You must have been in a situation where you have bought a shade of lipstick that does not look too good on your skin tone—maybe you’ve looked entirely washed out altogether. Do not fret however, you are not alone. This is a universal experience for lipstick wearers everywhere—and it's frustrating, to say the least.
Lipstick shopping sounds like a walk in the park until you realize that navigating the vast world of a million different shades of pinks, peaches, berries, reds, wines, and browns isn't easy—at all.
That’s why to narrow the search we have decided to share how you can find colours which best suit your undertones! But just remember, makeup should be fun! When you overthink the shades and second-guess all your choices, all of a sudden it becomes belaboured. Life can be stressful enough, let's not add "lipstick undertones" to the list of things that may give you pause.
Undertones 101
Skin tone has to do with the richness of your skin colour (fair, medium, and deep for example). Undertones are the colours shining through under your skin. Each skin tone can have different undertones—the main four being cool, warm, neutral, and olive. When lip color doesn't match the undertone, there may be a clash and that’s why the bubblegum pink that you excitedly bought may turn orange when applied.
Cool undertones
Cool undertones give the skin a pink, blue, or red hue. Some colours you could lean towards include:
For brown or neutral shades: Purple, mauve, taupe For reds: Cherry, wine, berry, purple For pinks: dusty or nude rose
Warm undertones
Warm undertones have a base of yellowish, gold, and peach hues sneaking through. Some colors you could lean towards include:
For brown and neutral shades: Caramel For reds: Brick, terracotta, candy apple For pinks: Peach, coral, orange
Neutral & Olive
Neutral undertones have the luck of the draw, as most colors will complement a neutral undertone. This means you'll have both yellow and blue undertones, so you can pick from a wide variety of colors without worrying about clashes. However, you can lean towards:
For brown and neutral shades: Chestnut, hints of gold, chocolate brown Reds: Deep corals, cranberry Pinks: Light to deep shades of peach
