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Everything to Know About The Voice Coach Gwen Stefani's Iconic Red Lipstick
Stefani's love for makeup has defined her style for years — especially her signature bold red lip.
As the fashionista responsible for delivering dozens of jaw-dropping red chair looks on The Voice, Gwen Stefani knows a thing or two about style. Many of Stefani's most iconic coaching looks have been made complete with a bold red lip, her signature look.
Stefani's eclectic style is equal parts Marilyn Monroe and Debbie Harry; a rock starlet who effortlessly fuses pop-rock grit with classic Hollywood glamor. Since the No Doubt singer's rise to fame in the 90s, she has often rocked a crimson shade of lipstick as her trademark.
And if anyone knows the power a splash of red lipstick can have on elevating a look, it's Stefani.
The blazing red lip has always been Stefani's signature, so it's no wonder that fans are curious about the origins of Stefani's love for the shade.
Below, learn everything to know about Stefani's red lipstick and where the trademark look was born.
What inspired Gwen Stefani's red lipstick look?
From Stefani's legendary "Just a Girl" music video to her recent looks on The Voice, the vocal powerhouse embraces the impact of a red lip.
Stefani's go-to makeup routine began as a teenager after she received a striking red shade as a Christmas gift from her grandmother.
"My grandma gave me a bunch of [lipstick] colors in my Christmas stocking when I was 18," Stefani told InStyle Magazine in 2017. "I tried one on in my car and saw it in the rearview mirror. I remember loving how it made me feel: daring."
RELATED: Gwen Stefani Channeled Marilyn Monroe With Her Look on The Voice
As for Stefani's beauty inspiration, The Voice Coach takes a hint from the golden age of Hollywood. She cites classic starlets like Marilyn Monroe, another lover of red lipstick, as one of her direct beauty icons.
"Growing up in Anaheim, so close to Hollywood, I've always been obsessed with their silver-screen looks," Stefani told InStyle. "I definitely adapted that into my own [style] from a very young age. I'd plaster posters of Marilyn Monroe on my bedroom walls and spend hours trying to replicate her hair and makeup."
What red lipstick does Gwen Stefani wear?
Stefani revealed to InStyle that while she has many go-to products within her makeup arsenal, she loves a bold lip to bring it all together.
But she doesn't just wear the same color all the time, she told Cosmopolitan in 2017.
"Everyone my whole entire life has always asked me, 'What color red do you wear?'" she told the magazine. "Well, I don't wear one color red you know. I love to mix it up."
That said, she told Elle that she did have a preference.
"I would always normally go for a blue red," she explained, "but it's been fun to explore all the different colors" during her time as a brand ambassador for Revlon.
She did tell the magazine that she was a particular fan of the "Cherries in the Snow" shave from Revlon's Super Lustrous line.
These days — after developing her own makeup line, GXVE — in 2022, Stefani has said the line's "Original Recipe" lipstick has become her go-to product.
"I don’t wear one color, but I started to when I came out with the Original Recipe, which is our matte lipstick," Stefani revealed in a June 2022 interview with Glamour. "It’s the one I probably wear the most because it’s super comfortable, it stays in place, and it’s long-wear. I just really love that vintage, old-fashioned kind of matte lipstick."
Gwen Stefani's Red Lipstick "Original Recipe"
GXVE, which Stefani announced in 2022, features products inspired by Stefani's iconic backstage-bred looks.
"People have been asking for 35 years, 'What color lip are you wearing?' so that was the obvious place to start..." Stefani told ELLE ahead of launching GXVE. The classic red shade instantly sparks images of Stefani rocking out on stage, the perfect product for anyone who covets her trademark look. The shade comes in three formulas: satin (Anaheim Shine"); ultra-matte ("I'm Still Here"), and matte ("Original Me");
"Music was something unexpected, but makeup was something I've always done since I was a little girl," Stefani explained. "I don't know why. I don't know how, but it was born in me. I've always loved it."
Gwen Stefani can apply a camera-ready red lip in "less than a minute"
While many music industry legends have a glamor squad, Stefani's love for makeup — and her teenage experience as a makeup consultant at an Anaheim mall — has led her to often forego the makeup crew.
"I had a bad experience when I was doing [an early] No Doubt record," she told Glamour in 2022. "This guy came and did my makeup for the artwork and I remember thinking I looked ugly. I was like, 'I look prettier when I do my makeup,' but I was too scared to say something. I still look at those pictures and I’m like, 'Ugh.' After that, I took it into my own control."
RELATED: Gwen Stefani Did Her Own Makeup for 2023 Halloween
The trend continued into Stefani's meteoric rise to fame, prompting her to become a glam squad of one and a professional in putting on camera-ready lipstick.
"I could do a perfect red lip in less than a minute," she told the magazine.
In a November 2023 interview on TODAY, Stefani revealed that she even did her own makeup for her 2021 wedding with Blake Shelton.
Few modern pop icons can say they skip the makeup crew, but Stefani has proven she is just as skilled with a makeup brush as she is with a microphone.
