There’s no makeup essential quite like a nude lipstick. Perfect for adding an understated touch to your day-to-day face, toning down a smoky eye or setting the foundation for a barely there look, a nude lipstick is one you’ll reach for again and again.
The colour “nude” can mean many things, ranging from pale taupes to mid-beiges or rich brown shades. The best nude lipsticks are supposed to sit only a few shades away from your skin tone, complementing your warm or cool base and accentuating your lips.
A large range of different finishes, textures, levels of pigmentation and more means there are a lot of options to play around with. We’ve put together a range of our favourite nude lipsticks to suit all skin tones, ranging from the final touch sheers to the intensely mattes and everything in between.
Read on for all of our top picks.
Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk
Ask anyone for a nude lipstick recommendation and it won't take long before you'll hear the words: Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk. A perpetual favourite in the lipstick world, Pillow Talk is a natural, tawny pink shade that's worth every penny.
This universally-loved colour is renowned for flattering every skin tone, seamlessly blending in while adding a soft pink touch with just the right amount of pigment. Tilbury's so convinced it suits every skin tone, she even photographed 10 different women wearing the shade to prove it. We’d have to agree.
Buy now £26.00, Selfridges
MAC Taupe
Warm-toned, medium brown and with a long-lasting matte finish: it's hard to beat MAC when it comes to nude lipsticks and Taupe is the very best. Its versatile colour makes it a great choice for a large range of skin tones, while its moisturising formula keeps your lips feeling soft throughout the day.
Be warned, as far as nude lipsticks go, Taupe is up there with the most pigmented. The benefit is that you can apply this one first thing in the morning and sip coffee until your heart’s content without ever having to consider reapplying.
Buy now £18.50, Selfridges
Chanel Rouge Coco Flash Boy
Chanel Rouge Coco Flash in "Boy" is one of the most popular shades from the line and works well as a quick-to-apply daily addition to your makeup bag. This semi-sheer lipstick applies evenly in an understated way, adding a touch of nude without stealing the show from the rest of your look.
This flattering, natural shade makes good use of Chanel's Hydraboost complex, which contains waxes from natural origin (mimosa, jojoba and sunflower) to ensure a smooth look. Its glossy, oiled finish is seriously hydrating - a great day to day staple.
Buy now £31.00, Boots
Lottie London Slay All Day Lipstick
Lottie London's lipsticks are budget friendly and great for throwing in your bag to pull out at any necessary occasion. The great part? The accessible price of these liquid lipsticks means you'll happily stock up on multiple shades without hesitation.
Like many liquid lipsticks, Lottie London Slay All Day Lipstick isn't the most moisturising of formulas. But what it lacks in moisture it more than makes up with effectiveness. A quick swipe of its soft wand applicator and you'll be left with a velvety matte finish that refuses to budge. Better yet, it's also a vegan-friendly line.
Buy now £5.95, Look Fantastic
Illamasqua Sheer Veil Lipstick Souffle
Illamasqua Sheer Veil Lipstick glides onto the lips with a sleek, sheer application that adds a dash of colour that can be built up with multiple uses. This "barely there" design manages to hit all the sweet spots in the lipstick world, with its balmy, oil-infused texture, hydrating formula and au-natural effect.
Illamasqua uses Macadamia Oil and Vitamin E in its lipsticks, adding a conditioning finish to each shade and allowing them to be applied in one quick movement. The Souffle shade is a warm taupe, an ideal nude for those with darker skin tones with its brilliant pigment.
Buy now £20.00, Look Fantastic
YSL Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick Golden Melon
Golden Melon or, as it's sometimes known, Melon D'Or, is a moderately warm-toned, light-medium pinky nude shade with a subtle, frosted finish. Beautiful quality both inside and out, Golden Melon's staying power is one of the many reasons why this shade remains so popular year after year.
Wear this lipstick alone for a subtle hint of peach or layer it with warmer shades for a unique, slightly pinker finish. Smooth, lightweight and hydrating: Golden Melon is the definition of an iconic shade.
Buy now £29.00, Boots
Huda Beauty Power Bullet Matte Lipstick
Huda Beauty's amazing matte finish was a game changer when it first launched and the Power Bullet Matte Lipstick in Staycation is one of the best out there for a nude lip that refuses to fade. This beige-leaning-towards-brown shade is smooth and creamy, a formula promising unrivalled pigmentation that needs no layering.
You'll only need to apply a quick dash of this cruelty-free lipstick for easy coverage and matte results. Looking for a slightly different colour? Huda Beauty's extensive range covers nude lips for all skin tones - try Girls Trip for a cool-toned pinker shade or Board Meeting for a warm-toned, mocha colour.
Buy now £22.00, Cult Beauty
L'Oréal Paris Color Riche Matte Addiction Lipstick Moka Chic
Moka Chic is one of the best nude lipsticks for anyone with fair skin, thanks to its gentle colour and subtle finish. Some nude lipsticks may stretch the definition of what "nude" actually looks like but Moka Chic keeps things firmly within the boundaries with a natural, neutral shade that doesn't require more than a simple glide over your lips. Looking to step it up a notch? Pair Moka Chic with a lip liner for a nude look that accentuates the shape of your lips, subtly.
Buy now £8.99, Look Fantastic
Lancome L’Absolu Rouge Matte lipstick 510
Lancome L’Absolu Rouge Matte lipstick is a lipstick that does a little of everything. It's easy to apply precisely even if you're not a MUA, thanks to its petal-sculpted shape. It's easy to wear, thanks to its versatile nude shade (we love 510 in particular). And it's moisturising, hydrating and plumping all at once.
This fan-favourite lipstick comes infused with rose extracts and hyaluronic acid, the latter of which is responsible for that subtle plumping look.
Buy now £28.50, Selfridges
NARS Must-Have Mattes Lipstick Pour Toujours
Matte lipsticks can lose their appeal for their drying formulas - something that you'll never have to worry about when you've tried out NARS' Must-Have Mattes Lipstick in Pour Toujours. Must-have by name and must-have by, well, nature, this nude lipstick is ever-so stylish with its matte black, lightweight packaging and creamy formula inside. Passion Fruit Seed oil, omega-6 and essential fatty acids are just some of the things that make this lipstick super nourishing. Its easy to wear, long lasting colour ensures this lipstick quickly becomes a new favourite.
Buy now £23.00, Look Fantastic
Bobbi Brown Luxe Lip Colour Almost Bare
Everything about Bobbi Brown's Luxe Lip Colour was designed with expertise in mind, from its uniquely shaped bullet that makes application a breeze, right the way through to its glide-on consistency that sticks around on the lips for at least four hours.
This muted, medium peachy-brown shade (Almost Bare) has warm undertones and a matte, opaque pay-off. A lipstick that looks luxurious before you've even unwrapped it, its weighty, gold packaging and rich formula combine into a seriously sleek choice.
Buy now £30.00, Selfridges
NYX Professional Makeup Lip Lingerie Liquid Lipstick Push-Up
NYX Professional Makeup Lip Lingerie Liquid Lipstick stays on all day long. You'll eat and drink as much as you please without anything budging. It's so long-lasting, in fact, that you'll probably have to use some kind of oil-based cleanser to remove it at the end of the day.
The best part about that is, as soon as you've found your new staple shade, you'll only have to apply it once a day for optimum, matte coverage. These budget friendly liquid lipsticks also come in a huge number of nude shades. Push-Up is our favourite, with its velvet-like silky formula and gentle volumising effect.
Buy now £8.00, Look Fantastic
Fenty Beauty Sheer Shiny Lipstick
Don't expect matte coverage from a name like Fenty Beauty’s Sheer Shiny Lipstick. Sure, Fenty Beauty does produce a range of deliciously impressive matte lipsticks but, surprising enough, the Sheer Shiny Lipstick is not one of them. But, if you're on the hunt for a 'barely there' look that adds a quick wash of colour to your lips, this is an unmissable purchase.
A perfect mix of balm, lip colour and shine, each of the Sheer Shiny Lipsticks comes in a slightly different sheer shade, ranging from Quartz Candy (clear with pink iridescence) through to Glazed (peachy pink) and Vamps Who Brunch (plum with blue iridescence).
Buy now £20.00, Boots
Tom Ford Lip Colour Bad Lieutenant
Tom Ford Lip Colour in Bad Lieutenant leans more towards the warmer, pink-ish end of the nude spectrum. Although perhaps some would call it a pink lipstick, its light, sheer effect adds a subtle touch to your lips rather than blasting them with full on vibrant colour.
This warm-toned, light-medium shade makes good use of exotic ingredients like soja seed extract, Brazilian murumuru butter and chamomilla flower oil to produce a lipstick that seems to glide onto the lips. Ultra-creamy texture and an incredibly smooth application make Tom Ford's lipsticks just as luxurious as the rest of the makeup line.
Buy now £44.00, Boots
BareMinerals GEN NUDE™ Matte Liquid Lip Colour
BareMinerals GEN NUDE™ Matte Liquid Lip line is easy to work with. It's a nude lip colour for an understated look, adding colour and depth without really any effort required whatsoever. Available in a range of different shades, this lightweight design leaves a comfortably matte finish that gently wears off as the day goes by. Its subtle vanilla scent is the one thing that'll have you taking this lipstick out of your bag long before it needs reapplying. It's a top choice for an everyday nude look.
Buy now £20.00, lookfantastic
Verdict
If you add one new nude lipstick to your collection, make it Charlotte Tilbury’s Pillow Talk. Photographed on women of varying skin tones and loved by MUAs, celebrities and the rest of us around the world, it’s suitably moisturising, brilliantly hydrating and endlessly flattering.
