Red, red is everywhere: The eyelids of the models showing Muicca Prada's fall 2009 line were awash in red glitter — although Kathy Phillips of the Guardian cautions against this look as it can slip into crows feet and have an aging effect. The soles of your Christian Louboutin shoes, if you had them … which I don't… but I want them….
There are red carpets, red handbags and Carl Jung's newly discovered Red Book, where the psychoanalytic giant chronicles a tale of midlife crisis: man loses soul, man looks for soul, man finds soul (after a headtrip of hardship and adventure). Hmmm, sounds familiar…
And the sea of red ink that America has on its balance sheet.
Red has bloomed like the American Beauty Rose in all kinds of makeup too. Giorgio Armani has red eyeshadow and red mascara in Rouge Iron.
So what are we to make—or make up—of seeing red all over?
Shiko Vun, makeup artist at the Valery Joseph Salon in NYC cautions against letting red run amok.
Skin, as we age, tends to have a lot of red in it anyway — around the eyes, broken capillaries in the cheeks, and so on, he told me. Adding more red just accentuates the problem. He advises bypassing these trends altogether and using a lot of foundation to smooth out the face and get the red out. Red blush is nixed too in favor of more burnished, neutral tones.
Indeed. The last thing you want to look like is Bette Davis in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"
Lipstick, however, is another story altogether. Coco Chanel made red lipstick timeless and, worn with a clean makeup palette, Vun sees it as a sign of a strong woman.
"Red lips are a classic look that never goes out of style. Whether you're 20 or 60, if red lips make you feel great, definitely wear them," says Eric Sakas, a co-founder of Kevyn Aucoin Beauty who now works with Vapour Organic Beauty. Case in point: Donna Karan's fall 2010 collection paired with a pop of bright cherry on lips. Sakas believes "it's always appropriate to look and be confident."
Sakas offers us some tips to keep in mind:
o As we age, we start to lose definition in our lips and color in our face so red lips are a great way to add both. I find that the brighter orange-coral-pink-based reds are more flattering and help add a sense of fullness to the lips, as opposed to blue- or brown-based reds, which can make lips look smaller.
o I like a red lip stain topped with a red or clear gloss, or a neutral liner topped with a creamy red lipstick to give lips moisture and dimension.
Got it. Now, about those shoes…