The Anatomy of a Parisian Red

Every house has a red. Ours took four years, and the argument was never about the colour.

Undertone before shade

A red reads warm or cool long before anyone registers how dark it is. Hold a blue-based red against skin with a golden cast and the skin looks grey. Hold a brick red against a cool complexion and the lip looks bruised. The shade name is almost irrelevant; the undertone decides everything.

The three reds worth owning

One blue-based red for evening. One brick or terracotta for daylight. One deepened red — a grenat or a cassis — for the months when the light goes early. Between them they cover a life.

Finish changes the shade

The same pigment in a matte base reads two shades deeper than in a satin. If a red feels too strong, the answer is rarely a lighter colour. It is usually a softer finish, or a lighter hand.

Try each of them against your own face in the studio before you decide. A red on paper tells you nothing.