Winter seems to be the season when everyone busts out a red lip. It was around Christmas (several years ago) when I finally got comfortable wearing red lips and I’ve not looked back. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favourites, with a bit of variety amongst the shades… but rest assured… these are all *red*.

All of the products listed in this post are readily accessible products (none of them are limited edition), so you should be able to find them if there’s something that draws you in.

The red that started it all – MAC‘s famous Russian Red! This was the first red lipstick I picked up, and it’s almost ruined me for all other reds! It’s matte, so it stays put without me having to worry about it too much, which is one of my chief concerns with bright or dark lip colours.

I’m wearing this without a lip liner here, but I usually pair Russian Red with MAC‘s Brick lip pencil to clean up the edges.

And for the softer side of Sears things, if you’re not used to wearing bright colours, here is NYX‘s Butter Gloss in Cherry Pie. Since it’s semi-sheer, it’ll ease you into wearing brighter colours. Half the battle with bright colours is getting used to seeing yourself wearing them. Once you get used to it, you’ll find it’s far less stressful to wear something “different” in public.

This gloss will look good on its own, but it also pairs nicely on top of top of a red lipstick as well. Since it’s a gloss though, it doesn’t have the same lasting power as a lipstick does.

While rooting through my reds, I re-discovered Revlon‘s Romantic balm stain. This stuff looks wayyyy better on the lips than I remember it being! It has enought pigment to look like a lipstick, but it’s got a beautiful amount of shine to it as well.

Also slightly sheer, and feels really lovely on the lips. This one is one of the easier reds – you can slap this one on without thinking about it too much.

This one kills me. I picked up Wet n Wild‘s 910D/Red Velvet lipstick on a whim because I thought it was another colour and holy CRAP – this is AMAZING. It’s also a matte shade, and it packs just as much of punch of colour as MAC‘s Russian Red does, although obviously a different shade.

And it’s cheap as chips too! I think it was something ridiculous like $2.

And for those of you who want to make an even bigger impact with your lips, this may do the trick. There’s nothing subtle about Rimmel‘s Apocalips in Big Bang. It’s a liquid lipstick which means you get insane pigmentation with amazing gloss. The glossy bit does die down after an hour or two, but you’ll still be left with beautiful pigmentation.

What’s not to love about that colour!

Now, since you’re wearing a red lip, you’ve got to be careful. Use a lip primer. Use a lip liner. Check your teeth and corners of your lips whenever you go to the bathroom. (Basically… use any reflective surface to cheek your mouth out, whenever you can.) Use the “put your thumb in your mouth, lock your lips around it and pull out” method to get as much lipstick off the inner ring of your lips. I tend to stick with the “swipe my tongue over my teeth” method, but it doesn’t get always get all of the product off.

When in doubt, mattes are better at staying put than anything remotely glossy. I’ve also had surprisingly good luck with liquid lipsticks too.

The after effects of all that lip swatching. I gotta say, I think I love this mixed up shade the most!