All the NYX Matte Lipstick Swatches on Dark Skin

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an expansive collection of mattes all at one time like this before! NYX Cosmetics sent over the entire lineup of their Matte Lipstick range and seriously, SO MANY MATTES. ALL THE MATTES.

But then after I went through each shade I realized that not every shade needs to be a matte—at least not for me. I love a good matte but I’m mostly the deeper shade of matte kind of girl—reds, berries, deep pinks, magentas, eggplants, etc. Lighter mattes? Not so much. And you’ll see why when you see the swatches of the lighter shades on my lips…lol. But for my lighter complected beauties, there’s a ton of pretty lighter shades for you in this collection :)

So I took these back to back so you’ll see where the skin around my lips were a little stained from the previous shades. Also this time of year is ROUGH with daylight savings time being gone. If I don’t start swatching at a certain time, I’m doomed because I start to lose light around 4 and the sun starts to set like around 4:30 and by 5 it’s completely dark out.

In terms of wear, because these are matte they’re going to last longer than your typical non-matte lipstick and of course the brighter and deeper colors will last longer than the lighter ones. I’d say on average you can expect at least 5 hours of wear. I like that these aren’t drying—they actually feel comfy on the lips.

The lighter shades though? It’s like they refused to glide on my lips and because they’re so light in color they highlighted every line on my lips. Because I was taking these lipstick swatches one after another and using a makeup wipe to take off the previous color, it was hard for the lighter shades to adhere to the inner part of my lips like the deeper colors would. You can see that in the swatches and if you’re anywhere near my skin tone, I DO NOT recommend any of these shades. You could add a lip pencil and a gloss to make them more wearable, but why? I didn’t wear lip pencils on any of these (I never do with swatches) but you’ll totally need one if you decide to wear these anyway as they don’t apply neatly. Of course your application won’t look like mine because I was taking these back to back and trying to get them in while I still had daylight.

And here we go with NYX Matte Lipstick swatches on dark skin…

MLS01 Nude

A peachy baby pink

Not a fave of mine but a universal enough shade that it can be a “nude” color on most skin tones. Note it’s not a “true” nude on all skin tones but it works as a neutral for many shades.

MLS02 Shocking Pink

A bright magenta pink

This is one of those shades that will work on most skin tones.

MLS03 Hippie Chic

A peachy coral

This is one of the lighter nudes I was referring to in the beginning of the post that does NOT work for me at all…lol. This is best on any skin tone lighter than tan. You can make it work on darker skin with liners and gloss.

MLS04 Pale Pink

A baby pink

This is one of the lighter nudes I was referring to in the beginning of the post that does NOT work for me at all…lol. This is best on any skin tone lighter than tan. You can make it work on darker skin with liners and gloss.

MLS05 Indie Flick

A tangerine orange

Another shade that works on most skin tones.

MLS06 Summer Breeze

A Barbie pink

I’m not a fan of pinks like this on me, but if you are this can work on most skin tones.

MLS07 Alabama

A deep brownish red

Another shade that works on most skin tones.

MLS08 Pure Red

A tomato red

Another shade that works on most skin tones.

MLS09 Natural

A rosy pink

I like this shade—on lighter skin tones it’ll be similar to that Kylie Jenner lip everyone is going crazy over and on deeper skin it’s a pretty soft pink.

MLS10 Perfect Red

A slightly blue red

Another shade that works on most skin tones

MLS11 Tea Rose

A mauvey rosy pink

This shade can get a little iffy on some skin tones but if you use a slightly deeper liner (this one I condone using a liner with…lol) then it’ll work.

MLS12 Sierra

A rose pink

Corals can be hard to pull off sometimes, but this one is universal enough to work on most skin tones.

MLS13 Angel

A medium rosy pink

This is a pretty mid tone pink that works on most skin tones.

MLS14 Maison

A chocolate pinky brown (from my brown lipstick post)

MLS15 Whipped Caviar

A mauvey pink

This one can get a little iffy on deeper skin tones, but if you like lighter mattes this is one that I feel is more flattering on dark skin. On lighter skin tones this can be either a deeper pink or a nude depending of course on your skin tone and coloring.

MLS16 Merlot

A pinky red

This is one of those shades that will work on most skin tones.

MLS17 Sweet Pink

A bright bluish pink

This can work on most skin tones, but it does pull very cool so it may not flatter those with warmer undertones as much.

MLS18 Bloody Mary

A deep pinky red

One of my faves and a shade that will work on most skin tones.

MLS19 Euro Trash

A pinky brown

I know around my lips look crazy here (it’s because I was swatching these back to back and by this time my lips were starting to get irritated so I didn’t want to rub too hard around my lips), but this is also one of my faves. It’s a pretty pinky brown nude on darker skin tones like mine and a “deep nude” or lighter brown on lighter skin.

MLS20 Audrey

A soft medium pink

This can get a little iffy on darker skin tones, but is pretty for lighter skin tones.

MLS21 Butter

A light taupe

This is not a fave of mine—it can look a little sickly on (like how I felt with Viva Glam Rihanna II) unless you play it up with a liner and gloss. Lighter skin tones can pull it off on its own.

MLS22 Strawberry Daiquiri

A coral

Pretty coral color that works on most skin tones.

MLS23 Forbidden

A light peachy beige

There is a reason this color is called Forbidden…lol. It was hard to glide on my lips as you can see. I feel like a color like this can look off even on the fairest skin tones. You kinda have to want to go for that type of look with this lipstick and I really hope you don’t…lol.

MLS24 Street Cred

A bright pinky coral

Pretty color that can work on most skin tones but it does pull warm so it may not flatter those with cooler undertones.

MLS25 Temptress

A soft medium pink

Iffy on dark skin (I wouldn’t recommend unless you’re adding a deeper colored liner and some gloss) but a pretty pink on lighter skin tones.

MLS26 Shy

A light milky beige

DO NOT PASS GO. DO NOT COLLECT $200. LOL. No seriously, this is just wrong. As you can see it didn’t glide over my lips which only partly has to do with all the makeup wipes I used to take the previous colors off—I tried it again on another day and it was still pretty streaky. I don’t recommend a color like this on anyone.

MLS27 Eden

A bright red with slight orange undertones

Works on most skin tones.

MLS28 Couture

A light peachy pink

Iffy on deeper skin, nice pink on lighter skin.

MLS29 Sable

A deep pinky beige (from my brown lipstick post)

MLS30 Aria

A purply magenta (similar to MAC Rebel)

A shade that works on most skin tones.

MLS31 Daydream

A medium peach

Iffy on dark skin, pretty on lighter skin tones.

MLS32 Siren

A brownish berry with a hint of red

Works on most skin tones.

MLS33 Spirit

A medium peachy beige

Pretty nude on tan skin tones—needs the help of a liner and gloss on darker skin tones.

Note

My comments on the various shades are based on many people asking me which lip colors work best on their skin tone. When I say a shade will work on most skin tones, I’m saying it’ll most likely work on you whatever your skin tone or undertone might be but there’s always the one person who because of things like hair color or what have you that the color may not be as flattering. But I do like that there are so many universally flattering shades in this lineup (proceed with caution with the lighter mattes…lol). See also Your Best Makeup Colors for tips on which shades look best on your complexion.

You can see tons of full face prettier pictures of me wearing tons of different lipstick shades many of which are SUPER similar to these in my 50 Shades of Lipstick series if you want to see more shades.

My Personal Faves

(in no particular order)
MLS19 Euro Trash
MLS14 Maison
MLS27 Eden
MLS13 Angel
MLS30 Aria
MLS09 Natural
MLS05 Indie Flick
MLS11 Tea Rose
MLS12 Sierra
MLS22 Strawberry Daiquiri

Are you loving NYX Matte Lipstick? Which ones are your faves? Tell me in the comments!