On Aug. 19, 2024, representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that has gotten everyone talking. While the crowd chanted "A-O-C," the New York congresswoman spoke about the situation in Gaza, her thoughts on former President Trump, and also offered a heartfelt endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her a "woman who fights every single day to lift working people out from under the boots of greed.
" Since then, there has also been an uptick in searches for something else on full display: her red lipstick. For anyone wondering her go-to shade, we have your answer: the Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso ($24). This isn't the first time Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has had people running to the store to grab her signature lipstick.
In June 2018, she won the Democratic primary against 10-term incumbent Representative Joseph Crowley, and many called the election a shocking political upset. Later, in November, she made history as the youngest woman to be elected to Congress (she was 28 years old at the time) — and impressed everyone with her bold lipstick choice in the process. When the questions about her choice in lipstick (a classic power red with historical significance) started bubbling up, the politician took to Twitter to answer the "many inquiries" she received on her preferred color.
"I GOT YOU," she wrote, adding that it's none other than Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso. It's hard to not find some symbolism in the brick red shade, as suffragettes in the early 1900s wore the hue while protesting for women's right to vote. In 1912, the real-life Elizabeth Arden even handed out a similar lipstick to NYC marchers as a token of unity.
Soon after Ocasio-Cortez revealed her scoop, Beso sold out on Sephora. (It's currently available other retailers like Nordstrom and Stila's own site .) There's undoubtedly more to focus on than Ocasio-Cortez's makeup preferences — her platform supports Medicare for all, housing as a human right, abolishing ICE, and criminal justice reform — but it's empowering to see her repping such a storied lipstick color.
Whether it sells out yet again after her DNC speech, only time will tell. — Additional reporting by Renee Rodriguez Alaina Demopoulos is a former junior staff writer for PS Beauty. Renee Rodriguez is a staff writer and social producer for PS.
She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for the PS TikTok and Instagram accounts..
