The Best Lip Colors for Summer (Based on Your Skin Tone)

Summer lip color is the one beauty category where choosing wrong doesn't just look off — it looks exhausting. The wrong shade against your skin tone reads as effort rather than ease, which is the exact opposite of what summer is supposed to feel like.

The right shade? It makes you look like you just got back from somewhere great, even if you're standing in a parking lot.

The starting point is your undertone, not your skin depth. Two people with the same medium skin tone can look completely different in the same lipstick if their undertones don't match the shade. Here's how to sort it out.

Warm undertones

If your veins look greenish at the wrist, gold jewelry flatters you more than silver, and you tend to tan golden rather than pink — you have warm undertones. Your skin has yellow, peach, or golden tones underneath the surface.

For summer, your shades are peach, coral, warm red, and terracotta. What these have in common is an orange-yellow base. Think: a juicy mango coral for daytime, a deep terracotta for evening, a bright orange-red that would look harsh on cooler skin but electric on yours.

Shades to avoid: anything with a blue or purple base. Berry, wine, and cool pink tend to look muddy against warm undertones rather than vibrant.

The summer staple for warm skin: a sheer coral gloss. It adds color, enhances warmth, looks effortless in heat, and doesn't require precision application.

Cool undertones

If your veins look blue or purple, silver jewelry is your default, and you tend to burn before you tan — you have cool undertones. Your skin has pink, red, or blueish tones underneath.

Your summer shades are rose, berry, cool pink, and blue-based reds. These have a blue or purple lean that harmonizes with the pink in your complexion rather than clashing. A raspberry pink looks crisp and deliberate against cool skin. A blue-red (think classic cherry rather than tomato) looks graphic and intentional.

Shades to avoid: anything orange-forward. Coral and peach can read slightly muddy or off against cooler skin — not always, but often enough that it's worth testing first.

"Finding the right undertone match is everything in summer, when you're wearing less makeup overall," says makeup artist and beauty educator Sir John. "One lip color that's right does more for your look than a full face of products that are slightly off."

The summer staple for cool skin: a rose-berry lip stain. Stains are heat-resistant, transfer-resistant, and low-maintenance — exactly what summer demands.

Neutral undertones

Neutral undertones mean you have a balanced mix of warm and cool — your veins look blue-green, you look good in both gold and silver, and you don't burn or tan in extremes. This is arguably the most flexible skin undertone for makeup because most shades work.

For summer specifically, your most reliable choices are nudes close to your natural lip color (a shade or two deeper than your lips) or true reds with no obvious warm or cool pull. These work precisely because neutral undertones don't fight with either end of the spectrum.

If you want to lean into color, both peachy-corals and raspberry pinks will work for you — start with sheers and buildable formulas so you can find where on the spectrum you feel most comfortable.

The summer staple for neutral skin: a tinted lip balm in your exact natural lip color, a few shades deeper. The effect is your lips but better, which is the most summer-appropriate beauty move there is.

Getting the finish right

Shade is only part of the equation. How the product sits on your lips changes everything about how long it lasts and how it feels in warm weather.

Gloss adds fullness and light-catching dimension. It looks beautiful and is the least heat-stable of the three — it will feel warm and slightly sticky when temperatures rise, and it transfers. If you love gloss, keep it for air-conditioned environments or short periods outdoors.

Matte is the most transfer-proof finish and the most heat-resistant. The trade-off is that it settles into lines and can emphasize dry lips. In summer specifically, prep your lips with a balm and let it absorb for a few minutes before applying matte formulas.

Satin sits between the two and is genuinely the everyday sweet spot for most people — enough shine to look hydrated, enough staying power to last through most activities. For summer, a satin formula with a moisturizing base is the most universally flattering.

Making it last

Summer heat and humidity accelerate fading and bleeding in ways that don't happen in February. A few adjustments help.

Apply a thin layer of translucent powder over a tissue pressed to your lips before your final application layer — this sets the base coat and helps the color grip. Use a lip liner underneath your lipstick or gloss, even if you normally skip it. The liner acts as an anchor.

Carry your product for touch-ups but wipe your lips clean before reapplying rather than layering over faded color — freshly applied is always better than built up.

And if heat-proof lasting power is your priority above everything else: a lip stain applied first, with a gloss layered on top, gives you the color that stays even after the gloss wears off. You get the look of gloss and the staying power of a stain. That combination works in any season — but especially this one.