What Exactly Is Peach Lipstick?


Peach lipstick. Sounds straightforward and even a little standard, right? Sort of like peach blush. A good starter shade that flatters everyone. Wrong—sort of. Turns out the cosmetics industry has a very broad understanding of the concept of Peach, particularly when it comes to lipstick.

We called Australian model Shanina Shaik (Nina, for short) in from IMG to try on a handful of them, which turned into quite the lively debate. Should peach be more red, more orange, or— gasp—yellow even? The Pantone probably looks like this, but who needs six lipsticks that look the same? Truth is, peach is romanticized a bit. But that's OK—fruit deserves to have a little fun now and again. And with Nina's olive skin and green eyes, everything from muted to super-ripe, eat-me-now shades just worked.

Revlon Super Lustrous Matte Lipstick in Smoked Peach 013: The first one almost killed the story. It's perfect in that slightly nude, sort-of-dark-but-still-summery look—so much so that shooting more seemed superfluous. But we're thorough here at ITG, so we trudged on.

Sonia Kashuk Satin Luxe Lip Color SPF 16 in Peachy Pink: Here's the poppy, bright shade you'd expect when talking about peach. Just the right amount of pink balanced with orange.

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Peach Parfait: Here's that romance we were talking about. Peach may mean a lot of colors, but it also often means a hint of glimmer, even when the color is only slightly more enhanced than your natural lips. Hey, it's a balancing act.

Nars Audacious Lipstick in Geraldine: This one felt like a stretch, but Nina absolutely insisted on it. Might not look like any actual part of the peach, but it's in that in-between world of color, so we'll give it to them (and her).

MAC Cremesheen + Pearl Lipstick in Peach Blossom: The most delicate of the bunch, aptly named for the flower—not the flesh of the fruit. It goes on sheer with a hint of glimmer. Your lips, but definitely better.

Hourglass Femme Nude Lip Stylo in Nude No. 3: This is the sexy peach, the peach all the other peaches want to be. Best paired with some smoke in the eyes and Nina's touseled hair.

Shanina Shaik (IMG) photographed by Tom Newton. Fruity themes continue with Laura Mercier's Lip Parfait Creamy Colourbalms.