Five Must-Have Lipstick Shades

A lipstick is one makeup product that every  girl would possess regardless of her skills at applying makeup. Even those who aren’t fond of makeup would have at least a couple of lipsticks because one quick swipe of a lipstick can change your appearance. With the wedding season round the corner, brides to be everywhere would be shopping for their trousseaus. I have got a few emails from such brides to be who aren’t beauty junkies but who need to put together a makeup kit for their trousseau. More specifically, they ask me what shades of lipsticks they should buy. So here are the five must-have lipstick shades almost every girl should have no matter what her skintone.

What I am mentioning here are largely colour families and not any specific shades because different shades would show up differently on various skintones. What might be MLBB for a dusky girl would be a dark brown for someone who is fair for example. So you can choose a shade according to your skintone.

Yes, I know I have mentioned five lipstick shades and the picture above also shows a lipgloss. We’ll come to that later. First the lipsticks…

MLBB / Nude

Soft pink / Dusty Rose

Bright Pink

Red

Berry or Dark Brown

 

MLBB / Nude Lipstick

 

For the times when you need a no-makeup makeup look or when you simply want to look polished without any bright colours, or want to rock smoky eyes without your lipstick competing with them, you need a nude lipstick or an MLBB (my lips but better). As mentioned, this can differ from person to person depending on your skintone – while some girls MLBB could be more brownish, some might prefer a pinkish shade. The one thing that you need to be careful about is not to choose a lipstick that is too pale for you or it could wash you out.

Soft Pink / Dusty Rose

 

Close on the heels of the MLBB, we have the soft pink or dusty rose lipstick for the times when you want a little bit of colour to brighten your face but nothing too dark or bright or too light either. A dusty rose lipstick is pretty much a wear-anywhere shade and looks great whether worn for a school PTA meet, an office presentation or even when you’re out shopping.

Bright Pink

 

A  peppy, bright pink that transforms your look with one swipe, all girls need a fun colour for that Sunday brunch or girls’ night out. Bright pink lipsticks usually suit pretty much all skin tones and amp up your look even if you aren’t wearing much makeup.

Red

 

A timeless classic, red lipstick has been a favourite through the years. You can’t go wrong with the classic black winged liner and red lips look as long as you choose the red that is perfect for your skintone. From blood red to crimson to vermilion to deep burgundy, there is a red for every girl.

Deep Berry / Brown

 

A deep berry or a brown (depending on your preference) is a must-have for when you want to glam up your look. Browns and deep berry tones look beautiful on Indian skintones and are au-courant these days as well.

Besides these five must-have lipstick shades, there is a gloss that you should have too…

A pretty, shimmery / sparkley gloss to layer on top of any lipstick you wear to jazz it up a bit. This golden gloss is my favourite but you could also opt for a cool-toned one or a  transluscent one with shimmers.

I hope this post was helpful especially for those girls who are confused about which lipstick shades they need to make a capsule lipstick wardrobe. I have purposely not made any shade recommendations since those would vary across skintones.

All the pictures in this post have been clicked using the Coolpad Mega 2.5D “Selfie Maker” phone a budget smartphone running on Android 6.0 Marshmellow with a 5.5″ HD IPS display. This Dual SIM  “Megaselfie phone” has an 8MP Rear and 8MP front camera (and all the pictures in this post have been clicked from the rear camera of the Coolpad Mega.) Priced at a super affordable ₹6,999, it will be available for sale from the 24th of August on Amazon.in.