Of all the iconic pairings in the world, lip liner and lipstick rule the beauty world. Whether you prefer the look of an elegant nude or want your bold shade to last for hours, the right combination of lip liner and lipstick has the power to plump up your pout and provide an effortlessly glam look that will set the tone for your entire day. Matching these two products is one of those beauty tricks that takes a little practice but is worth mastering.
Knowing Your Nude
While nude lipstick is undoubtedly fabulous, the perfect nude lip color combo isn’t always easy to find. While lots of products are marketed as nude, there’s so much variety in people’s skin tones that a single name doesn’t capture them all. Finding the lip liner that matches your skin tone to precision can take some trial and error.
It may come as no surprise that some products will match better than others. If you’re rocking deep or olive skin and have tried a baby pink lipstick and liner combo, then you know exactly what we’re talking about. The good news is that finding which shades match better doesn’t have to be a long, arduous process. First, think about where your skin tone falls along the spectrum of fair to dark:
The lighter your shade, the more you should be looking in the light pink and beige range. Try our
Velvetines Lip Liner
in Cake or Chiffon for a pretty petal-like finish.
If you’re in the medium shade range, you might gravitate toward deeper rose, almond, and caramel colors. Angel, Gurrrl, and Platform are perfect pairings for medium skin tones.
If you’re in the darker shade range, earthy clay reds and chocolate browns are more likely to be matches. Try Gurrrl, Platform, or Minx for your next lip look.
Once you know your general shade, it’s time to start talking about undertone—and this part can sound tricky at first.
Understanding Undertones
Learning how to choose a lip liner comes down to color science. Did you know your skin’s undertone has a lot to do with knowing which colors enhance your beauty and which will wash you out? To determine whether you have a cool or warm undertone, try a simple jewelry test. Hold a piece of silver jewelry to your skin, then try a gold piece. Which one looks better? If the answer is silver, you are likely working with cool undertones. If it’s gold, you have warm undertones. If they both look equally good, then you’re a neutral and can wear just about any color for both your lipstick and your lip liner.
Matching lip liner and lipstick is one way to create a picture-perfect pout. If you have a cool undertone, you’ll want to stick to lip liner colors with blue or purple undertones, like blue- and purple-toned pinks and reds. The same is true when you’re looking at darker shades, like plum. Avoid warm golden or orange shades—colors like these may wash you out.
Beauty lovers with warmer olive or golden skin will want to stick to peachy colors with hints of brown when choosing their lip liner and lipstick. Reds and pinks aren’t off-limits as long as they have those orange and brown notes.
Making a Match
When deciding which color lip liner to use with your favorite lipstick, opt for a shade that is one or two shades darker than the lipstick. Outline your lips and feather the product in from the edges to soften the line. You might even find that this gradual transition makes your lipstick look more flattering against your skin. Why not match the liner and lipstick exactly? Creating contrast defines your lip shape and creates the illusion of a fuller, more kissable pout that is sure to be the star of all those fab holiday photos.
Once you’ve mastered the art of lip liner, you’ll be ready to mix and match with your favorite colors. Our full range of matte liquid lipsticks and classic bullet lipsticks is waiting for you! Or ease into the look with a comfortable soft matte lipstick.
Show off your signature lip combo on Instagram and see what else is going on behind the scenes on TikTok!
Lip liner is kind of a big deal. It’s the secret to longer-wearing lipstick, preventing color bleeding, and the key to a fuller-looking pout. With a good lip liner, you can completely change the shape of your lips, add symmetry, and redefine them. But a question we always get asked is ‘how do you choose the right shade of lip liner?’ Obviously, having created hundreds of lipsticks and a ton of lip liners, we’ve got this one in the bag.
Here are our top three tips for choosing the right lip liner shade and our complete guide to finding the right lip liner.
When you’re choosing a lip liner, it doesn’t need to be the exact same shade, it really depends on the look you’re trying to achieve. For a more dramatic, defined, and sexy lip, then you can go one or two shades deeper than your lipstick but stick to the same shade family. Which brings us on to tip two…
If there’s one rule we really recommend sticking to, it’s to always choose a lip liner in the same color family as your lipstick. For example, if your lipstick has purple undertones, choose a lip liner that also has purple undertones. If you’re using a red lipstick, use a red lip liner, as a pink liner would clash – so although the liner and lipstick don’t need to be identical, it should be in the same shade family.
If lip liner is new to you, but you have tons of different lipstick shades, then find your perfect nude shade. Essentially, this means finding a lip liner that’s the exact same shade as your lips. Take a look at your lips: do they have a red, pink, brown or purple undertones? Find a lip liner that looks identical and use this as a base for other lipsticks that aren’t too dissimilar to your natural lip color.
Check out our ultimate guide for finding your perfect Huda Beauty Lip Liner and matching lipstick with our shade matching guide below.
Check out how to get the perfect red lip here.