Sabrina Carpenter's Red Lip and Frosty Highlighter Are So Taylor Swift-Coded

The pop star paid homage to her bestie with a Swiftie spin on the cold girl makeup trend.

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Sabrina Carpenter heading to her Very Nonsense Christmas special with highlighter and red lipstick
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Mariah Carey will always be the queen of Christmas, but this holiday season, Sabrina Carpenter seems to be gunning for the role of rightful heir. On Dec. 5, the Short n’ Sweet singer strolled into the premiere of her Netflix special—fittingly dubbed A Nonsense Christmas—wearing her most festive look yet.

Beneath a cascade of golden ringlets, the pop star wore a 1994 Karl Lagerfeld-era vintage Chanel mini dress covered in stripes of black and white faux fur. It was yet another show-stopping vintage pull from Carpenter's savvy stylist Jared Ellner, who accessorized the fuzzy frock with a matching pair of fur-trimmed pumps. Her best accessory, though, was her pitch-perfect holiday glam.

A photo of Sabrina Carpenter matching her white fur-trimmed pumps to her frosty highlighter.

Sabrina Carpenter matches her white fur-trimmed pumps to her frosty highlighter.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The "Espresso" hitmaker's ruby red lipstick and blinding highlighter combination felt decidedly Taylor Swift-coded, which makes sense given their close friendship and the sheer amount of time they spent on the road together during the first international leg of the Eras Tour. Swift even wore an ultra-frosty cheekbone highlight to dinner with Gigi Hadid earlier this week. Could it be that Carpenter managed to get her hands on an early restock of Pat McGrath's "Elson" liquid lipstick—the cool-toned matte red Swift famously wore on every stop of her Eras Tour? Perhaps so.

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A photo of Sabrina Carpenter pairs a furry black and white vintage Chanel dress with red lipstick.

Sabrina Carpenter pairs a furry black and white vintage Chanel dress with red lipstick.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Then again, I'm of the opinion that there is no universally flattering red lipstick—an opinion I know Camille Bell, CEO and co-founder of indie beauty line Pound Cake, shares. That's why Bell set out to develop her genius range of red liquid lipsticks with a shade to flatter every skin and lip tone. But if you're looking for a great place to start in the realm of ruby and crimson, Maed Beauty recently released a luxurious three-step lip ritual designed to help you create and maintain a perfect red pout.

As for Carpenter's icy highlighter, I have a very good guess regarding the exact she's wearing. On Instagram, her go-to makeup artist Carolina Gonzalez revealed the "Juno" singer's signature cheek combo is a mix of Armani Beauty's Luminous Silk Cheek Tint in the shades 53 and 62. So it's not hard to imagine her reaching for the brand's Fluid Sheer Glow Enhancer Highlighter in shade 7, a pearly light pink, to finish the job.

Given her recent breakup with Barry Keoghan, it's unclear whether Carpenter will smooching anyone under the mistletoe in the coming weeks. But if I was a global sensation trying to make my ex rue the day he ever crossed me, this is exactly the kind of sexy-cute cold girl makeup I'd be wearing all over town. As Carpenter herself once crooned, "Break my heart and I swear I'm movin' on with your favorite athlete."

Shop Holiday Glam Makeup Inspired by Sabrina Carpenter

Hanna Lustig
Hanna Lustig
Staff Writer

Hanna Lustig is a staff writer at Marie Claire, where she gets to gab every day about the topics she holds most dear: fashion, beauty, and celebrity. Hanna’s editorial journey began with formative internships at Elle and InStyle, where she was lucky enough to work for some of the smartest women in media while she was still in college at the University of Tennessee. Hanna then accepted a digital culture reporting fellowship at Insider, where she helped carve out a new beat dedicated to covering influencers. Those experiences later served her well as a staff writer at Glamour, where she developed a knack for spinning quick turnaround celebrity news and trend reporting into juicy feature stories. Some of her greatest hits include an earnest ode to the no-pants trend, this meticulously reported feature exploring the rise of endoscopic facelifts, this snappy take on the Chanel-designed fantasy of Sofia Richie’s wedding, this tribute to WAGs past and present, and this timeline of Katie Holmes’s life and career as told through her denim collection.

Diane Keaton once hung up on Hanna during an interview, but thankfully that mishap did not derail what has otherwise been a deeply fulfilling career writing for and about women. As one of Marie Claire's resident experts on style and culture, her current coverage ranges from exploring TikTok's contrast makeup theory and the return of the boat shoe trend to interviews with costume designers for hit shows like Nobody Wants This and The Penguin. When she’s not at work, Hanna can probably be found listening to pop music, talking to her dog, and gossiping with her best friends. For more of Hanna’s perfect opinions on pop culture, you can follow her on Instagram and X.