Nude Parade

This post is somewhat overdue. I did my pinks and corals, now here's a rundown of my nude lipsticks. I don't wear nude lipstick often, though there's something inherently appealing about them. Maybe because when I think of nude lipstick, I imagine dark, sexy, smokey eye makeup and smouldering night time looks. We've all been schooled that a nude lip is the obvious companion to heavier eye makeup so that the eyes aren't competing with anything else. The main issue I have with nude lipsticks is that they take more effort to look good. I find they work best with a flawless, glowy base and strong, neutral eyes. Given that kind of makeup isn't exactly my everyday face, I don't have that many opportunities to wear nude lipstick. For the daytime, I usually prefer something with a bit more colour, or nothing at all.

My nude collection, from left to right in the pictures below:

• Revlon ColorBurst in Soft Nude
• Rimmel Moisture Renew in Nude Delight
• Face of Australia Lip Quench in Iced Almond
• BYS Longwear Lipstick in Beautifully Bare
• BYS Lipstick in Champagne Rain
• Australis Colour Inject Mineral Lipstick in Mambo

l-r: Soft Nude, Nude Delight, Iced Almond, Beautifully Bare, Champagne Rain, Mambo

It's kind of impossible to describe each individual colour, as they're all fairly similar and consist of varying amounts of beige/tan, pink and peach. Soft Nude is hands down my favourite. It neutralises and lightens my natural, medium reddish-brown lip colour to a soft, slightly peachy nude, while still working with my overall skin tone. I favour the texture and pigmentation of the ColorBurst lipsticks as I find that they apply to the lip really well without emphasising fine lines. I'm not a fan of really creamy lipsticks, as the product usually just sits on the surface of the lip and smears and smudges. Nude Delight is my second favourite, it's basically Soft Nude but darker and peachier. Iced Almond looks almost identical to Soft Nude in the swatch, but it's actually a touch lighter and has more pink, which looks slightly more brown when worn. Beautifully Bare is more of a medium brownish-pink, though it's still a distinctly nude lipstick on my lips. It's quite a wearable and natural looking colour. Champagne Rain is very close to Beautifully Bare, but the tiniest bit darker and more brown. It also has a hint of frostiness which I don't love. Mambo is utterly unflattering on me as it's way too brown and very much a skin colour. I'm sure it has the potential to look good on someone else, but on me it manages to remove the natural redness of my lips so all that's left is a dull, lifeless brown. If I really want to wear it, I need to apply a bright pink lip gloss over it to add some colour and warmth.