Lipstick Comparisons: Pinks (everyday beauty)

Long promised (and long overdue) to the True Summer Sisterhood Facebook group, I present the pink lipstick swatchfest. Pink might seem like an odd color to feature this time of year, but it should not matter. Some of us do not wear autumnal shades well, and as long as the color harmonizes with skin tone, the color cannot be wrong, no matter how warm or cold it is outside, because it looks like YOU—only better.

But if pink seems too springlike, you could choose your version of plum or berry or red or rose.

This will be a pictorial review, not a product review. If I've already featured a lipstick mentioned in this post, I'll include a link to it. Most of those posts will have their own swatches and comparisons.

TOP ROW, left to right:

YSL Rouge Volupté Spicy Pink 20
MAC Matte Lipstick, Please Me
Revlon Revlon® Just Bitten Kissable™ Balm Stain, Honey
MAC Matte Lipstick, Pink Plaid
Maybelline SuperStay 14HR Lipstick, Perpetual Peony
MAC Matte Lipstick, Snob
Revlon Matte Lipstick, Pink Pout 002
Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter, Berry Smoothie 050
Maybelline ColorSensational Lip Color, Pink Wink 105

BOTTOM ROW, left to right:

Revlon Matte Lipstick Sky Pink 012
Chanel Boy Rouge Coco Shine, Boy 54
Chanel Boy Rouge Coco Shine, Fétiche 52
Chantecaille Super Sheer Lipstick, Venus
Estée Lauder Signature Lipstick, Chelsea Rose 51
MAC Lustre Lipstick, Syrup
MAC Lustre Lipstick, Lovelorn
Bobbi Brown Sheer Lip Color, Cherry Pink

Two swatches that did not make the above group photo will be compared at the bottom of this post:

Dior Addict Lipstick, Millie 680
MAC Lustre Lipstick, Sweetie

If you're wondering why so few of the above colors have their own post, it's probably because I didn't like them enough to give them that much space. Elea Blake's Dreamy should have made the list, but you can see it here. Perhaps later I can update this post to include some of my newer additions: Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Rendez-Vous (posted on Facebook here), Trish McEvoy Sheer Lip Color, Vibrant Pink, and a couple more from tarte.

All three Summer palettes
As in the recent past, I will include comparisons to the three SciART-based, 12-Tone Summer palettes. I often find that more important than seeing a good match is seeing a bad one because it helps me unlearn misinformed habits.

After I'd arranged all the swatches and assembled the fans, I was surprised by the number of pink lipsticks that harmonized with the Soft Summer (SSu) palette, shown above.

The same lipsticks did not fare so well with the Light Summer (LSu) fan, a palette that is brighter and more clear than the muted tones of Soft Summer (above).

Though not perfect against the purely-cool hues of the True/Cool Summer (TSu) palette, there were a couple keepers.What I see against the TSu fan is too much brown (I don't see how they can call that YSL lipstick at top left pink). Even more unfortunate for the uncompromising True palette, the brown I see leans orange. Finally, how unfair is it that both SSu and LSu get THREE pink/rose/red strips and True Summer gets only two.

In any case, it is fascinating how a color I think I see looks completely different in context with other colors.

Soft Summer

I'll start by comparing the pink lipstick swatches to the SSu fan deck, since those colors seem to harmonize best.

MAC's Please Me and Bobbi Brown's Cherry Pink are the the biggest outliers in the above SSu comparison, with the former being too orange and the latter too blue.

Revlon's Sky Pink might be too warm for Soft Summer ... though, as always, existing lip pigment can vastly change the way a lipstick appears. For example, in Facebook's True Summer group, the litmus test lipstick for a TSu color, MAC Plumful, was perfect for some and barely showed up on others.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Boy is described as a blue pink, but it doesn't have enough blue for me. It looks perfect next to the Soft Summer 5.1 chip. Fétiche might be a tiny bit too cool for SSus; it's a shade I wear when I want a no-makeup look.

Chantecaille Venus, Estée Lauder Chelsea Rose

MAC Syrup above center, which is often another recommended color for True Summer, is too muted for me. It's a sheer, slightly shimmering, cloudy pink. Ideal for Soft Summers, who do so well enrobed in shadowy mist.

Estée Lauder Chelsea Rose is another soft lipstick, possibly good for Soft Summers, though perhaps too cool. You'd have to try it on to be sure.

MAC Syrup against the ss 5.1 chip. Not too bad.

MAC Lovelorn might be too cool for Soft Summers, but it wasn't cool enough for my True Summer self.

Above are some of my warmest pinks: MAC Please Me, Revlon JustBitten Honey, and MAC Pink Plaid. You could color right over that ss 4.3 chip with Honey. What a great match.

MAC Pink Plaid was a surprise. It looks so cool in the tube, but look at it compared to the 5.5 brick pink of the SSu palette above. It's a bricky (browned) pink to be sure.

The matte MAC Snob looks like a great color for Soft Summers.

Maybelline Perpetual Peony, MAC Snob, Revlon Pink Pout ... all good

Light Summer

And now let's have a look at the lipsticks compared to the Light Summer palette. These will not be as good, but we have to try for our sunny sisters.

No great matches here; the LSu palette is far less muted than SSu

Not so much

MAC Syrup and Lovelorn

MAC Lovelorn

Chanel Boy and Fétiche, Chantecaille Venus, EL Chelsea Rose

Revlon Sky Pink, Chanel Boy and Fétiche, Chantecaille Venus

Revlon Sky Pink sl 5.1 ... OK, but ...

Revlon Sky Pink sl 6.2 ... better?

Revlon Berry Smoothie and Maybelline Pink Wink—the best of the bunch

True Summer

Now for the True Summer comparisons.

Chanel Boy and Fétiche, Chantecaille Venus, Estée Lauder Chelsea Rose
Above (and on me) Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Fétiche (second from left) is a good match. Chantecaille Super Sheer Lipstick in Venus looks like it should be good match, but for a "super sheer" product, it has a white base, so it doesn't work as well against my True Summer skin as it might on a Soft Summer, but your mileage may vary. My existing lip pigment is moderately dark and somewhat blue.

Chantecaille Venus ... decidedly not sheer on me

MAC Syrup
MAC Syrup looks pretty good compared to the sc 2.7 chip, but it's too muted for my lips and coloring.

Bobbi Brown Cherry Pink
I like Bobbi Brown's Cherry Pink, but it contains a whisper of warmth (as do 99.5% of BB products), so I'd almost push this into the coral category. On me. What looks cool on most people isn't always the case on those of us with cold skin tones, where any warmth whatsoever is broadcast in a most unflattering way. This item is also NOT a sheer lipstick, quite vibrant, in fact, so it might move out of Summer altogether into Winter territory.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Fétiche ♥
Millie and Sweetie below.

The above two swatches did not make it into the group photo. The horror, because they are so lovely. They are (left to right) Dior Lip Addict Millie 680 and MAC Lustre Sweetie.

Quite harmonious against the TSu palette

Compared to Soft Summer

And Light Summer (perhaps too blue, though Millie might be OK per sl 7.3)

Sweetie and Millie find a happier home in the True Summer palette.

Though I prefer the Lip Addict formula and packaging, Mille is warmer than MAC Sweetie. In truth neither shows up on my lips much at all, but aren't they pretty? They'd be a good option for the pale lipped, low-contrasting faces among you.

Perhaps there is too much blue in the lipsticks to blend with the SSu pinks

MAC Sweetie—too cool? Apparently no cool could ever be too cool

Dior Millie—slightly warmer than Sweetie
I hope you enjoyed this post. For other groups of lipstick swatches see the following:

Still to do: Roses and "brights."
All photos taken by me