Red....Without the Dread

Gwen Stefani rocks — in more ways than one.

Girl's got style, and as much as I love and admire her over-the-top glamor with the platinum hair and fire-engine red lips, it's just not something I — a journalist, soccer mom of three in Tucson, Ariz. — can do. On those occasions when I do a red lip, I feel like a little kid playing dress up. Plus, it's fairly high maintenance, making sure the red's not feathering or wandering onto parts of my face it shouldn't.

Even if you can't pull off straight-from-the-tube MAC Russian Red, you can rock a more natural-looking red that gives extra polish but doesn't make you feel like you're 5 and playing in your mom's makeup.

Suggestions:

• Rather than applying red straight from a tube, try dabbing it on with your pinkie. You can even use a lip brush. Both methods will give softer color that won't be so saturated and Joker-ish.

• Use a stain. TheBalm has this Stainiac potion in "Beauty Queen" ($17) that is perfect. It's just a good, natural wash of color. The Q-tip-type brush makes for easy application. Then, you can just swipe some gloss over. Easy-peasy.

• Buy yourself a tube of Medieval by Lipstick Queen ($20). My newest favorite lip product (I gushed about it here), this gives the most natural, perfect flush with a hint of glossiness. Think cherry Popsicle, but way more hydrating. A friend was lamenting her inability to do red (the inspiration for this post), and I handed her Medieval to try. She marveled at how it stayed on for so long and didn't make her feel clownish.