NICKY: 4 red lipsticks for red lipstick phobics.

By NICKY CHAMP

Repeat after me, my name is [insert yours here] and I have a red lipstick phobia.

Well, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let me tell you about some game-changing little beauties that will change your mind about red lipstick forever.

I’m going to take a couple of wild stabs and guess that you’re reading this because either a) you’ve tried one or two red lipsticks before but thought you closely resembled Ronald McDonald and swiftly wiped it off your face never to be tried again or b) you’ve never tried it before and always wanted to. Or c) used to love it but have been turned off by the chalky, drying formulations or d) like the idea of it but can’t (or don’t know how to) find the right shade. Well guess what, there’s a little something here for everyone. Just think of me as the beauty equivalent of Oprah Winfrey (with sadly, no cars to give away).

But first: one of the secrets to pulling off red lipstick is to keep the rest of your makeup light. One of my favourite make up looks is a matte base (forego the blush and bronzer for a BB cream instead), winged eyeliner and a bright pop of red lippie.

And my number one tip is… drum roll please… confidence, confidence, confidence. It takes a bit of getting used to, but challenge yourself to wear it every day for a week and you’ll be able rock a red lip anytime.

1. Clinique Chubby Stick – Chunky Cherry

Like a giant crayola for your face, Clinque’s Chubby Sticks are a brilliant choice for lip gloss diehards and lipstick novices.

Sitting somewhere between a coloured lip balm and lip pencil, chubby sticks are buildable meaning you can layer up the colour for a deeper look.

The Chunky Cherry fades to a pinky stain so the application isn’t so intense that you’ll have to constantly worry if it’s on your teeth while you have that all important watercooler conversation.

Easy to apply, fairly fail-proof (don’t colour outside the lines and you’ll be fine) this shade manages to be both translucent and bright. It don’t know how this happens to be, but it just does.

2. Bite Beauty Lush Tint- Cherry

The Beauty Lush Tint from Bite is a lipstick/lip balm hybrid – meaning that it delivers intense colour with an added emollient to keep lips nourished (dry lipstick phobics – this one’s for you).

Delivering long-lasting colour the Lush Tint is also free of parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances or petrochemicals.

Tick, tick and tick.

3. Clarins Rouge Prodige Lipstick- Red Prodige

If I had to sum up the Clarins Red Prodige lippie colour in one word it would be: forties. No, not that you can only wear it if you’re north of yours 30s (duh) but because it’s reminiscent of the colour worn in the 1940s era. If I’ve confused you completely, here’s your  takeaway point: it’s a sophisticated and sexy red.

A nifty little trick to determine if a red colour will suit you is by looking at the veins on the inside of your wrist. If the veins look blue, you’re likely to suit ‘cool’ colours and if the veins appear greenish, you’re likely to suit ‘warm’ colours.

I’m going to sit on the fence with this one and say it’s a colour than can be worn by both the ‘cooler’ ladies and the ‘warm-fuzzy’ ones.

Easy-to-apply, you will get around four hours of wear out of this creamy, shiny little number but without that goopy feel of a lot of the long-lasting lipsticks on the market have.

Aussie cosmetics guru Napoleon Perdis has created a stunning range of lipsticks with the Devine Goddess range. And I am a woman of my word with way too many several of these in my possession.

The big bonus of this one is it’s enriched with herbal extracts and antioxidants so it won’t crack on your lips and give you that crusty build up after a few hours of wear.

Xena (is not only a warrior princess) but a rich, bright red – and it’s a bold shade that will pop right off your face requiring that confidence I spoke about earlier. But you don’t need me to tell you that, you’ve already been cured of your red lippie phobia. Right? Right?

Are you a fan of red lipstick? What make up products do you currently use (and love)?