There are two types of people in the world, those who wear red lipstick and those who don’t. Red lipstick is a classic. It’s versatile, it can be both classy and edgy, feminine and sophisticated. It’s perfect for sipping hot chocolate at your grandma’s house on Christmas and also for throwing on before a night of bar hopping in Manhattan. If you’re anything like me, you love red lipstick but you can’t wear it everyday (major props to you if you can!) because sometimes it just kind of gets in the way (hello red rims on my reusable water bottle).

Since red lipstick is a staple in my makeup collection I’ve come up with ways to make it work. This is what I do when I want to keep my red lipstick off my glass and on my lips.

Lipliner: This is an essential step. If you skip the lipliner chances are you’ll end up looking more Miranda Sings and less like a Maybelline model. Unlike lighter shades, it’s not so easy to just wipe the lipstick off your lip if you smudge or accidently overdraw on your lips. Liner will allow you to create a precise line and to stay within it. The liner I’ve recently been using is NYX Slide On Lipliner in the shade red tape. This liner is a pencil but also has a crayons consistency that makes it glide on easily.

Liquid Lipstick:  Here’s the thing, if I’m doing a red lip it absolutely has to be liquid lipstick. It’s to the point where I might as well throw out my traditional red lipsticks because I literally do not use them anymore. My go to red is the Kylie Cosmetics matte liquid lipstick in the shade Mary Jo K. Not only is this a gorgeous, deep red, but it also does not budge. I can wear this through a whole day of eating and drinking and I won’t even need to reapply. Realizing this was such a game changer for me because I used to constantly reapply throughout the day because when I would talk my lipstick would find it’s way on my chin or cheek.

What are your red lipstick tips and which shade is your go to?