Your wedding lipstick colour seems like the smallest decision in your wedding makeup, and yet it is one of the ones that raises the most doubts. Your skin tone, the style of your dress and the time of the wedding all play a part, because the same lipstick does not look the same at midday as it does at night. Knowing those factors helps you choose, but in the end one weighs more than all the others: how you feel wearing it.
Red lipstick at a daytime wedding
On paper, red may not be the most advisable choice for a daytime wedding. But some brides wear red lips every day, and red is their colour, the one that makes them feel like themselves. If that is you, you wear red on your wedding day too.
Can a bride wear red lipstick on her wedding day?
Yes. On paper it is not the most advisable shade for a daytime wedding, but if red is your everyday colour and you feel like yourself in it, it is the one to wear.
How your wedding lipstick colour is chosen at the trial
At the trial I look at the whole picture: your skin tone, the style of your dress and the time of the wedding. From there I suggest the shades that, in theory, will suit you best, whether red, pink or nude. Then I always ask which colour you picture yourself wearing.
Sometimes we are on the same page from the start. Other times the bride has something very different in mind, even the opposite. Then we look for a middle ground where she looks good, or the choice is simply hers, because it is her wedding and she is the one who has to feel comfortable. Theory is a guide, not a rule to follow to the letter: if a bride is happy in burgundy at a midday wedding, she wears burgundy.
Long-wear matte or creamy lipstick
Many makeup artists prefer long-wear matte lipsticks. It is true that they last longer, but I do not find them comfortable: they tend to dry out, and as you talk, eat and drink, your lips start to flake. On dry lips I never recommend them.
That is why I prefer a creamy texture: comfortable, juicy, and leaving the lips looking healthy. I would rather have well-cared-for lips that are touched up now and then than a colour that lasts a little longer and ends up cracked.
The lip combo that keeps the colour in place all day
The combo I use for a wedding is a long-wear lip liner with a creamy lipstick, and the key is that you keep that same lipstick with you, in your touch-up kit, so you can reapply it as often as you like through the day. Even when you retouch the colour, the liner stays where it is and acts as a barrier, so the colour does not bleed beyond the lip or blur.
What is the best wedding lipstick?
A long-wear matte lipstick lasts longer, but it tends to dry and flake. A creamy lipstick over a long-wear liner works better, with the same lipstick in your touch-up kit to reapply.
There is more on what goes in the touch-up kit and how it is used.
If you are torn between several shades, bring them to the trial or show me a photo. There they are tried on your skin, and it becomes clear which one feels like you.
