That red lip classic thing that you like almost didn't happen.
Taylor Swift’s red lipstick is one of the superstar’s trademark makeup moves now, but it almost didn’t happen. During an appearance on Today with Hoda and Jenna, celebrity makeup artist Gucci Westman explained that back in 2009, when she was enlisted to do the star’s makeup for the cover of Allure, Swift’s mother, Andrea, was initially hesitant about going so bold. For anyone unfamiliar with her, ahem, eras, 2009 was the year that Swift released Fearless, which had the songs “Love Story,” “Hey Stephen,” and “You Belong With Me.” That same year was the now-infamous VMAs ceremony where Swift was interrupted by Kanye West, which feels like a lifetime ago now, especially with the release of Fearless (Taylor’s Version), which was the first of her re-recordings.
Westman is laying claim to Swift's red lipstick, saying that she wanted to try something on the singer that hadn't been done before. Of course, the rest is history and Swift has made a scarlet lip color her signature beauty look.
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“I remember I really wanted to do a red lip on her because I hadn’t seen her in a red lip before,” Westman told co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. “And her mom, if I’m allowed to say this, was like, ‘Well, Taylor doesn’t wear red.’ And I was like, ‘Please, can I just try?’ … Look at her now.”
Westman has spoken about the moment before, telling Elle Australia in late 2023 a similar story.
"She’d never worn a red lip,” she said. “When the red lip happened, I had to get permission by her mum [Andrea Swift].” She went on to say that Swift's management told her, "Taylor doesn’t do red, [and] I said, ‘Well, Taylor needs to try red.'”
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In 2022, Pat McGrath shared the exact products that she used to create Swift's red lip color for the "Bejeweled" music video.
“Taylor is the most divine collaborator and a superb director. She is meticulous, thorough, and detailed. My goal was to use make-up to communicate Taylor’s unique vision,” McGrath told Elle UK. “We took her signature lip to the next level by using LiquiLUST: Legendary Wear Matte Lipstick ELSON 4 and then created what I call a ‘contour-ombré’ lip with three different shades of my PermaGel Ultra Glide Lip Pencils in Deep Dive, Blood Lust, and Deep Void.”
Swift’s red lipstick is so strongly associated with her that when she appeared via video at the 2024 iHeartRadio Awards without it, the lack of a red lip color made headlines.