Every year when the Valentine’s Day Holiday rolls around most everyone can’t help but have kissing on the mind, or that special Valentine’s Day date happens and you want your makeup to look it’s best is when a great shade of red lipstick is more important than ever.

When it comes to red lipsticks the shade of red is just as important as the formula and probably even more around Valentine’s Day because of the “kissability” factor when you want a formula that will give you soft hydrated lips and a silkier non-drying/cracking long-wearing type of lip color that is best.  There are many formulas to choose from as there are colors in liquid lipstick, mattes, and satins and choosing a lip color that is less high in pigmentation (which can be less drying and cakey or heavy and more “kissable” as well as be least in color transfer (where you don’t want lipstick all over yourself or maybe, if the date goes well, all over the face of your date) which can also be better and more comfortable to wear too.

The colors to choose from are many in these and brands can be as many as your creativity can take you depending on the look and amount of drama you do or do not want, or the event or circumstance which in this case would be Valentine’s Day.

Some of the best cosmetics lines as far as lipsticks go are NYX, NARS, Gerard Cosmetics, Smashbox, Bobbi Brown, MAC Cosmetics, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Jeffree Star Cosmetics, Dose of Colors, Maybelline, Bite Beauty, Stila, and newly, Fenty Beauty cosmetic lip lines.

Some of my personal favorites brands, formulas, and colors are NYX Cosmetics Soft Matte Lip Creme in “Monte Carlo” (a blood red), “Maybelline Vivid Matte Liquid Lip on #30 “Orange Shot” (an orange-red tomatoe), NARS Powermatte Lip Piment in “Don’t Stop” (a bright red), Gerard Cosmetics Lipstick in “Fire Engine” (an obvious fire engine red as the name states), L’Oreal #402 “Colour Riche” (a Blake Lively Collection Exclusive and a classic “New York” red) and also #407 (also a collection exclusive by Aliya).

Also, there is Stila Cosmetics Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in “Sheer Beso” (a bright tomatoe red), Smashbox’s Always On Liquid Lipstick in “Disorderly” (a deep red), Fenty Beauty’s Mattemoiselle Plush Matte Lipstick in “Royal Red” (a really nice sheer matte classic apple red), and Maybelline’s new “Matte Metallics” in #966 “Copper Rose” (a deep metallic red you could also use as a lip topper for some  metallic gleam on top of your favorite red lipstick for a layered more depth look).

As far as formula, there are also lip oils to try which are very sheer pigment and not as heavy or intense and very comfortable to wear.  NYX has some good ones called “Lip Tease” and I like the colors “Red Queen” (an orange-red) and Fire Dancer” (a deep plum red).

As far as application goes it’s good to hydrate your lips with a lip balm or moisturizer to let set in before you apply your lipstick and you can even go an extra step and treat your lips to a lip scrub before to exfoliate and get rid of dead skin which can make your application of lipstick “skip” or clump and settle into cracks in your lips.  After applying your lip color of choice you can apply your lip color, blot, and reapply to layer your lip color or for longer wear.  If you would like to wear a lip gloss on top for more moisture (not too much though because it could get too slimy or sloppy if you know what I mean).  Bite Beauty has some great ones that are moisturizing and also taste great with a lot of natural fruits and ingredients in them.

So for Valentine’s Day, there are all kinds of choices in lip products, color, and formula to use for whatever look you want or whatever might “occur” (wink wink”) on your Valentine’s Day for day or evening!