How To Find The Right Nude Lipstick

From beauty icon Brigitte Bardot to the recent 2015 runway shows, and across the red carpet (think Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez), the nude lip is back in a big way. Unfortunately, if you’re not using the right colour it’s easy to look more washed-out than WOW. Our guide explains everything you need to know about the au natural shade…

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The nude lip makeup look will take you from work to play without missing a beauty beat. However, with varying natural lip colours and so many shades of nude to pick from, it can be hard deciding on the perfect choice to compliment your skin and to stop that dreaded “corpse” effect. Whether you opt to team your nude lip with a black smokey eye, sun-kissed glow or a go all-natural, it’s important to choose a shade that works best for you.

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Skin Tone Fair: (As above) If you’ve got fair skin, glossy finishes in pink and peachy undertones are perfect for you. Make sure you don’t go lighter than your actual natural lip shade and to stick with lipsticks that have a soft shine or gloss to lift your look. Compliment your choice of nude with a light brush of pink blush on the cheekbones to add the right amount of colour to your everyday make-up look.

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Skin Tone Medium: (As above) Olive and medium coloured skin tones work well with classic beige shades. Try ones with a peach or slight golden undertone to highlight your skin. The trick is to choose a nude lipstick that is a shade lighter than your natural lip colour.

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Skin Tone Dark: (As above) Darker skin tones look great with both matt and gloss nude lipstick finishes in a shade darker than your natural lip. An easy rule to remember is the darker your skin tone, the darker your lipstick colour should be, so experiment with chocolate browns or caramel colours. If your lips are naturally dark, adding a smudge of concealer underneath the lipstick is a great way to lift the lip colour and create a stunning contrast.

Now that you’ve got the perfect nude lip, it’s time to add a bit of colour through the rest of your beauty look:

If you’ve got medium to dark skin, nude lipstick looks great with bronze sun-kissed skin. Start by lightly brushing your skin with bronzer in the shape of the number 3, starting at the side of your forehead, down to the cheekbones and to the jawline and neck. Compliment with a brown, bronze or beige eye shadow and curled lashes.

For fair to medium skin, play with baby doll cheeks, by applying a light layer of foundation and dusting light pink or peach blush onto your cheekbones with two coats of mascara to make the eyes pop.

Pair your perfected nude lip with soft waves or curls for a night out, or flaunt casually on the weekend with a topknot or ponytail.