Celebrity Makeup Artists Swear By These 46 Lip Colors
I'm all for a bold lip. In fact, when I'm feeling extra lazy about doing my makeup, I tend to use my flashiest lip product and mascara as an easy out and skip the rest of the other steps. But as much as I love experimenting with daring colors, I still have an appreciation for a barely there lip. It's natural, pretty, and effortless. These days, I've been gravitating toward that particular look, as I've been on Zoom calls for work and FaceTime chats with friends.
Finding the best shade that matches your natural lip color is all about knowing your particular skin tone and undertones. "Skin tone is the color of the surface of your skin: light, medium, dark, or deep," explains celebrity makeup artist and groomer Autumn Moultrie, whose clients include Viola Davis and Kerry Washington. "Undertone is the subtle hue just underneath the skin, and that is different than skin tone. Two people can have the same skin tone with totally different undertones. Undertones fall into four categories: cool, warm, olive, and neutral. Eighty percent of people fall into the warm undertone category. If your veins on the inside of your wrist are blue, then you are cool. Cool undertones look best in silver jewelry, and the subtle color beneath your skin is pink, red, or blue. If your veins show green, you are warm. Warm undertones look good in gold jewelry, and the subtle color beneath their skin is yellow, peach, and golden."
Once you figure out your skin tone and undertone, this is where the fun part comes in: finding and playing around with lip colors. Moultrie and other celebrity makeup artists shared tips for choosing a shade and for applying product:
1. Pay attention to your cheeks: "Natural doesn’t mean nude!" says celebrity makeup artist and groomer Tasha Reiko Brown, whose clients include Yara Shahidi, Lupita Nyong'o, and Tracee Ellis Ross. "Choose a color that's closest to your natural flush in your cheeks. Color should resemble the shade in the center of just-bitten lips. The color just inside the pout of your lips, but amplified."
2. Opt for something sheer: "When mimicking the natural color of a lip, I like to use less pigmented lipsticks," says celebrity makeup artist Lisa Aharon, whose clients include Gwyneth Paltrow and Anna Kendrick. "This way, the color of your lip shines through and combines with the shade. I love Olio e Osso lip products for this effect specifically!"
3. Less is more: "Texture should blend down into the lips like a Popsicle stain," Brown explains. "The best natural lip color textures sit in the lips, not on top of them, so a little goes a long way. Blend a touch of color into the lips starting at the center and moving outward. The best natural lip look has no sharp border or edges. It's more of a wash of color."
4. Look at the inside of your lip: "A good trick to find a great natural lip color is to pull your bottom lip down and match the color of the inside of your lip," Moultrie suggests. "Blood flows close to the surface there, and that color, when applied to your lip or cheeks, makes you look as though you are flushed and the color is coming from within."
5. Gravitate toward certain colors: "As a general rule, cool skin undertones suit more blue or purple shades; warm skin undertones suit more caramel golden tone lip colors," says celebrity makeup artist Naoko Scintu, whose clients include Charlize Theron and Sophie Turner. "More neutral skin undertones suit a mixture of both."
Natural Lip Colors to Try
Ready to shop some lip colors? Check out these recommended products based on your skin tone and undertone:
Deep Skin With Cool Undertones
Brown's Pick:
Aharon's Pick:
Moultrie's Pick:
Deep Skin With Neutral Undertones
Moultrie's Picks:
The above from Marc Jacobs and the below product from Lipstick Queen are Moultrie's other picks. "These sheer, gently glossy options are beautiful on deep tones if paired with a lipliner like MAC Chestnut," she says.
Aharon's Pick:
Brown's Pick:
Deep Skin With Warm Undertones
Scintu's Pick:
Brown's Pick:
Aharon's Pick:
Dark Skin With Cool Undertones
Moultrie's Pick:
Aharon's Pick:
Brown's Pick:
Scintu's Pick:
Dark Skin With Neutral Undertones
Aharon's Pick:
Brown's Pick:
Moultrie's Picks:
"So many colors look good on these tones [neutral and warm], but these are a few of my faves," Moultrie says. "When it comes to choosing natural colors, don't make the mistake of always going dark. It is more important to make sure that the undertones of the lipstick are warm. Otherwise, it will look chalky. Not okay."
Dark Skin With Warm Undertones
Scintu's Pick:
Brown's Pick:
Aharon's Pick:
Medium Skin With Cool Undertones
Brown's Pick:
Moultrie's Picks
Scintu's Pick:
Aharon's Pick:
Medium Skin With Neutral Undertones
Scintu's Pick:
Aharon's Pick:
Moultrie's Pick:
Medium Skin With Warm Undertones
Brown's Pick:
Aharon's Pick:
Scintu's Pick:
Light Skin With Cool Undertones
Aharon's Pick:
Brown's Pick:
Light Skin With Neutral Undertones
Brown's Pick:
Aharon's Pick:
Light Skin With Warm Undertones
Brown's Pick:
Aharon's Pick:
Hennè's barely there lip balm leaves just the right amount of subtle color, and you can add more layers if you want more saturation.
Next up, 14 beautiful lip stains that won't rub off on your face mask.
Sarah is lifestyle writer and editor with over 10 years of experience covering health and wellness, interior design, food, beauty, and tech. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she attended New York University and lived in New York for 12 years before returning to L.A. in 2019. In addition to her work atBest Knockoff Luxury Clothing , she held editor roles at Apartment Therapy, Real Simple, House Beautiful, Elle Decor, and The Bump (sister site of The Knot). She has a passion for health and wellness, but she especially loves writing about mental health. Her self-care routine consists of five things: a good workout, “me” time on the regular, an intriguing book/podcast/playlist to unwind after a long day, naps, and decorating her home.
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