Thread: Finding the right shade of red...

So I finally find a shade of red lipstick that I like. It looks good on me indoors, natural daylight, and out clubbing. I did a show a few weeks ago and I just got some of the pics. It looks awful on the stage under the lights.

How do you ladies choose a shade of red for the stage? Do you have a variety of shades to work for every costume.

I'm a huge fan of red lips and want to be comfortable with them.

Originally Posted by Khaleela

So I finally find a shade of red lipstick that I like. It looks good on me indoors, natural daylight, and out clubbing. I did a show a few weeks ago and I just got some of the pics. It looks awful on the stage under the lights.

How do you ladies choose a shade of red for the stage? Do you have a variety of shades to work for every costume.

I'm a huge fan of red lips and want to be comfortable with them.

Ooooh, good question! Please help!!!

for me it is a lot of trial and error.

But I remember from my theatre classes that you want to stay in the brown tones for stage lips. The harsh lighting works on them best.

So perhaps you might want to wear your prefered red shade and put a brownish gloss over them to give the lights the right tones to pick up?

How brown are we talking? I usually avoid browns because they make my lips and face look flat on stage.

Yes... red is tricky!

Originally Posted by Khaleela

How brown are we talking? I usually avoid browns because they make my lips and face look flat on stage.

Not serious brown.... but something with an undertone.

I know that if you're doing full stage natural theatre makeup the lip color in the pallet from Ben Nye is a bit of a brick color.... like red, but darker, dirty even. It looks ghastly up close, but from stage it looks like natural lips.

I'm expecting the same principle to work here.... if you want bright red, slather it on, and then put a reddish-brown tint on over it to mute the pigments that blanch you out on stage.

I went back to wearing Russian Red by MAC again and I love it, looks good on photos and videos too. It's a bit heavy and matte for daytime (I usually wear lighter colors during the day), but under those lights and with the rest of the heavy make-up it really does hold up well.

Try brown eye shadow on your lips first and then put the red on top to get the warm tone that Sarai is suggesting. If you feel it is too flat, add a dot of lip gloss (metallic, iridescent, glitter, or clear) in the center of your pout.

I'm not a red person but this is how I intensify my lip color when I want some substance and "meat" for under the harsh lights. [I'll do blue eye shadow underneath magenta lip color for intensity and longevity.]

Originally Posted by Azhia

Try brown eye shadow on your lips first and then put the red on top to get the warm tone that Sarai is suggesting. If you feel it is too flat, add a dot of lip gloss (metallic, iridescent, glitter, or clear) in the center of your pout.

I'm not a red person but this is how I intensify my lip color when I want some substance and "meat" for under the harsh lights. [I'll do blue eye shadow underneath magenta lip color for intensity and longevity.]

Azhia, do you use powder eye shadow? or do you use an eye shadow pen? Neat trick to know though. PS I think i saw one of your instructional videos on facebook! It was wonderful!!!! What a great idea!

Makeupforever makes amazing red lipstick. It's ideal to try to work with your skin undertones when picking out a red so you don't look washed out.
I really reccomend going to a make up counter and trying on different colors to see how they work, but in a pinch Covergirl has a great colormatch program

Has anyone tried red with gold flecks? How does it look on stage?

Originally Posted by jengal55

Azhia, do you use powder eye shadow? or do you use an eye shadow pen? Neat trick to know though. PS I think i saw one of your instructional videos on facebook! It was wonderful!!!! What a great idea!

Thank you, Jengal!
I use regular 'ol powder eye shadow.

Khaleela, try the gold-flecked red! Sounds gorgeous!

I also recommend Mac's Russian Red - it seems to work with every coloring and it can be seen from the stage. I also stays on very well.