How to wear red lipstick like a French girl, according to makeup artist Violette Serrat

When it comes to applying the perfect red lipstick, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who knows more about the subject than Violette Serrat. She’s our favourite French ‘it’ girl. She’s the owner of the chicest Instagram going. She’s a fully trained makeup artist, a beauty editor and a brand founder. In fact, she’s so clued up that iconic French beauty house Guerlain even tapped her up as the brand’s Make Up Creative Director, inviting her to write the next chapter for the brand.  

It’s an intelligent appointment, since Violette has the ability to fuse everything we know and love about classic Parisian beauty, with a daring modernity. Hers is a look that’s chic, but fun and we’ve been low-key fan-girling her for years.

As for the pièce de résistance of French beauty – the red lip – “I grew up with women not wearing so much makeup, the one thing they would wear is red lipstick, so that’s what I know,” Violette tells GLAMOUR. 

“I love it because I love the game that red lipstick plays with you. It’s very attractive, it puts your lips at the centre of attention, but at the same time you can’t kiss because you can’t ruin the lipstick. It’s like a magnet that also pushes you away. I love the contradiction of it. It’s very sensual, it’s very sexy but the way we wear it is not about glamour, it’s more about messy hair, natural skin, with an effortless fashion outfit. So it’s a balance of everything which really makes the lips the star of the show. I am fascinated by red lipstick,” Violette confides.

As for how she decides which of her delicious red lip looks to wear, “there are so many ways you can do a red lipstick, but it really depends on mood,” Violette explains. “Sometimes, it’s to do with the outfit too, but the outfit is based on mood,” she adds. “People used to think: ‘this is my skin tone, so this is the kind of red lip tone I need to wear.’ But there are so many different versions of red, so it’s definitely not just one red that fits you. It’s great to go on the hunt to work out which red will fit you. You can have tons of reds and you can just pick the one based on your mood or your outfit, which I love.”

On that note, here’s 5 French Girl Ways to wear red lipstick as approved (and demonstrated) by Violette herself…

Bouche mordue

A hint of colour on lips. Apply the colour to the centre of the lips and blend gently. Then tap the lipstick to bring a subtle dose of colour

“Bouche Mordue means ‘Bitten Lips’ in French. It is really like a styled look. It’s like when you’ve bitten your lips, or like you have pinched your lips. In English I translate it like you have just been kissed – the flush your lips get. It’s something we love as it’s a very good way to give attention to your lips with a little flush of colour that is very sensual and calls for kisses. You can use any of the lipsticks you own, just pat it and add lip balm and blend your lips together. I am obsessed with Guerlain Kiss Kiss Bee Glow [launching in April], the flush of colour is perfect, it looks like your own lip colour but its coloured.”

Classic rouge

Clean and crisp. Apply the colour to the lips evenly. Then, with the tip of the lipstick, redraw the contours without going too far. Don’t hesitate to lift your chin a little to be more precise

“A statement red lip is a red lip with so much pay off. It’s very much about having a graphic lip. The Guerlain Rouge G Legendary Reds collection are great to try for a statement lip where you put it on and ‘boom’ you have that red lip.