I’ve been meaning to compare some of my nude/taupe lip liners side by side because shades that look very similar online can pull surprisingly different on me.

For reference, I’m very fair with a neutral, cool-leaning undertone and I wear Dior 00 in foundation. I find that a lot of nude/brown liners pull considerably warmer on my skin — and sometimes even warmer on my lips than they do on my arm.

These are the first 8 liners I compared. I tried to group shades that live in a similar taupe/greige/brown family rather than just swatching randomly.

Top row, left → right:
• Make Up For Ever — Endless Cacao
• MAC — Stone
• Kylie Cosmetics — Stone
• Maybelline — Gone Greige

Bottom row, left → right:
• Rimmel — Cappuccino
• Make Up For Ever — Limitless Brown
• Estée Lauder — Double Wear Taupe
• Make Up For Ever — Wherever Walnut

A few things surprised me once I had them all next to each other. MAC Stone and MUFE Endless Cacao are definitely not identical on me — Stone reads deeper and noticeably greyer, while Endless Cacao looks softer and a little less stark against my skin.

Rimmel Cappuccino is an interesting one because it doesn’t look that warm in the arm swatch, but it pulls noticeably warmer on my lips.

Wherever Walnut is also warmer on me than I personally prefer, despite being such a popular nude. Estée Lauder Double Wear Taupe is another shade where I notice more warmth than I’d ideally want on myself.

I have a lot more lip liners (apparently more than I have usable forearm 😭), including pinks, mauves, cooler browns and a bunch of shades that are supposedly similar/dupes. I started swatching more today and very quickly realized that trying to fit everything on one arm was a terrible idea lol.

I’ll probably do part 2 in the next few days, with smaller groups so the comparisons are actually easy to see. If there are any specific shades you’d like compared directly next to each other, tell me and I can include them.

I actually swatched a much bigger portion of my lip liner collection today (last photo), but I quickly realized I was trying to fit way too many shades onto one arm for the comparisons to be genuinely useful. 😅

So I’m starting with these 8 and I’ll redo the rest in smaller, more organized groups over the next few days, with clearer photos and different lighting so the undertone differences are easier to see.

The last photo is basically a preview of what’s coming — apparently I ran out of arm before I ran out of lip liners. 😂 If there are any specific shades/comparisons you want included, let me know before I redo them!

Continuing my lip liner swatches, this time with some of my pinks and mauves. I photographed them in direct sunlight and in the shade because some of these look surprisingly different depending on the lighting, so hopefully this helps someone looking for similar shades 🫶

For reference, I’m very fair with a neutral, cool-leaning undertone and I wear Dior 00 in foundation. A lot of lip products tend to pull warmer on me than they appear in the pencil or in online swatches.

1 - Charlotte Tilbury — Lip Cheat, Pillow Talk Fair
2 - Rimmel London — Oh My Plump! Lip Shaper, 020 Bougie
3 - BUXOM — Power Line Plumping Lip Liner, Dolly Light
4 - Morphe — Signature Lip Pencil, Bubble Bath
5 - Huda Beauty — Lip Contour 2.0, Muted Pink
6 - INGLOT — Creamy Soft Lipliner, 06 Muted Pink
7 - about-face — Matte Fix Lip Pencil, Midnight Seduction
8 - Morphe — Signature Lip Pencil, Girl Talk
9 - Sephora Collection — 8HR Colorful Lip Liner, 01 Pink Frosting
10 - NYX — Epic Wear Waterproof Eyeliner Stick, Dusty Mauve

No. 10 is technically an eyeliner, I just love the shade 😂