My green eyes, fair skin and bright blond hair makes me look find in coral or pink lipstick… UNTIL I SMILE. Then it’s British-Granny-Mouth, yuck! (And I don’t even drink coffee, wine, tea or smoke or anything!) This coloring works best with a mauve or berry, even sheer; undertones of blue make the yellow look whiter, and a matte texture, as you say, is best. Origins makes a perfect fat lip pencil in ‘berry’ — I own 20 of them in case they discontinue!

If you must use pink as a true blonde, use it against the skin-edge of your lips; use the berry on the teeth-side of your lips. And if you have narrow or thin lips, place a little of the darker color in the corners of your mouth and a little lighter color or gloss on the upper and lower center of your lips; the illusion is that your lips are plumper, fuller when ‘shaded’ that way.

Please pardon the long post! (Oh, but if you do use strips, I get great results with the Crest premiums that have upper and lower on one strip. Even used only every other day, they work.)