The perfect red lip is arguably the most iconic beauty trend.  Stars from Marilyn Monroe to Rihanna fell in love with red and perfected the look.  In my opinion, the products to create a perfect red lip should be staples in any woman’s beauty closet.  It’s such a bold look that it speaks for itself – sport a red lip and you’ll stand out in any crowd, even if you keep the rest of your makeup subtle.  My red lip idol? Gwen Stefani is a red lip queen who rocks the look on a regular basis – and you can, too!

Exfoliate

The perfect red lip is about more than just the color.  With any bold lip, it’s important to prep – if your bold lip fades or smudges off within an hour, what’s the point? Your first step is to exfoliate – you can do this with a lip mask (I love the e.l.f. Studio Lip Exfoliator) or you can do it for free by gently rubbing your lips with a wet washcloth.  With bold colors, you’ll want to make sure it applies evenly, and exfoliating is the best way to ensure that.

Prime

Primer helps your color to apply more evenly and last longer.  Think of primer as the foundation of a house – you’ll build the rest of your look on top of it, and without it, your look could crumble.  Okay, it might not crumble, but I promise once you start priming, you’ll never stop.  Try Bite Beauty Line & Define Lip Primer from Sephora.

Line

If you prime, liner isn’t always necessary.  However, when you’re using a bold color like red, I think it’s important to line as well.  I typically stick with clear liners, unless I’m going for a bold color.  If I’m using a bold color, I like to use a similar color liner underneath.  If your color begins to fade, your liner serves as a backup.  MAC’s Pro Longwear Lip Color is a great option because it comes in so many colors.

Color

Selecting your color can be tricky.  This is the part that is really different for everyone.  To be totally honest, I typically don’t agree with the whole “warm shades vs. cool shades.” Finding the right color is about more than just finding a color that works with your skin tone – it’s about finding a color that you feel good in.  In my opinion, there’s no better way to do that than to try them out.  Test out as many colors as you want without spending a dime (until you find your perfect shade, that is!) by heading to Sephora and testing away!  My favorite red is currently Urban Decay’s Revolution Lipstick in Bang – and I never would have found that out without sampling!

Have you found your perfect red? Let us know what your favorite shade is in the comments below!