My Workopolis colleague, Elizabeth Bromstein, recently wrote an article about what to wear for jobs in their industry. That brought to mind an interesting question that was posted on Twitter.

The question was, “Should I wear red lipstick to an interview?” The answer, from many women who wear red lipstick on a daily basis, including myself, was a resounding “No.”

Thanks to shows like Mad Men and a resurgence in vintage style, red lipstick has once again become popular. Unfortunately, it still has sexy connotations that might not be appropriate to wear to an interview.

Human Resources expert Sarah Paul admitted that she had never thought about the question of wearing red lipstick.

She says, “My instinct is to say that you should not wear anything to an interview that will distract. That could be anything from a short skirt, to loud jewellery, strong cologne, perfume or red lipstick. I guess the key here is distracting, in that it will elicit attention away from the discussion or interview and focus too much on appearance.”

So what to wear to an interview? A soft pink or a shade just darker than your lip colour is a good compromise. If you do want to wear a darker lipstick, instead of applying it straight from the tube, try applying it with a brush for a lighter application.

The general Twitter consensus was that while it’s good to reflect a bit of your personality in interviews, red lipstick might be a bit too much. One suggestion was to wait until she got the job, then wear red lipstick to the office.