The expert says: "The color is like a ruby and looks brilliant on Devran's lips. It's beautiful and balances her skin tone," says Nemes.
Devran says: "I love this shade! I normally stay away from reds, but this complements my hair and skin tone. I would definitely wear this, especially for a nighttime event."
The expert says: "This really works on Rahel because there's enough blue to bring out the white in her teeth but not too much that it contrasts with her yellow undertones. It's hard to find a bright color that really works on African-American skin, but this burgundy wine-ish color is the way to go. And it makes her skin look youthful. She looks very healthy," says Maderich.
Rahel says: "I love that it really makes my lips pop and is a bold alternative to my usual pinks and nudes. I think it makes me look older in a good way, since I normally look like a little girl."
Since we spend all our waking hours talking to pro makeup artists and celeb hairstylists, we editors are walking beauty encyclopedias. Have brittle nails? Take a fish oil supplement. Want to elongate your face? Get side bangs and contour your face with bronzer. But ask us which lipstick shades flatter women of all skin tones and we're stumped.
Choosing the perfect coral, and even harder, the perfect red, can take months of trial and error. That's because finding the exact right hue depends on your undertones. If you have greenish veins and yellow undertones, then you're warm and should get colors with an orange base. On the flip side, if you have bluish veins and pinky undertones, you're cool and should get colors with a blue base.
Or so we thought.
According to some makeup artists, there are universal shades -- magical hues that flatter all of us, regardless of our skin tone or undertones. Skeptical? So were we. Which is why we spoke to celebrity makeup artist David Maderich, and Miami-based makeup artist Marissa Nemes. When they told us about a few lipstick shades that really do work on anyone, we asked four women with varying skin tones and undertones to give them a test run. Here are the results.
