Lipstick swatch board
Pick up to eight lipstick shades and see them side by side on ten skin tones, from very light to very deep, as arm swatches or on lips. Then save the board as an image.
Shades
Tap a shade to add or remove it, or add your own color.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Swatch board
Screen colors only. Real lipstick looks different on lips and in person, and every screen shows color a little differently.
How each shade reads
- 1. Rosy nude (#B97C78, satin): strong contrast on MST 1–3; clear contrast on MST 4–5; blends in on MST 6; lighter than skin on MST 7–10.
- 2. Coral (#E0614F, gloss): strong contrast on MST 1–3; clear contrast on MST 4–5, 10; soft definition on MST 6–9.
- 3. True red (#BE2232, matte): strong contrast on MST 1–5, 9–10; clear contrast on MST 6, 8; soft definition on MST 7.
- 4. Berry (#8B1E4A, satin): strong contrast on MST 1–5; clear contrast on MST 6, 9–10; soft definition on MST 7–8.
- 5. Terracotta (#B8603F, satin): strong contrast on MST 1–4, 9–10; clear contrast on MST 5, 8; soft definition on MST 6–7.
- 6. Plum (#5E2340, matte): strong contrast on MST 1–6; clear contrast on MST 7; soft definition on MST 8–9; lighter than skin on MST 10.
How to use the board
Six shades are already on the board. Tap shades in the library to add or remove them (up to eight), or press Add a custom shade and type a hex code, for example from a shade you own. Each shade has a name, a color and a finish:
- Matte and satin cover almost completely; satin adds a soft sheen.
- Gloss is shiny and lets some skin show through.
- Sheer works like a tint: the skin underneath shows through a lot, so the same sheer pink looks quite different on each tone.
- Metallic adds a foil-like sheen.
The ten skin tones are the Monk Skin Tone Scale, from 1 (lightest) to 10 (deepest). Switch tones off to focus on the ones you care about, and switch between arm swatches and lips.
Under the board, How each shade reads describes each shade against each tone: blends in (close to the skin, the “your lips but better” zone), soft definition, clear contrast or strong contrast, and lighter than skin for muted nudes that come out paler than the skin and can look chalky. The bands come from the difference between swatch and skin color in the OKLab color space; the cut-offs are our own rough guide, not a standard.
Example: the sample “Rosy nude” gives strong contrast on MST 1–3, blends in on MST 6 and is lighter than skin on MST 7–10, so as a nude it suits the middle of the scale best.
Sources
- Google and Dr. Ellis Monk, Monk Skin Tone Scale: the ten skin tone colors, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
- Björn Ottosson, A perceptual color space for image processing (2020): the OKLab color space used to compare swatch and skin colors.
Questions
Why does a lipstick look different on me than in the tube?
Your own lip color and skin show through to some degree, especially with gloss and sheer formulas, and lighting changes everything. That is why the board shows each shade on several skin tones rather than as a flat chip.
How do I find a nude lipstick for my skin tone?
Look for shades that “blend in” or give “soft definition” on your tone. Shades marked “lighter than skin” are paler than the skin around the lips and can look chalky; one or two steps deeper usually looks more natural.
Why these ten skin tones?
They are the Monk Skin Tone Scale, a ten-tone scale developed by sociologist Dr. Ellis Monk with Google to represent a broad range of skin tones and released under an open licence. It describes how light or deep skin is; undertones vary within each tone.
Can I add a lipstick I already own?
Yes. Press “Add a custom shade”, name it and enter its color as a hex code, then choose the closest finish. A hex code taken from a photo of a swatch is only approximate, so compare it with the real product.
Is my board saved?
Your shades and settings are kept in this browser’s local storage so they are still here next time; nothing is uploaded. Reset clears them and goes back to the sample board, and Download PNG saves a copy you can keep.