It’s no surprise that I like an eye catching lip color, but I’ve always envied those who can pull off a matte nude look. As a woman with darker skin, finding a neutral nude was actually more difficult than I’d like to admit. I tried a number of different brands and shades, but everything just made my lips look ashy. I decided to give up the search and chalked it up to the fact that brighter colors look better on my complexion anyway. Recently, however, my director got some NARS products from a friend of hers who works for the brand and she let me have a few items (because she’s the bomb!). Of those products was the NARS x Sarah Moon Matte Lipstick in “Indecent Proposal.” ($28)

When I opened the tube and saw that it was nude my interest was piqued— I quickly swiped some on over the top of my hand and was pleased to see how well it went with my complexion. That night at home I put it on my lips and I swear I heard angels singing — FINALLY, I found a nude that looked great on me. I wore it a few days later to work and was pleased to see that it didn’t cake or dry out my lips. “Indecent Proposal” has a slight pinkish tint to it, which I think is what made it really work for me. It basically matched my true lip color perfectly. What I’d recommend when looking for a nude lip, is not just going for a basic nude — match it up with the color of your bottom lip and that should be right for you. Think of it as looking more for a neutral, instead of nude, because for me I had a specific color in mind when specifically looking for “nude” which of course didn’t work for me. Also, when you have a color that is slightly tinted in a pink or peach, it lessens the likelihood of it looking ashy on.
This specific product is Limited Edition, so I don’t think it’ll be around very long — I’d pop on over to BlueMercury now and get it if I were you. What it did though, was give me hope in the fact that there is definitely a nude out there for me and you ladies with a similar complexion as mine. So I’m back on the hunt and will share my findings of other brands that have a vast array of nude colors — I’ve heard great things about mented cosmetics, going to try that one next!