Spa+Clinic Team Millennial Pink, as rocked by Kim Kardashian above, is the world’s most popular lipstick shade. According to new statistics from popular virtual makeup testing app YouCam Makeup, the universally flattering nude colour sees more than 23.5 million “try-ons” a day.
Other data showed that in the US and UK more than 50 percent of lip colour try-ons were shades of pink, and that China tried the most diverse lip trends.
YouCam, if you’re unfamiliar, is a top-rated free smartphone app that uses facial recognition software to give users “true-to-life virtual makeovers” in photos and in real time. The hundreds of free looks and virtual products in its archives are a bit like a high-tech, customisable smart makeup kit.
The makeup pre-sets can be used to spice up selfies or with the app’s live “Makeup Cam,” which allows users to see the looks on themselves in real-time, like looking in a mirror. It’s like test-driving makeup without battling for mirror room at Sephora.
The app also has user-submitted reviews of popular beauty products.
According to Alice Chang, the CEO of YouCam’s parent company, Perfect Corp., the goal is to inspire YouCam users “to try bold new styles firsthand, and feel more empowered” experimenting with makeup.
Last year, the NPD Group – one of the largest market research companies in the world that monitors consumer purchase data from over 165,000 stores – reported that sales of pink surpassed red as the best-selling lipstick colour.
When M.A.C Cosmetics got 10 beauty influencers to create a dream lipstick shade of their choosing, no one gravitated toward creating a green, orange or blueberry shade. Instead, all but one chose a variation of pink.
Kylie Jenner, the person single-handedly responsible for a surge in lip-injection Google searches, also made the first shade of her burgeoning cosmetics empire, Candy K, a warm nude pink.
“Pink is the more spirited, less serious colour to red,” says Troy Surratt, makeup artist and founder of Surratt Beauty, explaining pink lipstick’s popularity.
“There’s a playfulness, flirtation, and girlishness to pink that makes it fun, accessible, and less intimidating.”
Surratt explains that pink is also the largest colour category in lipstick: “It can include everything from bright neon pinks into magentas and roses and nude pinks, and then all the pastels.”
This means you have a greater likelihood of finding many, many pink shades that suit your skin tone – and they don’t have to be millennial in hue.
Here’s how to find the best shade of pink lipstick that suits yours, or your client’s skin tone.
- First, determine whether you/they are more warm- or cool-toned. Cool-toned people are generally those who are fairer, whose veins appear blue under their skin. Warmer-toned people’s veins appear more greenish blue. The same rule of thumb for picking red lipstick applies to pinks, in that blue-toned pinks tend to look better against cool tones, while warmer shades can go into orange pinks all the way into coral.
- But there are really no “rules” anymore and you can make everything your own. Look at Lupita Nyong’o who illustrates this with her gameness for all lipstick shades. Her deep skin tone acts as a “neutral,” so it creates a beautiful contrast with any bold lip colors and pink, from magenta to fuchsia. The colour looks equally gorgeous on pale-skinned Jessica Biel (top left).
- If you do this, choose a formula with a great payoff and opacity so that is has more of an impact, Surratt advises.
