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The 6 Best Nude Lipstick Launches of 2018

The color's a classic, but these formulations are utterly modern.

By NewBeauty Editors · Published: Aug 9, 2018

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Call us crazy, but sometimes our favorite accessory is a nude lip. To us, it’s the perfect way to dress up (or down!) a look without having to put in too much effort, or worry about jarring, bleeding lip lines after lunch. The color’s a classic, but our favorite launches from this year prove that the formulations have gotten better than ever. Below, we’ve rounded up some of our fave neutral shades that will have us claiming, “I woke up like this.”

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1 / 6

Pat McGrath Labs MatteTrance Lipstick in Christy ($38)

We imagine that it took a team of mad scientists—perhaps even Pat McGrath herself—all dressed in white lab coats, huddling over bubbling beakers and various powders, working tirelessly for hours on end, to produce a test tube of lipstick so pigmented and soft, that users wouldn’t know if it were a beauty product or literal satin adorning their lips. In short, MattTrance lipstick offers it all: extreme comfort (like kissing a fluffy samoyed puppy) without compromising hue. Her new nude, called Christy (an homage to the supermodel), is soft but makes a powerful statement.

Instagram/@temptalia

2 / 6

Maybelline New York SuperStay Matte Ink Un-Nude Liquid Lipstick in Fighter ($10)

If you’re in the market for a liquid lipstick that smudges, budges or smears (oh my!), turn away now. If anything can survive an apocalypse, it’s Maybelline New York’s SuperStay liquid lipstick—a high-pigment, high-intensity formula (now in nudes that would make anyone blush). Our new fave neutral is Fighter, a ruddy brown so smooth, you won’t need a lipgloss chaser.

Instagram/@kymaglam

3 / 6

Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick in Lit Turmeric ($26)

It’s confession time: We’ve stopped visiting Bite Beauty’s website because every time it loads in our browser, we want to buy everything. It takes the most disciplined of customers to resist the affordable, yet high-quality products that come from the purveyor of perfect pouts. At the top of our shopping cart is Lit Turmeric from the new Spice It Up collection. It gives us the smooth, natural finish we want without any parabens, sulfates or phthalates (translation: what we don’t want).

Instagram/@blushandcoffee

4 / 6

Huda Beauty Demi Matte Cream Lipstick in SHEro ($20)

Marilyn Monroe once gave an interview where she claimed that the only thing she wore to bed was Chanel No. 5 perfume. We’re not convinced that she didn’t also wear Huda Beauty’s Demi Matte, simply because the color is so sheer and natural that no one would be the wiser. Boasting 15 neutral shades with incredible staying power, Huda is a girl’s best friend (and the easiest way to survive the longest of cocktail hours).

Instagram/@jeveriaa.cx

5 / 6

NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Floralies ($27)

If we had to draft a fantasy lipstick team, our first pick would be the NARS Satin Lip Pencil. The texture is incredibly silky, the pigment is vibrant and the nourishment is at an all-time high. And like a crayon for grown-ups, this lip pencil is both fun to use and comes in almost every color of the rainbow (right now we’re crushing on Floralies, an orange-nude that pairs well with warm undertones). Who said art class was only for children?

Instagram/@swellnsun

Photo Credits: Instagram/@swellnsun

6 / 6

Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Fuel 2.0 ($18)

We typically wouldn’t advise walking around town naked, but Urban Decay’s Vice Lipstick in its nude shades has us thinking otherwise. This formula glides on to lips for a barely there, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it color. We especially wouldn’t mind showing off a #nofilter look wearing this warm, peachy shade that perfectly pairs with a summer glow. Packed with aloe vera, jojoba oil and avocado, we need no more convincing that the best way to keep it hot (and moisturized) is by adding Fuel 2.0 to the flame.

Instagram/@naturallyerratic

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