The perils of finding the perfect 'nude' lipstick when you have brown skin
Say it louder for the people in the back, nude is not one colour.
For anyone with more than a teaspoon of melanin, finding nude lipstick is like trying to navigate the Bermuda Triangle. Your forearms are covered in swatches, your lips are about to crack from the rub-on-rub-off routine… and you still end up looking like an extra from Aahat with ashy lips. If you have pigmented, dark lips like mine and every third Indian girl out there, you might want to schedule your Vipassana session right after the trip to Sephora.
‘Nude’ in the beauty industry is a peculiar concept because, in theory, it can’t be a singular shade. Yet, it was only recently that brands like Fenty and Nyx made inclusiveness a trend, expanding the offering beyond the ‘natural’ beige that was designed for Caucasian skin.
There’s an entire colour spectrum for us to work with to find what fits the perfect ‘my lips but better’ look – we just got so limited to the one look we’ve been shown on billboards. Once I figured out what my skin’s undertone was the makeup world opened up like never before. Celebrity makeup artist Namrata Soni suggests looking at the veins in your eye or under your eyes to find your undertone – whether it’s warm, neutral or cool.
“Are your veins greenish in colour? Your natural undertone is most likely yellow and warm. Deeper shades would work best for you as a nude. However, that doesn’t you need to generally stay away from bright colours either. People with a cool undertone are likely to have their veins appear in shades of blue, pink, even purplish. Neutral is difficult to figure sometimes. But if you call on the blue-green spectrum then that’s your fit.”
From chocolate browns to pink nudes, cool brown tones, dusty mauve shades and even red-tinted ones. Our selection of favourite nude lipsticks for Indian skin tones run across the board.
Warm undertones Graduation Day by Huda Beauty You can purchase it online at the Huda Beauty store. Warm undertones Hot Cocoa by Bobbi Brown You can purchase this product from Sephora. Warm undertones Exotic by NYX Available for purchase on Amazon. Warm undertones Whirl by MAC Available on Nykaa and at MAC stores. Warm undertones Bon bon by Nykaa You can purchase it from Nykaa stores and their website. Cool undertones Murmur by Shiseido Available online at Sephora.
Cool undertones Whisper by Nudestix Available at Sephora.
Cool undertones Nimbu Pani by Masaba Available at Nykaa.
Cool undertones Mehr by MAC Available on Nykaa, Amazon and at MAC stores. Cool undertones Nuddy by Ruby’s Organics Available at Ruby’s Organics website. Neutral undertones Au Natural by Bobbi Brown Available at the Bobbi Brown store and Sephora. Neutral undertones Jade Rose by Nykaa Avaliable at Nykaa. Neutral undertones Bare by Ruby’s Organics Available at Ruby’s Organics website. Neutral undertones Nude Nuance by Maybelline |
Stylist: Divya Gursahani; Hair: Krisann Figueiredo; Makeup: Riddhima Sharma; Model: Rakshitha Harimurthy/Faze.
On Rakshitha: Dress, stylist’s own. Necklace, Misho.
WATCH NOW – 6 easy make-up tips by Namrata Soni