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Lip balm: a beauty essential, now reimagined.
Lip balm: a beauty essential, now reimagined. Photograph: Alamy Photograph: Alamy
Lip balm: a beauty essential, now reimagined. Photograph: Alamy Photograph: Alamy

The best tinted lip balms for darker skin tones

This article is more than 9 years old

Fed up with pale shimmery shades that make you look like a 90s throwback? Bin them, you deserve better

Here’s a true story that you’ll possibly relate to. Girl goes to school. Girl’s friends all wear the same ultra light, silvery pink tinted lip balm. Girl tries it, but winds up looking like an extra from Dawn of the Dead. (Please note: part-dismembered corpse was not the desired end result.) Girl is now scared of tinted lip balm – for ever.

But things have changed, time has passed and like everything else in beauty, tinted lip balms have upped their game. We’re talking high-SPF, intense colour saturation and multi-use balms that have anti-ageing benefits too. And, they aren’t just the usual “natural” tones we’ve been urged to think “suit all”. These are genuinely beautiful, nourishing shades that are perfect post gym, on a lazy weekend or just because the thought of lining your lips and painstakingly applying lipstick is too much of a chore to comprehend the morning after you’ve mainlined six espresso martinis in a row (true story, goodbye sleep). Enter the reimagined beauty essential – and it has come a long long way since your school days.

The ultimate tinted balm edit for darker skin tones

Burt’s Bees lip balm Photograph: PR

Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer in Plum, £5.99, burtsbees.co.uk

This shimmery berry shade is supremely pretty, with more depth of colour than most tinted balms. And, it’s 100% natural too.

Fresh Tinted Lip Treatment SPF15 in Sugar Coral, £18

A beautiful hit of creamy, matte long-lasting peach with an SPF 15? Dreams can come true. This shade is flattering alternative to reds and berry shades.

Balance Me Tinted Lip Salve in Ruby Red, £12, balanceme.co.uk

Take a glossy red balm, infuse it with antioxidants and add a smattering if finely milled golden shimmer and what do you have? The perfect night-time low maintenance lip colour. Done.

Lanolips Lip Ointment With Colour, SPF 15 in Sunshine £8.16, lanolips.com

All the shades of this lanolin-based balm suit darker skins, but like a beauty flirt, Sunshine is an easy way to give this season’s orange a try without fully committing.

Maybelline Baby Lips balm Photograph: PR

Maybelline Babylips in Pink Punch, £2.99, Superdrug

Ultra-cool packaging aside, this gentle balm departs a kiss of neon pink for days when hardcore makeup is way too much effort.

Clarins Lip Balm Crayon in Soft Coffee, £18, Boots
Dual toned lips should be celebrated, and this reddish-brown balm blends beautifully on all lip tones.

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in Curviest Caramel, £17, Clinique

Looking for a suit-all, dusky pink that suits darker skin tones? It does exist, and here it is.

Hurraw Black Cherry Tinted Lip Balm, £3.99

Looking for just the slightest hint of colour? This divine-smelling tinted vegan balm is just the ticket, departing no more than a hint of colour.

Anita is the beauty and health editor at Women’s Health

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