woman with a nude lipstick

Tips for Achieving a Nude Makeup Look

How to Find Your Perfect Shade

Makeup trends come and go, and it can often be impossible to keep up with what’s in and what’s out. This may be true in most cases, but the exception to the rule will forever be nude makeup. Nudes will always be in trend (no, not those nudes). Whether we’re talking about lipsticks or eyeshadows, nudes and neutrals go with absolutely everything. Nothing can complete a look quite like a good nude lip, that’s how we feel at least.

While nudes are such staple classics, they can often seem simpler than they actually are. You’d think, there can only be so many undertones of nude. Well, think again. There are so many different nudes out there that can look completely different on and work for very different people. That’s why it’s important to figure out the right nude for your skin tone.

The Fear of Nude Makeup

The issue with nude makeup is that so many people steer clear of them because they feel that their complexion is washed out. It is so easy for a nude to do more damage than good. Every skin tone has its own personal nude that flatters it best, and understanding your own personal nude is essential. We’ve put together a little guide to help you figure out the nude that’s going to suit you best. Trust us, once you have it figured out- you’ll be going nude all the time. Maybe we should rephrase that…

Fair Skin

Fair-skinned people often fear nudes the most. You feel like your skin is already pale enough without adding a pale lip to wash you out. Huge misconception! Fair skins can actually get away with some nudes that most people can’t. If you have fair skin, you have two general routes you can take; emphasize your natural rosiness or tone it down.

Your fair skin is naturally going to be on the cool/pink side, so your first option is to play that rosiness up. If that’s your call, then you’ll want to focus on picking out pale and rosy nudes. Consider yourself lucky. Most skin tones aside from fair struggle to pull of super pale pink nudes without looking half dead!

If you’re over your natural rosy tones and are looking to tone them down, then it is all about the taupes and beiges! Fair skin tones are generally complemented better by cool tones, that’s why you should steer clear of typical warm brown nudes.

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Light Skin

Now, light-skinned people also have it pretty easy. Granted, you’re definitely going to need a bit more pigment than fairer skin. Your nude can’t be paler than you are! Lighter skin can certainly go nude or go pink, it just depends on your undertone. If you have a warmer or more olive undertone, then it is all about the browns. You’ll want to opt for camels or beiges, but just make sure it’s pigmented. The paler the color the more it’ll blend into your skin color and that is not a look!

When it comes to pink nude makeup, you can honestly pull them off whether your undertone is cool or warm. You’ll want to try a rosy pink. Try to go with a nude that is very faintly pink undertoned, you don’t want to go too far the other way and end up with a bold pink lip!

Medium to Dark Skin

The deeper the skin, the more fun you can have with nudes! People often misunderstand and think that the darker your skin tone the worst nudes look on you- but you couldn’t be more wrong! Sure, deeper skin tones can’t get away with pale nudes, but the nude spectrum is endless. People often have the belief that nude simply means a foundation all over your lips that washes you out. But there’s a lot more to nudes!

Deeper skin tones can get away with shades that most of us would call bold lips and write it off as nudes! Deeper and richer mauves are suddenly considered nudes and deep browns as well. With darker skin tones, the same rules as before apply, only on a darker spectrum. Your skin undertone is really what determines your options.

If you have richer and darker skin then warm tones work beautifully on you. A deeper brown nude can pop alongside your complexion. You can even go for shades a couple of tones paler than you without looking washed out or ashy! If you’re more on the medium or cool side of things then it is all about the mauves! Deep pinky and mauve toned nudes complement any look beautifully!