Two red lipsticks, two price points

Both AMAZING.

First up is Estée Lauder’s new, limited-edition Signature Lipstick in Simply Red ($23, at select The Bay Estée Lauder counters across Canada).

It’s simply gorgeous.

I fell in love with this immediately back in the summer when the company first sent it my way. It’s quite possibly the most stand-out physical specimen of a lipstick that I’ve ever seen. I know EL has a reputation for being a little on the er, elderly side, shall we say? (I mean that with no offense, but does your mom use Estée? Okay, mine too. So it’s no M.A.C or even YSL.) But this—this is a work of art. Even the lipstick itself has bevelled edges!

More affordable but equally chic is Maybelline New York’s ColorSensational Lipstick in Are You Red-Dy ($9.99, at drugstores).

For some reason, many mass-market lipsticks come with unnecessary shimmer or weird brownish tinges. Not this one. It’s a clear, true red that would work on almost anyone. Maybelline also threw in some extra hydrating power (in the form of vitamin E and honey nectar, yum).

Isn’t it great to have OPTIONS?