Love it!!!
Believe it or not, it looks great under Mac creme cup! I just prime my lips with mac prep+prime lip (which is amazing by the way), thenline my lips and fill them with this pencil (lightly! I also use a lip brush to make sure it's all one color and so I won't need to use as much) and apply some of creme cup (not to much) and blend again with the lip brush. Sometimes I even add a bit of Clinique extreme pink lipstick in the middle of my lips and blend, then some clear or baby pink gloss and voila! The perfect,everyday sexy lip!
Complicated, I know.
My mom uses this under viva glam III (I think!) for a darker look and it's gorgeous, though too dark for me.
This liner looks great on its own or under some clear gloss!
Don't be afraid of it's dark color, it can be toned down.
This pencil is some kind of muted burgundy.
Hope you found this helpful!!
For reference - in nw15-20, rose ivory on Laura mercier silk creme, blue eyes and light brown-dirty-blond hair.

great liner. goes perfect with twig lipstick,

This pencil is MAC's best-kept secret. It deserves to be as popular as Spice. The color is an extremely muted, almost clay-like burgundy, so muted that you can wear it with a variety of neutral-to-cool hues, from light mauve to deep maroon. It also looks great on its own. It doesn't "pop" like most burgundies, but that's the point. Sometimes you want the clean, polished, well-groomed look of a red lip without the bold statement of a genuinely red lipstick or liner, and this is what Half Red delivers. I also like its opacity and evenness of application; they match those of Spice.

HG lip pencil! Brick red that just slightly enhances my lip line. Love it!

I love this lip liner. It's not red in my opinion...more like muted burgandy. It's very creamy and goes with any medium pink lipstick... very sexy and would recommand to have in your stash.

A MAC MUA suggested Half-Red lip pencil to me only because I told her I bought Captive and I wanted a good pencil for it to make the color of the lipstick appear warmer, but now I've decided that I hate Captive lipstick, I feel like I should have bought Craving instead, and now the Captive is just sitting there! LOL
Therefore so did the Half-Red, although on me it's not too different from a fave lip pencil of mine - the Beurre Cremestick Liner. But now that I've bought Snob lipstick recently, the Half-Red lip pencil looks beautiful with that and the Lust lipglass altogether. I'm really glad I have it now! The Half-Red lip pencil didn't totally change or take away from the color of Snob on me, it just made it more wearable and endearing to my skintone. I'm an NC45.

I needed something not too dark, not too brown, not too plum, not too nude, went through 10 MAC liners at the store and found this to be exactly what I was looking for. Really happy with this one.

A nice, toned-down red. I use it with Hot Tahiti and it looks great! Easy application and minimal bleeding, (especially if you use a concealer around the lips.) Use with a lip primer for long-lasting results!

This liner goes perfect for me with Syrup lipstick. Perfect for everyday use. I would buy it again but the pencil lasts a long time so I won't need to buy one anytime soon.

This is a true brick-red color liner. I will not get a lot of use out of this however, since I prefer my MAC Quartz liner. (and I think MAC Quartz is discontinued?!) MAC Quartz is brighter and not as dark as Half-Red, so I use it a lot more often. Keep in mind if you are a fair-skinned NC15, that the Half-Red liner is a very dark brick red.

I love this. I have pigmented lips, and on me this is a very soft red that works very well with darker MLBB lipsticks and lipglosses. Think Viva Glam VI, both lipstick and gloss. I would describe the color as a muted brick red with some wine tones in it, but think soft not intense which makes it super wearable. I can also see this working well with true reds to define the lip. Unique and awesome color!!
As with all MAC lipliners, the consistency is waxy creamy. Waxy enough to stick and keep you lip color inside the lines, and creamy enough to glide on smoothly. These last forever too, I have a few that I have had since 2001 and today, in 2009 they still work beautifully. MACs lipliners are one of the true winners in the line.

I love Half-Red, it is a classic color and I will always have one on hand. I use this with almost all of my l/g's. It compliments just about any l/g Ive used.
This is not a typical red. It is very muted and soft. I would not say pink, or even berry/wine. I think it is also safe to wear for those who worry about how their teeth look with a red. It is a shade of red...but a very wearable red. I am very fair, NC20 and I dont look overly made up wearing this with a nice gloss for an everyday look. I also like to wear it at night with VGII blotted on and a nice gloss.
A must have.

This is the one lip liner I reach for the most. It's a beautiful color and I would have never brought it if it weren't for the MU that convinced me to try it. It's a lovely color that compliments my NC40 skin tone. It's a unique color and if I lost this, I would definitely repurchase.

This color is probably the color that comes closest to my lip color, so needless to say that I love it. Blends in very well, and it lasts a long time.

Half Red is one of the more "famous" MAC lip pencils, so of course I *had* to add it to my rapidly increasing MAC lip pencil collection. I'm glad I did, though at first glance, Half Red doesn't strike me as particularly unique.
I agree with the other reviewers who have observed that Half Red is by no means red. I ordered it, sight unseen, to go with Rapturous lipstick, because I thought my Burgundy pencil was just too brown.
Half Red is indeed less brown and less intense than Burgundy; it does have a *tiiny* touch of brown, just enough to mute the color, but not enough to make even a brownophobe like me nervous. Half Red is actually a soft medium berry/rose. It has all the good qualities of a MAC pencil: long length, creamy texture, easy application and great wear.
EDIT: While Half Red is a good quality pencil in a pretty color, I don't think I'd buy it again, mostly because when worn with Rapturous, it somehow seems to bring out the plum in that color, making it almost identical to Rougette. For the cranberry red look I want from Rapturous, I prefer Cranapple Cremestick. continued >>

This is another great lip liner from MAC. I use this a lot especially under light glosses that need a boost. It is a muted red, almost neutral that would go with anything. My favorite thing to pair it with i the Viva Glam VI gloss. It is a gorgeous combo. I have not had a problem with this being dry and hard to apply, it is nice. I am close to the end of the pencil so I will be repurchasing.

The name, "Half-Red", suites this lip pencil very well... It has red tones to it, but it's not quite red, and is perhaps mixed with muave/plum. In any case, it's a very pretty, and very wearable color. For me, anyway. (NC35) I actually use this as an overall lip color, rather than as a lip liner, with some clear/pearly gloss on top. It looks nice with Decorative lipglass, as well.
The traditional wooden pencil lipliners from MAC are huge! length wise; at least way bigger than I expected. And for $12, they are a much better value than the automatic lip liners that Mac also carries. (Which probably come with a fourth of what the regular lip liners have.) continued >>

I purchased this on a whim today while I was at the MAC counter purchasing Viva Glam V because it was such a pretty color when I tested it on the back of my hand. I normally don't buy l/l's because I rarely used the chestnut one I purchased years ago, but I have acquired quite a few pink and plum glosses and this just looked like it would suit all of them. I was so right, this even looks pretty with peach and brown lip color. I will definitely be using this often.

I bought this after a MAC SA used this one me. I use it with Viva Glam V lipstick and lipgloss. Don't let the name fool you---it's not red. It's a darker pink color that when applied and blended, it looks very natural. I sometimes like to apply it AFTER lipstick or gloss because then it glides on and doesn't leave a harsh obvious "line" that I would have to blend.

Great color. A little plummy but not too purple. I also love Mahogany but this shade is even better for everyday. Not as light as Spice...a bit more dramatic without being too much. I love it with clear lip balm or gloss overtop.