Match with your skin tone - don’t clash with it
Have you ever considered if you looked too orange/yellow, it might be your lipstick shade? I am suspicious that maybe all those times I thought my foundation was the wrong color for me or oxidized, it may have been because I was convinced that mauve colors looked best on my lips(I even wore a mauve color for my wedding!). After all, purple and yellow are opposites on the color wheel. Now, I’m no artist but I assume that means they will bring out the contrast even more. Consider colors closer to yellow, or specifically ORANGE!
Here’s the evidence - Do you see how the orange makes my face look so fresh, clean, and complements my skin while the mauve sort of washes me out while simultaneously making me look very yellow/orange?
Left: Mac Powder Kiss Liquid Lipstick in “Sorry not Sorry”
Right: Huda Beauty Lipstick in “Wedding Day“
The Huda lipstick is even described as “A cute pinky brick (warm toned)“ (Source 1), and even so, it’s too mauve for me. Sometimes even a warm tone doesn’t complement you. I suggest to take shade descriptions with a grain of salt. I really like to swatch in person if I can (and sanitize after!)
It’s time I expanded on the story on the home page and a continuation that was promised in the first post. So, let’s revisit the beauty find that started it all - the famous Mac Powder Kiss Liquid Lip in “Sorry Not Sorry“(see first post for more info on this).
As stated before, this product is a whipped formula made to be blotted and requires a bit of work to get an even coat. I wanted an every day lipstick (not liquid lip) that could give me the same color. Now, I looked at every major brand and scoured Ulta, Sephora, even department stores. Here are the orangey shades that were flattering for me and remotely close to “Sorry not Sorry“ - and keep in mind, when blended out, it’s much lighter (You can see the blotted version in the first post). And I want to add that even from the minimal amount of oranges I found, most were very bright and loud and obnoxious orange. They may have worked for me, but I was on the search for every day shades. These are the only lipsticks within a reasonable price that I found:
From left to right: Mac Powder Kiss Liquid Lip in“Sorry not Sorry“, Sephora Lipstories Lipstick in “Color 63- Adventuring“, Bite Beauty Power Move Hydrating Soft Matte Lipstick in “Harissa“, Bite Beauty Lip Lab Custom Shade
The Mac shade can be found at Mac, Ulta, Macy’s, Nordstrom and other department stores. Sephora does not sell Mac.
Let’s talk about the shades: They are all quite orange, but here are their differences. “Adventuring“ to me seems like the lightest. It’s a milky peachy orange. Sephora describes it as “matte rusctic orange nude“(source 2). I assume that’s a typo, or maybe I don’t get it, but that’s what is says. I also found that this doesn’t wear quite as well as the others. It is the least expensive, but seems to need more touchups than the others. “Harissa“ is a darker burnt orange. Bite Beauty describes it as “warm terracotta“(sources 3). In my experience, it does need touch ups as well and as a darker color, it may help to use a lip liner or primer underneath. And on to my personal favorite!
I made an appointment with Lip Lab at Bite Beauty (source 4) and while it was 60 dollars for one lipstick, I made my perfect shade. I do suggest having a device that replicates color well if you are doing this virtually. I had kind of a hard time deciphering the shades and just had to hope it was similar to what I was thinking. I would describe it as a lighter true but muted orange. I chose a matte finish and the formula or color mix is: 1 cincin, .75 yellow .125 cashew. Here’s what it looks like on my lips:
Bite Beauty Lip Lab Custom Color “Marigold“
As a person who has found that most every lipstick shades are too mauve or blue, and that they worked on most everyone I knew, I picked from those all my life. I never thought to even try orange until I saw orangey shades on all the Korean Makeup advertisements and found “Sorry not Sorry“. And if you’re an adoptee or person who grew up feeling outside of trends and culture, you may have done this too.
Here’s the lesson I learned about that: Don’t settle to make do with what you see the most. Embrace your differences from the people around you and find what works for you! Maybe you’ll even inspire other people want to try it out!
Have you tried any of these shades or have orangey tones worked for you? Let me know at @AdoptedBeauty on Instagram or Tik Tok!
Source 1: https://hudabeauty.com/us/en_US/lipstick/power-bullet-matte-lipstick---ladies-night-HB00233.html
Source 4: https://www.bitebeauty.com/lip-lab
