Taylor Swift and Dakota Johnson are not just twinning in matching Valentino in the 'Patient Zero' music video. The Grammy-winning singer and Materialists actress also share the same red lipstick: Tom Ford Beauty's Fucking Fabulous Lip Colour in F9 Red, a £49 shade the brand describes simply as a 'true red'.
The beauty detail appears in Swift's self-directed video, which premiered during the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, 27 September. Both women are shown applying the lipstick as their characters increasingly mirror one another, making the matching red lip part of a larger visual story rather than a one-scene beauty cameo.
The Exact 'Patient Zero' Lipstick Is Tom Ford F9 Red
Tom Ford Beauty's Fucking Fabulous Lip Colour in F9 Red is currently listed for £49 in the UK. The brand classifies the shade as a true red and describes the lipstick as full coverage with a luminous, semi-matte finish, while its solid formula is designed to melt across the lips with a more fluid glide.
According to Tom Ford Beauty, the formula offers all-day wear, immediate moisture and 'colour-true clarity'. The company calls it 'a solid-to-liquid lip formula so fabulous it needs no further introduction', positioning F9 Red within a 10-shade collection that also includes berry, plum, fuchsia and mocha tones.
The shade is especially recognisable on Swift because a classic red lip has been one of the 'Blank Space' singer's longest-running beauty signatures. Yet 'Patient Zero' initially moves away from that familiar image, with Swift appearing in pared-back makeup, minimal mascara and a softer lip before the saturated red returns later in the story.
Why Taylor Swift and Dakota Johnson Match in 'Patient Zero'
The matching lipstick is one piece of a much broader twinning concept between Swift and Johnson. Throughout the video, the two women appear in coordinated or matching clothing, including evening looks, as the story gradually reveals that their characters have been caught in versions of the same relationship with a man played by The Banshees of Inisherin actor Colin Farrell.
Swift acknowledged the deliberate duplication after the premiere, writing that 'giggling with your friend because you're twinning for an entire shoot' had been a new experience for her. The singer also said she drew from gothic ghost stories, true crime and psychological thrillers while directing the video, with its cold home setting designed to reflect a relationship that has deteriorated.
Johnson's adoption of Swift's red lip fits into that wider visual mirroring. Johnson's character is repeatedly styled as an echo of Swift's, while Swift appears as the former wife of Farrell's character, attempting to warn the woman who has followed her into the same pattern. The lipstick joins the matching clothes and styling as one of the clearest visual links between them.
The Red Lip Returns After Swift's 'Patient Zero' Makeunder
The F9 Red reveal also gives the video's beauty progression a sharper contrast. Ahead of its release, much of the attention centred on Swift appearing without her usual winged eyeliner and statement red lip, giving the opening imagery a noticeably stripped-back feel compared with the glamour associated with The Life of a Showgirl.
By the time Swift and Johnson are visually aligned, however, the red lip is back. Instead of functioning only as Swift's familiar beauty trademark, Tom Ford's F9 Red becomes something both women wear, reinforcing the video's central device of two characters whose appearances and experiences begin to overlap.
