L'Oreal Paris Collection Privee - The Freida Nude

L'Oreal have come up with a collection called Collection Privee which consists of a shade of nude lipstick for different skin tones. Using celebrity ambassadors for L'Oreal worldwide, it has catered a range of skin tones as we all know how difficult it can be to find that perfect shade of nude lipstick. I honestly haven't found one till date and if you've been a long time reader of the blog, will know that I cannot pull of nude lippies for the life of me. They make me look like a zombie or a corpse and no thank you, I quite like looking human.

I am pretty tempted to try out other nude lipsticks from the Collection Privee range but so far, I am quite impressed with the shade I have namely - the Frieda Nude. I absolutely adore Freida Pinto. From what I've read and seen of her, she seems like a genuinely lovely person. And let's not forget her flawless skin tone and ethereal features. Albeit not a typical Indian face, she has a fashion forward, global aura about her and I'm actually ecstatic the lipstick is named after her.

For caramel, golden brown skin tones, Loreal have kept the base of the shade to a mauvey lavender with a generous shot of finely milled silver shimmer sprayed all over it. It applies really well and coats the lip in pigment almost instantly, although sheerly. You can build it up but in my experience, I found that it becomes more glossy looking as it's built up in intensity. The only con I have regarding the shade is that if you have even the slightest of grey in your undertone or pigmentation around the mouth area, it tends to exaggerate that.

Besides that, it has the right amount of lavender to counteract dull, sallow skin tones and the right amount of pink to avoid a nude lipstick from looking too 'beige' or concealer like on darker skin tones. The formula of the lipstick is also quite hydrating and long lasting in the sense that even if it wears off, it does so gracefully without leaving behind patchy blobs of colour or chapped skin.

I like L'Oreals take on the cult favourite, decades old lipstick phenomenon that has always occupied the minds of ladies globally. Frieda Nude not being a typical nude lipstick shade, I feel the brand has been brave to remind women again that one-size-fits-all does not really work when it comes to a good shade of lipstick, let alone a nude one and that experimenting outside your comfort zone to find a flattering colour is a must.