The best lipsticks you can buy

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The Insider Pick:

• After your eyes, your lips are probably the most expressive part of your face, and they stay busy all day long – emoting, eating, talking, kissing – so it’s no surprise that most women like to attract a bit of attention to their lips with lipstick. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better creamy, satiny lipstick than L’Oréal Colour Riche Lipcolour.

The perfect shade of lipstick can perk up your entire face, making you look younger, more awake, and healthier. For many women, going out without first slicking on a touch of lipstick would be like going naked.

Lip color is not a new concept, however. Women have been tinting their lips since ancient times. Ingredients of those long-ago cosmetics included pulverized gemstones, red color extracted from ground carmine beetles, iridescence from fish scales, and colored seaweed. Eventually, the ingredients we might find objectionable now gave way to more current preferences. By the Renaissance, lip color was largely a blend of beeswax and red plant dyes, though the red coloring extracted from the carmine beetle is used to this day in a range of products including cosmetics, food, and ink.

Perhaps because of that, dark red was just about the only color of lipstick available until the 1930s, when Elizabeth Arden started offering a range of shades. In today’s world, of course, there are thousands of lip colors available and hundreds of brands on the market. You can choose from textures ranging from sheer and shiny to opaque and matte, and everything in between. It might seem overwhelming to pick a lip color when standing in front of the massive displays found in any drugstore, department store, or beauty website, but that’s where we come in.

We’ve done the homework for you by checking out top women’s websites, listening to feedback from actual owners of a huge range of lipsticks, and trying products ourselves to bring you our five favorite picks. Of course, when it comes right down to it, the “best” lipstick is the one you like the most.

Still, if you’re in the market for a new lipstick — and let’s face it, if you’re like most women (or at least, like me) you’re always looking for that greatest-ever-can’t-live-without-it lip product — look over our five picks. We think you’re going to like them as much as we do.  

Although L’Oréal Colour Riche Lipcolour is our top pick, for various reasons laid out in the slides below, you should also consider the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, the Revlon Kiss Balm, the Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick, and the Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmers.

The best lipstick overall

L'Oreal

Why you'll love it: Creamy coverage that keeps your lips moist, a selection of colors that’ll knock your socks off, and a bargain price of less than $10 – what’s not to love about L’Oréal’s Colour Riche Lipcolour line?

Whether you love to go nude, crave the boldest and brightest, or prefer a more sedate mid-tone, there’s a shade of L’Oréal Colour Riche lipstick that has you covered. Creamy and moisturizing, these lipsticks provide luxuriously rich color, while pampering your pout with Vitamin E and Argan oil for smooth, soft, kissable lips.

Think L’Oréal only knows the aisles of the drugstore, and couldn’t possibly create a lipstick that’s every bit as good as far more expensive brands? Then think again, because French cosmetics giant L’Oréal (it’s the largest beauty-product company in the world) actually owns quite a few of those expensive brands, as well as a large portion of the less-expensive drugstore lines.

L’Oréal is the proud owner of Lancôme, Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent, Shu Uemura, Giorgio Armani, Kiehl’s, The Body Shop, Urban Decay, Maybelline, NYX Cosmetics, Essie, La Roche Posay, and Dermablend along with many other makeup, skincare, and haircare lines, so they know a thing or two about creating high-quality lipstick.

Give these lipsticks a try, and you’ll likely agree that the Colour Riche lipsticks are just as creamy, richly colored, and moisturizing as any of the far-more-expensive products under the L’Oréal umbrella.

The Colour Riche line has more than 40 colors, all with a creamy satin finish. While this is not specifically a long-lasting lipstick, your lips will still be looking good long after your morning application of color. And the gold case has an expensive, sophisticated appearance as well, adding to your allure whenever it’s time for a touch-up.

Ulta customers love Colour Riche. It has more than 1,100 reviews on the site and an average of 4.3 stars. Buyers gush about how soft their lips feel after wearing this lipstick, and about the great selection of colors. In fact, the hardest part might be narrowing it down to your favorite shade.

Pros: Inexpensive, great selection of colors, moisturizing and creamy feel, good staying power

Cons: This line does have a fairly heavy fragrance

Buy L’Oréal Colour Riche Lipcolour at Ulta for $8.99

Buy L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipcolour from Target for $8.99

The best matte lipstick

NARS

Why you'll love it:  The NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil gives you rich, vivid, perfectly matte lip color with the ease of pencil application.

Matte lipstick is currently riding high in the popularity polls, but if you are a fan of this bold look, you’re probably familiar with the dry, coated-feeling lips that often accompany this type of lipstick. Luckily, desert-dry lips won’t be a problem with NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil. In fact, it’s enriched with Vitamin E and other moisturizers to keep your pout feeling just as good as it looks.

The ease of pencil application is another huge plus for this product. You don’t even need a makeup mirror for a quick touch-up after lunch. On the downside, however, you’ll need a lip pencil sharpener, because this isn’t a twist-up lip pencil.

That hasn’t stopped the cult following of this velvety matte lip color, however. Total Beauty chose it as one of the top matte lipsticks, praising it for its smooth application, long-lasting color, and comfortable feel on the lips. Elle’s beauty editor even says that the NARS lip pencil isn't as drying as other matte lipsticks.

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils are a hit at Sephora as well, where there are nearly 4,400 reviews with an average of 4.5 stars. Buyers love the smooth application, the great selection of colors — there are nearly 30 — ranging from the palest nudes to the deepest darks, and plenty of brights as well.

Pros: Great selection of colors, reasonably moisturizing for a matte lipstick, goes on smoothly

Cons: Expensive, requires a lip pencil sharpener

Buy NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils from Sephora for $27.00

The best tinted lip balm

Revlon

Why you'll love it: Revlon Kiss Balm keeps your lips soft, smooth, and colorful, all at a super-bargain of a price.

I’m something of a lipstick junkie, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I rarely meet a rosy pink lipstick I don’t like, and I’ve got a drawer full of them to prove it. But alas, my budget is not nearly as large as my love for all things makeup. I haunt the drugstore-product side of Ulta, and whenever I’m there, I check out the Revlon aisle to see if there are any new shades of my latest crush, the Revlon Kiss Balm lip tints.

I’m a big fan of sheer, slightly glossy lip color, and these balms have become my go-to lip colors. I own all five of the colors and I wear them just about every day, often layering them to create new hues. Revlon Kiss Balm is loaded with fruit oils, and it keeps my naturally dry lips feeling comfortable and looking good without the slightest bit of stickiness or oil-slick shine.

The colors are sheer but bright, so the balm adds a nice flush of color without being overwhelming. The SPF 20 protection is an added bonus. Although lip balms and glosses are generally not very long lasting, I do find that these leave a nice hint of color even after the shine has worn away.

I’m not the only one who loves these inexpensive and easy-to-apply lip balms. There are nearly 500 reviews of them on Ulta, with an average of 4.7 stars. Buyers love the moisturizing formula, the pretty, sheer colors, and the fruity flavors, which are unique to each color.

On review site Influenster, the Revlon balms have over 250 reviews with an average of 4.5 stars. Says one happy buyer, “Very moisturizing! Smells great and tastes good as well. Has a subtle tint but leaves my lips feeling soft and hydrated. Cute packaging that is easy to travel with.”

Pros: Inexpensive, moisturizing, fairly intense color for a lip tint, includes SPF 20

Cons: Only six colors so far, one of which is clear

Buy Revlon Kiss Balm on Amazon for $4.99

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