How to Pick a Lipstick Shade

The right shade of lipstick will highlight your lips, not your lip color

Wearing the right shade of lipstick is vitally important to your overall look. Wearing shades that are too dark can age you, while youthful glosses with large flakes of glitter can make an otherwise professional outfit look juvenile and inappropriate. Generally, the best rule of thumb is to find a shade that works for you, then wear it with almost every outfit, varying your other facial cosmetics more than your lip shade. However, the truly difficult part is not wearing the lip color, but choosing it. You need a shade that makes you feel fun, confident and sexy while also making your lips absolutely stunning.

Things You'll Need

• Mirror

Instructions

1. Select a shade one or two shades darker than your natural lip color. This shade will be best for casual, everyday wear. It also will work with no makeup and can be reapplied without a mirror if necessary. To find this shade, apply the lipstick to your upper or your lower lip, then compare the nude lip and the colored lip to see how they match up.

2. Look at yourself in natural light. When trying on lipsticks, do not rely on fluorescent bulbs to show you what the color really looks like on you. If at all possible, stand next to a window or door where you can examine the new shade with a compact by the light of day.

3. 

   Pick reds that compliment your skin tones. If you have skin with pinkish tones, then you should go for a cherry red like the one in the picture. If your skin is darker or more olive, then you can wear that coveted fire engine red and really paint the town.

4. Pick a matching lip gloss. Sometimes, lipstick can be too much. Once you find a shade you love, make sure to pick it up in a lip gloss as well so that you are not without your favorite shade when you are on the run or feeling casual.

5. Make sure the color works with the outfit. Your lipstick should very seldom actually match your outfit, but it should not clash horribly either. For example, if you favor plum shades but you want to wear a yellow dress, you might want to select something a little more like caramel. Likewise, bubblegum pink will not complement that flashy red number the same way a gold tone will.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have a tendency to buy lipstick, then decide you hate it as soon as you get it home, do not throw those unused tubes away. You can use them to tone other shades up or down when you are going for a different look than usual.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish