Makeup

3 Lipsticks That Work on Every Woman

Skeptical? We tested hundreds of "flattering on everyone" shades on four women with very different skin tones. Here are the winners -- and the pictures to prove it

January 18, 2012 | by Sharon J. Yi | 59 COMMENTS

Wine red on fair skin with pink undertones Lipstick: Two Faced Lip of Luxury in Drop Dead Red, $16

The expert says: "This is a good choice for Mandy. It looks great against her creamy skin and blonde hair, and brings out the blue in her eyes," says Maderich.

Mandy says: "This is good if I was going for a bold shade. I like how it doesn't read 'seductive,' but it's also not as safe as a pink or coral."

SEE NEXT PAGE: Wine red on light-medium skin with yellow undertones

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products mentioned

Prestige Classic Lipstick

6.2

Lancome Juicy Tubes

7.2

Maybelline New York Color Sensational Lipcolor

8.7

Too Faced Lip of Luxury

8.4

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You're right--they absolutely work! I especially love the pink lip shades.

by GigiSD Friday, April 12, 2013 at 09:56PM Report as inappropriate

Love the coral shade! Going to have to try it.

by nursesuz77 Friday, March 1, 2013 at 05:39PM Report as inappropriate

those are gorgeous

by LittleBunny Thursday, January 10, 2013 at 09:40AM Report as inappropriate

Hold-up where is Clinique's Black Honey?!? That color looks amazing on everyone...an all-time classic.

by MizzPink Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 06:58AM Report as inappropriate

Yes to light pink, very light pink

by EricaF123 Saturday, December 29, 2012 at 06:55AM Report as inappropriate

Pink is more universal than coral, never heard of prestige brand before.

by lilas Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 10:47PM Report as inappropriate

yeah for people who are very light in skin tone the red might be too much..

by springsblue Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 08:42AM Report as inappropriate

coral was the best for sure, but i think the shade chosen fot the red wasnt quite right for every skin tone. Very fun to see though i hope to see more like this

by Sohee Saturday, October 13, 2012 at 02:29PM Report as inappropriate

Didnt know about Coral lipsticks. Gonna search about it. Never heard of Prestige lipsticks too

by Pinky5 Friday, October 12, 2012 at 07:44AM Report as inappropriate

definitely want to check out some coral lipsticks now!

by Chris213 Thursday, October 11, 2012 at 07:44PM Report as inappropriate

Interesting thanks

by Ydabney Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 11:32AM Report as inappropriate

i love that pink color

by prettyeyesashley Friday, July 27, 2012 at 08:42PM Report as inappropriate

Love how they did this article, showing real women wearing the product instead of just showing the product.

by glenncoco Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 06:09PM Report as inappropriate

Sorry, but the lighter colors looked better to me on the models with lighter skin and hair. The darker red only looked good to me on the girls with darker hair.

by alictasia Saturday, June 23, 2012 at 08:11PM Report as inappropriate

Not a huge fan. They could have tossed a redhead into their group, as I sometimes struggle to find shades that don't clash or look ridiculous since my hair is already bright. I have fair skin like the first model, but no pink undertones and my eyes are brown...

by tallredamanda Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 06:41AM Report as inappropriate

honestly i didn't think the light pink went all that well with the models, but i wanna try the coral!

by liliofthevalley Saturday, May 26, 2012 at 07:56AM Report as inappropriate

nice! I bought a revlon lipstick in baby pink and it looked awful in my medium skin tone! It its too much of a light pink it crashes with your skin.

by lisiana_de_bem_justino Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 07:57PM Report as inappropriate

great article. pretty helpful for choosing my next lipstick

by olkrav319 Saturday, April 7, 2012 at 04:02PM Report as inappropriate

love the coral color!

by rebecca_moran_watson Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 01:07AM Report as inappropriate

This is a very helpful article. Sounds almost foolproof.

by beautybody Monday, April 2, 2012 at 10:56PM Report as inappropriate

Those corals are so pretty!

by erica_mendez Friday, March 30, 2012 at 12:51PM Report as inappropriate

The coral was really pretty!

by MissXu Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 08:23PM Report as inappropriate

I absolutely can not use any of these colors. My natural lip color is not pink, is not coral, but probably more on the red side since I tend to draw red out. Pink way to bright and depth, same for coral. Red, ya but not like in the pictures, at least not for me. It looks like a monkeys !+!. I am best with deep, not bright sheer reds.

by ShanthiDevi Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 03:54PM Report as inappropriate

i really like the coral color. it's coral, but it's not too bold to be scary to wear. i may just have to try this!

by mlenaei Friday, March 23, 2012 at 10:24AM Report as inappropriate

Hmm..Well.. Pretty interesting. Although I am not blond, I am pretty fair.. I am going out next week and getting these.. I will try them, then post the pics for all us "real" gals to compare.. I like the Too Faced Red. I love those products! However, a bit steep if I don't like. Maybe I can hit Sephora for a sample..(:

by DaenerysGlow Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 03:25PM Report as inappropriate

does not work on everyone... i can't do that red or the pinks. I have to use a berry color...and only in sheer. other wise i look soo bad.

by Minibear Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 05:02PM Report as inappropriate

I liked the pink and coral. Not sure of the red. I have medium/yellow under tones, I have tried red lipstick, then after I see it, it just doesn't look right.

by coffeechic65 Friday, March 9, 2012 at 01:53PM Report as inappropriate

If there was such a thing as "3 lipsticks to work for all" what would become of the makeup industry-a multimillion dollar industry down the tubes-In America we want choices and I mean many choices-we have moods for color of the day -maybe its red today or pink tomorrow-universal colors bring us back to no choices-we are not a cookie cutter mold I am thankful to say.

by BlondeBabe Friday, March 9, 2012 at 01:24PM Report as inappropriate

It's a nice idea but these colors all look bad on more than one of the models, and none of the models have the same cool fair skin tone that I have.

by mairin_osteen Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 03:53PM Report as inappropriate

wine red of fair skin? maybe she's born with it, maybe its halloween.

by jezhicka Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 12:28PM Report as inappropriate

Did not really agree about the color choices. I did not find them to be particularly flattering on any of the models. Try MAC Viva glam V for pinks, Clinique's black honey for a winy color, and Clinique's high impact in peach pop for an orange tone instead.

by Thorne Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 12:30PM Report as inappropriate

Saving up to buy the coral lustre. However, the two faced one is not suitable for everyday wear, and maybe for people in their 50s? No offence but it is a very strong color and only suites people with thin lips.

by heartMashimaro Monday, March 5, 2012 at 02:43AM Report as inappropriate

you neglected to include people who don't have "warm" undertones, would any of these colors really work on someone with very pale or very dark skin??

by SSDelz Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 08:24AM Report as inappropriate

I love the coral color !

by applepiealamode Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 08:30PM Report as inappropriate

I didn't like the one for olive skin, but who knows maybe it will look good on me.

by yestfl Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 07:12PM Report as inappropriate

Uhh..not all of those lipsticks were flattering on each woman. That was disappointing. None of them looked good on the woman with my skintone.

by JKlaaas Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 01:25PM Report as inappropriate

the last lipstick really showed that even a darker skin lady can wear it... i cant wear pink (too girlish) and orange... (not suitable for my dark skin!)

by teema Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 07:14AM Report as inappropriate

The wine color would never work on my super fair with yellowish undertone skin. Neither would the pink. Sorry, but this article is lame. My friend, who is extremely dark-skinned, would never be able to make any color than the wine work.

by queeniemeanie Friday, February 10, 2012 at 12:38PM Report as inappropriate

These are really pretty shades of lipstick. I think there needed to be a little more variety in the skin tones represented.

by SummerOrchid Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 09:58PM Report as inappropriate

Stephanie says she will wear the wine-red lipstick to a job interview....Good luck! :)

by crazy Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 09:37AM Report as inappropriate

This article was weak. The colors workings for everyone was a stretch....... to be polite.

by skinpro Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 04:32AM Report as inappropriate

Need to get more skin tones represented. No one ever talks about fair/light with yellow undertones.

by RiddledEpitome Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 10:47PM Report as inappropriate

great

by cielona_boco Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 09:06PM Report as inappropriate

I think the red looks best. I noticed on the lighter skin it comes off as more berry, and on the darker skin it looks like a true red. But, undertones matter just as much whether you have cool, warm, or neutral skin. Certain colors can bring out those colors in a not good way. However, a person with light skin and dark hair is not medium. If you think of the lightest to darkest skin tones that exist, the girl with "dark" skin would be a true medium.

by portia_lin Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 06:03PM Report as inappropriate

I've given this article only 5 stars because it's only half correct. You are either warm or cool. Coral (warm) lipstick will CLASH if you have a cool-based skintone. Likewise, if you are naturally warm-toned, cool lipsticks will clash! The photos above prove it! The models with warm colouring look wonderful in the corals, the models who have cool colouring look best in the cool lipstick shades. Best advice: buy that book "Colour Me Beautiful", find your season, and you'll never waste money buying the incorrect colour again! :)

by Perfectionist Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 02:51PM Report as inappropriate

Love the coral! Have to try that because I never seem to pick the right shade!

by laura_schulz Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 01:47PM Report as inappropriate

i lov eall the pinks and coral, but not the wine and red colors.

by sandyc Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 01:46PM Report as inappropriate

...Do you not realize that African American women come in different shades too?? It looks like you just found a random black girl and decided to throw her in there to "add some color". Terrible. Try again.

by ajhutch Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 01:16PM Report as inappropriate

drop dead red is drop dead gorgeous - can't wait to try it!

by jenstar313 Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:29AM Report as inappropriate

this is so cool! thanks for this! i've been looking for a coral lipstick for a long time and now i think i know which one i might want to try next!

by kenya Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 08:19PM Report as inappropriate

I'm not sure about the pink shade but I am sooo totally in awe of the red. I know the holidays are over, but I still sport a super hot red lip and sometimes even some fushia colors. I love it with an understated eye just looks sooo awesome!

by maya_brannan Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 09:16PM Report as inappropriate