I Tried To Copy Emma Stone's Oscars Beauty Look

Emma Stone always makes interesting style and beauty choices for the red carpet, and Emma Stone's entire look at the 2015 Oscars was no exception. She stood out from the sea of neutral gowns in a vivid chartreuse dress, and her striking red hair was set off perfectly by her coral lipstick. It was that lipstick that really caught my attention, especially after Stone said it was from Revlon.

Two things to keep in mind: I love Emma Stone. And I love a good budget-friendly lipstick. Almost my entire lipstick collection is from the drugstore and a good portion of them are Revlon solely because, as the face of Revlon, Emma Stone is so good at selling their lipsticks. The girl knows how to wear a bold lip and I love her for it (and my wallet doesn't mind either because it's totally affordable).

That's why I was so excited to recreate Stone's Oscars look on myself. I immediately popped into a CVS the day after the Oscars to pick up my own Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick in Tulip ($8): the exact shade that Emma Stone wore. I had high hopes for this lipstick. I speed-walked through the dark parking lot and applied the lipstick as soon as I got back in my car, poor lighting and all. It felt amazing on my lips: silky and hydrating. I was pleased.

Then I went home and took a better look at my lips and the packaging, and had second thoughts.

The thing about this lipstick is that it’s a lot of trouble for a pretty color. For some reason, the lipstick gets all over the inside of the clear glass cover — pretty as it looks, it gets messy immediately. The fake candy smell is not very palatable, and if your lips are even slightly dry or chapped, this lipstick will catch on all the dry patches on your lips and emphasize them. You absolutely have to exfoliate first (whether with your toothbrush, a DIY lip scrub, or something like this handy e.l.f. Lip Exfoliator) and then prep with some lip balm. You’ve been warned.

Once you do those things, however, you'll probably be pleased with this lipstick. It definitely feels hydrating (even if it isn't in practice) and Tulip is the prettiest coral color that's perfect for spring.

However, I definitely felt like it looked better on Emma Stone than on me. We have similar skin tones and I bought the exact shade she was wearing, so I was perplexed about why it looked so different on us. Mine seemed to have more orange in it. It also appeared to last all night on her, whereas mine wore off after a couple hours and one drink. What gives?

I investigated and learned that, of course, Stone's beauty look for the Oscars wasn't quite as budget-friendly as it first appeared. Layered under the Revlon lipstick was a Chanel lip liner (Chanel Precision Lip Definer in Rouge Candy, to be specific).

Now I'm all for mixing high and low but I have to admit I felt a little cheated. Stars: They're not quite just like us! I could go out and buy the Chanel lip liner, but a $29 lip liner doesn't make for an accessible beauty look quite like $8 lipstick.

Also, for those of you considering duplicating this look with any old lip liner, it's not that easy. Most lip liners are quite drying, and this lipstick works better when layered with something hydrating. I tried layering the Revlon lipstick over NYX Retractable Lip Liner in Nude ($5) and although the lip liner did help to tone down the color, these two products combined emphasized every line on my lips even more than the lipstick alone. Perhaps the Chanel lip liner is more hydrating (Stone's lips didn't look dry); and it certainly seemed to help make the Revlon lipstick last longer on her.

So if you have $37 to spend, you can absolutely replicate the exact look of Emma Stone's lips at the Oscars. If you're on a budget, however, beware of red carpet beauty inspiration. For inspiration alone, the red carpet can be the best place to look; but be sure to remember that in addition to the drugstore lipstick, there's also makeup artists, hours of prep, and layers of different products that go into making a star red carpet-ready. So at the very least, try not to compare your finished look to theirs.