Your guide to buying the perfect nude lipstick

If at one point we all go crazy trying to buy the perfect nude lipstick, making it into the Holy Grail of our beauty product shopping… Well, blame the Kardashian-Jenner clan for that. Finding the perfect nude lipstick is almost like a second job, and for some, it also equals several hundreds of dollars, randomly spent testing the latest one their beauty guru just recommended to them, hoping they would find “the one”. Here is an incredible secret, get ready to reinvent the wheel now: if you go for a nude lipstick, it must be the right one for you. And that often has exactly zero relation to what will suit your favorite celebrity, or your best friend.
The first step of this shopping guide is very simple: you have to figure out what color you are going for, if you are looking for a nude lipstick in a very pale, dull color – kind of like concealer, before 2010 nude lipsticks only came in these hues – or if you want something that reminds you of a rosebud that just bloomed, or perhaps a chocolate milk bar, or if you want to go for taupe, or greige, like Kylie, and have a bit of grey in there. It’s easy to figure out if the color you like would suit you, and it won’t cost you a cent. Find the picture of a color you like on a magazine, and place the photo close to your face: this will be enough to understand if that color is a bad idea or not, trust us.

Step two: choose your finish. It might seem easy, but there are more things to consider than just your personal taste. Matte lipsticks dry your lips, so if you want a nude lipstick to wear for the whole day, matte ones are really not a good idea, unless they come in a special, moisturizing formula. There are some of them on the market, but they are usually at the higher end of the price range. If you want something that can lighten up your face and that is comfortable, too, go for a cream texture. Both lipsticks and pencils will be fine, you will have to reapply during the day a few times, but your lips will be grateful to you for not choosing an excessively dry formula. Last but not least, balms and semi-transparent textures are also good – we are consciously staying away from gloss, which is something entirely different and does not count as a nude. Balms and semi-transparent textures have the advantage that you don’t even need a mirror for applying: this kind of finish is so light that even if you make a mistake when applying, it will only last a few seconds.
And now, you are ready to shop. Have a look here to check out our favorites, accurately divided by category, because we really want you to make a good decision. A nude is forever! Oh wait, was that diamonds, maybe…? 😉