How to Get the Perfect Nude Lip

There are a few hard and fast rules to live by when selecting your perfect, pouty nude lip hue. Follow them to the letter. If you don't, lip disasters are just waiting to happen: lip-sasters, for short.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Digital camera
• Mall or favorite beauty store
• Patience
• Smoky eye

1. First! No matter what, a nude lip needs to be worn with a bolder eye. Just a few more swipes of mascara and a couple more strokes of liner will do the trick. Of course if you have a fancy shmancy event, please do a full-on smoky eye with shadow and smudging and liner, oh my!

2. Pale-skinned girls have a broader range of color at their fingertips. When selecting your perfect nude shade, you can go more peachy, more pink, or even washed-out and totally nude. Your pale skin will only enhance any and all of these shades.

3. If your skin is more olive, you must stay away from truly pale beiges, creams or white tones. The goal with a nude lip is to create something natural, or at least hyper-natural, and something too pale will create a ghost-like, ghoulish and otherwise ghastly look against your darker skin. Go for something with warmth--most of MAC's Viva Glam lipsticks would work for you.

4. Bobbi Brown is the undisputed queen of the nudes and naturals. When testing various colors on your lips, be sure to use eye makeup remover between each shade. If you rub your lips too much (without a remover) while trying on different colors, your natural lip color is usually reddened, thus slightly changing the tone of the color you're trying on.

5. An almost universally flattering nude lip is by the adored and adorable Stila. They make a Lip Tint with an SPF called, appropriately, Nude. It feels great, it protects, and it gives you a that Bridget Bardot sex appeal.

6. Some gals love priming their lips with a dab or two of foundation. Some find this a bit heavy-handed and it usually results in a gloppy-looking lip color, with ugly, muddy undertones to boot. Others far prefer a very sheer swipe of an eyelid primer (Paula Dorf's is great) which will keep your lipstick lasting and lovely.

7. A nude lip requires maintenance. If you're someone who likes to swipe and surrender, this isn't the color for you. Similarly, a red lip requires a ton of looking-after even though they seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. So, when sporing your sultriest of eyes and palest of lips, remember that you will tending to it for the whole evening.

Tips & Warnings

• When trying on your pale colors at the store, make up your eyes as you would when wearng the pale color. This way, you can gauge if they complement each other.
• Bring your digital camera as well. People will, of course, look at you askance, but you have to live with that lip color, and taking a quick pic allows you to have some objectivity.
• Even though nude is considered "natural", it's still quite a "done" look. If you're looking for a natural look, try something more in the pink-brown family. Otherwise, use a creamy balm with a whisper of a pink tint.
• Lipliner! When creating your perfect nude lip, you MUST match your liner to your lip color. No browns or any shades darker than your lip color.

Resources

• Great lip colors from Bobbi Brown
• Great sheer lipliners

[missbb]

on 1/30/2009 I will definitely be trying out this look. Thanks for the advice :)!

[beyond]

on 9/7/2008 So much goes into this...

[Pixie1976]

on 7/13/2008 I love the nude lip look. Thanks for enhancing my knowledge.

[CyndiLou]

on 2/6/2008 Very good idea to bring a digital camera when shopping for color. All makeup counters should do this so you can see what you look like!

[amandaford]

on 11/13/2007 i HEART nude lips.

thanks for the tips.