Why Swatching Lip Products On Your Inner Arm Is Bad

Have you ever swatched a lip product at the store and fallen in love with the colour? Then you proceed to pay for it and rush home to try it on. Then you realise that it doesn't look that good on you after all.. What went wrong? You loved it at the store..

Not at all? Really? Well, I have.. And more times than I can remember. It's kinda stupid, actually. My skin is naturally yellowish so it makes pink shades lean towards coral or peach. (Yellow + Red = Orange, remember?) I love those colours but when I try it on my lips, it turns really pink or purplish. Then I'll be disappointed and dump it in a corner.

I've suddenly come to realise that I was swatching it at the wrong spot all these years. And no, tissue doesn't work either. Your lips aren't white. My lips are kinda pigmented and has a hint of purple. This is kinda odd since purplish lipsticks look horrible on me =_= Sucks..

So anyway, obviously the colour would turn out to be different since the base colour is so different *sigh..* Why didn't I realize this earlier? IMO, it would be better to swatch on your palm, especially the lower end opposite your thumb as there's enough space + it's reddish, just like your lips. Well, my palms are usually kinda pale (bad circulation?) but it does make a small difference, which may have changed some of my decisions in the past.

I have proof for my theory! lol~ Swatches are from the same photo so don't argue with me on lighting/camera settings. I just cropped it so it's easier to compare. As you can see.. The swatch on my palm (right) is pinker than the one on my arm (left). On my lips, it looks more like the right, appearing more pinkish.

Also, if you have many lines on your hand like me, you can even test if the lipstick settles into lip lines! xD I haven't actually tested this 'theory' but it does make sense, right? o_O

Anyway, the palm swatch still isn't very accurate, as shown by Revlon's Soft Nude below. But I could get it to look more similar if I concealed my lips before applying lipstick.

For my blog swatches, I'll still swatch on my arm though. Cos it's so much smoother lol but don't worry.. I edit all swatches to try to match the true colour.

Hope this helped! Now.. Go out and get yourself some more lipsticks xD

P.S. I tried scheduling this for 29/2/11 then realized there's no 29th this year when Blogger didn't allow it =_= Happy Birthday to all those born on the 29th of February! Pity you.. Can only celebrate your official birthday once every 4 years lol