Red lips should be egalitarian - everyone should be able to wear them, flaunt them, and most of all, enjoy them when they want to. One of my past blog posts featured my favourite luxury red lipsticks and in this post I am sharing the other end of the spectrum in terms of my budget. These are my favourite ‘drugstore’ reds - by which I mean super-affordable reds (whether they are available at your local drugstore or on Amazon). You can find a detailed ode to the red lip in my past blog post where I harp on endlessly (though hopefully not needlessly) about the magic of a red lipstick. In short, I think the red lip is for women, by women, and entirely about women - has basically nothing to do with men. We wear them for ourselves, for confidence, for courage, in celebration, in anticipation, in defiance, in surrender, in joy, and sometimes even in sadness when we want to feel just a little bit better. Most of all, and recognizing that the red lip has been interpreted in a multitude of different (and some not so good) ways through history, as we stand on the eve of 2021, I hope that the woman who wears a red lip is a woman who has decided that she will be whoever she wants to be - and that this decision is hers; and in doing so empowers everyone around her just a little bit more.

These ‘drugstore’ red lipsticks are for me, one of those finds that I am probably most proud of. The reason I say this is because I find that many drugstore mattes don’t perform as well as slightly higher-end or even medium-tier matte lipsticks (though I include a few semi-mattes and a non-matte in this post too!). The formula tends to be less opaque, is not always true to color when applied to my slightly pigmented lips, and the matte is never a truly glorious matte’s matte. And the times when it is, it is usually in the form of liquid lipsticks that are really dry and cakey, and eventually pill on my lips. So to find a proper red matte lipstick that can stand up to its medium and high end counterparts is not an easy feat. This list is of those red lipsticks that have somehow done it, rivalling the pricier lippies at an unbelievable price point. They perform better than many luxury, super expensive lipsticks I own, and tower over all of them in terms of their value for money. If I tried all of the red lipsticks I own - and I own a lot - without knowing what brands they were, most of these would probably still make it into the top twenty - they are that good.

Now, we all know that wearing a red lip is not the easiest thing to do under a mask aka. essential accessory of 2020. But I find that matte reds fare much better than non-mattes in this case and for someone who in any case prefers matte red lipsticks, that works just fine. Will my red lips leave some sort of stain on my mask? No doubt. But overall, I found that with most matte reds, there was little to no smudging on and around my lips as long as I was careful.

So if you want a red lip that performs like a high-end formula (and sometimes better than quite a few of those formulas) but doesn’t leave you bankrupt, I’d say run don’t walk - these are all the real deal.

Topshop Matte Lipstick in Rio Rio and Distort - £9.00

While a little hard to find and usually out of stock, if you can get your hands on these, this is a bomb formula. Super matte, super opaque, and surprisingly comfortable to wear. I have it in the colors Distort, Rio Rio, and a third shade whose label has worn off so I can’t tell what it’s called (but you can see the swatches of all three below!). Distort is a true red with just the hint of cooler, pinkier undertones; Rio Rio is just about the most perfect warm, orange based red you will find in any market - low-end or high-end; and the third unnamed shade is a bright, slightly dark orange that is one of the best oranges in my collection of orange lippies. The formula is comparable to the Nars matte lipsticks. Like I said, a little harder to find, but if you can catch them in the occasional Topshop restock or on ebay/amazon, grab them!

Zara - Ultimatte in UM15 and UM16 - $12.90

A few years ago, Zara launched a makeup line. I am a big Zara fan and Zara is probably the only high street retailer I have consistently shopped and have been loyal to from when I was a teenager all the way to now in my thirties. While I didn’t sample everything in their makeup line, I grabbed the matte lipsticks that were launched in their collection almost immediately and can I just say, was blown away by the formula. They launched these mattes in two formulas - a traditional lipstick-in-a-bullet form and a liquid lipstick in a tube with a doe-foot applicator. The liquid lipstick I have here appears to now be unavilable on their website but it is one of the most comfortable, opaque, bright tomato red liquid lipstick I own with a velvet-like finish (in case it ever comes back in stock!). The other two colors I own and love are in traditional bullets - Zara Ultimatte UM15 and UM16 and they are still very much in stock on the Zara website. This is a soft, creamy, almost powder-y matte formula that is still fully opaque, pigmented, dries completely matte, and applies extremely comfortably on the lips. UM15 and UM16 are very similar shades of true reds with UM15 slightly cooler, and UM16 slightly warmer. These are comparable in formula to the new Gucci mattes. What can I say - clearly, Zara can do no wrong.

L’oreal - Colour Riche Matte Lipstick - $9.99

One of the few non-matte options in this list, the Revlon Super Lustrous lipsticks in these two shades - Fire and Ice and Certainly Red - are again, cult classics. Fire and Ice is a shade with quite a history which I won’t delve into here and is a bright, warm-toned red with a hint of orange in it. Certainly Red is a true red with a cooler undertone. The formula of these lipsticks is creamy, with a medium-level sheen on the lips, and though not fully opaque in one swipe on my lips, can be built up easily. At $6.99, these are a steal and their formula is a little like Rodin’s.

Maybelline - Color Sensational Vivid Matte Liquid Lipstick ($6.99) and Superstay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick ($9.49)

Though you can find liquid lipsticks increasingly more readily at ‘drugstores’ or at more affordable price points, I find that many of them dry really flat and feel uncomfortable and tight on my lips. Moreover, over the course of the day, it’s as if every inch of hydration has been sucked out of my already not-so-voluptuous mouth leaving me feeling a little more deprived in the lip department. These Maybelline offerings are anything but. The Vivid Matte Liquid Lipsticks are a soft, creamy matte formula that dries semi-matte and never sucks the life out of my lips. I have these in two colors - 35 Rebel Red, and 30 - both very similar, very bright, orange-based reds with 30 being a tad more orange than 35 Rebel Red. The SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick is a thinner, more watery formula that applies in a thin wash on the lips and dries to a proper matte finish. The consistency is a little like the Nars Powermatte liquid lipsticks though the Revlon ones are less opaque, require building up, and can sometimes pill. However, this color in the Matte Ink formula - 25 Heroine - is a super bright tomato red that is one of the brightest colors I have in my collection!

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet 08 and 03 ($10), Sephora #Lipstories Lipstick in Take a Bite($9), NYX Matte Lipstick in 10 ($6)

Finally, three honorable mentions go to these three offerings from Bourjois, Sephora, and Nyx. The Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet is a semi-opaque, slightly thick liquid lipstick that applies more like a velvety stain on my lips. The formula feels very mousse-like and once applied, has a soft-focus, matte appearance. I love the colors 08 and 03 - 08 is a deep, berry red and 03 is a bright tomato red. The sephora #Lipstories in 35 Take a Bite is a muted red with a powdery matte formula that applies very comfortably. It isn’t as bright as some of my other reds and needs to be built up for full opacity but the packaging is probably the cutest of the bunch. The NYX Matte Lipstick formula is one of my favourites and one of my very first red lipstick loves. The color I have is 10 Perfect Red which a slightly dark, almost cherry red. The formula is matte and opaque, nicely pigmented, with just a touch of sheen.

Swatches

This is it - my curation of ‘drugstore’ aka. super-affordable red lip options that perform as well as and sometimes better than quite a few medium to high-end red lippies in the market. So swipe on a red no matter what your budget is and get ready to face 2021!