Nude lips are the ultimate makeup power move: subtle and fierce, classy and modern, perfect for day or night. However, nude lipsticks are also some of the most difficult shades to correctly match.
The Doctors stars Dr. Travis Stork and Dr. Andrew Ordon offer an unconventional solution to this nude dilemma. Hint: it helps to actually get nude.
Shade Matching To Your… Nipples?
Stork and Ordon claim that a person can find their perfect nude shade by color matching their nipples. Am I skeptical of makeup advice from two people not wearing makeup? Yes. Was I curious anyway? Double yes.
To save all of us from trying to color match our nipples in the paint swatch aisle of Home Depot, Refinery29 conducted their own nipple lipstick experiment.
The video features five people of different ethnicities and skin tones. The color swatches they chose ranged from peachy pinks to rich, dark browns. Each participant tried on three lip shades: a true nipple match, one shade lighter and one shade darker.
Nipple Results May Vary
Almost all of the participants were as skeptical as I was about this color-matching technique. After all, everyone’s nipples are different. So, a one-size-fits-all method has to have some flaws, right?
As it turns out, our skepticism was not unfounded. “Where’d my lips go?” Editor Claire Fishman jokes to the camera in an ultra-pale nude beige lip. Fishman’s already-fair color matched her face so well that her lips appeared to vanish completely.
Empress Varnado was much more pleased with her light brown match. “Aw, it’s so cute! I like it,” Varnado said, smiling at the camera. “Maybe the doctor is onto something. Maybe.”
The participants then tried on their lighter and darker shades with a similar variation in results. Some were pleasantly surprised at how much they liked their nipple-matched shades, while others were less than impressed.
“I am a corpse,” Eumi Pok laughs in Anastasia Beverly Hills’ matte lipstick aptly named Dread. “Maybe I’m just not a brown nudes person,” she adds.
Color Match With Caution
Ultimately, the results of Refinery29’s experiment were far too varied to prove the technique’s efficacy one way or another. I remain just as skeptical as I was when I first heard of this technique, and I have no plans on wearing a lip shade that matches my nipples anytime soon.
But it’s worth mentioning that several participants in the video did find a shade that worked well for them based solely on the color of their nipples. So, it really depends on your personal preference, skin tone and nipple color.
If you feel like matching your lipstick to the color of your nipples, then more power to you! However, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t work out.
And if you’re still on the hunt for your perfect nude lip, consider CTZN, a women-owned business dedicated to finding the ideal nude shade for every skin tone (no nipples necessary).