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Every few months, a new lipstick shade gets sold to us as the color of the season, the must-have of the year, the one every woman is supposedly wearing.
Explore 12 timeless lipsticks that have outlasted trends, from MAC Ruby Woo to Revlon classics, blending history and style for all skin tones.
Key Takeaways
- Classic lipsticks have timeless appeal that outlasts seasonal trends.
- Universal shades like MAC Ruby Woo suit all skin tones and occasions.
- Many iconic lipsticks have rich histories linked to famous personalities and eras.
- Affordable drugstore classics offer great value and quality.
- Choosing proven classics can simplify lipstick buying decisions and ensure lasting style.
What the video covers
- The video highlights 12 classic lipstick shades that have remained popular for decades, many still in production today.
- It emphasizes that these timeless shades differ from seasonal trends and are favored by professional makeup artists.
- MAC Ruby Woo is featured as the most universally flattering blue-toned red, known for its matte, long-lasting formula.
- Revlon Cherries in the Snow and Fire and Ice are highlighted as iconic drugstore reds with over 70 years of continuous production.
- Clinique Black Honey is praised for its sheer, buildable berry tone that suits every skin tone and is highly moisturizing.
- Max Factor Ruby Red is noted for its Hollywood legacy, linked to stars like Marilyn Monroe and the invention of modern lipstick.
- Other classic shades include Yardley London frosted pink and Chanel Rouge Coco, both carrying historical significance.
- The video stresses the value and enduring appeal of these lipsticks, often available at affordable prices.
- It encourages viewers to consider these proven classics over fleeting 'shade of the year' trends.
- The overall message is that great lipstick shades are lifelong staples, not seasonal fads.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Timeless Lipsticks
- 01:07Overview of Classic Lipstick Shades
- 02:39MAC Ruby Woo: The Universal Red
- 04:13Revlon Cherries in the Snow: Drugstore Classic
- 05:36Clinique Black Honey: Sheer Universal Shade
- 07:16Revlon Fire and Ice: Iconic Warm Red
- 08:38Other Classics: Yardley London & Chanel Rouge Coco
- 11:27Conclusion: The Value of Timeless Lipsticks
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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And every few months, a slightly different shade quietly replaces it. And none of them are ever the shade the truly stylish women reach for at their own dressing tables. Because the lipsticks that never go out of fashion, the ones women were wearing in 1953 and
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are still wearing today, are almost never the shade a magazine is currently promoting. They are the classics, [music] the ones designed by the first great makeup artists of the 20th century in an era when a shade had to work on
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real women in real light for real decades. Not just look good on a screen for a season. So, here are 12 of those legendary lipsticks. 12 shades that have quietly outlived every trend that came for [music] them. Most of them still in
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production today from the same houses that launched them. And every one of them worth knowing about the very next time you [music] stand in front of a lipstick counter and wonder what to actually buy. None of them are secret.
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Some of them have been sitting in your mother's or your grandmother's makeup drawer for decades without you noticing.
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But once you know their names and once you know the stories behind them, [music] you will never look at a shade of the year the same way again. Let us start with the one that is arguably the single most universally flattering red
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ever made. Number one is MAC Ruby Woo. Launched in 1999 and quietly established as arguably the single most universally flattering red lipstick ever made. Worn on the red carpet by Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Madonna, and countless others and [music] still one of the top-selling
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lipsticks in the world more than two decades later. What makes Ruby Woo so extraordinary is that it is a true blue-toned red. And blue-toned reds have the almost magical property of making teeth look whiter and skin look brighter
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on every single skin tone from the palest ivory to the deepest ebony, which is why it has become the reliable go-to of professional makeup artists working with every kind of face [music] on set.
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The formula is a completely matte, long-wearing retro [music] finish that grips the lips and stays put through hours of talking, eating, and evenings out, which is why it earned its cult status the year it launched and never lost it. It sits at around $25 in most
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stores, [music] which is astonishing value for a shade that has been outperforming lipsticks [music] four times its price for a quarter of a century. If you have never owned a truly universal red, this is the one to start
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with [music] because there is a genuinely well-earned reason it is the most recommended lipstick in the [music] world among professional makeup artists. Wear it with a slightly hydrating lip balm underneath and a light lip liner in a natural tone to soften the edges and it
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becomes wearable enough for daylight, striking enough for evening. Number two is Revlon Cherries in the Snow. [music] A shade that has been in continuous production since 1953. Worn by generations of women from Audrey Hepburn's contemporaries [music] to your own grandmother and still
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sitting on the shelves of every drugstore in the country for less than $10. This is a slightly bluer, slightly pinker red than a pure [music] classic red. A shade that flatters cool undertones especially beautifully, but works stunningly on almost anyone. And
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the reason it has never left production for over 70 years is simply that it works. Revlon launched Cherries in the Snow at a moment when American beauty was being reinvented for the post-war era, and it became one of the defining
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shades of that entire generation. Sold in more units than most modern lipsticks will ever dream of. The super lustrous formula it comes in today is smooth, creamy, and comfortable enough to wear all day without drying out the lips. And
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it delivers rich color from the very first swipe. There is something quietly powerful about picking up a shade that has been sold continuously for over seven decades. Because when a [music] lipstick is still selling that long after its launch, you are not buying
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into a trend. You are buying into a genuinely proven classic that outlived every fad thrown at it. At under $10, it is arguably the single best value in all of luxury quality color cosmetics.
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Number three is Clinique Black Honey Almost Lipstick. Launched [music] in 1971 and one of the most quietly universal shades ever put in a tube. A sheer berry plum that flatters every single skin tone in existence and one [music] that goes viral on social media
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every couple of years as new generations of women discover what makeup artists have known for over 50 years. Do not let the darkness in the tube [music] fool you. Black Honey applies as a sheer, buildable, translucent wash of berry
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that adjusts to the natural undertone of your own lips. So, it looks slightly different on every wearer, always flattering, always somehow the exact shade of berry that [music] suits your face specifically. This is the shade you can put on without a mirror in the back
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of a taxi, at the office, first thing in the morning, without any other makeup, and it will always look right, which is genuinely rare. It is also one of the most comfortable formulas ever made.
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Moisturizing enough to feel like a balm, pigmented enough to give real color, and long-wearing enough to last through [music] coffee and a conversation. At around $25, it is the single most reached-for lipstick in many professional makeup artists' personal
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kits. And once you have worn it for a week, you will understand why it has stayed in continuous production for over 50 years while trendier shades came and went. Number four is Revlon Fire and Ice. Launched in 1952 [music]
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and famous not just for being one of the greatest red lipsticks ever made, but for launching the single most influential beauty advertising campaign [music] of the entire 20th century. The original 1952 ad featuring the model Dorian Lee photographed against silver
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and asking women whether they were made for fire [music] and ice changed advertising forever, defined a whole era of American femininity and made Fire and Ice one of the most instantly recognizable lipstick names in history.
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The shade itself is a warm, slightly orange red. The kind of red that looks good on warm undertones the way Cherries in the Snow [music] looks good on cool ones. And it has been continuously available for over 70 years. Currently
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in Revlon's super lustrous formula for well under $10. If your skin has warm golden or peachy undertones, if silvery jewelry looks slightly wrong on you, but gold looks right, this is very likely to be your ideal red. The formula is
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creamy, comfortable, and pigmented. Everything a well-made drugstore lipstick should be. And the shade itself is one of those rare colors that photographs beautifully in [music] every kind of light. Buying it today puts you in a lineage of women stretching back to
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your grandmother's generation, wearing exactly the same red at exactly the same price point and looking exactly as striking. Number five is Max Factor Ruby Red. And this one comes with a piece of history most women never learn. Max
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Factor essentially invented modern lipstick as we know it. In the 1920s and 1930s, when he was the makeup artist to old Hollywood, Max Factor created the color formulations that Greta Garbo, Gene Harlo, Rita Hayworth, and Marilyn Monroe wore on screen and his Ruby Red
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was one of the defining shades of the entire studio era Hollywood look. Marilyn Monroe herself was famously known to build her signature look on Max Factor lipsticks and photographs of her iconic pouts show that exact deep cool cinematic red that Max Factor perfected
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for the camera. The brand still exists today in many international markets, still selling versions of those original iconic shades, still sold at drugstore prices. And if you can find it in your local market,
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genuinely stepping into a shade that helped define the visual language of an entire century of glamour. The formula has been updated over the decades, of course, to keep pace with modern comfort expectations, but the color itself is unmistakably that old Hollywood cool
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red, and it still photographs on modern women exactly the way it photographed on the movie stars of the golden age.
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Number six is a Yardley London frosted pink, [music] and this one is for anyone who has ever loved a soft, retro, slightly shimmery pink that looks like it belongs in a mod 1960s movie. Yardley of London is one of the oldest
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continuously operating cosmetics companies in the entire world. Founded in 1770 and in the 1960s, Yardley became inseparable from the British mod look with Twiggy herself modeling their pale frosted pink lipsticks in campaigns that defined an entire decade of fashion.
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That signature pale pink with a subtle pearlized finish applied over a slight nude undertone was worn by every stylish young woman in London in the mid60s [music] and it has never really stopped being flattering on the right face.
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Modern Yardly lipsticks in this shade family are widely available atarmacies and drugstores for under $10 and they still deliver that exact soft [music] pearly retro pink that gives you an instantly nostalgic ' 60s inspired look.
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It works especially beautifully on medium to fair skin [music] tones. And it pairs perfectly with a softly winged eyeliner and lots of mascara, which is exactly how Twiggy wore it. This is a shade for anyone who does not want a
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bold lip, but wants something more finished and interesting than a nude. And it has been quietly flattering women in exactly this way for six decades.
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[music] Number seven is Chanel Rouge Coco. the modern iteration of the classic Chanel reds that Koko Chanel herself wore and championed [music] in the 1950s. Updated across the decades into the modern Rouge Coco line, but still [music] carrying the DNA of the
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original iconic Chanel red, Koko Chanel famously believed that a woman should always wear lipstick. And she said that a red mouth was one of the great equalizers in fashion, elevating even the simplest outfit into something considered and complete. Chanel's reds
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have carried that philosophy forward for over [music] 70 years. And today's Rouge Cocoa line offers those same rich, sophisticated, unmistakably French reds in modern, comfortable formulas that hydrate the lips while delivering opaque, longwearing color. Yes, at around $45, this is a splurge lipstick
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rather than a drugstore one, but there [music] is a quiet, tangible difference in wearing a lipstick made by the same house that dressed and made up the most stylish woman of the 20th century. And once you have owned one Chanel red, you
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understand why women who can afford to always come back to them. If you buy only one luxury lipstick in [music] your life, a classic Chanel red in a shade that suits your undertone is one of the most enduring choices possible, and it
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will look exactly as right in another 20 years as it does today. [music] Number eight is MAC Russian Red, a shade with a genuinely remarkable origin story. It was originally created by MAC in 1985 specifically [music] for Madonna's
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Blonde Ambition tour at the request of the singer herself and it became so iconic [music] in the process that MAC added it permanently to their line where it has remained [music] ever since.
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Russian red is a deep dark cool toned matte red more dramatic and less bright than Ruby [music] Woo. The kind of red that projects unmistakable confidence and looks especially stunning in black and white photography, which was exactly why Madonna wanted it created. [music]
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It has been worn on stages, on red carpets, and in music videos by countless [music] performers over the last 40 years, and it remains one of MAC's bestselling reds because it delivers that exact [music] old Hollywood dramatic red mouth that other
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shades can only hint at. The formula is a [music] comfortable retro matte, longwearing but not drying. And at around $25, it is one of the great affordable icons of [music] modern cosmetics history. This is the red for a
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formal evening out, a black tie event, or the day you simply want your mouth to be the single most striking feature on your face. And once you have it in your rotation, you will find [music] yourself reaching for it for every occasion that
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calls for genuine drama. Number nine is Estee Lauder Rebellious Rose. [music] Launched in 1996 as part of the brand's pure color line and quickly established as one of the defining pink nude lipsticks of the entire 1990s. [music] A
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shade that captured that decade's bombshell but polished aesthetic in one small tube. Rebellious rose is a warm rosy pink with [music] soft brown undertones. the kind of shade Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer wore in the supermodel era editorials that
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defined that era of American glamour. And it has stayed continuously popular for almost 30 years [music] because it hits an almost universally flattering middle ground. Pinker than a nude, softer than a true pink, wearable in daylight, dressed up enough for evening.
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The Esteee Lauder Pure Color Formula. It comes in as famously longwearing and comfortable, hydrating enough to be worn everyday without any drying effect, and pigmented enough to be visible in photographs without ever tipping over into loud. [music] This is the shade for the woman who
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wants her lipstick to enhance her face without being the loudest thing on it. And at around $35, it sits in that reliable middle [music] price point where the formula quality genuinely justifies what you are paying. It has aged into a modern classic and it
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deserves the reputation it has quietly built over three decades. Number 10 is Elizabeth Ardan Red Door Red. And this one carries with it [music] one of the great origin stories of American cosmetics. Elizabeth Ardan famously [music] painted the door of her first
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Fifth Avenue salon a bold unmistakable red in 1910. And that red became the signature color of one of the most influential beauty houses in American history. The Red Door red lipstick, still in production today, was designed to embody exactly that same [music]
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signature red on the lips. A classic true red without the cool undertones of a blue red or the warm undertones of an orange red sitting in that rare middle ground that flatters virtually any skin tone [music] equally well. It is the
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kind of true timeless uncomplicated red that Hollywood leading ladies wore in the midentth century and that any woman today can pick up without a second thought about whether it will suit her.
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And it is arguably the single easiest true red to wear if you are unsure about undertones.
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[music] The formula is comfortably creamy, longwearing, and made by a brand that has spent over a century perfecting the art of a truly wearable red. At around $30, it sits at exactly the right price for a serious, dependable red that
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belongs in every serious makeup collection. It is the red for the woman who wants no drama, no debate, just a beautiful red mouth. Number 11 is Revlon Super Lustrous Love That Red. [music] Another of the great classic reds from
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the same Revlon lineage that gave [music] us cherries in the snow and fire and ice and one of the deepest, richest, most classic reds available at a drugstore price point anywhere in the world. Love that red is a genuine true
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red with a hint of warmth. Exactly the shade that photographs [music] beautifully in indoor light and looks striking against almost any outfit color. [music] And the reason it has been in continuous production for decades is that it delivers a professional quality red
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[music] at a price that anyone can afford. The super lustrous formula is one of the most comfortable creamy lipsticks in the drugstore aisle.
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Hydrating enough for daily wear, pigmented [music] enough to make a real statement in a single swipe. At under $10, this is arguably the single most costeffective true red you can buy anywhere. [music] and it belongs alongside the more
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expensive icons on this list [music] as genuine competition for shades three and four times its price. If you have been reaching for expensive luxury reds and quietly wondering whether you actually needed to spend that much, Love That Red
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is the answer because in a blind test, the difference between it and a $50 luxury red is almost impossible [music] to detect on the actual mouth. Number 12 is Elizabeth Ardan Beautiful Color in a soft rose. The shade that ties this
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entire [music] list together and the one lipstick every woman should own because a soft wearable universal rose is the color you will reach for [music] more often than any bold red or dramatic berry in a lifetime of wearing lipstick.
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Elizabeth Ardan's 8-hour cream launched in 1930 is one of the most enduring skin care products in the history of cosmetics and the philosophy behind it [music] that a truly great beauty product should be a lifelong staple rather than a passing trend is the same
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philosophy behind the beautiful color line of lipsticks. A soft rose lipstick in [music] this formula gives you that lit from within my lips but better wash of color that professionals reach for when they [music] want a face to look
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polished without any single feature being loud. And it does [music] so in a formula that is hydrating, comfortable, and longwearing enough to survive an entire day. Wear it to work, to lunch, to a school pickup, or under a bolder
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shade on evenings you want more drama, and you [music] will find it becomes the one lipstick you cannot leave the house without. At around $30, it is a genuinely fair price for a lipstick you [music] will reach for more days of the
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year than any other in your entire collection. This is the one you buy when you are done chasing trends. And it is the one that stays with you for the [music] rest of your life. There they are. 12 lipsticks that have quietly
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outlived every trend that came for them. Some for 25 years, some for 50, some for over 70, and every single one of them still in production today. from the same houses that first launched them into a world of women who understood that a
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truly great shade [music] is a lifelong purchase, not a seasonal one. A tube of ruby woo, a bullet of cherries in the snow, a [music] stick of black honey, a slim gold case of Chanel rouge cocoa, a yardly pink from the mod era, a Max
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Factor from Old Hollywood, [music] a Revlon from the drugstore isle, an Estee Lauder from the supermodel '9s, and an Elizabeth Ardan Rose [music] to tie the whole collection together. and you have arguably every lipstick you would ever really need for the rest of your life at
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a total combined price of less than three restaurant dinners. That was always the real secret of the women whose lipsticks somehow always looked exactly [music] right in every photograph across every decade of their lives. It was rarely a trendy shade they
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had picked up that season. It was almost always a classic they had been reaching for since [music] their 20s. And now you have 12 of those classics sitting on shelves you can walk into [music] today, ready the very next time you stand in
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front of a lipstick counter and wonder what shade to actually buy. So pick the two or [music] three that solve the shade problem you have quietly struggled with the longest. The perfect red you have never quite found. [music] The
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universal berry you did not know existed. The soft everyday rose you needed all along. And try them this month. That is all it takes. A single ruby woo for your [music] evenings out.
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A tube of black honey for every ordinary day and a soft Elizabeth Ardan rose [music] for the rest of the time. And you have quietly joined the small handful of women who understood [music] that the lipsticks that never go out of
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style were never the trendy ones in the first
Topics:classic lipsticksMAC Ruby WooRevlon Cherries in the Snowtimeless makeuplipstick historyuniversal lipstick shadesvintage lipstickmakeup classicsbeauty trendsprofessional makeup
