The Lipstick Looks Different on You Than on the Model for a Reason.
Dear Brown Girl,
You saw a lipstick on the brand’s website. The model was wearing it and it looked warm, wearable, effortlessly natural. You bought it. On your lips it looked orange. Or pale. Or nothing like what you saw.
On the model
Warm, natural, effortless
You buy it
Confident it will look the same
On your lips
Orange, or too pale, or just off
This is not a screen calibration problem. It is an undertone problem. Every lip colour interacts with your natural lip pigmentation and skin undertone before it shows its final result.
This is not a screen calibration problem. It is an undertone problem.
How lip colour interacts with undertone
Every lip colour interacts with your natural lip pigmentation and your skin undertone before it shows its final result. A nude that reads as peachy-warm on a cool-toned lighter model will pull orange or too warm on warm Indian skin.
W·G
Warm and olive undertones
Shades that complement Indian warmth
Shades with warm, earthy, or berry bases work beautifully. They complement rather than fight the golden-warm undertone in most Indian skin. The key is warmth, whether the shade is light or deep.
Shades that work
Brick red
Warm red base. Rich payoff. Works on all warm Indian depths.
Terracotta
Earthy warm nude. Reads as natural on medium through deep skin.
Warm brown
Deep, chocolatey base. Effortlessly wearable on tan through very deep.
Deep berry
Dark, warm purple-red. Dramatic and beautiful. Does not pull cold.
Mauve with warm base
Dusty rose with brown undertone. Flatters warm and olive Indian skin.
Shades that struggle
Cool pink
Blue base fights warm undertone. Reads muddy.
Blue-based berry
Cool formula clashes with warm Indian skin. Goes grey.
Pale cool nude
No warmth. Reads chalky or washed out on Indian skin.
C
Cool undertone
The opposite approach applies
For cool-toned Indian skin, rose-based pinks, cool mauves, and soft berries are the natural territory. Warm browns and terracottas will pull muddy against a cool base.
Shades that work
Rose-based pink
Pink with a cool lean. Reads naturally on pink-cool Indian skin.
Cool mauve
Dusty pink-purple. Sophisticated and flattering on cool skin.
Soft berry
Purple-toned depth. Cool base works with the skin’s pink undertone.
Shades that struggle
Warm brown
Golden base fights the cool undertone. Reads muddy.
Orange or terracotta
Too warm. Clashes with cool skin and reads dirty.
The most complicated shade: nude
Your nude is not the brand’s nude.
Nude is the hardest shade to get right because it depends entirely on your specific lip colour and undertone. The brand’s nude was designed for an average lip on an average model. Your nude is the shade that most closely matches your own lip colour, deepened slightly.
Nude for very light warm skin
peachy, soft
Nude for medium warm skin
warm beige
Nude for tan warm skin
caramel brown
Nude for deep skin
deep brown
A nude that is two shades lighter than your natural lip colour will look washed out. A nude that matches it exactly will disappear. The sweet spot is your lip colour, one shade deeper.
Dear Brown Girl, the model’s lip shade was right for the model. Yours is a different shade, and it is just as beautiful.
The model’s shade was right for the model. Yours is a different shade, and it is just as beautiful.
HerShade recommends lip shade families by undertone and depth.