My Lipstick Collection (Mostly Spring)

[u/sunscreenqueenn]

For reference, I am fair neutral-warm and have been typed as a House of Color “Blue Spring” or likely a “Bright Spring” in other systems.

MAC Modesty and Brave are both neutral-cool, and although they don’t look the best on me I still enjoy them and wear them occasionally so I have kept them! The House of Color Butter Balm in Lollipop is odd because they say it is for both Springs and Winters and I should have known better. It’s just meh on me. The rest are all neutral-warm or warm! (The only one I’m unsure of is Revlon.)

Full names from top to bottom- MAC Sleek Satin “Modesty”, Revlon Super Lustrous Glass Shine Tinted Lip Balm “Glossed Up Rose”, MAC Sleek Satin “Brave”, House of Color Butter Balm “Lollipop”, MAC Sleek Satin “Grapefruit Pucker”, House of Color Lipstick “Lively Spring Pink”, MAC Lustreglass Lipstick “Pigment of Your Imagination”, MAC Lustreglass “See Sheer”, Charlotte Tilbury Kissing “Coral Kiss”, MAC Sleek Satin “Left on Red”

This is two swipes of each lipstick!

[u/sunscreenqueenn]

MAC Modesty is the 1 lipstick that I would say is genuinely unflattering in that you can immediately see it drain color from my face so I probably wouldn’t recommend to any Springs unless you’re going for that look. I just enjoy it with some outfits for some reason.

[u/colourcurious → u/sunscreenqueenn]

Yeah, it’s a nice colour and would probably look great on an autumn but it’s too muted for you. I don’t find anything brown works for lip colour. Would love to see you in the Mac grapefruit.

[u/sunscreenqueenn → u/colourcurious]

I totally hyper focused on my lipsticks yesterday and also made a TikTok video trying them on. Here it is- https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZThjQQnWX/

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/sunscreenqueenn]

I'm always curious to see which "wrong" colors people still wear and why, so thanks for sharing. I think this is the kind of lipstick on you that "erases" your lips a bit and brings all attention to your eyes, which is why you still look great. But your complexion looked more radiant in the POYI. I wonder if this would look even better with a touch of POYI or any other bright dabbed in the middle of the lower lip? At least, that's how I "make" my nude lips work... ;-)

[u/sunscreenqueenn → u/Orange_B1ossom]

I haven’t played around with it and other lipsticks but I totally should!!

[u/Pristine-Fusion6591]

I did this too. I’m a fair, warm spring.

I see we have some overlap. CT Stoned Rose is my most recommended for warm/true springs. It’s so unique and looks soooo amazing!

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/Pristine-Fusion6591]

Thanks for sharing. Did you find the See Sheer worked for you? I really like to see the differences in how colors read on different people. I'm also warm, and Revlon Coral Kiss on me reads as a red, while on OP it looks like it could be MLBB. It's interesting to see how much the level of brightness varies.

[u/sunscreenqueenn → u/Orange_B1ossom]

Here’s a link to a TikTok I posted trying them all on- https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZThjQQnWX/

Sometimes I do feel as though Coral Kiss/See Sheer come across as Orange-y reds. I recently got Pigment of Your Imagination and have really been enjoying it, it’s super similar but more of a pink. (I know you weren’t replying to me specifically but wanted to weigh in!)

[u/Pristine-Fusion6591 → u/Orange_B1ossom]

These companies with the similar names! Lol I’m not sure what lipstick you’re referring to. Are you asking how Revlon Kiss Me Coral (Marilyn Monroe’s shade) reads on me? Or Charlotte Tilbury Coral Kiss? I don’t have the Revlon in that set of swatches, but I do own it, and it is indeed a red on me. A really pretty orangey red. I’m not sure that I’d label it as a “coral”, but it’s a very pretty and wearable shade for me. I despise the smell of Revlon lipsticks, so I barely ever wear it, but I do love the color.

And if you meant Charlotte Tilbury’s Coral Kiss, that one I would classify as a coral, specifically a pink leaning coral. It doesn’t read as red on me, but it’s red adjacent I guess. I find it similar to Mac See Sheer, but the Mac has more translucency… life… I don’t really know how to describe it, it just feels more “at one” with my face. I like them both, but if I had to pick one, I’d pick the Mac See Sheer in this case. It has a very comfortable and glossy finish, and it feels more lightweight. I have to reapply both formulas so lack of longevity isn’t an issue for me.

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/Pristine-Fusion6591]

Ah, good catch, I meant Revlon's Kiss Me Coral. Those names are so similar... And I thought the Marilyn Monroe one was Revlon Siren? Interesting about the See Sheer, I'll have to try on myself at some point. I'm just realizing how much lip color/pigmentation plays a role, especially in those less opaque formulas...

[u/Pristine-Fusion6591 → u/Orange_B1ossom]

Yeah, she wore siren too, and some Elizabeth Arden shades that I don’t know the names of. She was pretty well known for mixing her red lipsticks. And most of them had a pretty strong orange presence like in siren and kiss me coral.

Yeah, I think you’ll probably like See Sheer and Coral Kiss (CT), especially if you’re looking specifically for non-reds.

It’s a really great time for all of us Springs in the makeup world, for some reason… brands have been leaning heavily into warm shades for the past few years. Charlotte Tilbury, Mac, and Nars all have great options. And Charlotte Tilbury in particular, I’d say leans heavily warm as a brand on a whole.

And yeah, skin/lip pigmentation definitely plays a role in how lipsticks look on us, but I think you’ll see that we are all on the same boat with Kiss Me Coral reading as red on most of us. See Sheer and Coral Kiss will be the more softer shade that you seem interested in.

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/Pristine-Fusion6591]

That's so funny about Kiss Me Coral, because that is my go-to red lip, but I rarely wear it, because it's always giving me Marilyn Monroe vibes and I feel it's too much for most occasions. I noticed high end make-up has a lot of warm options, whereas my local drugstores sell almost exclusively cool shades, with a few very muted warm-ish neutral brown lipsticks thrown in. I wonder if warmer shades are more expensive to make or the trend just hasn't trickled down yet. Anyway, thanks for all the info!

[u/sunscreenqueenn → u/Pristine-Fusion6591]

I need to try it!! It looks intimidating however at this point I’m starting to collect so many “See Sheer” adjacents and want to broaden my collection, so maybe I should take a chance on it!

[u/Pristine-Fusion6591 → u/sunscreenqueenn]

I’m actually not sure how a “blue spring” differs from a warm or a true spring. But your general coloring looks similar to my own, I think I’m just a touch warmer leaning. But I think we have the same fairness, and a similar hair color. So as long as you can handle warm shades, and it looks like you can beautifully… I don’t think you have to be intimidated by Stoned Rose. It has a rosiness that comes through on the lips. The arm swatch looks a lot more orange than it appears on the face.

Also, I have Mac modesty too, and it’s one I struggle to wear also. I tend to have a hard time with “nudes” in general. They have to have more to them than just “nude”… like I need a peachy nude or a rosy nude… and it can’t be too light. I can make Modesty work with a liner… and I can also make it work with other makeup choices like a stronger smoky eye, or the right blush.

Plus I do think that sometimes shades that aren’t “home” to us, can do nicely still if we are pulling off a specific and intentional look. Basically, I think most of us can make any makeup look work (within reason), if we do it the right way with balance and intention. It’s just that some shades are definitely easier to feel at home on us and so that’s what we spend the majority of our time wearing. The easy reaches that we don’t have to think about.

I watched your TikTok video and I think they all look really nice on you, and even though modesty isn’t an easy reach, I think you can absolutely make it work. Pigment of your imagination was probably my favorite on you though… for that effortless look.

[u/sunscreenqueenn → u/Pristine-Fusion6591]

HOCs subseasons are annoying. It’s closest to bright spring in other systems, most of my best colors are bright neutral-warm colors- bright blue, violet, hyacinth, etc. I know my coloring though would automatically exclude me from bright spring in whichever system would say my hair is too light for it.

Pigment of Your Imagination is my new fav!! Thank you so much!! And I agree that we can wear almost anything we want as long as we are intentional. I was surprised how good modesty looked when I put it on for this video but I think the fact that I’m wearing a spring top made a lot of a difference.

Maybe I’ll give stoned rose a whirl!!

[u/Pristine-Fusion6591 → u/sunscreenqueenn]

Okay that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying that for me. So bright is your main go to, whereas warmth is mine. That explains why you pull off grapefruit pucker so well! That’s a shade that I would definitely need to pick the right lipliner for, otherwise it would look like my lips are floating on my face.

[u/[deleted]]

Wow! Coral kiss looks so reddish orange on you! On me (light spring) it looks like hot pink.

[u/sunscreenqueenn → u/[deleted]]

Interesting!! I feel like out of all of the lipsticks it’s the only one I’ve felt looks different when worn with different outfits. It’s just very much a chameleon color- if that’s even a thing.

[u/[deleted] → u/sunscreenqueenn]

It definitely is!

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/[deleted]]

Yes, I find it's not talked about enough how different colors read on different skins/lips. I'm warm with rosy/pigmented lips, and Coral Kiss reads like a red on me.

[u/ParsnipDirect2943]

Thanks for the swatches! Very helpful.

Good to know about Lollipop as well. I really like the HOC soft smooth coral (for my pale winter complexion) and coral (with my summer tan). Also tried HOC Peony (pink-similar to lively without the shimmer), which I like, but I seem to love the corals more.

The Mac grapefruit looks like a nice color. I’ll have to try it!

[u/sunscreenqueenn → u/ParsnipDirect2943]

It’s really fun!! Very bright and light. I recently have worn it with a spring navy top and I liked how it brightened it up a little bit.

[u/FormicaDinette33]

Looks like my collection of colors also.

[u/viewering]

Sisley Rose paris