How to Pull Off the Greige Lip Color Everyone's Wearing

(Image credit: Design by Dana Tepper)

published 8 July 2016

If the Instagram beauty community has championed one thing aside from contouring, it's the nude lip. And with the revival of the '90s neutrals has come full-on greige fever. A mix of gray and beige (that reads slightly mauve-y), it's intriguing, off-kilter, and let's be real, kind of intimidating.

"Greige is nonconformist!" says celebrity makeup artist Michael Anthony (opens in new tab). "It's such a conversation starter and so many people ask about what color it is, what brand it is , and it really expands peoples ideas on what is beautiful."

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But while Gigi Hadid and Kylie Jenner make rocking greige look easy, is it something real women can pull off IRL? Anthony makes a very convincing case.

"There are so many ways to experiment with lip colors," he says. "Certainly there are factors that weigh into what colors you can rock such as your skin tone, lip shape, hair color, and wardrobe, but I do know that everyone has at least one day of the week where they can do and wear just about whatever they want to (brunch?!) and I think there's no better way to find out if you can pull it off then by PUTTING IT ON."

Amen, to that.

But if you need a little reassurance, let Anthony be your guide:

The Greige Test Drive

"There aren't necessarily 'rules' to finding the right shade, sometimes it's surprising," he explains. "Find three different greige shades, and going from light to dark, apply each one, and bank a selfie of each. Then wear your #1 for a day and enjoy the compliments."

See? It's as easy as that. Anthony's favorite shades of the moments—drum roll, please—are:

1. Maybelline Color Sensational The Loaded Bolds Lip Color in "Go Greige", $7.49; ulta.com (opens in new tab).

2. Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in "Sepia", $20; sephora.com (opens in new tab).

3. Lime Crime Perlees Matte Metallic Lipstick, $18; limecrime.com (opens in new tab).

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Lauren is the former beauty editor at Marie Claire. She love to while away the hours at coffee shops, hunt for vintage clothes, and bask in the rough-and-tumble beauty of NYC. She firmly believes that solitude can be a luxury if you’ve got the right soundtrack—that being the Rolling Stones, of course.