How I make this $4.00 cool-toned lipstick wearable

Hi friends!

Has this ever happened to you? You buy a lipstick with the best of intentions but with very little idea as to how it will actually look on you? Yup, that happened to me a few years ago when I bought the ELF Matte Lip Color in the shade Tea Rose. I heard one of my absolute fave YouTubers, Emilynoel83, talk about it positively in one of her videos and that was about all the “research” I did before buying. (Granted the lipstick is a mere $4.00, so not much of a risk.) I got it home and immediately went to apply it; oh my goodness, it looked absolutely horrific on me! I’ll explain why.

Tea Rose is a true cool-toned lipstick that’s soft lilac, leaning towards grey. Honestly, I could see it being difficult to wear on a lot of people. This is probably the only cool-toned lipstick I have in my whole collection, so this shade is extremely unique. As someone who has a neutral-to-cool undertone, I find that cool lipsticks just drain all the life from my already pale face. So I tend to wear warmer colors that contrast nicely against my skin tone (and therefore flatter me more).

So what was I to do? I didn’t want to return the lipstick (I get super lazy with returns), so I had to find a way to make it work for me and be wearable. Lemme tell you how I do that, and perhaps it will give you some ideas if you have a similar lippy-sitch in your collection.

Read this: Is ELF Wow Brow a dupe for Glossier Boy Brow?

 

ELF COSMETICS MATTE LIP COLOR IN TEA ROSE

This convenient lip pencil creates exact color application with twist up ease. The pigment rich color glides on effortlessly and easily to provide long lasting matte color. The enriched Vitamin A, C & E formula moisturizes and hydrates lips for beautiful healthy looking lips. Sharpener included.

– ELF Website

 

 

STEP #1 – MIXING AND PAIRING

Since I can’t wear Tea Rose on its own, I’ve found pairing it with some of my favorite neutral-to-warm pinky nude lipsticks helps to soften its starkness and coolness. The three lipsticks I most often use for this purpose are some beloved ones that you’ve heard me talk about again and again.

• ILIA Color Block Lipstick in the shade Amberlight* 
• Flower Beauty Mix n’ Matte Lip Duo in the shade Honey Nude
• Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in the shade Pillow Talk 

All these lip shades are quite similar to each other in tone (Honey Nude & Pillow Talk are near-dupes actually), so you absolutely don’t need all of them.

* A gifted item

 

 

STEP #2 – CREATE A QUICK OMBRE

I find that the ombre effect makes Tea Rose work for me. If you’re not familiar with what that is, it’s a graduation or blending of color from light to dark. In addition to making a challenging cool-toned lipstick wearable in this case, the ombre also makes your lips appear bigger and juicier. A lovey added bonus!

So this is what I do. It’s so ridiculously simple, anyone can do it. I apply a decent coat of any of the pinky nude shades listed in the previous section all over my lips. I then take Tea Rose and apply it just in the middle of both my upper and lower lips. I then use my finger to gently pat over the edges, blending the two lipstick shades into each other. What you’re left with is a slightly lighter, cooler pout in the center that gradually blends into a warmer pink towards the edges of the mouth.

The effect is subtle but still somehow impactful; it’s one of my favorite lip looks to do! (The photo below doesn’t do it enough justice sadly, but I still hope you get the idea.)

 

 

Do you like cool-toned lipsticks? How do you make them work on your skin tone? I’d love to know!

xo, and be well, Erica

 

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