Find The Best Lipstick For Your Skin Undertone

If you don't know what undertones your skin has, often struggling to know whether you should be choosing cool or warm tones, it’s surprisingly easy to learn.
 
Undertones are not related to skin colour but to the underlying base tone of your skin. Generally, we only notice them when we’ve clearly chosen a super unflattering shade for ourselves. This is why an olive-skinned girl pulls off that bronze brown lippie so well but it just looks weird on a super pale skin.
 
The colour of your skin is very different from your undertone and can vary. As an example, you might have a summer tan which makes your skin darker but would still have cool undertones, which will affect what colours suit you.
 
The relatively fool proof way to discover your undertones is to look at the veins in your wrists. If your veins appear olive or green you have warm undertones, if they look blue or purple then your undertones are cool, and if your veins look both blue and green then you have neutral undertones.  
 

• If you have cool undertones your skin usually has a pink, red or blue-ish tint to it, you burn easily in the sun, and silver jewellery suits you best. Choose lipsticks with blue or purple undertones to best complement your skin. We don't mean reach for the bright purple lippie (unless you want to), but rather choose choose reds, pinks, berries, plums and mauves with cool undertones to them. Stay away from anything bronzy or with a hint of orange to it, which will look garish, or too-pale tones, that will leave you looking washed out.

• Warm undertones have a golden yellow or olive tinge to their skin, tan easily and look great wearing gold jewellery. Most South African women have warm undertones. Play up your golden glow with warm lipstick shades (think super red reds, rich bronzes and chocolates, warm corals or bold oranges). Skip over anything too pretty-pink or with purply-blue undertones that will clash with your skin.

• If you have neutral undertones then lucky you, you look great in most colours (and suit both gold and silver jewellery). You can pretty much pick whatever colours you want when it comes to playing around with lipsticks, but if you need more help read on for a few more tips.

Read More. Skin Undertones: Making It Super Easy To Choose The Right Makeup Shades For You

Match Your Every Day Lipstick to Your Skin Tone and Colour

While everyone's skin will be different there are a few general rules that are pretty safe to play by when buying lipstick. Assess your basic skin tone (it's usually something to do with whatever it says on your foundation, like 'ivory', 'mahogany' or 'natural beige').  
 

• For dark skin you can't go wrong with a bold berry shade, for both day and night wear. Our picks: Revlon Superlustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry, Black Opal Color Splurge Liquid Matte Lipstick in Ruby, and the cult favourite, Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey (tip: it also suits most other skin tones).

• Olive-skinned women can pull off an orange-red shade like Maybelline Superstay Vinyl Ink Lipstick in Red Hot, as it plays up your warm tones beautifully.

• If you have medium skin it’s likely you have warm yellow undertones and your go-to every day lippie should be a mauve-brown, giving you the perfect mix of natural with a touch of glam. Try Revlon Colorstay Suede Ink Lipstick in Want It All or Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick in Mauve Bliss.

• If you have fair skin with cool undertones, you suit a bright red shade (like Rimmel The Only One Lipstick in Revolution Red, and if you have fair skin with warm undertones (most Asian women do) then a subtle orange or peach L'Oréal Infallible 2 Step Lip Color in Toujours Toffee will look amazing on you.

• If you are super pale then a pretty pink is your best bet for giving you definition without washing you out. Try Revlon Colorstay Suede Ink Lipstick in That Girl.

The Best Nude Lipstick For Your Skin Tone

A few years back there was a craze which involved matching your lipstick to the colour of your nipples (yes, you read that correctly). It all started with a snippet in The Doctors TV Show which you can see here. While in many cases, it can be surprisingly accurate – after all the best lipstick shade should always match your skin tone - sometimes it can go wrong, especially if you have very fair or dark skin.
 
Instead, it's a lot more accurate to follow the guidelines that all makeup artists use. Firstly, your best nude lipstick should normally be one or two shades darker than your skin tone (you can go lighter with dark skin tones). The perfect nude should also be a balance of warm and cool shades - it shouldn't look too pink or grey but it shouldn't look too orange either.  
 

• With dark and brown skin tones, you have a lot of room to play with nude lipstick shades from creamy, dark caramels to rich cocoas, depending upon the colour of your natural complexion. Choose from Revlon Lipstick Super Lustrous in Caramel Glace, Yardley Intense Matte Lipstick in Temptress or Revlon Colorstay Suede Ink Lipstick in Pure Talent. If you prefer glossy lips, a great choice would be Black Opal Color Splurge Lipgloss Stick in Vicious.

• Those of you with medium and olive skin tones look amazing in beiges, browns and even a mauve-based nude for a slightly darker toned skin. Our nude lip picks: Revlon Superlustrous Lipstick in Nude Fury or L’Oréal Color Riche Les Nudes Intense Lipstick in Authentic.

• And if you have fair or light skin, pink- or rose-tinted lipstick colours will beautifully tone with your face. Try Essence Hydrating Nude Lipstick in Heavenly or Delicate or Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick in Perfect Nude.

Remember that your top lip and bottom lip are not the same colour, and the next best shade to match your personal nude tone to would be the colour of your top lip.
 
Read More. How To Find The Best Natural Looking Nude Lipstick For Your Skin Tone

Look At Your Eye Colour When Choosing The Best Red Lipstick

We now know to match our lipstick shades to our skin (by our skin tones and undertones) but there's another part of your body that could hold the key to finding the perfect hue.
 
Skin has the tendency to change, be it from the change in weather or from using bronzers or highlighters, but your eyes are a constant in their colour. Try matching your lipstick shade to your eye colour to get a look that both enhances your lips and makes your eyes pop; the perfect double whammy. 

• If you have blue eyes go for pure, post-box red (Yardley Stayfast Liquid Matte Lip Vinyl in Engine Red) to make them extra sparkly.

• For dark brown eyes try a berry-red hue (like Maybelline Superstay Vinyl Ink Lipstick in Royal), which will play up the warm mahogany tint in your eyes.

• If you have light brown or green eyes than you can pull off an orange-red shade (Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick in Tangerina). It's unusual so will get you noticed for all the right reasons, plus it makes the golden flecks in your eyes shine.

Read More. Finding the Most Awesome Red Lipstick for You Is Actually Easy