Step 1
Determine whether you have fair skin, medium skin, olive skin or dark (brown or black) skin.
Step 2
Use your skin tone to determine which shade of lipstick will look best on you.
Step 3
If you have fair skin, choose deep plum and wine reds with a blue undertone, light browns or beige with a pink undertone, or light shiny pinks with blue undertones.
Step 4
If you have medium skin tone, choose deep browns, deep reds with blue undertones, warm reds, medium browns with pink or yellow undertones, deep, rich pinks, and pinks with brown undertones.
Step 5
Choose deep and rich browns with reddish or mahogany undertones, dark berry shades, and rich and dark pinks with yellow undertones if you have yellowish or olive skin.
Step 6
Choose dark reds with blue undertones, deep plums, any shade of brown, soft sheer pinks and beige shades, and deep berry shades if you have dark skin tone.
Step 7
Wear lighter and glossier shades if you have thinner lips, as they generally make thin lips appear fuller. Dark lipsticks will make your thin, small lips even thinner and smaller.
Step 8
Wear darker, matte lipsticks if you have very full lips.
Step 9
Wear deeper, darker or bolder lipstick colors and shades with light eye makeup.
Step 10
Wear a lighter or more neutral lip color to complement heavier eye makeup.
Step 11
Wear lighter and more neutral colors of lipstick with a matte or cream finish during the day (at work, for example), and save your darker, glossier and more dramatic colors for a night on the town.