You have diligently smothered your face with foundation to achieve that pristine look. You may have even highlighted your cheekbones with your favourite blusher and enhanced your eyes with your eye make-up reservoir. All that’s left to set you for the day or event, is a lustrous lipstick that will complement your dark or medium skin tone and make-up look.

Black beauties know that it is not always easy choosing the right lipstick for brown skin or dark skin. Those who have been in the make-up game for a long time know that skin colour plays a huge part when selecting that perfect lipstick. Based on suggestions from make-up artists and black-owned cosmetic brands, we have put forward the best lip colours and lipsticks for dark and medium skin tones. 

Lipsticks for Dark Skin Tones 

These lipstick shades are the go-to for beautifying dark skin tones.  

Burgundies and Browns

When asked which colour lipstick shade she would recommend for dark skin tones, Liz’Koya, a London-based bridal make-up artist says, “A nude lip suits everyone, but being a darker-skinned woman myself, if I were to choose a colour, I’d pick the warm darker tones like burgundy and dark reds, of course, lined with a very good brown lip liner.”

Professional make-up artist Edith Williams suggests MAC DGAF for dark skin tones, which is a medium-dark brown lipstick with a cream finish. Vera Moore, President and CEO of Vera Moore Cosmetics similarly suggests red wines and chocolate colours for dark skin tones. 

Powerful Purple

Ashunta Sheriff, a leading make-up artist, recommends The Lip Bar’s vegan lipstick in Purple Rain. “This rich magenta and its blue undertones make it a perfect lipstick for dark skin tones,” she says. Sheriff also suggests Violette Smoke by NVX Professional Makeup. “It’s a matte lipstick that won’t dry you out and has great colour pay-off too”.

Another purple matte lipstick perfect for dark skin is Huda Beauty’s liquid demi-matte colour in a vibrant violet shade, which gives a strong contrast to dark skin. The powerful purple also has Moore’s approval as she proposes plums and deep violets as complements for dark skin.  

Ostentatious Orange

Moore suggests burnt oranges for dark skin tones. If you want to go bright, Smashbox has formulated a matte lipstick in a burnt orange shade, which would honour your dark skin.  

Brave Black

Ever thought of trying black? Lime Crime Velvetines has a black velvet matte lipstick that would create dark lips on dark skin. You could don this lipstick with neutral make-up and be ready to go.

Graceful Green

Feeling green? Yes, green lipstick with the right hue can flatter dark skin too. Colourpop’s Ultra Matte green lipstick is a blackened green liquid that enriches dark skin tones. Its blackened green will glamourize your dark skin.  

Lipstick for Medium Skin Tones

When asked about medium skin tones Liz’Koya says, “I’m a huge fan of nude so I’d say again nudes or a pinky nude.” A neon orange would also work wonders or even a warm brown nude that doesn’t flush out caramel skin tones. Tom Ford’s Brownish Rose is a creamy lip colour with no shimmer that would praise pecan-brown skin. Moore suggests pink, corals, caramel-brown and fuchsia red to enhance medium skin tones.  

Lipsticks for Both

Neutral Nude

KJ Miller and Amanda E. Johnson, founders of Mented Cosmetics, a beauty brand for all women of colour, recommend nude as the answer for all skin tones. After all, nude aims to closely match your lip colour. Nudes come in brown, pink and purple hues. Selecting that perfect nude lipstick is not as straightforward as opting for any nude colour we fancy. We first need to consider our skin tone and undertone.

We all know what skin tone is — our complexion. Yet, the undertone is the warmth or coolness in your skin. Some have yellowish or peachy tones while others have pinkish, reddish or bluish tones. Mented Cosmetics proposes that the darker your skin tone, the darker the nude shade you can wear. Thus, all you dark skin ladies can get away with purple nudes, like taupe.

Williams also suggests MAC’s Honey Love as a matte lipstick for dark skin. Alternatively, a rich plum rose is a neutral rose lipstick for dark skin tones, particularly Bite Beauty Butter’s Cream Lipstick in Rosewood. Chocolate Caramel is a warm, nude beige lipstick that also flatters dark skin. For warmer undertones, a bronze or peachy nude would flatter your complexion.  

Muted Mauve  

For pinkish, reddish and bluish undertones, Miller and Johnson recommend mauve as an alternative to nude. Moore recommends this pale purple too. Mauve is like a nude with a stronger purple presence. It works well with dark skin tones because the deeper your skin tone, the deeper lipstick shade of mauve you can wear. It can go with warm skin tones too, but you would have to go for one with a pink tint like deep rose, which Moore also suggests for medium skin tones specifically. A magenta tinged-plum would suit all undertones as well.  

Rosy Red

We all love the classic red lipstick. Yet, like nude, choosing the right red lipstick shade much depends on your undertone. Black-owned brand Coloured Raine has a liquid lipstick in Cherry Blossom. Rihanna has even worn this shade, as it complements darker skin thanks to its blue undertones.  

Lookout for Pigment Quality

Florence Adepoju, a cosmetic scientist and founder of British lipstick brand MDMflow, points out that pigment quality needs to be taken into consideration when choosing lipstick. “No matter how bright the colour looks on the stick, if it is of low pigment quality, the colour pay-off won’t be great or worse, it’ll look grey against your skin,” she warns. Thus, look for lipsticks with low amounts of titanium dioxide as they will boost pigment quality.

There you have it. There are countless lipsticks shades out there for dark and medium skin tones. With the advent of numerous black-owned brands, Black women have a wide range to choose from. Whether you want a vibrant violet, a neutral nude or a soft orange cream, the beauty industry is ready to give your lips the treat it deserves.