How to choose a lipstick shade for your skin tone

Buying lipstick online can feel like a gamble. The product photo looks gorgeous, but on your lips the same shade can wash you out or look far too dark. The good news is that most of it comes down to three things you can work out yourself in a few minutes: the depth of your skin, your undertone, and the contrast between your skin, hair and eyes.

1. Skin depth

Depth is simply how light or deep your skin is. It doesn't decide which colour family suits you, but it does decide how much intensity you can wear before a lipstick looks like it's floating on your face.

• Fair and light skin: mid-tones and soft pinks blend in effortlessly. Very dark shades (plum, chocolate) can work, but dab them on rather than applying a full, sharp coat.
• Medium skin: the most versatile depth. Toasted nudes, rich pinks and classic reds all look balanced.
• Deep skin: shades with lots of depth and pigment — berry, burgundy, warm browns — look stunning. Very pale nudes can turn ashy; look for nudes with a caramel or brown base.

2. Undertone: cool, warm or neutral

Undertone is the hue beneath the surface of your skin, and it doesn't change when you tan. It's the biggest factor in whether a lipstick brightens you or drains you.

• Cool undertone: pink, red or bluish hints. Blue-toned reds like Ruby Woo, cool pinks, mauves and berries flatter you.
• Warm undertone: golden, peachy or yellow hints. Orange-reds, corals, terracottas and yellow-based nudes are your friends.
• Neutral undertone: a balance of both. You can wear almost anything, especially in-between shades such as a brownish rose.

Not sure? Our guide How to tell if your undertone is cool or warm has four quick tests, and the colour analysis test estimates it from a single photo — processed on your phone, never uploaded.

3. Contrast between skin, hair and eyes

Contrast is the difference in lightness between your skin and your hair (and, to a lesser extent, your eyes). Fair skin with black hair is high contrast; fair skin with blonde hair is low contrast.

• High contrast: you can carry bold, sharp lips. A true red or a burgundy looks natural on you.
• Low contrast: very dark lips can overpower your face. Soft, powdery shades suit you better.
• Medium contrast: medium-intensity shades such as a rosy mauve or a toasted red.

The nude rule

The perfect nude isn't "skin coloured": it's a shade one or two notches deeper than your natural lips with the same undertone as your skin. Lighter than your lips and it drains you; much deeper and it stops reading as nude.

Pillow Talk went viral precisely because its brownish pink adapts to a wide range of fair and medium skin. For medium and deep skin, a toasted nude like Velvet Teddy often works better.

Try it without going to the store

The most reliable way to get it right is to see the shade on your own face, in your own light, over your own lip colour. With the virtual try-on you can:

1. Upload a photo taken in natural light, facing the camera, with bare lips.
2. Apply the shade you're considering in its real colour.
3. Open the shade comparison and see up to four lipsticks side by side on your face.
4. Use the before / after slider to check whether it lifts or dulls your complexion.

Your photo is processed only on your device. It is never uploaded or stored.

Common mistakes

• Judging by the bullet, not the lip. The bullet almost always looks more intense than the applied colour, especially in satin and gloss finishes.
• Trusting filtered photos. Filters shift undertones. Look at unedited photos — or better, try it on your own.
• Forgetting the finish. The same colour looks deeper and more intense in matte than in gloss. We explain why in Matte vs satin vs gloss.

In short

Start with your undertone (it picks the colour family), then your contrast (it sets the intensity) and finally your depth (it tells you how much pigment you need). That leaves you with three or four candidates — the last step is comparing them on your face before you buy.