Hey makeup lovers!

Today I want to share my absolute favourite trick for making any nude lipstick work for my skin tone.

Nude lipstick is hard to pull off. We’ve all seen a photo on Instagram of some model with perfect smoky eyes looking just stunning with a milky light glossy nude lip. So effortless. So chic. …But when I try it? Hello Night of 1000 Corpses. I look ghostly & washed out. Not cute.

So why does nude lipstick look amazing on other people but it’s nearly impossible to find the “right nude” for yourself?

The answer isn’t about the lipstick itself, but about what you use WITH the lipstick.

In my years at MAC, I’ve had to promote some colours that aren’t the most flattering for me. Particularly nudes, that I never thought I could pull off. I had to figure out a way to make these colours look good on me so I could wear current collections and look trendy, but still feel like I looked good.

*DRUMROLL PLEASE*

Lipliner! Its ALL ABOUT LIPLINER! I would never and COULD NEVER wear nude lipstick without lipliner.

Lipliner creates a barrier between your skin and the nude lipstick. This gives a visual separation the eye can pick up so the nude lips don’t blend right into the skin (giving you that “washed out” look).

Lipliner allows you to wear a lipstick colour much lighter than your natural lips or skin tone and still have distinct lips instead of looking like you’re wearing nothing.

When you find a good nude lipliner, the nude lipstick world is literally your oyster. You will be able to make almost any nude lipstick work for you. So many doors will open up. You will see the world differently. Food will taste better. …You get the point.

BEFORE LIPLINER

I wouldn’t call this terrible, but this definitely isn’t the best colour for me. This colour is MAC Peachstock lipstick, a very peachy beige.

AFTER LIPLINER

And just like that, we have a nice separation between skin tone & lips, making this nude work for my skin beautifully. I used MAC Spice Lipliner to create definition in my lips so they look fuller. I blended the liner with the lipstick to get rid of any harsh edges. When I wear nude lipstick with lipliners, I always get asked by customers what nude that is, because they want the same effect.

MY FAVOURITES

Let me share some of my favourite lipliners with you. These liners are all from MAC but this is just designed to be a colour guide for you to shop from. Look for similar tones if MAC isn’t available in your area.

From top to bottom: Boldly Bare, Spice, Whirl, Stripdown, Cork, Stone, Chestnut

MAC Stripdown Lipliner

Stripdown is a great medium toned nude lipliner. It’s a beige-brown, not too red or yellow. Stripdown is good for fair to medium skin tones but probably wouldn’t give enough definition on darker skin tones. I tend to use Stripdown with really light nude lipsticks to give me some contrast but not as intense of a jump in colour as I would get with Cork or Chestnut.

MAC Cork Lipliner

Cork is a really nice medium-dark brown with a golden undertone. I wear Cork quite often at work with a variety of different tones. It is great with light to medium nude shades and it works really well with coral tones too. You can actually use Cork liner with creamy pink tones too as long as you blend well. It gives this great “pinky-nude” look that can’t be replicated with one product.

MAC Whirl Lipliner

Whirl is the lipliner that launched the Kylie Jenner lip craze. When Kylie first changed her appearance & claimed her drastic lip transformation was the result of lipliner, Whirl was the product her makeup artist was using on her. MAC Stores across North America couldn’t keep Whirl lipliner in stock for most of 2014 because of the massive jump in demand. Whirl is a medium nude, rosy brown liner that gives a really natural pinky look to lips.

MAC Boldly Bare Lipliner

I don’t wear Boldy Bare often because it gives a more natural looking and I tend to go more dramatic, but I really like it for a light nude, barely-there look. Boldly Bare is a warm peachy nude liner with a reddish undertone. This liner is great with really light nudes, but it is also good for light coral lipsticks or very sheer, soft reds. Boldly Bare gives the illusion of no liner on most light to medium skin tones, so you can use it on its own all over lips just to add shape.

MAC Stone Lipliner

Stone is a perfect cool-toned lipliner that gives you that Instagrammy, grungy nude lip. But this liner is also great for an every day creamy nude. It works really well with light pink lipsticks too (Angel or Creme Cup from MAC are both beautiful with Stone Lipliner). You can use this liner with brown tones or coral tones too. Stone is one of those colours that doesn’t look like much when you swatch it, but the cool grey-brown undertone makes everything you wear with it really stand out.

MAC Chestnut Lipliner

Chestnut is a dark brown lipliner that’s not too warm or orangey. I have described Chestnut lipliner as the universal lipliner; there is not one colour lipstick that I have found so far that doesn’t work with Chestnut. I have used this liner with pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, nudes, purples, blues, greens, golds… I have not yet met a lipstick that Chestnut liner cannot conquer. This liner is my most used at MAC for making any lipstick work for me that might not look good otherwise. It is dark enough to work on any deeper skin tone but will blend correctly with any light colour so it can be used on even the most fair skin.

MAC Spice Lipliner

This has got to be MAC’s most famous lipliner. It’s been around since the 90’s. Linda Evangelista was a big fan of Spice lipliner and it is known as a “90’s supermodel favourite”. Spice is described as a pinky cinnamon colour. I don’t wear Spice often but I had to include it on this list because of its icon status. I did break it out for the before & after photos at the top of this post, and I really liked the look. I will be using Spice more often!

Application Tips

I like to apply my lipliner, then apply my nude lipstick, blend by rubbing my lips together, then apply my lipliner again, and blend again. This gives me the smoothest finish and really lets the colours melt into each other.

… and ready for the cherry on top?

Gloss, gloss, gloss for days… Lipgloss gives nude lips more dimension & separation from the skin. It’s not essential to make that perfect lipstick sundae, but just like the cherry, it’s all about your personal preference.

Sometimes I use gloss and sometimes I don’t. Maybe check how windy it will be that day? Gloss is definitely better for indoor settings or times you’re wearing your hair up.

Want to keep your nude gloss clean?

I hate when nude gloss gets that weird muddy look. This happens easily if you’re using a nude lipliner. I will dab the gloss on the back of my hand and then apply it to the center of my lips using my finger. If I don’t want to use my hand, I will use a tissue or paper towel to wipe off my gloss wand before I put it back in the tube. This keeps my nude glosses from getting discoloured.

Basically, when it comes to nude lipstick, it’s all about what you add to the mix.

I hope this post gave you some ideas! What is your favourite nude lipstick? Let me know in the comments!

XOXO