Taylor Swift and red lipstick have almost become synonyms over the years. It's rare to see the star without her trademark red lip, but what is the exact shade she is wearing lately? Well, we set out to find out — but first, let's go back to basics.
Where did Taylor Swift's obsession with red lipstick start? Well, as most Swifties would know, the star famously wore red lipstick for the very first time on the cover of Allure back in 2009. According to the magazine, she loved the red shade makeup artist Gucci Westman used on her for the occasion so much that she left the shoot with a tube of her own. From then on, the look became her staple, going on to feature in lyrics for the likes of "Style," "Wildest Dreams," and "Blank Space."
"I never really get too far from red lipstick, do I? I guess I just think my face looks worse without it," Swift told People in 2014. "That's pretty much the only rationale behind it." During her many outings (and game nights) in late 2023 and 2024, Swift's lips have been redder than ever before — maybe it's because we finally got Red (Taylor's version) in November — and while Swift's longtime makeup artist Lorrie Turk is keeping the singer's current go-to combo on lock, many have speculated none other than Pat McGrath is behind Taylor Swift's red lipstick at the moment.
Many people believe Taylor Swift is rocking the Pat McGrath LiquiLUST Legendary Wear Matte Lipstick in Elson 4 as of late. While we don't know if this is the shade she is rocking while she smooches Travis Kelce on the field, we do know it is the shade she wears in her "Bejeweled" music video, and they look pretty close to us. (Many people also believe this is the rainproof lipstick she wore onstage during the Eras Tour.)
When the video for "Bejeweled" came out in October 2022, Pat McGrath actually shared some intel about the lipstick. "When I think of Taylor, I always think of a perfect red lip," the famed makeup artist told E! News. "When we first did the Met Gala in 2010, we did a bold, confident, empowered look centered on red matte lipstick. For 'Bejeweled' and her VMAs appearance [in 2022], I couldn't imagine not doing something with red lipstick."
McGrath mixed four different shades to create an ombré effect for the "Bejeweled" music video. She layered the Elson 4 as the piece of resistance over three different shades of the PermaGel Ultra Glide Lip Pencil — namely Deep Dive, Blood Lust, and Deep Void. That said, the makeup artist is now also selling a "Taylor-Made" lip kit for $60, with a $68 value, which includes a MatteTrance™ Lipstick in Elson 2 and PermaGel Ultra Lip Pencil in Structure. The description for the kit says this is the "on-set lip duo" Swift uses, so this might the more updated version.
While we won't know if this is truly the star's go-to now until she herself (or Turk) confirms it, we do know exactly which red lipsticks Swift has loved in the past. Back in 2015, Swift publicly professed her love for the iconic Ruby Woo by MAC. "I think everyone knows it is a staple. I was the last person to discover it," she said at the time, and she also told MTV a year before that while she had a lot of go-to's, she always gravitated towards two specifically. "One that really can't go wrong is Dragon Girl by NARS. And also, I heard on the radio that Hilary Duff wore Luxembourg by NARS, so I bought Luxembourg by NARS. And it's really good, too."
Red is timeless, so if they were food for Taylor Swift, then they are probably still a safe bet now.
