You don’t have to splash out lots of your budget to get a beautiful red lip color! Here are a few of my more wallet-friendly favorites:
Christine Mielke is the editor-in-chief and has been reviewing products for over 14 years.
She has normal-to-dry skin with occasional dryness on cheeks and nose. She has a light plus skintone with subtle, warmer yellow undertones (view her foundation matches here).
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
Such a great selection! I love the look of Maybelline’s On Fire red. Also a massive fan of Mac’s Russian Red. I’ll also be sporting a red lip throughout the month of April in support of Red My Lips and sexual assual/ rape awareness 🙂
Russian Red is a definite classic!
Great list, Christine!
From this set, my favorite is NYX Chic Red. Very elegant!
(Lauren).
Thank you, Lauren!
The drugstore brands (Maybelline, Milani, NYX) have really stepped up their lipstick game and some of their lippies rival HE brands for pigment, color, and formula. Jordana, Wet N Wild, Rimmel, Essence have also launched some new lines this spring that are getting great reviews. It’s great for the consumer!
Reds are so easy to find these days–at every price!
The NYX and Milani ones look like nice valentine’s day picks!
Yay!
Chic Red is the one of my favorite matte reds in my collection. I’m also very fond of NYC Sheer Red.
Isn’t it such a great, classic red?
Yes! It’s a very industrial red, too. The kind you just need a little mascara to offset, without all the other bells and whistles.
I need Cherry Crave; it’s gorgeous! I have the Nyx. I don’t have the others, but they’re all very pretty.
I love the shimmer in it!
My favorite budget red is Revlon Cherries in the Glow!
I need to try that!
These are all gorgeous reds as well. Might I add Rimmel’s Temptation? That’s a great drugstore red too.
Will have to look for it! ;D
Hi Christine, this is such a strange/potentially TMI question to ask, but I noticed in the 4th lipstick image (Maybelline Very Cherry?), the bullet seems to look like there are little fuzzy dots on it; would you happen to know what it was? A couple of my lipsticks from a different brand have clusters of spots all over the bullet, and I can’t tell if it’s something sketchy, or “wax bloom”? Thanks in advance!
If it’s oddly colored, it might be mold, but I know on mine, it was just wax 🙂
Great list! I have to try some of these. Right now, my favorite affordable red lipstick is Snow White by nyx. It’s a nice medium-dark, slightly cool toned red which is surprisingly rare to find at the drugstore. 🙂
I’ll have to check that out! Sounds gorgeous.
I really like all of them. Wish we had Milani here. I don’t have any of these, I will keep a look out for the Maybelline ones.
One day, they’ll expand!
Standout by Revlon is my fave!
Great pick! 🙂
Hehe, On Fire Red is just as gorgeous and bright and juicy as Garconne in the swatches…also I still totally want to eat the bullets of those vivids lipsticks. I don’t know what it is. Maybe the jelly/candy shine on the bullet surface in your photos? 😀
The Vivids formula is really lovely! 🙂
That’s such a fabulous list , So glad to have two of these …. worth a try I would say 🙂
I’m absolutely in love with On Fire Red 🙂
My favorite Budget RED is ONLY and ONLYYYY
REVLON’s Fire and Ice …
a classic RED which is a must have shade for anybody n everybody 🙂
who loves makeup …. 🙂
That’s definitely a classic!