I used to always say that lipstick doesn’t look good on me. For years, I struggled to find shades that worked well on my face. Many of the pinks and corals I loved on my colleagues simply made me look childish — like a kid secretly going through their mother’s beauty drawer and playing around with what they found. I learned, though, that a blanket statement like that is far too restrictive. In my years as a beauty writer, I got to try and test a bunch of red lipsticks, which inevitably led me to find a few that I liked.

I am not someone who can pick up any shade of lipstick and rock it. My olive skin doesn’t take nicely to a lot of bright pinks and peach tones. If I want to wear something that looks good on me, I have to search for the darker rouges, the wine reds, and brown tones.

Learning which red lipsticks look good on me was no overnight process. On top of testing a bunch of shades, I looked at famous Asian celebrities to see what kind of red lipsticks they were wearing. And while there’s already a wide range of skin tones in our community alone, something that typically ties us together is the darker hair and eyes, which also influence the shades that work well on us.

I wanted to bring my research forward and help you choose the best red lipstick for you. Starting with myself, I have olive skin with yellow/gold undertones and tan easily. Therefore, warm and dark shades of red work best for me. Those with a cooler, paler complexion can rock an orange-based red (like a coral or scarlet) more easily.

In the end, it’s all about what looks good and makes you feel confident. I did, however, want to include my own tested insights in this story to make the decision-making process easier for you than it was for me!