Most makeup bags are hiding an embarrassing secret: a drawer, pouch, or tangled handful of lipsticks that are all, essentially, the same colour.
We buy a shade because it looked beautiful on someone else, or because the lighting in the shop was kind, or because it felt like a treat on a long day. Then it joins the others — worn twice, slightly wrong, never quite finished. The truth is that most of us rotate between two or three favourites anyway. So why not make those favourites deliberate?
After years of overbuying, I have landed on a simpler idea: four shades cover almost every situation in an ordinary life. Not forty. Four. Here is the set, how each one earns its place, and how to find the version of each that actually suits you.
First, a Rough Guide to Your Undertone
Before the shades, one tool that makes choosing far easier: your undertone — the warm, cool, or neutral tint beneath your skin’s surface. Two popular home tests can point you in a direction. Look at the veins on the inside of your wrist in natural light: if they look mostly greenish, you may lean warm; if they look blue or purple, you may lean cool; a mix suggests neutral. The second test is jewellery: many people find gold flatters warm undertones and silver flatters cool ones.
Treat both as rough guides, not science. Vein colours are hard to judge, lighting changes everything, and plenty of people sit happily in between. Your real test is always the shade itself, swatched on your lips — lip colour changes how a shade reads far more than any wrist test can predict. Use undertone as a shortlist, not a verdict.
Shade 1: Your-Lips-But-Better Nude
This is the workhorse — the shade closest to your natural lip colour, just slightly deeper, warmer, or more even. It is what you wear to work, to lunch, to anything where you want to look polished rather than made up. It pairs with everything, needs no mirror to reapply, and forgives an imperfect edge.
Finding yours: swatch against your fingertip or inner lip rather than the back of your hand. Too pale a nude looks chalky; too brown can drain your face. Warm undertones usually suit peachy or caramel nudes, cool undertones suit rosy or mauve nudes, and neutral undertones can wander both ways. A satin finish is the easiest everyday choice — matte nudes can look flat, while a hint of sheen reads as healthy lips.
Shade 2: A Classic Red
Every collection needs one red that makes you feel like the main character of your own afternoon. Red is not really one shade, though. Blue-based reds tend to suit cool undertones and have the side benefit of making teeth look whiter. Orange-based reds bring warmth and suit golden skin beautifully. True, balanced reds sit in the middle and are the safest first purchase if you are unsure.
Wear it when an outfit needs a focal point — a plain black dress, a white shirt, jeans and a blazer. Keep the rest of your makeup quieter so the red does the talking, much like the logic behind the 5-minute makeup routine I wear every day, where one strong feature beats five competing ones.
Finish matters here. A satin or soft matte red is the most wearable; a very glossy red is gorgeous but high-maintenance, and a fully matte red demands well-prepped lips. Exfoliate gently and moisturise first — red shows every flake.
Shade 3: A Soft Berry or Plum
Berry is the shade people skip, and it is the one that quietly does the most. Deeper than your nude but softer than your red, a berry or plum adds richness on days when your face looks tired and a nude would wash you out. It is especially kind in autumn and winter light, and in photographs.
Cool undertones can go for raspberry and plum shades with confidence. Warm undertones should look for berries with a little brown or brick in them rather than blue-purple ones, which can clash. If a full berry lip feels like too much, try it as a stain: apply, blot firmly with tissue, and you are left with that just-bitten colour that lasts for hours and needs no upkeep.
Shade 4: A Warm Coral or Peach
Coral is the cheerful one. Where red is polished and berry is moody, coral and peach feel fresh, summery, and awake — the shade equivalent of good sleep. It is beautiful with warm, sun-kissed skin and simple eye makeup, and it brightens a plain outfit faster than jewellery does.
Warm undertones usually wear coral effortlessly. Cool undertones may prefer a pinker coral or a peach with a rosy base rather than a strong orange one. Because coral can emphasise yellow tones in teeth, a slightly pinker version is the safer everyday bet. Tinted balms and sheer formulas shine in this shade family; the colour is forgiving, so precision matters less.
Making One Shade Work Day to Night
You do not need separate day and evening lipsticks — you need techniques. The same shade transforms with three small moves.
First, blotting: one layer, blotted, gives a soft daytime stain. Second, layering: add a second and third layer for full evening intensity. Third, liner: lining and filling the whole lip before lipstick deepens the colour, sharpens the edge, and dramatically improves staying power through dinner. A nude worn sheer at noon becomes a defined, polished lip at night with nothing but liner and a second coat.
Finish-switching helps too. Pat a little balm over a matte lipstick to soften it for daytime, or blot a satin lipstick and dust the sheerest touch of translucent powder over tissue to mattify it for evening.
A Final Word on Buying Less
Reading what happens when you stop wearing makeup for 30 days reminded me how little of my collection I missed when I could not reach for it — and lipstick was the clearest case. Four well-chosen shades, each genuinely different from the others, will outperform a drawer of near-duplicates every single time.
So before your next purchase, ask one question: does this do a job none of my four already do? If not, it is not a new shade — it is a repeat. And a small note for your current collection: if a lipstick has started to smell waxy or crayon-like, or the texture has changed, let it go. Old products are quietly among the beauty mistakes that are aging you, and no shade is worth irritated lips.
Nude, red, berry, coral — chosen for your skin, in finishes you enjoy wearing. That really is enough.