These Red Lipsticks Work For Every Skin Tone — Here’s The Proof

There is nothing more classic than a red lip, but one would argue that there is nothing more difficult than finding the right shade to match your skin tone and overall "vibe." Beyond that, a red lip is a Look with a capital L. It's not for the faint-hearted. To wear red lipstick is to put yourself out there and command attention. And don't even get me started on the search for the right formulation — satin, matte, liquid, tint. For all these reasons, when you find the perfect red lipstick, it is a cause for celebration. Well, it's time to bust out the confetti, readers — we may have found a red lip that could work for every lip tone.

Meet Pound Cake, a Philly-based beauty brand founded by Camille Bell. Like many of us, Bell was super frustrated with the industry's lack of inclusivity when it came to shade options, specifically for the lip. She felt that brands didn't understand that these so-called universal lipstick shades looked different on different lip tones or worse, didn't show up at all on deeper skin tones. When creating Cake Batter, the brand's award-winning semi-matte lipstick, Bell approached it like foundation. It took over 120 revisions and 40 trials, but she figured out a vibrant, opaque creamy matte liquid lipstick that was made with all skin and lip tones in mind.

There are six different red shades of Cake Batter — Maraschino Cherry, Strawberry, Raspberry, Red Velvet, Red Bean, and Bloodberry. While you can, of course, wear every single shade, you can also take a very helpful quiz on Poundcake's website, which will recommend a shade based on your skin, lip, and undertones.

Each of us on the beauty team decided to take the quiz to see which red lipstick shade was recommended for each of our different tones. Ahead, we share the color we're wearing and our thoughts. Caution: You may feel inspired to wear a red lip after reading.

Pound Cake's Strawberry Red Lipstick

Tested By Beauty Director Sara Tan

"I am a big fan of red lipstick, so I did not need any convincing to try Pound Cake. However, I was really curious which shade would be recommended for my skin and lip tone. Strawberry is definitely a bit brighter of a red shade than I'd normally reach for, but I actually loved the way it looked on me. I also really liked the formulation, though I'm not really a matte lipstick kind of girl. I found that the creamy formulation stayed put (for hours!) without drying out my lips. I can't wait to wear Strawberry out when I need a boost of confidence — it really made me feel good! Oh and bonus points for the delicious scent: it smells like fresh poundcake out of the oven. Yum."