The same lipstick shade can look completely different on different skin tones, darlings! Everyone has a shade of nude that suits them, and pinks and reds can pop in unique ways on fair, medium, tan, and deep skin. When shopping for lipstick online, always look at our arm and lip swatches to reveal how a shade will look on your skin tone before committing to a lip colour.
One of the most common mistakes when choosing a lipstick for tan and deep skin tones is choosing a shade that’s too light. Pale shades of lipstick can sometimes appear washed out or ashy on the lips. Tan and deep complexions are naturally richer than fair and medium skin, so deeper, bolder lipstick colours like hot-pink Velvet Underground and deep-red Cinematic Red can pop without being overpowering. When choosing a nude lipstick for tan and deep skin, reach for a caramel or brown-toned nude lipstick like Pillow Talk Intense that mimics and complements natural tones in the skin.
Tilbury Tip: If you have a deeper skin tone but love a light lipstick shade, wear it with a darker shade of lip liner and blot lipstick onto the centre of the lips for a flattering contour effect.
Fair and medium skin tones can sometimes get overpowered by bold and punchy lipsticks, and the wrong shade of lipstick could cause a pale complexion to appear ghostly. Instead, choose a lighter, softer shade like light-pink Icon Baby or peachy-pink Angel Alessandra to flatter your complexion. When choosing a red or pink lipstick for fair or medium skin, choose lighter, brighter shades like ruby-red Hollywood Vixen or candy-pink Candy Chic that will lift the look of your makeup look and avoid murky, greige tones that can drag your complexion down.
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Lipstick is the first thing that comes to mind when we think about makeup. Adding color to the lips can make a huge difference to the features of your face. A poorly chosen shade of lipstick can easily destroy your whole look. That’s why it’s important to choose a color that suits you.
We at Bright Side are excited to share these 7 tips with you to help you choose the right lipstick shade.
Applying makeup can be a very fun experience — you get to play with different colors, textures, and shapes. In some countries, women wear makeup every day, and it has become part of many of our routines. Even so, many of us don’t stop and think about the ingredients in our favorite products, so we’re going to discuss some of them.
The main ingredients you can find in lipstick are waxes, like beeswax and oils — often olive oil. The first ingredient helps the lipstick to have structure, and the second adds glossiness. To make your lips look fuller, the product sometimes contains capsaicin, which is a component found in chili peppers.
Then chemists add pigments, dyes, and fragrances, which are going to dictate the color and smell of the product. More recently, other ingredients, such as vitamin E, moisturizers, aloe, collagen, and sunscreen, have also been added to many lipstick formulas to protect the skin on the lips.
The very first step in choosing the right lipstick color is determining what skin tone you have. There are 5 main types of skin complexion: fair, light, medium, tan, and deep.
FAIR OR LIGHT
The lipstick shades that usually look great with fair or light skin are light pink, coral, peach, nude, and dusty red colors.
MEDIUM
Rose, berry, cherry red, and mauve lipstick colors look gorgeous on girls with a medium skin tone.
TAN
Girls with a tan skin tone can totally rock coral, deep pink, bright red, and most other colors except for brown and purple shades.
DEEP
Lipstick shades that suit a deep skin tone best are brown and purple shades like plum, caramel, wine, and blue-based reds.
Knowledge of you skin undertone will definitely help guide you. Basically, there are 3 types of undertones: cool, warm, and neutral.
Remember that this is just a guide you can use to start experimenting. At the end of the day, you can wear any shades you’d like or choose a more natural approach and not wear makeup at all.
If you’re like me, you probably just apply your lipstick without prior preparation. Maybe knowing that there’s a “correct” way to apply it sounds weird to you, but we can always learn something new. Who knows, maybe you’ll like it and will implement it into your routine.
If you have trouble determining your skin undertone, just follow these simple steps:
Now that you know how to choose the perfect lipstick shade for you, share your favorite go-to colors with us. Did you find any of these tips useful?
Let us know in the comments below!
Please note: This article was updated in September 2022 to correct source material and factual inaccuracies.