There is something so empowering about a red lip. Why do I say this? So, I used to wear “red lips” almost religiously and got called out for it by someone extremely close to me. The person said, “You know red lips make you look promiscuous and that’s why people dismiss you and don’t take you seriously.”
I was naive then and took it to heart, stopped wearing “red lips” completely, to not come across as “loud” or for wanting to be “taken seriously” and not being limited to how I look.
Also, dressing up and putting on some good makeup with my music playing in the background has always been therapy for me, my idea of “me time”. “Looking good” can make you “feel good” for a while too. Right?
Now for the very same reason, one fine day, I took out my mac ruby woo (the prettiest red lipstick), wore a black dress, did my hair and decided to “own up” to myself, the loud, bold, “too much”, unapologetic me and never turned back ever since.
We’re always going to come across people who try to tell us what to do, dim our light, try to put us in a box, tell us an idea of who we should be as a person and have a problem with our construct. Just remember, you’re never intimidating; they’re intimidated. You come across as “loud” because they’re scared of women like you — who knows her worth and owns up to herself, everything that she is or will be.
Isn’t that what real empowerment feels like — being free, comfortable in your own skin? There is something so liberating about being yourself — just shut all the noise around you and be authentic to yourself.
The journey of self-acceptance and “finding myself” did start with something as simple as me wearing red lipstick. So it has a lot of significance in my life. Whenever I’m on the down-low or not feeling myself, I wear my red lipstick, look myself in the mirror and remind myself of the journey I’ve had and maybe pat myself on the back, saying, “Hey, hang tight, you got this.”
To my lovely ladies out there, whoever is trying to dim your shine or put you in a box, my advice to you would be to wear red lipstick so blinding that the people who shame you can’t even look you in the eye and own up to your gorgeous self.