A key rule in make up is to balance a dramatic eye with a neutral pout, since I've never really been a fan of red lipstick, i've created all my day and night looks using my secret arsenal of my favourite nudes, which I'm sharing with you today! This master list has a mix of matte lipsticks, glossy ones, liquid lipsticks & lip pencils - so a little something for everyone!
I think the perfect nude is a myth, so a great way to experiment with the products you do have and buy in the future is to layer them! I usually layer 2-3 shades and textures to find the colour that suits the occasion I'm wearing it for the best! I'm not from the school of thought that believes lighter pastel colours work for lighter skin tones, for nudes in general I believe the opposite! If you're fairer, wear a shade with a brown undertone so you avoid coming off as pale, and if you're tanned or you've been at the beach too long, I love wearing a semi-sheer glossy effect lip shade with a coral undertone that offsets that tan beautifully!
1. MAC Cosmetics (Shade:Velvet Teddy)
Pros: This is a godsend! I absolutely love this nude shade and have been wearing it for years. MAC has a lot of great neutrals but what I love about this one is that it is so versatile & affordable! It's a nude with a slightly pink undertone that is perfect as the first layer for a pink or brown lip! On it's own, the formula itself lasts for a few hours before it needs a top up, but since I usually layer them, I touch up once every hour, especially if I've been drinking - another plus is that unlike Reds, Nudes rarely bleed and leave you looking like a Hot Mess, which in my world means.. Bring on the Martinis! It also works great with all skin types!
Cons: It's a dry formula which does leave your lips feeling chapped & begging for that extra TLC! so make sure to use a lip balm/primer before applying & also top up with a hydrating gloss for best results.
(Top tip: For those of you who don't know this, MAC Cosmetics also runs a promotion where you can exchange 6 empty lipstick capsules for a brand new one of your choice! An initiative that's great for the environment & your purse strings!)
2. Charlotte Tilbury (Shade: Pillowtalk)
Pros: This is a shade I discovered relatively recently from one of my new favourite Hijabi bloggers (yes that's a thing!) With Love, Leena. Let me start by saying this is a high quality product that comes in the most stunning rose gold case. It already makes you feel like a million bucks even before you put the lipstick on! Aside from the packaging, the formula is creamy & buttery, and lasts hours without moving from it's place. The one thing I absolutely hate (which happens to me more often than I'd like unfortunately, is having lipstick spread onto my teeth), with this lipstick, rest assured you'll never have that problem again! Another ++ is that Pillowtalk is available in three variation shades (original - nudey pink, medium - berry pink & intense- deep berry), which allows you to match it perfectly to the occasion in question & your skin tone! For a wheatish skin tone like mine, I tend to use the original or the medium and use MAC Cosmetics lip liner in Spice for a perfect fall day nude lip that just lasts for years without a touch up!
Cons: Charlotte Tilbury as a brand is slightly more expensive than MAC Cosmetics, and not as readily available, but again having tried & tested these, I'd say it's definitely worth the investment!
3. Chanel (Shade: Interlude, Liberte)
Pros: Eons ago, a little college girl was strolling through duty free and found what would then become her most prized possession - It was none other than Chanel's Coco Rouge Shine Lipstick in Shade Interlude! This is the best non-gloss lip product that gives you the shine of a gloss but the colour and stay of a lipstick! It's a nudey-coral colour that is semi-transparent on application, however you can build up the colour easily with more layers. It's also the perfect add on layer to MAC cosmetics Velvet teddy! However, shortly after I was obsessed with this shade, I found out it was limited edition, so rare and very difficult to find. I was devastated but found solace in Liberte (a similar nudey-coral that is slightly deeper in tone), I'd say the colour is similar to velvet teddy with a hint of coral and instead of matte, it's semi-sheer. Again, they're very high quality, easy to apply & find, and very hydrating!
Cons: As mentioned above, one of these shades is limited edition so that's a bummer :( but they have quite a large range of nude semi-sheer lipsticks that cater to almost every skin type & Liberte is readily available everywhere! I've tried a few other shades from this range that I also like/occassionally use (Boy, Flirt, Monte Carlo, Desinvolte) but I have to say none as much as these two!
(Top tip: I never use these by themselves, I feel for indian skin tones especially, it's worth layering a matte opaque shade like Velvet Teddy, Mehr, Spirit or Kinda Sexy below this! I usually tend to go for a shade with a brown undertone to balance out the fruity coral in these!)
4. Huda Beauty Matte Liquid Lipstick (Shade: Bombshell)
Pros: Huda Beauty has taken the beauty world by storm! and seriously I'm a fan of her products, I'm not sure about the packaging and the quality but their range of colours and pigment delivers every single time! At an affordable price point and readily available in stores and online across the world, I find Huda Beauty's Matte Liquid Lipsticks a great buy! I know someone (at any given age) who has atleast one of these in the full size or mini from my mother, sister, cousins or friends. It's impossible not to have them. Now that I've given you a decent sized summary of why I love Huda Beauty, let's move on to the formula, and lipstick itself. This is a nudey-pink colour, its a really light weightless liquid consistency. Once you apply, it takes about 2-3 minutes to dry to touch. It does last for ages before you need a touch up! (through all the drinking, eating, snacking, munching, talking)
Cons: This is one lipstick that inadvertently ends up on my teeth, no matter how much I try! Once I've cleaned it off the excess a few times, I love it, but it's one of those things that I've just made my peace with - someone you may not know very well will make a brushing sign toward their teeth or point at your front incisors and you will have to try your best to not look embarrassed, which to be fair isn't hard considering it is a great colour! Another thing I hate about this formula is how dry it is, it's one of those formulas that sucks the life out of your lips - so pre and post lip care is a must with this one!
(Top tip: I usually use a lip balm like vasline/Laneige/carmex before I put this one. Sometimes I may even use my dior lip plumper gloss under it or above it depending on the look I'm going for. Also this formula stays on for ages, so make sure to use an oil based lip scrub or a facial scrub if you want to get it off completely, otherwise you'll still be wiping some pigment off 2 days later)
5. Huda Beauty Demi-Matte Cream Liquid Lipstick (Shade: Shero, Feminist)
Pros: This product was actually a marked improvement to the Matte Liquid Lipsticks, I think they really took on board their customers' feedback and introduced a formula that was as pigmented as the Matte's and much more hydrating! What I love about these two shades are they are extremely versatile, unlike the Matte's or any other lipstick for that matter, the formula is so creamy and opaque that it doesn't need to be layered with anything else! (the negative is that you literally can't layer it even if you try!!!) Shero and Feminist are very similar to each other, both are a nudey-pink, Shero is a little bit more coral, and they work just as easily in the day or night! I think both these shades work perfectly with indian skin tones - wheatish or tanned. It's also incredibly easy to find and affordable compared to other high end liquid lipstick brands like Kat Von D.
Cons: Frankly speaking, it's one of those formulas that is so buttery and creamy that it feels entitled to overline your lips - it bleeds! I've often ended up with small lipstick streaks on my face or arms or clothes for absolutely no reason! If you're out on the town, the one advantage is you'll always recognise your glass, it's the one with the big fat creamy lipstick stain on it! It also doesn't last quite as long as the Huda Beauty Mattes which means you do have to top it up quite often.
6. MAC Cosmetics Lip Liner (Shade: Spice)
Pros: For someone with fuller lips, lip liner is one of those products that I never really felt the need to use, until I did & I have to say it's a game changer! Not only does it help keep the colour on longer, and appear more pigmented but it gives your lips a sharp definition thats difficult to achieve with anything else. That said, I'm relatively new to the world of lip liners and from the ones that I've tried (Huda Beauty, Kylie, MAC Cosmetics) I can say this liner does the job! It's a cinnamon-y brown colour that veers more toward neutral than brown, and works perfectly with any pinky nude lipstick/gloss on top! For me, it's the shade & the fact that the product doesn't dry out or break as often as the other lip liners that I've tried that makes this one a winner! In terms of affordability & availability, it's a 9/10!
Cons: It's not a roll on, unfortunately which means I do break the tip a lot & you have to use an old-school sharpener each time that happens!
(Top tip: I use this on most days, if you use a lip balm below, it makes drawing the outline much easier as the pencil glides on, I also tend to fill my lips with the liner, which not only makes your lipstick last longer but I'm yet to find a shade match as perfectly neutral as this one for indian skin tones! As I said earlier, a perfect nude is a myth but this comes pretty damn close!)
How do you know if its THE ONE (shade)? One of the best ways to know if a lipstick suits you is to try it on your lips with no other make up on! If you like how it looks, buy it 100%. If not, it's probably not your shade. - I've noticed this is true with every shade that I've been obsessed with! I avoid testing shades on my hand, as they seldom look the same on your face! - There will always be a slight colour difference between your hand & face, so take that into account when buying your next nude :)
Hope you're having a good week! Let me know in the comments/DM me on instagram if you found this blog helpful, have any questions or product suggestions! lots of love xx Farah