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"  Growing up in Texas, red lipstick was a right of passage. My very first one perfectly matched the cranberry silk two-piece that I had made by hand for my freshman year homecoming dance. After that, I put on a true cherry shade (and stark blue shadow!) along with my drill team uniform every Friday night during football season for my halftime performance\u2014and then retouched the duo to celebrate post-game.  These youthful memories might have made me turn up my nose at the bright statement lip in my twenties, but in fact my love affair only grew stronger. As a fashion assistant at Glamour, a NARS lip pencil in Dragon Girl became a makeup bag staple to yield off late Thursday nights out or add sophistication to my post-college mash-up of a wardrobe. As I cut my fashion editor teeth, a red lip became more than just an instant face brightner, it became an accessory. And once the street style set secured its&amp;#039; place as a photo-friendly hue (and I was given a sample of M.A.C lipstick in Ruby Woo), a red lip at the office or after hours was all but expected. I loved that it gave my look\u2014as long as none of the color escaped to my teeth\u2014instant confidence.  Given my blue eyes and blonde hair, I have always had to tread carefully in the red lip arena for fear of pageantry connatations or worse\u2014man repelling. In turn, my rule of thumb has been to keep the rest of my look subdued\u2014my eye makeup simple and clean and my hair polished and sleek. However, once I reached my thirties, I could not escape the allure of a defined eye and I started to dabble with eyeliner. Not the exagerated cateye like at the Lanvin show or the sexy smoky eye at Michael Kors, but a more subtle smudge of black, brown or navy to give my eyes a sultry, but day appropriate pop of defintion. Since wearing the liner, the red lip was no longer my perfect match. A creature of habit, I have struggled with what to wear on my lips to finish my new look. And, up until this weekend, classic cherry-flavored Chapstick had been the winner. After brunch on Saturday, I stopped by the YSL cosmetics counter at Bergdorf Goodman to browse. I asked the sales woman (which I rarely do) what was her favorite nude lipstick. She recommended YSL Rouge Volupt\u00E9 2, a slightly glossy beige shade with just enough payoff to merit application. I implusively bought it. Prior to now, my fear with wearing a nude lip had been that it would wash out my complexion or make me look older in the way that the &amp;quot;no-makeup&amp;quot; look can if not done correctly. But, as I now know firsthand, that is not the case if you have the right shade. After applying some inky blue eyeliner and swipe of Maybelline Great Lash black mascara this morning, I reached for my Chapstick out of habit, too. Until my new gold encased lipstick caught my eye. I lightly prepped my lips with M.A.C lipliner in Spice then a swipe of my new nude and blended the two together with my finger. The result: the creamy texture and barely-there hint of color complimented my navy eye makeup. And my face felt complete. So, it turns out that a nude lip and I might just be a match. I&amp;#039;m not saying I am putting away my beloved crimson Ruby Woo forever. But I do have a new crush, and hey, you never know, it could be the one. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/makeup/advice/a2206/saying-goodbye-to-the-red-lip/>