kk1qh70jmo1_500.jpg)
![Ode to Ruby Woo (MAC)
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[Pic source http://birdsandshoes.com/]
This is one of those obsessions where maybe once a week, I’ll find myself making plans to stop by a MAC counter. I haven’t given in because every time I do drop by and pick up a tube of Ruby Woo to swatch on the back of my hand, the uber-hard, “drying-clay” texture shocks me all over again.
I find myself asking the same question that I’ve asked a dozen times before. “How can a lipstick made in this century be this dry and hard to apply?”
Well the answer is simply that Ruby Woo is what MAC classifies as a Retro Matte. (Meaning, they intentionally made it a pain in the wazoo to apply, so that you remember it’s not “just another red”.) Gimicky? Maybe. But it’s also completely matte, even compared to other mattes.
But it’s an undeniably rich, beautiful, true pin-up red. If you can actually get it on to full intensity properly without rubbing your lips off.
[Pic source: http://becauselondon.com]
I’d liken it to the hot guy who just won’t look your way. It just makes you want him more.
Well, I have a staple red lip. It’s called (what else?) Russian Red. It’s actually a smoother, richer texture, and a heck of a lot more comfortable to wear than Ruby Woo. But then I know the next time I pass by a MAC counter, I’ll find myself going up to the lipstick rack and picking up a tube of that most gloriously-red and unbelievably-stubborn lipstick named Ruby Woo to scrape across the back of my hand.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx9m4mWWxE1qh70jmo1_500.jpg)
