Wearing red lipstick is an instant mood booster and gets you noticed! But finding the right red lipstick can be intimidating.

When choosing a red lipstick, you need to take into account 3 things: color, texture, and opacity. If possible try on a few and determine what makes you feel best, but keep these following tips in mind.

Top 10 Red Lipsticks

Blue reds look best on pale skin
Neutral reds look good on most skin tones
Orange based reds look better on tanned or darker skin
Brick and deeper reds and burgundies look good on medium skins
Darker and brighter pink based reds look great on pale to medium skins

Once you have the tone you want in your mind you can go about finding several variations in texture and opacity to suit every mood. Matte and full coverage lipsticks look sophisticated and sexy but can be applied with a finger to sheer them out and make them more of a stain, sheer lipsticks tend to be glossier and more youthful looking, and red glosses have more of a sexy vibe. Experiment with what you think suits your look best and don’t be afraid to try a lot of different reds before settling on one, or several.

I have several favorite red lipsticks that I have come across in my years of testing. Here are my top ten.

best red lipsticks