During my sophomore year of college, in the midst of a marathon getting-ready session for a sorority formal, I watched my best friend Iris put on her lipstick. It looked so good on her — I immediately asked her where she got it and took a photo of the tube for later reference: Revlon’s Ultra HD Matte Lip Color. The following week, I journeyed over to Ulta to get my own, and found that the price was well within my college-student budget, so I picked up the shade HD Romance. I debuted my new lip the next day at my econ class, and I loved the coverage and how long the lip lasted. But the red hue I saw in the bottle just didn’t look the same on my skin as it did on her.
Color depends on context, and my skin tone made this color pull more fuchsia on me. It was a great lipstick, but it wasn’t my perfect lipstick. Thus my hunt for a true red — one that wasn’t pink or orange but actually red, and one that would last all day without transferring and look perfect without a lip liner — began.
What I Tried on My Journey
In my junior year, after I got a minor promotion at my retail job, I wandered over to Ulta to treat myself to something from a brand I had only seen in Jackie Aina’s YouTube videos: NARS. Jackie, my patron saint of makeup YouTubers, had raved about the brand’s products — a powerful co-sign in 2017. I first tried their Velvet Matte Lip Pencils. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of red shades they had, and after careful consideration decided to take home Mysterious Red, a deep crimson color. I wore the lipstick to my next shift; I thought it looked so striking against my all-black uniform. I loved the pencil applicator, and the formula was creamy and light while still being matte. While the application was a dream, the color was not the true red that I had been pining for, and after a day of selling Alex and Ani bracelets to moms and their teenage daughters, the lipstick smudged and transferred, leaving me looking disheveled instead of cool and powerful as I had hoped.
After having tested two lipsticks with no luck, I thought it was time to turn to the master of color cosmetics, Pat McGrath. I picked up the MatteTrance lipstick in Elson 2 from my local Sephora, a color her website describes as “the perfect red.” It was the most I had ever spent on a singular lipstick, but what was money in the face of the elegance and grace this red could give me? When I got home, I raced to open the box, but upon putting on the lipstick, my excitement dwindled. It was orange! Not red. I tried to resuscitate the look with some lip liner and I achieved a passable red, but it wasn’t the effortless, no-liner-needed red I was after.
Frustrated, I turned to my favorite hive mind, my Instagram followers, who overwhelmingly recommended M.A.C’s Ruby Woo. Ruby Woo is the stuff of legends, worn by Black aunties the world over for years. I trust Black aunties with my life, so I ventured over to my closest M.A.C to buy the shade. The woman working the counter guided me through the process and helped me pick a matching lip liner. I was hesitant about the liner, but figured that I might have to compromise on that criteria in order to achieve perfection. When I went home, I carefully applied the combo. In the florescent light of my bathroom I thought my search was over and I had found my perfect red, but upon stepping out into natural light I found that the color had orange undertones. The aunties had failed me.
The One That’s the Best
For a while, I gave up on my red-lipstick search. I thought maybe this was my Odyssey, and I was destined to spend ten years finding my way to that mythical perfect red. My journey ended up being much shorter. Just one year after my failed attempt with Ruby Woo I found myself (yet again) at an Ulta, and there she was: M.A.C Dance With Me, a deep red that jumped out at me from a display of lipstick tubes at the entrance. The first swatch on the back of my hand was incredibly promising, but I had been burned before. So I used a disposable applicator to try the color on my lips and was immediately floored. The cranberry undertones were a deep enough red to ensure it actually looked like a true red against my skin. Upon further wear, I only became more enamored with it. I found that it had staying power even without a lip liner. (The trick is to use the angled applicator to apply it like lip liner first, so the color doesn’t bleed.)
Not only did it have the practical traits I was looking for, it also held a mythological well of confidence — I started putting it on before big work presentations to make me feel powerful. When I had my head shaved in my early 20s, this lipstick gave me the confidence to proudly rock my haircut, and it’s proved to be the perfect date-night lip. I’ve even topped it with gloss for a more casual look. In short, this lipstick is my ride or die.
I’ve since recommended this lipstick to everyone I know, and in my opinion, it looks great across skin tones. I haven’t used another red since I first tried this one, and I never intend to let it go. I have been carefully stockpiling tubes of it just in case M.A.C ever decides to stop making it. The search was long, but ultimately it was well worth it.
The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
