How To Choose A Lipstick Color When Wearing A Multi-Colored Dress
The iconic Sofia Vergara once said, "If I walk outside without lipstick, I feel naked." Truth be told, many people feel the same way. In fact, according to Statista, a staggering 124.68 million women are projected to use lipstick in 2024. Testament to the small colored tube's popularity is the hashtag #lipstick on Instagram, which brings up more than 33.8 million posts — and not without good reason. To borrow the words of iconic model Monica Bellucci, "Lipstick is the most valuable weapon in a woman's makeup kit. It has the power to transform the appearance and mood of the person wearing it, and at the same time, arouses the admiration of everybody else."
So, if you also hold your lipstick to high standards, how do you pick the absolute best shade for your clothes? Obviously, some choices are quite straightforward. Red clothes match with red and nude lipsticks, orange clothes require peachy shades, yellow outfits go with coral, maroon, and burgundy hues, and blue ensembles strike the perfect balance with pink and mauve shades. But what do you do when you're wearing a multicolored dress? In this case, several other factors come into play that can help you make the right choice, including your skin undertone and the accessories you're wearing with the dress.
Use your skin tone to guide you
When wearing a multicolored dress, you don't have to match your lipstick to your clothes per se. Instead, use your skin tone to guide you. You'll want to note, however, that many women use their complexion to guide them without considering their undertones. Skin undertones refer to the hues that are inherently present in your skin, and they're different from your outward skin tone in one crucial way. Professional makeup artist Jaleesa Jaikaran told Good Housekeeping, "A person's undertone will not change in different seasons like the shade of your skin may." Essentially, you can tan on the outside, but your undertones remain the same.
If the veins on your wrist are blue and your skin seems to be on the pink side, then you have cool undertones that would match perfectly with lipstick that has a blue base; think cherry red or burgundy. On the other hand, if your skin has olive or golden hues, then you have warm undertones, and you should look for warmer lipsticks, such as terracotta or bright red. If you have a mix of pink and yellow hues, then you have neutral undertones, in which case you should opt for pink (if you are fair-skinned) or mauve shades (if you have darker skin).
Accentuate one of the dress's colors
Matte lipstick is over, according to 2024 runways, so we're all doing glossy lips. Luckily, glossy lipsticks come in an assortment of colors, so you won't have any trouble picking one that allows you to follow this next tip.
When in doubt, choose one of the shades of the dress and accentuate it. Add a variation of that hue into your makeup palette and incorporate it into your looks. For example, if your dress has blue floral patterns, then opt for a lipstick that has blue, mauve, purple, or lilac tones. Or, if your dress has orange and yellow patterns, go for bright coral lipstick or darker brick and terracotta ones to bring out the warm hues of your ensemble. For clothes with golden accents, go for TikTok's viral honey lips, which will perfectly complement your attire and bring out the spark in your look.
Go outside the box
The beauty of wearing a multicolored dress is that you have the freedom to play around with your lipstick palette and venture outside the box (and perhaps your comfort zone). You can be as bold or as subtle as you like, and it can be a great opportunity to be daring and wear vivid shades that would seem awkward otherwise. For example, you can try on blue or purple lipstick to match your dress's colder shades. Or, perhaps you can try one with a metallic allure, seamlessly borrowing from the Y2K beauty resurgence.
So, the next time you wear your favorite multicolored dress, don't overthink it. Just do as Nia Sharma once aptly said: "Life's too short to wear boring clothes and apply boring lipsticks, and BTW, I loved my blue lipstick." So, put on your blue lipstick and step out the door looking fiercely dashing and unabashedly en vogue. And if you're looking for tips on how to rock the blue lipstick trend, there are several ideas to help you wear it and stay in tune with fashion's latest trends.
Match your lipstick to your accessories
Taylor Swift's appointment as Time Magazine's 2023 Person of the Year was greeted with enthusiasm by fans worldwide. The larger-than-life singer is not only admired for her astonishing music trajectory but also for her fashion choices, including matching her lipstick to her accessories; she's often seen choosing a lip shade that closely resembles that of her earrings.
So, when you're wearing a multicolored dress and you're not sure which lipstick color to choose, do it the Swift way. Match your lips to your accessories. Earrings, necklaces, and bangles — everything goes! You can even match the color of your lips to the color of your glasses!
For example, for chandelier earrings that sport a central precious stone, you can match the centerpiece's color to your lipstick. If the stone is a ruby, you can wear red lipstick, and if it's sapphire, you can go for a mauve shade. For a boho pendant in earthy tones, opt for nude lipstick. To match your gold bangles, which are everywhere in winter 2024 ensembles, you can try purple, coral, or rosy pink.
Red is always a good idea
Take it from Blake Lively, who said, "All I need is my Chanel dress, my Louboutins, and some red lipstick." Red is a classic lipstick hue, never out of style and always rising to the occasion to elevate your looks and make heads turn (in a good way).
Red matches pretty much every other color, and since there are so many different hues of red you can choose from, the matching becomes even easier. A vibrant red will suit clothes that have black, gray, and white tones, making the stark contrast between makeup and clothes very alluring. A brighter corral red shade will perfectly match clothes that have brown, beige, and white hues. For more vivacious ensembles that have a mix and match of yellow and orange colors, you can opt for a more orangey-red lipstick. Lastly, for dresses that sport blue, green, and mauve colors, you can choose a bluish-red lipstick, such as a sultry mauve or deep cherry red.
You can definitely wear red lipstick with a red dress (or a multicolored one where red dominates). In this case, opt for a different shade of red (darker or lighter than your clothes) to make it stand out and blend more naturally with your overall look.
Go nude
Nude is a great lipstick color when wearing a multicolored dress because it really matches every shade and every hue on the color palette. In fact, during the 2024 Golden Globes, several A-listers sported nude lipsticks to complete their makeup. Nevertheless, many people seem to shy away from the nude lipstick trend, thinking that it signifies the absence of color, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Celebrity makeup artist and brand ambassador Sir John told Byrdie, "People often hear the word nude and think of one standard color because of what they may have been taught from years of limited advertisement. Nude doesn't strip your color away — think of it more as a skin-enhancing neutral. There is a wide range that is approachable for any skin complexion, just be sure to know your makeup style."
Depending on your skin, you may opt for subtle pink or light brown hues that, while they appear nude, will enhance your natural lip color. Plus, in opting for a nude (or not so nude) shade, you have a lipstick perfectly tailored to the palette of any multicolored dress. "To find the perfect nude lipstick, you need to consider your skin tone and undertone. Make sure you know if your complexion is cool, warm, or neutral to help find your most complementary shade," celebrity makeup artist Fiona Stiles told Byrdie. Easy-peasy!
Complement your eyes
Multicolored dresses allow you to play around with a variety of lipstick colors, and they lend themselves to a versatile makeup palette not confined to the limits of specific hues. However, you may find yourself at a loss when having so many different options to choose from. In this case, you can choose to complement your eyes instead of your dress (and stay pretty confident that the shade you opt for will more than likely match your ensemble as well).
If you're unsure which colors match your eyes but prefer a bolder color, seasoned makeup artist Sandy Linter gives some expert tips (via Cosmopolitan). "If you're light-eyed, pink-based burgundy colors will look amazing on you," she said. "This hue makes your eyes pop. If you have dark eyes, a brown burgundy will bring them out more. A blue-based burgundy on the other hand, isn't too light or too dark, so it can be worn by women with light or dark eye colors."