Fifty Shades of Nude: Swatching my Lipstick Collection

I've been wanting to continue my makeup collection series for a while, but the thought of swatching all my lipsticks is very daunting. Plus, how boring would it be to describe nude after nude? I have some reds and pinks, but for the most part I have a variety of neutral shades. This has really put into perspective how ridiculously large my lipstick collection is, considering these are only the nudes. I didn't think I had this many altogether, let alone just the everyday shades! I'll be swatching and comparing these to others of similar price points and formulas.

Also, I feel like I should mention that I didn't buy all of these. A lot are samples, presents, or Ipsy offerings. So with that, let's get into swatches!

My drugstore collection includes some of my favorite formulas and shades! Sultry Sienna is the perfect brown-toned nude, while the Lippie Stix in Aquarius is a beautiful cool-toned one. I obviously really like the Nyx Butter lipsticks and the Rimmel x Kate Moss line, too. There aren't any here that I really dislike. The only one I don't like to wear often is L'Oreal's Nude Star--the smell of L'Oreal lip products gets to me. If I were to expand my drugstore lip range, I think I would start with Elf, Nyx, or Colourpop!

Drugstore:

Aquarius, Lumiere, Sultry Sienna, Nude Star, Stripped Down, Almond Rose, Snowcap

Colourpop Lippie Stix in Aquarius and Lumiere

Covergirl Sultry Sienna (Not CF)

L'Oreal Infallible Lip Paint in Nude Star (Not CF)

Maybelline Color Jolt in Stripped Down (Not CF)

Maybelline Matte lipstick in Almond Rose (Not CF)

Root Beer Float, Thalia, 45, 47, Rock n Roll Nude

Nyx Butter Lipstick in Snowcap and Root Beer Float

Nyx Extra Creamy lipstick in Thalia

Rimmel x Kate Moss nude lipstick in 45 and 47 (Not CF)

Rimmel x Kate Moss 10 year Anniversary lipstick in Rock n Roll Nude (Not CF)

My higher-end lipsticks are my babies. At the moment I think my favorite shade is Pillowtalk, but I'm also a huge fan of Blankety, Tonkin, and Honey Love. Park Ave Princess is the perfect lipstick to throw on when I'm in a hurry, and Bite lipsticks smell and feel so good on the lips! I definitely want to expand my Bite collection and my Charlotte Tilbury collection, so if you have any recommendations I would love to hear them! I really wanted to get more NARS lipsticks and try out their Audacious line, but unfortunately they decided to expand to countries that require animal testing. Also on second though, Hitchhike might have been better suited for a red lipstick collection, but I usually sheer it out and wear it as a nude!

High End:

Pepper, Pillowtalk, Baby Baby, Bamboo Pink, Blankety, Hue, Viva Glam II

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme lipstick in Pepper

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipstick in Pillowtalk 

Clinique Butter Shine lipstick in Baby, Baby (Not CF)

Clinique Long Last lipstick in Bamboo Pink (Not CF)

MAC Amplified lipstick in Blankety (Not CF)

MAC Glaze lipstick in Hue (Not CF)

MAC Satin lipstick in Viva Glam II (Not CF)

Velvet Teddy, Honey Love, Tonkin, Walkyrie, Park Ave Princess, Salt Lyfe, Nude, Hitchhike

MAC Matte lipstick in Velvet Teddy and Honey Love (Not CF)

NARS Pure Matte lipstick in Tonkin (No longer CF)

NARS Velvet Matte lip pencil in Walkyrie (No longer CF)

Tarte Amazonian Butter lipstick in Park Ave Princess

Tarte lipstick in Salt Lyfe

Tarte lip balm in Nude

Urban Decay Vice Comfort Matte in Hitchhike

I think the whole world went crazy for liquid lipsticks when they first got on the market--a super matte, long lasting product that applies like a lip gloss? I bought quite a few before stopping to realize that I don't like drying products on my lips. Nevertheless, there are some formulas that I actually like. The Colourpop Ultra Satin lips are amazing, I love K Bye, and two out of three of my Tarteist lip paints are really comfortable.

Liquid Lipsticks:

Times Square, Magic Wand, Aquarius, Calypso, Stone, Ophelia, Rose, Namaste, Birthday Suit, K Bye, Give Me Mocha

Colourpop Ultra Matte in Times Square

Colourpop Ultra Satin lip in Magic Wand, Aquarius, and Calypso

Dose of Colors in Stone

Kat von D Everlasting in Ophelia

Tarte Tarteist lip paint in Rose, Namaste, and Birthday Suit

Trust Fund Beauty in K, Bye

Wet n Wild Liquid Catsuit in Give Me Mocha

This summer I've really started to get into lip glosses, especially pigmented ones. They feel so comfortable and look pretty, especially considering I'm usually wearing a matte lip. At the moment I'm loving the Colourpop Ultra Glossy lips, especially in Aquarius (you may be able to tell by now that I am an Aquarius), and I wish I had the Anastasia gloss in a more wearable shade because I love the formula.

Sepia, White Russian, Aquarius, Fairy Floss, Luxe

Lip Gloss:

Anastasia Sepia Lip Gloss

Buxom Full-on Lip Cream in White Russian

Colourpop Ultra Glossy lip in Aquarius and Fairy Floss

*Younique Lucrative Lip Gloss in Luxe


Well, my arms are now sore, but I have found some products in my collection that I can get rid of so this was a worthwhile post after all! I would love to hear what your favorite nude lipsticks, lip glosses, and liquid lipsticks are.

Xx Katie

An * denotes a product I was sent for free in exchange for an honest review.

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