Around this time last year, I wrote up a berry lips edit. This goes to show how much my tastes have changed in the past year - while i still love me a berry lip, I've switched my typical autumn look to include a more brown-toned lip. For me, this is a more realistic everyday look and i just can’t get enough of neutrals (as you probably know, I never ever stop blathering on about them). I've got some easy everyday brown-y nudes as well as some deeper colors that are interchangeable with a deep, vampy red.
When I decided to write this post, I just had to buy the Laura Mercier Crème Smooth Lip Colour in Milky Way for it - I had been pining for it for the longest time, and this seemed like the perfect excuse. It's such a unique color, and it's just stunning. It's not just your ordinary brown, as it's got a bit of a gray tone to it. The formula of this is stunning as well and feels so nice on the lips - I've got my eye on a few more shades from the range now. My favorite way to wear it is with the MAC Lip Pencil in Whirl underneath - the soft pink tones peeking through the "greige" is just perfect to me.
The palest of the bunch is the Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in Truffle Tease (from the Buffs collection) is just a perfect nude if you're looking for something more brown-toned. It's got a little bit of a cool tone to it so it really complements my skin. It's similar to Laura Mercier Milky Way, but with much less of a gray tone. The formula is really nice as well, creamy yet with a reasonably long lasting time - I've definitely got to try some more Maybelline lipsticks.
Another wearable everyday option from Maybelline, also from the Buffs collection, is the Color Sensational Lipstick in Touchable Taupe. I love the color of this one, but I'll admit I haven't yet found the best way to wear it. On my lips, it looks quite warm and clashes with my skin. I'm thinking of trying different lip liners underneath or mixing it with Laura Mercier Milky Way. I'll report back on this one.
One of my favorite everyday grabs for the past (almost) year has been the MAC Lipstick in Velvet Teddy. This one has been quite hyped up, so if you don't own it yourself you've surely heard about it. It's just a great beige-y pink neutral that really makes the lips look a little plumper - this one looks perfect on top of the MAC Whirl lip pencil, too.
I've got a newer option from MAC as well, from their new-ish "The Matte Lip" Collection. When I saw they were bringing out a lipstick version of the Whirl lip pencil, I jumped on it as quickly as I could. It's a bit darker and more brown than the liner, but it's just a perfect autumn shade. This is one I go for when I'm wanting to wear something a little more vampy but don't want all eyes on me - the neutral tone keeps it from being too bold for my tastes.
Here's a moody swatch of Colourpop Grunge I never ended up posting to my Instagram
Similar to MAC Whirl we have the Colourpop Lippie Stix (is it always stix or just stick when it's singular?) in Grunge. This came out as part of their fall collection centering around the 90s, so I basically needed one of everything. This is a matte formula that's a deep brown like Whirl, but seems to have more of a red/plum base rather than a pink base. I love the formula of the matte Lippie Stix - so creamy for a matte but still long lasting.
And lastly are two more lip products from Colourpop, this time from their Ultra Matte Lip range. I've got a review of the first four I got here. Trap is one of my favorites from the first set of Ultra Mattes I bought, and it's probably the most unique color I own. It's definitely a brown, but it's also got a lot of gray and maybe some lilac thrown in there too. I really like the effect on me. Beeper is a more recent addition - it's a little bit of a deeper brown nude. It looks quite warm in the swatch above (maybe because it's next to Trap), but on the lips this is a slightly cool-toned brown as well. These are quite drying on the lips, but the wear time and lightweight feel really make up for it.
Do you like brown-toned lip products? What are your favorites?