Ask Kate: What color lipstick do you wear with a red dress?

It’s hard to know what color lipstick to choose when you are wearing a red dress. Do you try to match it? Do you skip lipstick altogether?

My suggestion is to go for something in the “nude” family, or perhaps something with a touch of brown in it. In general you want to avoid anything with a purple hue to it, or anything that competes with the color of the dress.

In some cases I think it can look really great to wear a bold lip with a red dress, but if you want a fool-proof option, look for a soft, flattering nude with some shine in the finish.

The quickest and easiest lip color option would be lining your lips in a color that matches your lip color closely, and topping that with a sheer gloss.

Here are some pretty barely there, pale shades:

Fenty Beauty Slip Shine in Makeout Break – I’m wearing this in these photos and it’s very comfortable to wear.

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Honey – honestly, any of these colors are so easy to wear. I love these!

NYX Butter Gloss in Creme Brulee – I used this gloss for these images as well, it’s very understated.

Revlon Lip Plumping Creme in Nude Honey – This looks like a really easy to wear honey shade.

I used Charlotte Tilbury Lipliner in Pillow Talk for my lip liner, and applied Fenty Beauty Makeout Break all over my lips. I topped it with a bit of the NYX Butter Gloss in Creme Brûlée just for some extra shine.

My dress is from GoodThreads by Amazon, and I styled the rest of this look with these Sam Edelman sneakers and this blue Tory Burch bag.