There’s a debate going on right now at the New York Times about whether makeup helps or hurts self-esteem (responses currently range from “Women Should Do What They Want,” “ It’s What You Make Of It,” “ Using Makeup Shows Love for Yourself,” “ A Choice, Not A Requirement,” “ Look Your Best, Feel Your Best,” to “ Must This Get Political?”), but our heart lies mostly with Natasha Scripture’s response,“ Red Lips Can Rule The World,” because guess what? We agree. Saying makeup is anti-feminist is borderline crazy. In our book, being a feminist means supporting women, no matter what they look like or what they want to do. (A resounding “ You Go, Girl!” here, please, thanks). Just check out Esmé [1,2], rocking Tom Ford’s latest limited-edition lip colors (she's wearing Spanish Pink in these pics), and bringing back all those good memories from Esther Heesch’s transformation at the hands of Armani Lip Maestro Liquid Lipstick. A red lip is confident, sophisticated, alluring, and as strong as you want it to be. Don’t believe us? Ask Melissa Coker. And don’t let anybody tell you what to do.

Buy Tom Ford's four-piece Lip Color Boxed Set here.

Esme Edwards wearing Tom Ford lipstick in Spanish Pink, photographed in New York by Emily Weiss on December 2nd, 2012.