Lately (in case you haven’t noticed), I’ve had a thing for red lips. I look at them the same way I look at pairs of black shoes, which is to say that one tube (or pair) is never enough.

There are just so many different spins on the red lip motif, just as there are when it comes to black shoes. With the shoes, you’ve got your black high heels, low heels, stacked heels, platforms, and don’t get me started on the sub-shades of black.

It’s the same thing with crimson lip colors. Every one is unique, or at least different in some small but significant way.

Take NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Damned, for instance. This $24 jewel-toned reddish magenta could moonlight as a crimson crayon in its chubby packaging, and sometimes, when I’m lining and filling in my lips with it, I feel like I’m in art class.

If NARS Afghan Red Lipstick had a tougher alter ego, it would probably look a lot like Damned. The two colors could be cousins, but Damned has a matte finish and richer pigments that tell me it has a harder edge.

I love ‘em both, but I’ll be Damned if I don’t prefer that shade when I’m in the mood to strut. It’s the red lip I’d want to wear with a pair of Sam Edelman pumps (complete with spiked accents), skinny black pleather pants and a tank top.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen