You're in the market for that a new perfect lipstick. Whether its red, pink, nude, or another bold shade, you want to make sure it is a quality lipstick. A common misconception about good products is that they have to be expensive. It's true in most cases that you get what you pay for, but when it comes to quality products, they can come in all shades and prices. Here's a rundown of 10 qualities a good lipstick should have. 

1. LONG LASTING

A good lipstick should be able to stay on your lips for an extended period of time. Of course things throughout the day will cause it to wipe off a bit (such as eating, drinking or giving your boo a little smooch!). For the most part, you should be able to get through at least 5 hours before needing to touch up that infamous "butt hole" lip stick look. Non-transferring lipstick goes hand-in-hand. Your lipstick should not fly off your lips onto any surface it comes in contact with (aka your teeth). This will depend mostly on the type of product you're wearing (satin finish vs. matte) but a lipstick should be able to stay where it is intended to be. Your lips of course. 

2. DOESN'T BLEED

On the note of lipstick's staying where they are supposed to be, they should be able to stay on your lips without bleeding. By which I mean to say, creeping its way beyond the lines of your lips. This tends to become more of a problem with age (as lip creases around the lip become amazing lip-bleeding agents). There are ways you can help prevent this effect but if you pick up one that does this on its own, your makeup routine will be 10x as easy.  

3. OPAQUE

A fancy word in the beauty world that means the product has good colour payoff. A good lipstick should go on as a highly pigmented shade in one to two swipes. Most of all, it should be an even wash of colour so it doesn't appear as a streaky mess over your lips (this tends to happen with many bright coloured lipsticks). A streaky lipstick requires more layers to get an even colour often leaving you with a heavy, sticky application. And if the product isn't opaque enough, you'll also end up having to apply many layers to build up colour, this can mean wasting a lot of product. 

4. CREAMY

Next of course is the creamy factor. Lipstick is made up of oils, pigments and waxes. A good lipstick has a balanced trio that makes the product easy to glide on the lips. A good lipstick should be effortless when applying. 

5. HYDRATING

When a lipstick has a good oil-wax balance, it makes it very hydrating. A good lipstick should not leave your lips feeling parched, craving just a drop of moisture as though you had been trekking through the dessert for the past 10 days. It should not dry out your lips (once again, depends on the type of lipstick you choose, think matte lipsticks). 

6. NOT TOO STICKY

Still on the same train of the consistency of a good lipstick, it should not be too sticky. Nobody wants their lips to feel glued together when you're giving a class presentation or speaking in a business meeting to important members of your company. Your a boss lady, you've got work to do. 

7. TOUCHES UP WELL

Even the best lipsticks start to wear down during the day (if they don't break down at all then they are probably other concerns you need to worry about). This is why a good lipstick should be able to be reapplied easily (not to be a broken record, I'm just going to leave an exception to this rule right here: matte liquid lipsticks). A good lipstick should be all those above things so you can apply a thin layer. That way, when it comes to re-applying, you can apply with ease and not end up with a crumbly mess all over your mouth.

8. SMELLS GOOD

We use our sense of smell to spot out good products everyday. From good food to good hygiene, our noses smell out the rose among the vines. A good lipstick should smell as good as it looks. I don't mean it should be loaded with vanilla extract or smell of rose but it should not smell like plastic. A good rule of thumb, is a lipstick should have little to no scent. If you're smelling something chemical or plastic, it is either expired or contains an ingredient that should not be on your lips anyway.  

9. COMPLIMENTS YOUR SKIN TONE 

What's the point of buying a lipstick if it doesn't look good on you? Now this is where online shopping becomes a little tricky because there is no way to truly seeing how the product will look on you if you don't actually try it on. Online photos can be deceiving with a little +brightening, +tinting or +saturation. A good lipstick should compliment your skin tone. Red looks good on everyone, but you need to know if you should be looking for a warm or blue tone. 

10. SATISFY WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR 

If all else, you determine what makes a good lipstick. Whether you want something sheer or opaque, satin or matte, if it ticks all of your boxes then it qualifies as a good lipstick for you. The point is you don't have to break the bank to get a nice looking colour on your lips. It just has to suit your needs (as well as your bank accounts needs).