Allure Names MAC Ruby Woo Best Red Lipstick of the Year

MAC's Ruby Woo, at $25, tops Allure's new list of the 11 best red lipsticks — and it is not a surprise. The shade is a repeat Allure Best of Beauty and Readers' Choice Award winner, and the magazine calls it "the industry's gold standard." Marking MAC's 40th anniversary, the updated Macximal Silky Matte 12HR Wear Lipstick keeps the blue-red shade but adds coconut oil, organic shea butter and organic cocoa butter for comfort. It delivers full coverage in one swipe and sets to a silky matte. The line carries five reds: Ruby Woo, Russian Red, Lady Danger, Diva and Sin.

Allure editors and makeup artists tested reds in every finish, from sheer balms to longwear liquids, judging ingredients and efficacy, packaging, fragrance, texture and wear.

Which reds made the cut?

• Best Buildable: M.ph Lip Ciggy Sheer Lipstick Balm in Lose My Breath, $26 — hyaluronic acid and squalane, high shine, three reds.
• Best Cream Lipstick: Dear Dahlia Lip Paradise Sensual Lip Glow in Chloe, $32 — 2026 Best of Beauty winner with Dahlia variabilis flower extract, shea butter and five plant oils.
• Best Drugstore: Maybelline New York Serum Lipstick in Wild Card, $10 — a 2026 Best of Beauty winner blending hyaluronic acid with marula, moringa, avocado, soybean, sunflower and jojoba oils; three reds (Open Late, Blind Date, Wild Card).
• Best Liquid Lipstick: Maed Signature Lip Pigment Matte Liquid Lipstick in Ritual Red, $36 — cherry coffee seed oil, tucuma butter and jojoba esters.
• Best Blurring Matte: Hung Vanngo Creamy Matte Longwear Lipstick in New York Red, $29 — a 2026 award winner with sodium hyaluronate and vitamin E; four reds.
• Best Luminous Matte: Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Hydrating Lipstick in Hollywood Vixen, $37 — Bixa orellana extract, vitamin E, "3D glowing pigments"; five reds.
• Best Range of Reds: Poundcake Cake Batter Liquid Lipstick in Red Velvet, $24 — a two-time Best of Beauty winner with avocado oil and vitamin E.
• Best Precise Application: Tom Ford Runway Lip Stylo Matte Lipstick in Scarlet Rouge — slim tip, chamomile flower oil, glossy finish.
• Best for Beginners: Nars Powermatte Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl — up to 12 hours of wear, doubles as a liner.

What do the testers say?

Content director Sophia Panych said the $10 Maybelline "looks and feels like a lipstick five times the price," though it is not transfer-proof. Commerce editor Sarah Han called the Maed pigment close to a lip tint in comfort, praising its unusual tapered applicator. Managing editor Alessandra Foresto said the Dear Dahlia formula ended her search for "a true red lipstick that doesn't make my lips flaky and cracked by the end of the day."

How do you pick the right red?

"The right red is the one that makes you feel good," Los Angeles makeup artist Fiona Stiles told Allure. New York artist Diane Kendal recommends blue-undertoned reds for cool, fair-to-medium skin, orange-reds for warm and olive tones, and pink-heavy reds for deeper skin. West Palm Beach artist Tim Quinn named Ruby Woo's "crisp blue-red" as beautiful across a wide range of skin tones. Phoenix artist Jalia Pettis relies on The Lip Bar and Charlotte Tilbury.

For longevity, New York artist Peter Phillips advises prepping lips with a scrub, patting on balm, then dusting setting powder over finished lipstick: "Close your mouth, smile, and then dust a little face powder on your lips with a fluffy brush."

The pattern across the winners is clear: comfort formulas, not just color payoff, now decide which reds survive in an editor's makeup bag.