How To Darken Red Lipstick? 3 Easy Ways

Imagine this crisis scenario.

You are running behind schedule while getting ready in the morning and you can’t find your lucky, dark red lipstick. What in the world do you do?! Should you cancel? Should you call in sick?!

That brings us to the important question: How To Darken Red Lipstick

Amazing news!

Simply grab whatever lipstick you can find, apply it to the back of your hand and blend it with another color. Voila. 

You are never stuck with the color of your lipstick 

You are not even restricted by the number of lipsticks you own.

Let’s say you only possess one single red lipstick- you can get as many shades of red from that one lipstick as your heart can imagine and your fingers can build!

All it takes is a willingness to try and the assistance of some of your other makeup to mix colors with. 

Feel free to add pixie dust too, if you have it. 

But really, this is one of the easiest makeup hacks that exist.

How To Darken Red Lipstick?

There are endless choices of red lipstick. But what about if you don’t want to buy a new lipstick, however the shade you have at home is too light. Well, there are 3 easy ways to change the color of your lipstick and make red lipstick darker. You can either mix the lipstick with eyeliner, with eyeshadow or with a different color of lipstick or lipliner. Just start exploring all the options. 

What Are The Three Best Ways to Darken Red Lipstick?

1. Mix your lipstick with your eyeliner.

How do you fix things when you have just been gifted the absolute perfect red romper, but none of your collection of playful lip shades quite matches your adorable outfit?

Find the closest shade of lipstick to what you are looking for – or find the lightest shade of lipstick – to start with.

Apply whichever makeup is the lightest first (most likely the lipstick, not the eyeliner) to a palette or to the back of your hand.

Even straight onto your lips will work well if you’re feeling brazen or in a crazy hurry. 

Then keep applying the darker shade in small quantities until you have created the color you are looking for. 

But do remember that color-mixing is much like cooking- it is far easier to add than it is to take away. So adding in controllable little amounts is key. 

2. Mix your lipstick with your eyeshadow.

Where do you turn if you are obsessed with MAC’s newest collection of autumnal lip bling, but your significant other has put a spending freeze on all makeup because “you already have more than you use”?

Use the same method as with your eyeliner, but with eyeshadow.

Eyeshadow can provide even more versatility because we usually have much more of it and it often comes in more colors than traditional lipstick does.

3. Mix your lipstick with other lipsticks and/or lip liners.

Should you throw away those forgotten lip paints that spring cleaning just unearthed from the back of the drawer, even though they are not too old, they just need revitalizing? 

It is up to you, of course. But you certainly do not have to toss them out just yet if they are still good.

When lipsticks expire, then yes definitely use that garbage can the way its creators intended it to be used.. 

Otherwise, get out your DIY skills and meltdown or chop up the colors you do not want anymore to make yourself some brand new ones.

When Do Lipsticks Expire?

Unfortunately, even our sexiest rose-red lip plumpers do have to leave us eventually.

And adding insult to injury, they do not come with a handy expiration date the way food does so we have to remember when to show them the proverbial door.

The traditional life of lipstick is about two years from the first time you used it.

The exception to that is if you get sick, those germs stay on your lipstick. So you do not want to hold on to it. Replace that lipstick immediately if you were ill and applied it. 

In case you can’t even approximate when you got the makeup in question, you can look for it to start smelling like fowl crayons or getting difficult to apply, and then you will know it is time to let go.

Any changes in color, smell, or texture are a sure sign. 

What Colors Can You Mix With Red Lipstick?

The most truthful answer is all of them! 

Mix whatever colors you feel like! Celebrate whatever brings joy to your face!

If you are looking to neutralize a bright red in order to then make it darker and more va-va-voom, a green can take that edge right out.

If you’re looking to add a little spice to a bright red so it can complement a darker orange, or you have an icy pink or a blue-ish purple you are struggling with, adding some yellow will do the job well.

If you apply a new color that you liked at the store but now it feels too warm and rich for your mood today, go ahead and throw some blue over it.

For a little more color wheel fun, check out some of the basic, online color-mixing guides (yes they are pretty much all designed for painting and stuff, but they are great for this too if you want more ideas and info). 

Mostly, be brave and channel your inner five-year-old that just wants to blob paints together all day. Except unlike a five-year-old, you are encouraged to smear your creations all over your face, of course. 

Are There Specific Tricks to Making Your Red Lipstick Look Better?

As long as you feel comfortable, others will see you as beautiful. So find what makes you feel good about your red lipstick. That’s the primary key and only you can find it.

You can certainly mix your lipstick with lip gloss or chapstick to make it deeper or to lighten the starkness of a dark red without changing its color at all.

The sky is the limit!

(Well, I guess your skin and your lips are the limit. But in a good way. They will help you find what works for you and what doesn’t!)

So the next time your favorite makeup brand discontinues your signature lip color, never fear. You can make like Picasso and mix as much paint for yourself as you want!