Chanel Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Color Review, How to Wear

Here at T&C, we pride ourselves on our discerning eye for quality. As a result, our editors know the secrets to finding the best products on the market, whether it’s a statement lipstick that doesn’t quit, the perfect pair of gold hoops, the most comfortable and stylish mules, chic and functional barware, or the tech devices that will improve your day-to-day life. With T&C Tried & True, our editors will give you an inside look at the pieces they simply cannot live without.

No matter how much I am willing to spend on clothes and skincare, it has never occured to me to splurge on lipstick. I’m an impatient person who is constantly in movement; I have things to do, now. Within five minutes it is highly likely that I would have smeared lipstick on everything and everyone within a 10-foot-radius. As a result, I usually stick to a trusty (invisible) lip balm.

Which is why I surprised myself when, on watching old episodes of Man in the High Castle, I found myself eyeing the 1950s-style red lipstick. Despite the surrounding doom, the women looked polished and crisp —this was a look that resonated with me.

Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a perfect icon for a 1950s-style red lip.

United Archives

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Red lipstick has been a power tool since ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians royals crushed pigments and insects to create a crimson paste as a status symbol; Cleopatra likely sported a red lip. Over the following centuries lipstick fell in and out of fashion: the Greeks, in an uncharacteristically lame move, decided lipstick was only for prostitutes and the Western church decreed that painting one’s face was heretical. But when Queen Elizabeth I came into power, she threw out the rulebook and went all in on a bold red lip as one of her signature looks. In fact it was probably the lead poisoning in her cosmetics that killed her (oops). After her death, however, the church swooped in again and decided this time around that red lipstick was a sign of witchcraft (because when in doubt… witches).

Queen Elizabeth I flouted the church’s decree that red lipstick was heretical and made hers part of her larger-than-life image.

Print Collector

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Nonetheless women secretly crushed and blended their own lipstick until the early 1900s when suffragettes adopted red lipstick as a symbol of the feminist movement. This coincided with the invention of lipstick tubes and we were off to the races. Time and again, during World Wars and in hard times, women showed up with a fresh swipe of red lipstick to get the job done.

ROUGE ALLURE INK

ROUGE ALLURE INK

$40 at Chanel

So, on the recommendation of our all-knowing beauty editor April Long, I invested in my own power tube: Chanel’s Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Color (222 Signature). The wand made it easy and precise to apply. It is matte, but not too drying (Chanel calls the finish “velvet”). It is a classic bright red. I let it set for a few minutes, and took a cautionary sip of water. No marks on the glass. I made it through Zoom calls and lunch without a smudge. When it did fade, it did so evenly, in a way that looked cool and carefree, not sloppy and unhinged. Sans makeup, with rumpled hair and a white t-shirt, I put on my red lipstick and channel Jane Birkin. With my hair pulled back into a braid and a turtleneck, I think of Sade. It has helped me feel put together for a last-minute Zoom call and adds an exclamation point to an otherwise ho-hum WFH ensemble.

Faded red lipstick, a t-shirt, and messy hair miraculously reads as “French icon” rather than “tired and running behind.”

John Rodgers

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Like many women before me, a red lip has become my secret weapon. Something to put on when things feel out of control. I’ve given up trying to predict what else 2021 will bring, but at least I know my lipstick will be spot on.

Olivia Hosken

Deputy Managing Editor

Olivia Hosken is the deputy managing editor of House Beautiful, where she oversees operations across the brand’s print and digital platforms. She also writes about design and architecture and was previously the style & interiors writer at Town & Country and the managing editor of Dwell.