Earlier this week I went over to Christy’s place to do her makeup for the premier of the all-star cast film called ‘Friends With Kids’, featuring her husband, Ed Burns. The last few times I’ve done her makeup we’ve gone with bronze skin and nude lips. Not this time.

Christy’s involvement with all things supporting the advancement of the status of women around the world – particularly through her organization Every Mother Counts (EMC) – is really inspiring to me. We discussed her upcoming trip to India with EMC, the seriously amazing list of singers who’ll be lending their voices to EMC’s newest benefit CD, and when we were deciding which outfit she would be wearing to the premier (I love this navy dress by Stella McCartney that she chose), we started discussing my blog, and tweeting, and Christy (a twitter expert) asked if I’d heard of ‘Rock the Lips‘, a group of women who came together to help empower women all over the world to help each other through the offering of micro loans. I was excited to hear about their mission as well as their suggestion that on International Women’s Day (which is March 8th), all women ‘rock a red lip’ in solidarity. We decided to honor IWD – and this exciting program – a few days early.

I didn’t have my entire lipstick kit with me (you wouldn’t believe how heavy a bag of 50 or 60 lipsticks can be!), but I knew I had a number of my favorite reds. After Christy settled on the dress, I knew the lip that would look the best would have a crisp edge, be as intensely pigmented as possible, and have a slight emollience to it. A well-hydrated, lightly exfoliated lip is of utmost importance when it’s going to be painted a pretty red. I was not the least bit surprised to find Christy’s in perfect condition.  Applying the color in layers and with different textured products, really keeps the lip looking good longer (my grandmother taught me this). The order of the products I used is just as important as the products themselves.

Here we go:

• I hydrated with a very small amount of Dr Haushka’s lip balm from the pot. I pressed the balm into her lips with my fingers and then had her lightly kiss a tissue to remove any excess.
• I filled in her entire lip with Josie Maran’s Magic Marker Lip and Cheek Stain in Flamenco – an intense cherry red
• I outlined her lips with MAC lipliner in Brick and lightly filled in the rest of her lips with the liner and then had her press her lips together a few times to really mash in the color
• I finished the look with Dolce and Gabbana’s moisturizing lipstick in Incognito, which has a hint of orange. I often apply lipsticks with my finger for a softer look, but instead I used a lip brush for a more precise and dense application, full of luster.

Here’s a pic that Vogue.com ran from the after-party. (Ed is much cuter in person than in this picture. Christy, however, looks incredible.)