Three Shades of Red, Three Looks

Sande Temmuz 05, 2021

Red is such a classic shade that never goes out of style. You can be bold, glamorous or even a rebel with reds on your lips and nails. I'm a huge fan of reds and because I have a neutral skin tone, I feel like I'm not restricted to wearing just warm or cool toned reds. I prepared a selection of three shades of red worn on the lips and nails so it's a bit matchy-matchy and created three different looks. I included alternatives to all these shades as well, so you'll be seeing a lot of red.

The Bold One

Orange reds are such fun shades and they make me instantly think of summer. I feel as if every time June comes around so many bloggers dig out their Lady Danger lipstick and wear it with pride. I have a little dinky sample of Lady Danger, but for this look I chose to wear Essence's Lip Cream Floral Glam, which is essentially an almost the same shade, but it was unfortunately a LE (Guerrila Gardening). On my nails I'm wearing Depend's nail polish in 036, which matches the lip colour very well. For a lip liner I chose Essence Lipliner in Femme Fatale, which admittedly isn't the best shade for this category, but it's the closest I have to an orange toned liner.

As I said the quintessential orange red is the super popular Lady Danger, but I find a newer Mac's shade called Dangerous a little bit prettier. For those who don't want to commit to a bold pout, Bourjois' Rouge Edition Shine in 21 Rouge Making Of is a nice sheer option. The most budget choice would be MUA's lipstick in 13 that'll cost you a quid and for those who want a warm red that doesn't have such a strong orange tone try Catrice's Ultimate Colour Lipstick in MATTador. For nail polish option I also have Essence's Juicy Love in my stash, but Essence has been messing with their formulas, so I'm not sure it's the same. I also found you some alternatives/dupes for Lady Danger: Milani Matte Lipstick in Passion, Nyx Matte Indie Flick, Wet n' Wild Megalast Purty Persimmon, Maybelline Craving Coral, ...

The Glamorous One

Nothing screams glamour more than a classic blue toned red lipstick. These types of lip colour also make you teeth look more white, so it's no wonder they are so popular. My absolute favourite is L'Oreal's Colour Riche in Blake which is a part of the Collection Exclusives. The colour is stunning and the finish is matte, plus the formula is the absolute best I've tried - it's way better than the more popular Mac's lipsticks. I paired it with Catrice's Ultimate Nail Colour in Bloody Mary to go, which is a type of shade everyone should have in their collection. For a lip liner I used Catrice's Longlasting Lip Pencil in 040 …and a Cherry on the Top and I also added Ardell's Demi Wispies to bump up the glam.

Though I stand firm that Blake is by far the best choice here, I have some alternatives. The most obvious choices are from MAC - the good old Ruby Woo, Russian Red and MAC Red. For cheaper options I have Makeup Revolution's Pro Iconic lipstick in Propoganda, Salvation Intense Lacquer in A Love Like That and Freedom Makeup's Pro Red 108 Expression, but you might know already that I'm just not feeling these three, well at least you'll still hear that soon about the last one, but they are very budget friendly. The other closest other nail polish I have is Essie's Really Red, but it's a neutral shade, so almost doesn't fit here any more.

The Vampy One

Not everyone can muster up the courage to go so dark and yet I find such shades of red the easiest to wear, especially in colder months. Classic reds look too classy for everyday and orange reds look super punchy, but with burgundies I feel much more at ease. There was a time when I wore Rimmel's Matte Lipstick in 107 every day, but I have to say that the days of that lipstick came to an end the moment I found L'Oreal's Colour Riche in Laetitia. It is everything I dreamed of a burgundy lipstick to be. It's from the same collection as Blake and it has that same gorgeous matte formula. I paired it with Essence's Colour & Go in Do You Speak Love on the nails, which Essence discontinued in this formula, but I believe the shade is still the same or possibly very similar in the new Gel Nails line. The perfect lip liner to pair up with such shades is Catrice's Longlasting Lip Pencil in Berryson Ford.

I have no shortage of burgundies in my collection, it is after all my favourite colour for autumn. For lip colour alternatives I already mentioned Rimmel's 107, others include Bourjois's Rouge Edition Velvet in 08 Grand Cru and for those who don't want to go matte, Rimmel's Apocalips in Eclipse. Nice nail polish options are OPI's Malaga Wine, Revlon's Parfumerie in Bordeaux and for those who want to amp the vamp factor go for Essie's Sole Mate.