Nana's tips for red lips

She's got that red lip classic thing that you like.

When you think of red lipstick, you might picture Marilyn Monroe, whose makeup artist famously applied five different shades to achieve her signature candy apple hue. Or maybe red lipstick makes you think of Taylor Swift, who’s remained loyal to the color throughout all of her many eras (the line “I got that red lip classic thing that you like” comes from her 2014 song “Style”). For me, red lipstick always has and always will remind me not of Marilyn or Taylor, but instead of a celebrity in my own life: my grandmother—my Nana—Elaine.

Red lipstick has always been a part of Nana. To this day, she wears a red lip everywhere she goes—even the gym.

Yesterday, Nana turned 88. In all of those years, she’s learned a thing or two about how best to apply red lipstick, so in honor of her birthday, I’ve compiled Nana’s top eight tips for perfect red lips.

1. Don’t even think about slapping on a swipe of lipstick and calling it a day. Follow Nana’s five-step routine: base, powder, liner, lipstick, reapply lipstick.

2. For base, Nana likes Guerlain’s KissKiss Liplift Lipstick Primer. “Put it on sparingly,” she told me, “sparingly!” Just a dab on top and bottom, enough so that you know it’s there, but not so much that it turns your lips beige.

3. Powder, according to Nana, is an integral yet often overlooked step of lipstick application; the powder helps the color stick to your lips and stay there. “You must powder your lips before the lipstick,” Nana said, emphasis on the must. Any kind of loose face powder will do; simply dust a little across your lips with a brush.

Nana was here.