As much as we love a great foundation, bronzer, liquid eyeliner, or even blush, you have to admit there’s sometimes a steep learning curve with these products. But while you’re working on perfecting your cat’s eye or contouring skills, one makeup product is always there for you to provide an instant glow: lipstick. Lipstick is neither difficult to master nor does it require shelling out more than a few dollars to procure a really great shade that works for you. But therein lies the challenge: not all shades will give you a pick-me-up and some can actually make you look like you missed a few zzz’s last night. And if you’re more conscious of dark shadows and circles on your skin that may be appearing as a result of age (or simply because sleep is hard to come by at times), choosing the right lipstick shade is more important than ever.
Great news: Kerrin Jackson, a four-time Emmy-nominated makeup artist and creator of the blog The Makeup Refinery, is here to provide simple tips on the most unflattering lipstick colors over 40 — and the shades that will make you positively glow.
For Light Skin Tones
The lipstick shade that is most universally unflattering has to be broken down into a few categories to truly understand what works and what doesn’t, according to Jackson, who adds that it all follows basic color and light theory. “Of course, there are thousands of variations within skin tones, but for the sake of brevity, I have broken it down into dark and light skin tones,” Jackson said.
For light skin tones: the most unflattering shades are very light and very dark shades, Jackson noted. In a nutshell: you’ll want to stay away from anything that is too extreme because it wash you out.
“Basically, very light lipstick shades such as bone or skin tone shades,” Jackson said. “These tones do nothing to enhance or bring warmth to your face, and can tend to make you look sickly and unwell. And when you add this to someone over 40 who may already be trying to bring a glow or youthfulness to their look, these shades are a big no!”
For Darker Skin Tones
“Applying color theory principals, the most unflattering lipstick for darker skin tones are those that are neutral or cool toned,” Jackson said. “On darker skin, these appear ashy, and bring no life at all to your complexion. Again in very light bone tones or black or cool deep tones. Very dark lipsticks can give the illusion of thinning your lips as well, and this can also undo anything attempting to help you look younger.”
Instead of gravitating towards these lipsticks, Jackson says she suggests:
First: working out what your skin undertone is. Are you cool, warm, or neutral? One of the easiest ways to find this out is by glancing at the veins on your wrist. If the appear more blue and purple you are cool-toned, if they are green you are warm, and if you have a combination of blue, purple, and green, you are neutral.
Second: choose lipstick shades that work in harmony with your undertone and bring life and warmth to your lips.
“[If your skin is] cool toned, you should look for cool-toned warmth (hard to imagine, but think plums, light berries, pink tones),” Jackson said. “If your skin has a warm undertone, you should be looking for warmer tones in your lipstick (red, peach, orange tones).”
Regardless of age — whether you are 20 or 50 — these are lipstick “rules” to live by for an even fresher, glowier complexion.
