7 Greatest Lipsticks Ever—and 3 That Didn't Work Out

Plus: what the heck is my skin's undertone (and does it even matter?)

Sep 11, 2023

Lisa Eldridge, where have you been my whole life? Ribbon, Muse, and Dragon

I’ve been a lip color fanatic since my high school years. I liked how the darker rose-brown shades of the ’90s gave my Winnie Cooper vibes a bit more edge. Today, my trick to looking instantly pulled together (say, for a Zoom call) is lipstick and earrings. I could be wearing a wrinkled T-shirt and leggings and it’s like, oh, at least she made some effort. MOTHER is MOTHERING more than mother is actually mothering, if you get what I mean.

But like most things, my enthusiasm for lipstick has had its ups and downs. I think a lot of it had to do with the terribly drying matte liquid lipsticks that were so ubiquitous a few years ago. I got so fed up with having dry, flaky, cracked lips that I switched almost exclusively to glosses and tinted balms for a while.

READ: My favorite sunscreens and a word on dark spots, my old enemy

Thankfully, there’s been a lot of improvement in recent years. So I’m officially back on the lipstick train. I did a big ol’ test so I could share with you my absolute favorites:

A peek at testing, after I had whittled down the list

Violette Petal Bouche Matte in Coeur Infidele

This Violette has become such a recognizable shade. IYKYK, right?

Violette (the human) is the epitome of French cool. So it’s no surprise that her eponymous makeup line is so dreamy. I appreciate that her liquid lipstick only comes in two shades, a fierce red and a surprisingly versatile bold pink. I mean, if you have two winners in your stable, why mess around with too many options, right? I’d normally choose red over pink but the deeply sexy Coeur Infidele really made me a believer.

Buy Violette Coeur Infidele here

Haus Labs Le Monster Lip Crayon in Rose Matte

One of my most-used products. It’s just so darn easy to use

Not all of the Haus Labs lip products have been keepers for me (see below) but I’m absolutely obsessed with this lip crayon. In fact, it’s become the most-used lip color in my bag lately. First of all, the actual crayon itself is so cute and looks like a pen. The creamy formula goes on smooth and easily. The retractable crayon is the perfect size—not too chunky but not too thin—with a slight point for more precise application. I find the doe-foot applicator of certain liquid lipsticks to be really difficult to use. If you’ve ever tried to apply a bold color with one of those, you know, it’s easy for things to get very Joker-looking quickly.

Buy Haus Labs lip crayon here

READ: Out, Damned Dark Spots: How I Finally Faded My Hyperpigmentation

Lisa Eldridge Velveteen Liquid Lip Colour

lisa eldridge liquid lipstick shades — Favorite shades, from left to right: Muse, Ribbon and Dragon

This has been a new discovery for me and I realized I had been sleeping on Lisa Eldridge as a brand. This is now my favorite liquid lipstick. It feels odd to call a successful brand underrated but it is! Bareminerals’ liquid lip was my go-to liquid lip for a long time but after I got these a month ago, I was blown away by the very chic shade range (my faves are Muse, Ribbon and Dragon) and the incredible texture and wearability. Other liquid lip formulas can feel sticky or heavy, or in the best cases, they can feel mousse-like. The Lisa Eldridge formula is more mousse-like but ultra-weightless and smooth. It spreads so easily, making application a breeze. And the matte doesn’t feel dry. I wore Muse to an event yesterday and after six hours, it did start to dry a bit on the inner corners but my lips would do that normally without any product too.

Buy Lisa Eldridge Velveteen here

Patrick Ta Major Headlines Lip Crayon in That’s Why She’s Late

Yes, this is an excellent lip liner but I love it because it’s so much more than that. As a makeup artist, Patrick knows that sometimes you want to use your lip liner all over, not just around the perimeter. The usual skinny pencils and hard formulas just don’t cut it. So he made the shape of his flat and rectangular so it covers more surface area and the formula is creamy with lots of staying power.

Buy Patrick Ta lip crayon here

Etude Fixing Tint in Soft Walnut

A good in-between option if you don’t want the heaviness of a matte lip or the shine of a gloss is a lip tint. Lip stains have been popular here for a while but Asian lip tints are slightly different. They’re a slightly creamier texture than the old-school stains. They go on pretty matte and weightless but feel cool and almost water-like. And they really last. Look at any of the Korean makeup sites and you’ll see some cool techniques for how to create the popular blurry, gradient look. For everyday wear, I like to apply then run a clean finger over my lips to lightly smudge it and remove excess to mattify the look.

Buy Etude lip tint here

Lip Lab Custom Lipstick in ‘90s Nude

Bite Beauty stopped producing products for retail and rebranded as Lip Lab, an in-store space where you can create your own custom lipsticks, balms and glosses. One just opened up near me this year and I’ve been back twice. I have a ton of lip colors already but I still hadn’t found the perfect brown-rose of my ’90s memories so I made it! It look about three tries, mixing and smooshing colors but we got it. If you’re interested in buying my shade, it’s custom-made and $40. You can message me here and I can set up a purchase for you!

READ: 30 Best Beauty Products Under $30

A word about lip gloss…

If it were just about appearance, I prefer a matte look over high shine. But gloss is just so comfortable for dry lip folks like me. Realistically, I spend more hours a week wearing lip gloss or balm still and there are so many great ones. It’s tough to choose a favorite. I have so many variations on the rose-nude that I wear on the regular and it really just depends on which one my hand touches first.

Wander Beauty Lip Retreat Lip Oil in Tan Lines, Jones Road Cool Gloss in Nude Beige, and Live Tinted Huegloss in Proud

Tower 28 ShineOn Lip Jelly in Sesame

If someone were forcing me to choose, this gloss would be at the top of the heap this week. This Tower 28 shade adds a solid punch of milky color and the formula is so gorgeously hydrating. Also, I’m a sucker for any product with “jelly” in the name.

Buy Tower28 lip jelly here

I earn a small amount of affiliate revenue from any of the products you buy on this page.

Finding flattering shades: does your skin’s undertone matter?

In Korean and Japanese beauty, there’s more discussion about warm and cool undertones than I’ve seen here in the U.S. When I was in middle school, a friend had a makeup pro come during her birthday party to tell us whether we were a winter or a summer (I can’t for the life of me remember what I was). But that seemed to be a passing fad. I buy into the concept…to a point. For example, if you look better in gold jewelry, you’re likely warm. Silver? You’re cool. I do gravitate toward gold and brown-nude shades of eyeshadow and look washed-out wearing some cool purples and blues.

The typical method for assessing your undertone is to look at your veins. If they’re green, you’re warm. If they’re blue, you’re cool. If they’re bluish-green, you’re neutral. I think I’m neutral. What do you think?

But my motto for most things holds true for this too: there are no rules. Your undertone can help steer you but don’t restrict yourself. Makeup is meant to be fun and wearing a surprising color can sometimes, well…surprise you.

And lastly, 3 products that sadly didn’t work for me

Haus Labs Atomic Shake Lip Lacquer

I’m sorry, Gaga. I adore the lip crayon, as I mentioned, but this mega shiny lacquer felt heavy and smelled like paint.

Lisa Eldridge Velveteen Liquid Lip Colour in Rain

I wish I could say that every shade in this line worked for me but this pink was too light and bright for me. It just looked off. I suspect it would look lovely on someone with a lighter skin tone.

And…whatever this is

I can’t blame this Fenty formula. Trying this shade was pure user error. (And actually, these Mattemoiselle lippies are discontinued now. Apologies to the goth community.)

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