Jamie McCarthy/FilmMagicWith her signature twist on classic styling firmly in place, Janelle Monáe hit the red carpet at last night's Met Gala as only she could: Dramatic cape? Check. Black-and-white color scheme? Check. Pompadour? Check. But it's with makeup that the singer introduced a variation on her signature look.
Instead of going with the graphic and kicky cat-eye that Monáe often wears—a look that was worn by several stars at the Chinese-themed event, including Dakota Johnson and Lorde—the singer called all attention to her kisser by rocking an ultra-suede red lip. And it spoke volumes.
To create a look with just as much depth, start by filling in the entire lip with a matte lip liner. Next, layer a red matte lipstick shade in a hue one step deeper onto the lips; blot the lips with a tissue dusted with translucent powder, then add a final lipstick layer on top. Because the look shows so much dimension, it's best to keep eyes simple, like Janelle did with brown shadows, tightlined eyeliner and clean mascara.
It's the perfect way to bring the drama while creating a true-to-self style statement.