When nude lips first became vogue, I was horrified. Even though I am a makeup artist by trade, I just couldn’t get with that non-lip look. Slowly but surely I was won over. It was sort of like when Bobbi Brown introduced the natural “browns” in lipsticks. I thought this is the ugliest trend ever. Who the heck wants brown lips? Well, that trend was here for quite awhile, and Bobbi Brown is now a household name.
The nude lip though has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for many women. For example, the girl with virtually no lips. You know, thin, where-are-they lips. Nude lipstick and in particular nude glosses have been their saving grace. Let’s go back to art school for this principal of light and dark. Dark makes objects appear smaller (that’s why we love to wear black) and light makes things appear larger (that’s why we paint small rooms in light colors). The nudes act as an optical illusion if you will. Adding that light to the lips, makes them appear fuller. Why not pay $20 for a plumping nude colored lipgloss as opposed to hundreds for collagen or Restalyn?
Stars certainly love the nude look. I remember when Jennifer Lopez sported a Bourjois Lipgloss for a certain photoshoot, the sales were off the hook for that brand. Jen has that signature nude lip. On occasion we see her with a vibrant red, but for the most part, she is that nude lipgloss girl.
Back to makeup artistry. As an artist, you learn balance on the face. So if eyes are the focal point, the mouth should be softer. If the mouth is the focal point, then eyes should be soft and fresh. This is when the nude lip became so popular with the smoky eye look. When a woman is wearing heavy, dark makeup on her eyes, the last thing she needs are lips that are fighting with her eye makeup. Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls and Beyonce’ are both women who rock this makeup combination of dark eyes and nude lip.
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