If you know me, then you're aware I have the tendency to hesitate before hopping on a beauty trend and re-creating it with products. I usually wait until I see someone with a similar appearance (notably, individuals with deep skin tones) before I'm officially sold on the possibility of particular trends looking as good on me as they do on my fellow beauty lovers. The rising two-toned lip trend, however, instantly captured my attention and has inspired me to give it a try with the right guidance from a makeup artist.
Below, I'm sharing with you everything they told me about selecting the right products, tips, and tricks for flawless application of your lipsticks, lip glosses, and lip liners and the best way to land on a nude shade that the entire look can be built on. If you keep reading, you may even discover an expert's go-to lip combo, plus a few of my favorites.
Creating Vibrant and Even Two-Toned Lips
Unsure of which products will offer the best finish? We've got you covered. To give us guidance on how to create the perfect pout, we reached out to Alexandra McCormick, the director of global artistry development for Hourglass. "Two-toned lips are a makeup trend that involves wearing two different colors on the lips in a variety of different ways," McCormick tells us. This can include starting by lining the lips and then going in with a lipstick and gloss or wearing a barely there lip with a long-lasting lip tint combined with an oil in a similar shade.
When creating a makeup look that includes two-toned lips, McCormick favors using colors within the same shade family, with one being slightly darker than the other. For example, if she were to use the Hourglass Shape & Sculpt Lip Liner in Flaunt ($29), she could then also use the brand's Soft Matte Lipstick in Magnolia ($38). Her finishing touch is adding a touch of gloss at the center of the lip to help create the perfect pout. While two-toned lips look great on anyone bold enough to try them, I'm a bit biased in my belief that they look especially stunning on those of us with natural, melanin-tinted two-toned lips (also referred to as dual-toned lips), as the two-toned lip trend can be highly enhance what pigment already exists.
Creating a Flawless Two-Toned Lip Look
When creating a two-toned lip look, it can be helpful to pin down which neutral lipstick shade best complements your skin tone and the selection of colors you're planning on incorporating in the two-toned lip look. To help you land on the best neutral color, McCormick once again recommends pairing shades in the same shade family (like pinky nude lipstick with a pinky nude lip gloss on top). "If I use a more peach-toned nude liner, I'll make sure the lipstick or gloss is also in a peach tone," McCormick adds. "For darker nude lip, I like to use [a] terra-cotta or chestnut color liner, such as the Shape & Sculpt Lip Liner in Uncover or Candid, and then, again, stick to a lipstick or gloss within the same shade range."
Makeup pros like McCormick are more than happy to reveal the secrets behind how they create a two-toned lip that puts all others to shame. One of them is all about creating the illusion of a lip lift to give your two-toned lip a special touch. "Using Shape & Sculpt Liner, overline your lips slightly in the corner (think Cupid's bow and lower center), then follow the natural line of your lips in the outer lip area," she says. The best part is that it's incredibly easy to do in seconds.
McCormick's Favorite Two-Toned Lip Combination
After all this talk about building perfect two-toned lip looks, we had to ask which products are McCormick's go-tos. "My all-time favorite nude lip combo is [Hourglass's] Tempt Shape & Sculpt Lip Liner with Peony Unlocked Soft Matte Lipstick. I also love adding Phantom Volumizing Glossy Balm in Trace for a little extra shine," she tells us. It's truly as quick and easy as using these three products to re-create the viral makeup trend.
For a lip liner, McCormick opts for this mid-tone pinky beige shade of the Shape & Sculpt Lip Liner. The Hourglass lip liner can be used to define, shape, and sculpt lips, delivering all-day drama. Its formula also happens to feature jojoba oil, which nourishes the lips and allows the product to glide onto the lips without tugging or skipping.
Customer Review: "I always use lipliners as lipstick and love the natural shades. This lipliner in the 'Tempt 3' shade is a perfect color for everyday wear. It's creamy and sculpts lips for a soft matte color that lasts all day without smudging."
Have you been looking for a true beige color that looks great on light-to-medium skin tones? You'll want to give The Unlock Soft Matte Lipstick in Peony a try. While the warm beige shade is to die for, the lipstick's formula is also worth the praise since its infused with primer and lip-conditioning ingredients smooth the lips. It glides on with seamless application. (Plus, there's no feathering or bleeding.)
Customer Review: "The lipstick is perfection. It has a beautiful dry-down and color depth. Makes you look so cool. I’m a big time matte lipstick fan. This is one of the most comfortable formulas I have ever worn."
After McCormick has created the perfect two-toned nude base using a lip liner and lipstick, she likes to finish off her creation by using the Phantom Volumizing Glossy Balm in Trace: a versatile light brown shade that strikes the delicate balance between red and orange hues.
Customer Review: "I love this color so much. Its not super dark but you can put more on if you want it darker. Super soft, but its [also] really nourishing which is great for a forever dry lips girl like me."
The Products I Use for Two-Toned Lip Looks
1. The Classic Brick Red
The Anastasia Beverly Hills Lip Liner in Malt has been my go-to chocolate brown shade for years because it's a perfect match for the deeper melanin shades in my lips and helps even out the base I'll eventually be applying a lipstick over. Its smooth-gliding formula can always be trusted to deliver a long-lasting, matte finish.
Customer Review: "Love it! Stays on for longer than most other lipliners, and I like to over line my cupids bow for a rounded top lip and this is the only lipliner that is able to keep it covered."
Matte makeup looks have been on the rise, but I'll always be partial to a satiny lips that can be created with a glossy (not sticky) lip product like this one by Merit. This sheer, hydrating lipstick adds a flush of color to the lips with a formula infused with squalane, papaya fruit extract, raspberry oil, and more. My shade of choice is Tiger—a pretty brick red that goes with everything.
Customer Review: "Tiger is THE perfect date-night shade! I am not one to wear darker shades, but i wanted to go outside my comfort zone and it did not disappoint. The color is not intensely red, it's more burnt, which is why i like it so much! I wore it with a black dress and it was to die for!"
Because the aforementioned Merit Signature Lip Lightweight Lipstick is sheer, I like to play up the brick color by adding a couple swipes of this tinted lip oil by Summer Fridays in the shade Rosewood Nights. The color is the ideal shade of rosy brown for my skin tone that goes on quite sheer but can be built up thanks to a formula that delivers hydration but isn't sticky.
Customer Review: "My absolute favorite lip oil. Rosewood nights is the perfect shade for brown skin beauties that want a brown lip with slight mauve tint."
2. The Dark Cherry Duo
I've always loved how gorgeous poppy pink looks when paired with shades of dark cherry. Milk Makeup's Cooling Water Jelly Tint Lip + Cheek Blush Stain in Burst has been a favorite of mine since the product launched, and I've worn it nonstop. It's a long-lasting blush and lip stain that offers sheer, buildable texture with a burst of color while visibly firming, soothing, and hydrating the skin.
Customer Review: "The jelly cheek and lip tint was such a cooling product on the skin, it melted right on and left my skin dewy and glowy, which I loved due to the fact that I have super dry skin. The color is beautiful both on the cheeks and lips and will definitely become one of my holy grail products!"
I've been searching high and low for the perfect rich, cherry-colored lip oil to pair with the poppy pink blushes I always gravitate toward, so by the time I discovered Typology's Tinted Lip Oil in Black Cherry, I was overdue for some brilliant two-toned lip looks. It's truly the ideal lip color enriched with squalane, jojoba oil, and vitamin E for a glossy, non-sticky finish.
Customer Review: "I'm more than a fan of this tinted lip oil. The color suits me perfectly. It doesn't dry out. Practical to apply on the lips. I use it every day."
3. The Moody Mauve
I love wearing a plum brown liner that can work well with pink-, red-, and purple-toned lipsticks and lip glosses. Saie's Lip Liner 101 Creamy & Nourishing Lip Pencil has one of my favorite colors (Tease) and a blendable, foolproof formula that uses hydrating meadowfoam oil, moisturizing jojoba oil, and vitamin E–rich shea butter.
Customer Review: "These lip liners are actually so good. They are quite creamy but not too creamy either which is perfect. They last really long too. The shade Tease especially is so pretty. I have been doing a lot of my lip combos with these lately."
Every now and then, I do opt for a blurring matte lipstick for smooth and flawless-looking base before I add gloss on top. This refillable Prada Beauty soft matte lipstick delivers buildable coverage, a lightweight feel, and long-lasting finish with up to six hours of wear. While jojoba oil works to hydrate the lips, bifidus extract helps strengthen the lip barrier. The shade Tonka is the dreamiest soft, mauve brown.
Customer Review: "This lip color is so beautiful and glides directly onto my lips, and stays without smudging all day! I would recommend this product to people of any skin type. With a range of beautiful colors you really cannot go wrong!"
While this particular look's mauve lip liner and diffused matte lipstick are similar shades, Kulfi's Lassi Lips Staining Lip Oil in Tamarind creates the dual-toned look I'm obsessed with. The color is a medium mauve brown with a hunt of pink and has a formula featuring skin-loving ingredients like mango seed oil, coconut oil, and vitamin E to moisturize, sooth, and deliver antioxidants to the skin barrier.
Customer Review: "The lip oil glides on smoothly, providing an instant boost of hydration. It feels lightweight and non-greasy, which is a major plus for an oil-based product. The applicator ensures an even distribution of the product, making it easy to achieve a flawless look with minimal effort."
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