r/OliveMUA

I swatched these before buying the Sassy Rhubarb bc it didn’t read orange/brown (and before seeing how horribly Sephora lighting distorts color perception, and before any understanding of how muted / desaturated I am!) and then laughed at how awful it looked when I put it on in the car (you can see how bad in the last pic here: https://www.reddit.com/r/OliveMUA/comments/1u4h1wp/how_to_conteract_corpse_lips_on_a_muted_light/ )

Just thought these might be helpful for someone…

swatches are top to bottom in order of the display rack in the last pic.

Dramatic Plum

Limitless Brown

Anywhere Caffeine

Wherever Walnut

Sassy Rhubarb

Forever Passion

Lovely Peony

Legendary Latte

fyi, I swatched almost all of the Charlotte Tilbury liners here: https://www.reddit.com/r/OliveMUA/comments/1uda5n2/charlotte_tillbury_lip_cheat_liners_on_light/ and Urban Decay liners I’ve yet to post - and ironically, the Make Up For Ever extreme liners were the LEAST waterproof of all three when I got in a warm shower and went to rub them off! They came off quite easily which means they wouldn’t last as long eating/drinking as the others, but I fell for their “extreme waterproof” marketing.

Making a post because u/Zealousideal_Pen7713 said they were interested in seeing swatch pics of the Kaleidos Glowing Iris and Twilight Rush quad palettes. Pics were taken outside under broken cloud cover.

The first two images are from the Glowing Iris palette. The metallic/glittery shimmer shade is really hard to photograph. It’s a pale, icy purple IRL.

The third and fourth images are from the Twilight Rush palette. Likewise, the metallic/glittery shimmer shade didn’t photograph well. It’s very pink IRL. I like to tap a finger in this and press it in a line on the centre of my eyelid to give a hint of shimmer.

Also, I realised looking at these images that I need to moisturise my hands more often!

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!(

I have been wanting to have this lovely soft pink look for a long time. Being a cool neutral pale olive I found most lipsticks I tried look orange.

I saw the new Mac lipstick in 'Not humble just bragging'. The advertising photo is the first picture I posted. On my lips it looks straight up lilac 🫠

I have tried lip colour correcter bases (like heart percent) they help a bit, but really do not solve my colour problems.

Can anyone recommend a lipstick that will achieve the colour on my lips? I've posted my lips 2nd pic.

Thank you

Wearing shade “Embrace”. The official swatch looks pretty close, but it looks TOTALLY different on Selena! The shade is described as warm brown. It is a bit too warm for my preference, but still I think it’s a pretty shade that would look good on all olives!

So, I went to a mall yesterday to test the foundations. I believe I'm a light to medium (subcontinental) olive. My perfect match was Shiseido 230 Alder, Armani 6 was available which was way too dark for my skin, the 5.3 isn't available in my country. I ended up buying the Nars 2.25 Lanai which is basically slightly darker than another neutral shade Patagonia. Now the problem is the shade is probably the right depth and right neutral, but it's pulling peach/pink with a slight grey cast. At the store light I couldn't understand it. I can't return the foundation, so what can I do to make the foundation work for my olive skin? Do I mix green or do I mix blue or do I mix yellow?

Hi! So I have known a long time I was neutral ish olive but I thought I was successful in finding a good match… and then this weekend after not wearing foundation for a long time (new baby over here!) I was like um that does NOT match.

I’m wearing the Haus Labs in 200 here and realize down my neck you can really tell where the green starts vs the foundation.

It’s not horrible but it’s not right lol. Would a blue mixer fix this?

Any shade twins? I am now going to have to replace this since I can’t unsee it 😭

After mindlessly purchasing sooooo many makeup products without any insight into my skin type and undertones, I recently decided to educate myself and I think I’m an olive.
I tried a full face makeup for the first time since then and I’d love some feedback and any suggestions or recommendations on how to improve my makeup.

PS: I’m a total beginner with makeup - only started at age 30, and have done my face about 15-20 times in the last 3-4 years 🙈 I have, however, watched countless videos and tutorials 😅

Products:
Colour corrector: maybelline age rewind eraser orange
Foundation: about face md2olive
Concealer: nars creamy radiant in caramel
Blush: Milani baked blush in granita glow
Bronzer: about face eternal sunset (felt too cool I think? Seemed more contour like maybe)
Lips: Kulfi lassi lip stain in tamarind
Eyes: liner - MUFE cool ebony, Mascara macstack black, brows: maybelline super lock deep brown
Eye shadow: merit solo shadow in sartorial
Setting powder: Laura mercier pressed powder ultra blur in translucent honey

Photos:

1. Bathroom/yellow light
2. Natural-ish light ( partially closed blinds at a window)
3. Full sun (open window)
4. No makeup face bathroom lights

I have been wearing muted rose palettes, so I pulled out my peach make up and tried it on (left) and suddenly I’m liking it again. The lip is MAC devoted to chilli, but very light and blurred, with a peachy blush and a more muted light-med filter foundation mixed with a neutral foundation.

On the right is my usual dusty rose blush muted blue red lip on a lighter serum foundation mixed in with a lighter filter. I don’t usually wear the lip this heavy, I like to blur them out, but was trying out a new product.

Different days, but same light and same time of day.

For my neutral to cool olives, you may love Alone Time as much as me for that my lips but better nude. It appears that the new line has adjusted the shade and it’s now more brown peach and saturated. This is heartbreaking, I use Alone Time as a mixer for so many lipsticks! Creator Louise Yafai posted side by sides on TT and it’s pretty clear. Such a bummer! Ira stranger because they introduced a new new cool tones in the reformulation but if something was a best seller like Alone Time why wouldn’t they try to make it perfect?

I'm a shimmery lady and I also consume both western and eastern beauty products, so I thought about putting some swatches out in the world, considering that swatches of some of these products are not easy to find. Also, a little review. 

· Core palettes 1.0 and 2.0 by Isamaya (photos 1 and 2): all of the colors are gorgeous in the palettes and they are subtle -if not using a black eyeshadow underneath and/or wetting the brush (I use a silicone brush)-, which works for my everyday looks but might be underwhelming for folks who prefer more potent shadows. The formula depends on the individual shades, but I don't consider any to be dry. My favorite are the ones that feel more putty to the touch. To the core of the matter: are they worth it for 110 EUR? No. Not at all. I bought both on sale for around 83 EUR and still think I overpayed. Also, my 2.0 came with two shadows broken and customer service ghosted me so I had to initiate a dispute with PayPal.

· Singles (photo 3): Guiying Ice Temperature by HerOrange (1), Guiying Ice Purple by HerOrange (2), Noble Shadow Ice Moss by HerOrange (3), Ruby Flame single by Noiricorn (4), Never End by SheenEffect (5), Dream Shadow by SheenEffect (6), Midsummer Night by SheenEffect (7), Answer by SheenEffect (8), Pure Desire by SheenEffect (9), Puff by SheenEffect (10), Night Elves by SheenEffect (11), Starry Night by MAC (12) and Bougie paint pot by MAC (13). Not much to say, the shades from HerOrange are sheer and somewhat buildable but not a lot (I bought them specifically for being sheer), the Noiricorn one along with the SheenEffect ones are my favorite formulas for a reflective shade ever, and the MAC ones I use together -Starry Night on top of Bougie- for a glittery brown smokey eye

· Xenon and Xenon Mini by Natasha Denona (photo 4): all of the swatches are from Xenon, except the bottom silver that runs horizontally, that's the silver from Xenon Mini. I have two wolves inside me. One loves reflective shadows and the other loves monochrome eye looks. Both of my wolves are happy with these two palettes. If you don't like wearing grey and silver, don't buy them because that's all you'll get; but on the other side they're so versatile! The Mini one it's my loyal travel partner. Oh, and needless to say, don't believe the online swatches from the brand, Snowbow is not that pink.

· Kiko Milano Cult Colours 02 (photo 5): the shades might be "simpler" than others, but this palette has a special place in my heart because it was my first glittery palette. I mostly use it for smokey looks. 

· Fleeting Life and Starcore by Cheeryep (photo 6): Cheeryep is one of my favorite chinese makeup brands ever. They lean more alternative but they're very wearable even for the day, they're super buildable and the formulas are amazing. The creams are suuuper creamy and the mattes don't feel powdery at all. 

· Cordyceps and Sinensis by Girlcult (photo 7): both are part of the Compendium of Materia Medica collection, which centers around nature so of course browns and greens. Same opinions as with Cheeryep, but these palettes are perfect for traveling as their packaging is sturdy and small. 

· Lively by Cheeryep and Candy Puppet by Noiricorn (photo 8): two very different vibes but sometimes I combine them. Lively is your classic pink palette but with a very interesting twist, that green is my most used shadow of the palette. For Candy Puppet, I mostly use it for nighttime looks and just choose a random matte with a random duochrome on top. Nothing to add about the formulas, lovely all around.

· Icy Nude and Pretty Grunge by Huda Beauty (photo 9): I love both color stories, but the formulas are not the best. Mattes are okay (they're good, but for 72 EUR each I would expect more), but the shimmers and duochromes are hit or miss. Some big misses are Bling and Diamond Dew, they are super chunky. Bling literally feels like sand and I've never used it on my eyes, can't say I would recommend doing it. In my opinion the best way to work with the chunkier shadows is using a silicone brush. So, do I recommend them? Yes, they are overall good palettes. Would I buy them full price? No, the brand has several deals throughout the year. Are they a necessity? No. Can they work if you only have these two palettes? Sure thing, they are versatile.

· Retro palette by Natasha Denona (photo 10): I love the shimmers on this one, but I actually recommend it as a whole. It was the perfect replacement for the aura of She's in Parties by Melt and it lets me do both romantic and more soft goth looks. As usual with Natasha Denona palettes, the formulas are immaculate. 

· Ambition by Cheeryep (photo 11): saved the best for last. This is the palette that made me love both asian makeup products and glittery shades. This is what a lot of people wish Isamaya palettes would be (and for almost a sixth of the price!), super creamy and pigmented and they don't feel crusty when they're dried down.

Hope this post helps someone reach their glowy potential.

Lately I’ve been using Lancome Teint Idole 350N but sometimes it looks a little grayish on me (I also think it’s a little too light). Maybe because it’s for slightly peachier undertones?

Back when I used MAC studio fix powder they always told me I was NC40. But that never felt like a perfect de match either.

Honestly I can’t say I’ve really found a match I’m super satisfied with, probably because I don’t understand my undertone! Any help/suggestions welcome!

Pic1 is more yellowish light and Pic2 is more whitish light, but in both pictures, the colors look more saturated.

1: Spice It Up! / PDA
2: Film Noir / Espresso Yourself / Guessing Game / Center of the Attention
3: Posh Pit / Signature Move / I Deserve This

Spice It Up and PDA are like same thing but warmer/cooler than the other. Same with Posh Pit and Signature move. They seem more different but I think they work as the same position for each warm/cool toned person. Posh Pit is my everyday color though PDA suits me the best. Center of the Attention isn't my tone at all but I guess it's quite a universal warm red so I like using it lightly for natural rosiness. I am looking forward to get the Paramount! What else do you recommend for me?