#MakeupMonday: 5 Tips for Wearing Orange Lipstick

Makeup and nails go together like strawberries and champagne, right? You can have a perfect manicure but if your makeup is so-so then you know, the overall impression is somewhat diminished. To help counter this phenomenon, we’ve decided to introduce a new #MakeupMonday feature. We’ll offer some guidance on the latest makeup trends and how to make them work in real life. There will be quick how-to’s, tips and makeup inspiration – all for real women like you and I, who don’t have much time to study all the makeup techniques but still want to pull it off when needed. I hope you’ll enjoy!

What better way to start than with one of the strongest makeup trends in 2014? Yes, we’re beginning with bright orange lipstick! Despite looking fabulous on runaways and Pin-boards, it can be a difficult colour in real life. If your skin is naturally dark or has warm tones, orange lips in any shade are right up your alley. But if your complexion, like mine, is moderately fair with blue undertones, orange lipstick will make your face look dull or at worst, pale & sick. But don’t despair, with a few simple tricks you can make it work too!

5 tips for wearing orange lipstick:

1. The right shade of lipstick: it all starts from choosing the right shade. Darker/tanned skin tones can rock almost any orange shade. For lighter skin the general rule is: the lighter the skin shade, the lighter the shade of orange. For moderately fair skin, try a classic bright orange or tangerine and for a very light skin tone use the lighter shades of orange.

2. The right foundation: Orange is a warm shade and the easiest way to make it work is to keep warm shades in your make up too. To break it down for different types of skin:

Very fair skin (porcelain) – go for the lightest shade of foundation you can comfortably wear. Orange lips will look stunning on you!
Fair or slightly blue-ish skin - get a foundation that is warmer than your usual (preferably with yellow-ish undertones).
Dark or tanned skin – foundation that accentuates your tan or bronzer or a foundation that matches your skin precisely. Orange is your colour.

3. Flawless Complexion: as with any bright lipstick, orange is unforgiving to flaws. So if you want to rock it like Cara Delevingne, make sure your face is flawless. Conceal all imperfections, dark circles and pores. Unless y0u have perfectly even skin, choose moderate to full coverage foundation. Use a good primer for better foundation application and a more natural look. Skip blush.

4. Minimal Eye Makeup: To get the trending slightly undone orange lip look, keep your eye makeup minimal. You can even skip it completely if you have very fair skin or minimise to 2 coats of mascara. However if you want to wear eye makeup, choose neutral eyeshadows in nude tones – the lightest shade goes under eye brow arch and the darker shade on eye lid. Add 2 coats of black or dark brown mascara. Finish with a touch of white kohl on the inner corner of your eye for extra brightness.

5. Groomed Eyebrows: If you can skip eye makeup, you can’t skip eyebrows. Eyebrows in 2014 are a dominant feature. Get a good eye brow pencil (matching the shade to your eye brows) and define the arches, fill them in… whatever you need to do to give your eye brows a strong presence.

Done!

Products Used: Illamasqua Soaked – orange lipstick, Illamasqua Marquise nail polish, Sisley Instant Perfect primer, Jane Iredale Full Coverage Mineral BB Cream in BB#5, L’Oreal Nude Magique BB Powder in Light Skin Tone, L’Oreal Paris Les Ombres Eye Shadows in Beige Trench, Lancome Virtuose Mascara in Black, L’Oreal Paris Eye Brow Pencil in 303 Deep Brown.