Earlier this week I came across a hack to find your perfect nude lipstick, no matter your skin tone. Because here's the thing about the shade "nude": It's a misnomer. Nude for me is not nude for you. Nude for me isn't even nude for me depending on the time of year. (I tan within seconds of sunlight.) So when beauty YouTuber Farah Dhukai posted a how-to video on mixing your way to your ideal nude, I was curious:
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In it, she recommends prepping your lips, applying foundation (concealer works too), and then swiping on your favorite color for an ombré effect. Since there's a good chance you're going to imbibe whatever's on your lips—just a hazard of wearing lip color—I had to start with the basic question: Is applying foundation or concealer to your mouth even safe? "The only issue I see with mixing them with your lip color is that some colors used in them are not permitted by the FDA to be used in lip products," says cosmetic chemist Ni'Kita Wilson. "Certain colorants in concealers, like chromium oxide green, can come in close contact with mucous membranes by your mouth and get absorbed, which can lead to potential irritation in those areas." Hmmm.
I figured I'd chance it. (What can I say? I'm a daredevil.) So I pulled out concealer and lipstick and got to work. But suffice it to say, if your skin is sensitive or you're concerned, I get if you'd rather sit this one out and keep searching the makeup aisle. Caution with cosmetics is never a bad thing—especially where Instagram hacks are concerned.
Anyway, here's how the process went:
1. Prep lips.
Dhukai begins with prepping her lips, which is great theoretically, because I'm the sort of person who bites my lips (and incidentally tears off the dead skin with my teeth). She first scrubs her lips before slathering them in a luxurious-looking oil (he Insta-famous Farsali Rose Gold Elixir, to be exact). But I chose to do this at 9:00 P.M., which is dangerously close to my bedtime, so I just washed my face and deemed my mouth good enough as is.
2. Dot on concealer.
I made the executive decision not to blend the concealer into my upper lip, because in Dhukai's video, it made her top lip disappear. (This is just my opinion as not-a-beauty-YouTuber and my personal lipstick preference.) I dab on Philosophy Renewed Hope in a Jar Glow Drops, which has the golden-beige tint of concealer and is the closest I have to a liquid concealer formula—which, from the looks of it, is necessary in order to blend it in. The thing about a liquid concealer, though, is that it tends to travel, which is why I end up with concealer on my front teeth. There's no doubt in my mind that I swallowed at least a little chromium oxide green. (Kidding. Kinda. After reading and rereading the ingredients, I'm still not sure if it's in there or not. Pretty sure I'm fine though.)
3. Add lip color.
I don't usually wear liquid lipstick. I seriously have only two options in my collection, so I choose the one that is not teal green (you're welcome) and opt for Kevyn Aucoin The Sensual Lip Satin in Cashmere, a soft pink that's just a step up from my natural lip color. It's easy to blend, and while the effect is subtle—basically, I look like I'm wearing a slightly softened, more shimmery version of my own lips—I don't mind it. It has just a nude tone to it, which I personally prefer to classic nude colors, anyway. Obviously, applying more concealer and less lipstick would have the opposite effect.
4. Compare to the lipstick alone.
In this final shot I'm wearing just the lip color alone. I actually like this more than I do mixed with the concealer, although the point of this isn't to choose a favorite lip color but to see how I can nude-ify one. But it's easy to see here how the concealer changes the lip color. Maybe, if I didn't eat most of it, the difference would've been even more apparent. We'll never know.
The verdict: While I get the benefit of having a custom nude shade that's created with your own skin tone in mind, I think I swallowed too much concealer to make this worth doing on a regular basis. Still, if you can't find a nude color that suits your personal nude, this might be worth a shot. Just gargle thoroughly afterward.
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