Choosing a Flattering Lip Color
By Vicky Gilpin
I always wanted to be one of those women who wear red lipstick. I tried for years, experimenting with different textures, tones, and formulas. However, successfully pulling off the style always eluded me.
As I’ve gotten more experienced, after years of purchasing and wearing lipsticks and years of trial and sometimes disastrous error, I discovered that so much more goes into a successful lipstick choice than liking it on the shelf, on a friend or celebrity, or even dabbing it on the back of my hand.
Skin Tone
Everyone knows that a lipstick that looks glamorous, playful or just off often depends on how the color looks with one’s skin. However, because the skin on your face may be a different shade than that on your hand, where many women dab color to try it out, you make the best decision by looking in a mirror at the lipstick on your lips. Approaching a salesperson at the makeup counter and asking to try a sample of a few colors with the potential to buy them is encouraged, not frowned upon. This will allow you to have an accurate perspective on how the lips work with your skin tone without the buyer’s regret that often occurs if you do not preview the shade.
Different colors take on whole new aspects depending on one’s skin tone. An article in Women’s Health Magazine provided an in-depth look on lipstick shades that focused on complementary colors for a person’s undertone; it suggests that you know whether you are cool or warm by the color of the veins on the inside of your wrists when viewed in natural light (bluer means cool undertones while more green indicates warm undertones). The writer advises nude, light mocha and mauve for fair skin with cool undertones, and shell, sand or nude peach for warm undertones. She warns against bright pink, dark bronze and dark mocha shades. She suggests people with medium skin with cool undertones use rosy pink, pomegranate and cranberry while those with warm undertones should use bronze, copper and cinnamon, but advises them to stay away from nudes to keep from looking washed out. The writer also indicates that olive skin of both undertones can handle the same shades: brick red, brown red, caramel and dark berry. Finally, dark skin with cool undertones looks best with raisin, wine and ruby red, and warm undertones require honey, ginger or coppery bronze shades. However, in many cases, dark skin is not most advantageously displayed with orange shades.
Hair Color
As well as skin tone, flattering shades may also be affected by hair color. For example, redheads have to pay attention to whether their lipstick shade is competing with the vividness of their hair; blondes can be overwhelmed by excessively bold or dark choices, and brunettes of all skin tones can play up the drama with bright choices. However, certain stylists suggest that some blondes can pull off a Marilyn Monroe look with a true red lipstick.
Technology
The current vivid lip trends provide a great excuse to experiment with defying the boundaries of what you’ve always thought of as “your” shade. In addition, modern beauty technology can also play a part in how much you can investigate different lip shades that work for you. Those of us who remember the ’80s may have had more than one experience with a smudged purple, fuchsia or neon pink lipstick. However, the many lip stains, lipsticks and other products whose assertion of long-lasting wear not only “sells the sizzle” but has the steak to back it up provides the opportunity to be more adventuresome by allowing formerly timid lipstick lovers, or those in a shade rut, to branch out without fear of the smear.
Revlon’s ColorStay Suede Ink™ lipstick can give a fair-skinned blonde the courage to wear the red-berry Lip Boom or a dark-skinned brunette the freedom to experiment with the brick-red In the Money. For those who don’t need quite that much staying power and want a little more hydration, L’Oreal Paris Infallible™ Never Fail Pro Gloss can let a redhead with medium skin tone explore flattering colors that don’t contrast with her hair.
Finally, self-awareness is necessary for that final check on whether a color is right for you. Obviously, clothes and events can make a difference in how your lipstick shade appears, but if you cannot imagine pulling off a certain color with your current wardrobe or profession or personality, leave it at the store!
Sources: womenshealthmag.com, haircolorforwomen.com and lipstickstylelounge.blogspot.com.
