Comment: Nude for Brown Skin

A couple of months ago I read a very helpful piece in Stylist magazine by one of my favourite beauty writers, Anita Bhagwandas, which I tore out to go in my beauty scrapbook as a permanent guide.

It was called “This is not the only nude” and frankly explained (and I appreciate frankness) that until now, “nude” meant light pink or beige, which is only for Caucasian skin.

Us brown-skinned girls were left out – you might recall my L’Oreal lament and plea that whilst they tried, there’s still more work to be done.  I appreciate the fact that they even bothered – many brands have a long way to go.

I love the nude lip look but when this first became popular I was unable to participate.  The “nude” colours were far too pale for my dark lips. Magazines called Mediterranean/Olive skins “dark” so there was no hope for me – I was completely excluded.

All I needed was a good pinky-brown. It was only by chance one day that I stumbled across the Bobbi Brown counter, which had an abundance of natural looking lip colours. I decided that if there wasn’t a colour for me here, I would give up.

I felt a little uncomfortable asking for nude, half expecting to hear “sorry, we don’t have a shade for you” (it happens) but I needn’t have been so worried.  I was shown not one, but TWO suitable nude colours! I was obviously quite pleased.  I bought them both with the lip liners, lest I risk never again being able to find the correct shade again.

The first is Hot Cocoa 57 which is a warm pinky-brown (more brown than pink) and the lip liner is called Rich Cocoa. Unfortunately, after all of that, this shade is no longer available!

The second shade is Cocoa 31, for both the lipstick and the lip liner.  This is a warm pink with a hint of brown. This is my ultra-nude and is still available.

I while later I picked up the lip gloss in Nude 8 and I love it! It’s perfect to wear on its own for a hint of colour and lots of gloss, or over the two cocoa lipsticks.

My only issue was that why did I have to buy a high end brand to get an on-trend lip colour? This was years ago and some progress has been made in the industry.

This is where Anita Bhagwandas’ article comes in.  She has picked out nude colours for 6 skin types, rather than the not-very-helpful fair, medium and “dark”.

My skin is somewhere between Type 4 – medium, hardly ever burns, tans with ease; and Type 5 – brown, rarely  burns, tans profusely. I think the pink elements in Type 4 might suit me best.  I now have a nudes shopping list where before I had nothing!

Unfortunately I can’t find an electronic version of the article to link to but hopefully you get the idea from the photo.  Here’s a snap of skin types 1 -3:

I should also mention that I’m liking the look of Clinique’s 16 Shades of Beige.  Although I would wear nearly any nail colour, I’m quite excited by the choice of nude shades. And Maybelline has brought out The Buffs which I’m quite excited about!  Bobbi Brown has done it again with her Nude Glow collection. I’m almost spoilt for choice!

To all the cosmetics companies out there: more please!