Your Guide To Creating The Perfect '90s Wine-Red Lip
What's not to love about the '90s? From scrunchies to "Clueless" and plaid everything (thank you, Vivienne Westwood), it's the decade that keeps on giving. In fact, aesthetics from the '90s are back with a vengeance once again, and with them comes moody burgundy lipstick. Those who grew up during this decade may remember Revlon's Toast of New York and Rum Raisin lipsticks, which were both wine-colored shades seen on supermodels everywhere. However, you don't have to run out and purchase those specific products — in fact, you have lots of lipstick options to choose from nowadays.
Ultimately, the key to '90s wine-red lip is to get the color right. There are varying shades to experiment with, though, so you definitely have plenty of wiggle room. However, if you go too dark, it may come across as overly goth, and going too light can leave you with rose-colored lips. The first step in creating the perfect grunge-era look is to take your skin tone into consideration. Then, you'll be able to choose a wine-red shade just right for you.
Pick a shade according to your skin tone
Your skin tone is easy to determine as either fair, light, medium, or dark. However, it may be trickier to understand what your undertone is, and finding out matters when it comes to choosing colors. On this, makeup artist Paul Blanch shared with Refinery29, "To find your undertone look at your wrists: If your veins are bluish, then you're cool-toned. If they appear more green (or yellow), then your undertones are warm." Can't decide where you fall? You might have neutral undertones.
Those with cool undertones look best in blue-leaning shades, like berry colors, while mahogany and brick shades go well with warm undertones. If you're neutral, all wine hues will look good on you, but we suggest trying a deep purple lip color for an extra vampy look that teeters the line of burgundy and gothy.
For folks with lighter skin tones, lighter wine-red lips look best. "Something that's more of a plummy wine looks great on fair skin," makeup artist Nick Barose told Byrdie. If you have a medium skin tone, try a deeper burgundy shade, while those with darker skin tones can rock a dramatic plum shade really well. Now that you've got your lipstick color picked out, it's time to use your skills to get that precise application.
The best way to apply dark '90s lips
Wearing wine-red lipstick isn't for the faint of heart, and it also requires a steady hand, which is why you need a lip brush in your makeup collection. "This dark of a shade can get messy quickly — even more so than red lip color — so you want to be sure you're precisely putting it on. I swipe it on from the outer corner of the mouth to center on both the upper and lower lips, then I fill in the rest of the pout," makeup artist Sandy Linter advised to Cosmopolitan. Her trick is to then use lip liner afterward to clean up the outline. "Burgundy lip pencils can be overwhelming and take the focus away from the actual lip color, so to avoid that, I always put the lipstick on first," Linter added.
Once you've gotten your color down, gently run a small brush with a dab of concealer around the perimeter of your mouth. Be sure that it's not lighter than your actual skin tone or else it'll leave a pale hue around your lips. If you want to add a lip highlight, dab the smallest bit of concealer in a lighter shade right on your cupid's bow. Finally, because lips typically had matte finishes in the '90s, blot your lipstick once on a piece of tissue, and, as sound as it may sound, leave your lip gloss at home.