Ahhh good old Lipstick, I don’t know about you, but some sort of lipstick is a must have for me, it ties together my looks, allows me to transform my makeup to edgy, natural or bold and it generally gives me a confidence boost. When I first started using makeup I remember feeling a little overwhelmed at lipstick, too many times I tried Lipsticks that were completely the wrong shade for me or that had a formula that didn’t work for me. Now I’m older and wiser (kind of) I thought I’d put together a handy guide on finding your perfect lipstick.

Shade
First of all you need to consider the perfect shade for you. Think about when you’re going to wear this lipstick the most, is it going to be reserved for special occasions? Do you want something vampier for a night out? Or are you looking for an everyday shade? Whatever you choose, it needs to be something that you feel comfortable with otherwise you likely won’t wear it. When I was younger I used to gravitate towards bold shades so purple was a staple for me, now that I’m older and I’m a working professional my most used shades are nudes and pinks. I also remember that when I did used to wear a lot of bold shades I was generally happy to wear bright purples and pinks, at one point I bought an expensive bright blue lipstick and instantly regretted it as I never wore it!

Once you have an idea of your colour it’s time to drill down into the categories, generally I find that there’s main colour families which include:

• Reds
• Corals
• Oranges
• Nudes
• Pinks
• Berries

Undertones

(Left: Makeup Revolution Barbie is Jealous, Right: Kiko Cosmetics Luscious Cream 514)

I think undertones are where most people tend to get a little confused but the undertones are the base colours that decide the shade of a colour. Look at the above photo, both are pink lipsticks but are very different. The shade on the left is a blue based pink so it’s very cool in tone. The right shade is more red based, even though it’s a pink it’s more red toned. My skintone is pale but with neutral undertones, since my skin is olive, the blue based shade doesn’t look as good on me as the red based tone.

Ultimately, you should choose whatever colour and undertone makes you feel good however, if you want to play by the rules then look to your skintone. If your veins appear bluer then you have cool undertones whereas if they appear more green you have warm undertones – a mixture means that you have neutral undertones.

The undertones of your skin will affect how your lipstick looks on you. For example, cool toned nude lipsticks have been particularly popular of late, now I don’t particularly like brown lipstick anyway but I do like brown eyeshadows. I found that cooler toned brown eyeshadows that were grey toned browns and taupes looked very ashy on my skintone and since I’m also pale they made me look ill. Mid-tone browns and warmer toned browns look much better on my skintone and I prefer them.

For lipstick for me it varies, I love mid-toned pinks and pinky toned nudes for everyday as I find that nudes that learn too far warm or too far cool don’t look good on me, so your undertone doesn’t necessarily restrict you from wearing different shades, if you like it and it makes you feel good then wear it!

One last tip for finding a lipstick that is your perfect match is to aim for a shade that is one to two shades darker than your natural lip colour.

Finish
There’s lots of different types if finish which again can restrict the sort of lipsticks that you might choose to wear. Plenty of people for example hate matte lipsticks as they can be drying, uncomfortable to wear and they are stiffer. Others, hate the sticky feeling of a gloss and want something entirely smudgeproof – others want the best of both worlds and that’s fine too!

These are a few different lip products from my collection, I don’t have every single formula simply because there’s certain formulas that I prefer to wear, I’m also going to exclude lipsticks like frost and glitters for now.

The leftmost shade in the image above is Maybelline Magnetic Magenta, it is a comfort matte formula so it’s primarily matte as you can see however, it doesn’t have that intense drying feeling that a lot of matte lipsticks provide so it leans ever so slightly towards being more satin.

The next shade is MAC Rebel, this has a satin formula so it’s not as dry or flat as a matte lipstick but it’s also not incredibly glossy or wet looking either, it has just enough slip to feel like your lips are slightly moisturised, this is probably the most common formula.

Next we have the Kiko Luscious Cream Lipstick in 514 cream/glossy formula, these lipsticks are like satin lipsticks however, they are glossier in texture, they tend to have more movement and are more prone to smudging, the payoff is that they are much more hydrating feeling that satins and mattes.

We then have the whipped velvet formula (Body Shop Matte Lip Liquid in Goa Magnolia) these tend to be in certain lip cream products such as the Nyx Soft Matte Lip Creams. They are not very liquidy and tend to be similar feeling to a comfort matte but with a lighter formula and an almost mousse-like texture.

Next is the traditional liquid lipstick such as the Sleek Matte Me in Birthday Suit pictured above. Since I’d just applied this it hadn’t dried down yet, these usually feel very wet and then they dry down to a very matte almost powdery finish. They tend to have good longevity however, a lot of them do feel very drying.

Lip liners are not lipsticks at all really however, the revival of the 90s lip and Kylie Jenner’s makeup trends have led a lot of people to use lip lines as lipsticks. They tend to be great for precision and they also tend to not move around too much. They do have a tendency to fade fairly quickly and can be quite drying as they’re meant to hold lipstick in place. The one above is the Essence Long Lasting Lip Liner in Sweetheart.

Finally we have a gloss such as the Nyx Intense Butter Gloss in Spice Cake (pictured above), these again are not lipsticks however, over time glosses have become available in more shades, different formulas and can be very pigmented in the cases of lip lacquers and lip stains. Glossy finishes are very wet looking and don’t tend to stay put for very long however, they can be much more comfortable and don’t dry out the lips.

Extra Considerations
These are the little extras that you may wish to consider. There’s now even more formulas to delve into such as shimmer lipsticks, frosty lipsticks and metallic lipsticks. These can be much harder to wear and don’t always sit well on the lips but when done correctly like MAC’s Angel can be a nice way to sculpt the lips and add more dimension.

If you are wanting to extend the wear time of your lipstick you can get lip sealants such as Lipcote which contains a lot of alcohol but saves on touch ups.

Price
The phrase “the more expensive the better” does not apply to every lipstick, I’ve tried some fantastic lipsticks from the likes of MUA for £1.00 and then I’ve tried some more expensive ones like YSL so it really depends on the type, shade, finish, brand and packaging. If you are looking for some recommendations here are some that I like to use.

Drugstore
Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet (liquid lipstick)
Nyx Soft Matte Lip Creams (comfortable lip creams)
Topshop Lipsticks (fab satin lipsticks)
Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipsticks (budget everyday lipsticks with glossy finishes)

High End
Illamasqua Lipsticks (quite dry but excellent staying power)
MAC Lipsticks (a variety of shades and finishes)

That concludes this post, if you enjoyed it please hit the like button, let me know in the comments what lipsticks you like to use and some of your favourite formulas and finishes, I’d love to know.

Thanks for reading!