Forget Orange! Are you tired of all your lippies turning BRIGHT PINK?? Low-contrast swatches with discussion
Long-term lurker here - I noticed an ambient discussion on "does everything need to turn orange for someone to be olive?" and figured I'd chime in with my own thoughts! Per my flair, I've self-diagnosed myself as a neutral olive, lighter end of medium, best shade match was Dior Forever Glow in 2WO. I never wear foundation though; I gravitate towards very simple and low-contrast looks, ideally something wearable without a lip liner and without color correcting my cheeks/nose + my mustache area.
Most bronzers and "warm" eyeshadows do turn an unflattering shade of orange on me, it's true. But my god, the color that keeps me up at night is PINK. EVERY LIP COLOR. GOES HOT PINK.
This is more of a problem for me than you might think since my lips naturally have a very strong brown-purple quality to them. Therefore anything other than the sheerest of pinks looks alien on me. Peripera Ink Velvet in 46 Pink Mauve Nude did me SO DIRTY back in the day, that was such a muddy dead pink, stood out from my face like paint. Meanwhile, reds will go either fuschia (if cool) or orange (if warm). Revlon Rum Raisin went too warm for my tastes.
After bouncing around mauves and berries with extremely lackluster results, I've come to learn that my "best" colors are actually cool/neutral browns and "mauves" (that are really just straight up purple). With browns, as long as the prevailing undertone is on the red or greeny-yellow side of things, the end result will be a nice nude or even a muted red. For "mauves", leaning super heavy into neutral purple yields a flattering cool pink on the lip. Too cool a purple or too gray a brown will still clash on me, but tbh most companies don't go cool or gray enough for that to be a problem.
Quick Swatch Explanation - taken by a window on a cloudy day, no indoor lighting
(1) Kulfi Concealer in Rose Rush is described as a "medium with warm undertones". I've seen some people on this sub use it by itself. God bless, wish that was me.
(2) is Rose Rush mixed with LA Girl Green Corrector, included as a reference for my currently-owned best face match.
(3) is the Salmon Corrector from Black Radiance. If you think you might be a shade twin of mine and are getting really sick of "peachy" undereye correctors, this depth of orange used sparingly has gotten me better results.
(4) Kaleidos Tundra remains my only early lippie that I've repurchased, and also my only matte. Honorary mention to Kaleidos Mahogany and Mercury Wave, they were just more Statement Lip than my personal style warranted. Dishonorable mention to Echo Valley, which was just too gray for me.
(5) Laka Ashnut develops more red on the skin than it has in the tube, but it doesn't go as red as some other brown lip stains on the market. Probably the closest to an MLBB on this list that I own. Shown here after the red undertone had time to appear. (I hope Sephora expands their selection, plz plz plz)
(6) Fwee Dirty Cola in the 70% gloss formula is a solid brown-with-a-kiss-of-red gloss, I've been enjoying the formula quite a bit. Honorary mention to Milani's gloss in Blackberry Agave, it's like a lighter and slightly pinker version of this. (But still not pink!)
(7) Revlon Glistening Purple is my most recent purchase and quite sheer. I hate the fake-vanilla smell, but damn, this is a great mindless lip color to put on. Same color family as Kaleidos Mercury Wave, if you're curious about purples but want an easier product to work with.
(8) In contrast, Fwee Pudding Pot in Hurt, described as a "mauve brown", is HOT PINK on the lip. I DO NOT USE THIS ON THE LIP. But sheered out, it makes for a great my-cheeks-but-better blush.
I hope this helps someone that's been struggling with lippies, and feel free to rec any brown or purple colors you think have the same energy as these!(