Here are my 5 top tips that will help you to choose your very best lip colour – so you can look and feel fabulous every day!

skin tone

1. Determine Your Skin Undertone

You may be aware of the phrase ‘I have a cool skin tone’ or ‘I have a warm skin tone’. Many ladies struggle for years to identify their own skin tone. Knowing this one fact is crucial when choosing which colour to wear, whether it is clothing or makeup! It is the reason why a lipstick can look fantastic or dreadful on you. Here is a link to my blog How to Determine Your Skin Tone – it’s definitely worth a read.

If you have a ‘warm undertone’ your skin will lean towards peachy, yellow, or golden. If you have a ‘cool undertone’ your skin will lean towards pink, red or blue. There is also another option which is a ‘neutral undertone’ which is quite rare and would be a mix of the two.

For warm skin tones look for colours that are orangey red, brick red or terracotta. For cool skin tones look for plum, mauve and purply tones. If you have a neutral skin tone, I would advise to follow the depth of your skin tone – is it deep or light? Then wear a corresponding shade, though you will find many lipstick shades suiting you.

HOW TO DETERMINE YOUR SKIN TONE

2. Determine Your Skin Tone

This is not about warm or cool, its about the current tone of your skin. Is it deep or light? This may change over the seasons if your skin changes in the sun. That is why some lip colours may look better when you are on holiday but not so great in the depths of winter.
 
If you have a very light, pale skin tone, wearing a very deep and dark lipstick is going to look harsh and overpowering. Choose a colour that is soft and light which will enhance your face such as a soft pink or peach colour depending on your undertone.
 
If you have a deeper skin tone you will be able to take much darker and stronger lip colours. You may however need to be more careful with pale, light lipsticks.
 
Just being aware of your skin tone and how it can affect the look of a lipstick is important.
neutral lip

3. Statement or Neutral Lip?

Before choosing a lipstick colour, decide whether you want to make a statement with your lip colour or keep it pretty neutral.
 
A great tip to find your best neutral, or nude, lip colour is to look at the colour of your lips and either choose a shade that matches or one that is 1-2 shades brighter or deeper than your lips. 
 
If you are going for a ‘statement lip’ try matching the colour to your dress or jacket! It will make your lip colour pop!
Gloss lip

4. Choose a Finish

Matte or Gloss is the question! Both finishes have their advantages. 
 
A matte finish can stay on longer than gloss. It also looks more natural and you can still wear a bold colour without looking like you have gone overboard with your makeup. Matte lipstick is less sticky than gloss and is less likely to smudge.
 
A gloss lip can look very glamorous, especially for a night out. Gloss even makes your lips appear bigger and plumper!
John Lewis Ap

5. Try Before You Buy

Amazingly there are now a number of Apps that allow you to try lipstick colours before you purchase them.

The John Lewis App is perfect for this because it includes over 300 lipstick brands including MAC, Bobbi BrownYSL and Lancome. In total there are thousands of colours you can try. Also it is great fun trying them out.

Try Downloading the John Lewis App HERE.

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