The red lip is the beauty statement of the siren, the calling card of the Hollywood starlet.
The red lip is the ultimate look – one that transcends geography, age and personal style. You're as likely to see it on the streets of Glasgow as you are in Tokyo or Milan.
What makes red lipstick so iconic – so desirable – is anyone's guess. History plays a big part in its popularity. It has been worn for centuries by women (and at some stages men) in order to improve their appearance. Even in history's more prudish times, when make-up was considered beneath ladies in polite society, women would simulate the look by biting their lips to create a rosy glow.
Red lipstick not only looks good on beautiful women on the silver screen (Ms Monroe, anyone?) but it also looks just as fetching on the average suburban lady.
A shocking shot of pillar-box red on your lips can say so much about you and your mood without you having to open your mouth.
Now it's autumn, the red lip has received a subtle seasonal makeover. The bright army uniform red of the summer has been replaced, temporarily at least, with a more muted hue: the berry. From blackberry to raspberry, lipsticks in darker red colours became an instant hit on the autumn/winter 2012 catwalks.
These are my favourites: Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey (£16.50); Lancome Rouge in Love in Rose Sulfureuse (£21); Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Amsterdam (£18.50); Aveda Rehydrating Lip Glaze in Star Dahlia (£15.50).
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article