Is Gray Lipstick Wearable Off the Red Carpet?

To test this theory, I got my hands on the exact shade of gray Hadid wore on the red carpet, Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick in the shade Huntress, along with Sephora Collection’s #Lipstories Lipstick in the shade 60 Backstage (with a metallic finish) and NYX Lip Lingerie in Scandalous (a classic matte), and asked my fellow editors to swipe along, too. Our usual neutrals, pinks, and reds were on a different end of the spectrum, so this was sure to be adventurous. 

Sephora Collection #Lipstories Lipstick — 60 Backstage

Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick in Huntress

Allure commerce writer Jennifer Hussein expected to “hate it,” even as someone who veers on the more playful side with her day-to-day beauty looks. But after swiping on both the Sephora and Maybelline lipsticks she had a new perspective: “Sephora’s shimmery shade Backstage was sheer and not all that dramatic, and I liked that Maybelline’s liquid lipstick had an opaque finish,” says Hussein, who paired both with a graphic, color-blocked eye. With a pigmented formula, it’s ideal to have staying power (smudges and feathering aren’t cute), which she found in the Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick. “Trust me when I say that it’ll never, ever budge. It stayed on for eight hours through lunch, and it took two makeup wipes to remove it,” Hussein said. 

Makeup artist Sara Talias recommends using the shade of gray lipstick to inform your overall color palette. “It’s best to keep the entire look monochromatic by pairing the gray lip with a simple smokey eye,” she says. Commerce producer Sarah Hoffmann did just that with the Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink Lipstick. Hoffman found it to be intense with her fair skin tone, but the addition of blush and contour made it look elevated instead of costume-y: “It’s a nice color to have in your arsenal, especially if you just finished Wednesday on Netflix and haven’t stopped listening to The Cramps.”