After 25 years working as a celebrity makeup artist and now the owner of my namesake cosmetic company offering CLEAN cosmetics, I am often sought after for makeup advice. This pandemic has brought a whole slew of new questions. Among them, is there a lip color I can wear while wearing a mask, or how should I do my makeup for ZOOM calls?
No worries, I will bring you solutions and more lip tips & tricks below.
How to Keep Your Lipstick on While Wearing A Mask
I imagine every woman has had at least one mask/lipstick disaster. The most common one I hear is: I was wearing lip color for my ZOOM call and then went to run an errand and put my mask on. When I took it off, there was color all over the mask. Truthfully, if it is a disposable mask, no worries, but many of us have bought masks to actually coordinate with our outfits (yes, I’m guilty), and end up with lip color all over the inside of the mask.
Lipstick Solutions with a Mask:
Use a lip pencil like Susan Posnick double-sided COLORDUO in nude/rouge all over your lips and then add just a touch of gloss –like our DD (double-duty) Gloss, or lip conditioner in the center, press your lips together or blot them on a tissue before masking up.
The gloss or lip conditioner will keep your lips moist.
How to Get Those Stains Out if They Do Occur
Use a natural rather than chemical spot remover like @laundress stain remover. Why natural? Remember you are breathing into that mask, often for many hours a day, and don’t want to be inhaling chemicals.
What Lipstick Color Do You Recommend for Zoom Calls?
As ZOOM is how we see so many people these days, it gives us an opportunity to once again use lip color. What I recommend is to keep your lip color subtle- using nudes, soft pinks and corals, and keep the rest of your makeup natural- looking as well.
Try to ZOOM in a room with a lot of light. Not everyone has a ring light to make them look flawless, so less is best, and recommended over no makeup at all.
How to Pick Your Perfect Lipstick Shade
I often hear from women, “I have a drawerful of lipsticks and never seem to be able to pick the right shade. Can you help?”
Step 1: Consider Your Skin-tone
When it comes to skin-tone, everyone is cool, warm, or neutral - meaning a combination of both warm and cool.
To identify which category you fall into, look on the inside of your wrist. This will determine what shades look best on you.
If the veins are more purple, blue or teal in color than cool tones are recommended. Pinks and berries with a blue-base to the color are your natural go-to. If you love wearing red, then make sure it is a red with a blue base to it. If nude is where your comfort level is, then be sure to pick a nude with a slight pink base to it. In the Susan Posnick range, those colors might be L.A., Shanghai, Rio, and Paris.
If your veins are more green, yellow, or orange-brown, than you are considered warm in coloring, and olive skin falls into this category. Corals, nudes, bronzes, and coppery colors are best on you. If you love wearing red, then look for reds with an orange or brown base to them. Think Susan Posnick Coloressential lipsticks in Boca, Marrakesh, Tokyo and London.
For those who are a blend of both warm and cool, then your coloring is considered neutral and you have pretty much hit the jackpot. Almost any color will look good on you, which allows for the most variety when choosing lip color.
Step 2: Consider the Color of Your Lips
Usually the darker your lips are, the more the lip color you put on may shift towards blue or orange. If your lips are very dark, I recommend staying away from dark colors, instead choose bright colors.
Step 3: Test Out Your Lip Color ‘Naked’
Whenever you are looking for a new lipstick shade, you should always try on a lip color wearing no other makeup. If it looks good on you bare-faced, you can be rest assured it will look great once you have evened out your skin and added a little color to it. Also be aware of the lighting you are testing the lip color in. Store lighting is usually not the best, so step outside with a mirror and have a look. Daylight may not be your kindest light, but it will be truthful.
Step 4: How to Know if a Color Has a Blue-Base or Yellow-Base
When lipstick shopping always look for a ‘true pink, ‘true red’, and ’true coral’ to help understand how to pick the shade that is best for you. That ‘true’ color will have a mix of blue and yellow to it. If you are unsure what that color is, ask for help.
Then pick out colors in the same family and put them to the right and left of that color on your wrist. You will quickly be able to tell if the color you are looking at has a blue base or yellow base to it. Also remember that lipsticks look different in the tube than on the lips.
Step 5: Use Gloss Instead!
Our DD Lipgloss is a great way to circumvent all this decision making. Most lip gloss is pretty sheer so you can get away with wearing almost any color. Our DD Gloss (double duty for lips and cheeks) comes in 3 universal shades and it is non-sticky. I interchange them depending on my mood or layer them over lipsticks. Our Crème Caramel, Cotton Candy and Red Velvet are all ‘perfectly’ sweet on your lips and cheeks.
Step 6: Daytime Color and Evening Color
For everyday wear, I recommend wearing neutral colors that add a touch of warmth and brightness to the face, but still soft in color.
For evening, go all out, but the rule of thumb is if you wear a strong or bright lip color, keep your eye makeup light. You want your focus to be in one place or the other, not both.
Keep Your Lip Color Perfect with Susan Posnick
Remember, these are guidelines to choosing the perfect lip color. The most important thing is that you feel good in whatever color you are wearing and these tips should help you decide what those colors are.
Questions or still confused? Feel free to reach out to us! We are always available to answer your questions. Susan Posnick is dedicated to providing you with all your Clean Beauty Essentials, from lipsticks to natural sun protection/foundation. We are not the line that comes out with new products each season.
We are committed to offering you your Beauty Basics, with each product being multi-purpose designed for your busy lifestyles.
