I tried on every shade of Maybelline's new "universally flattering" lipstick line

If there’s one thing I’ve learned working behind beauty counters, it’s that lipstick is one of the hardest things for women find. With so many lipstick shades, skin tones, and varying undertones of both, a quick trip to your nearest makeup counter can easily turn into a two hour-long adventure.

The truth is, most lipsticks aren’t one-size-fits-all. Over the years, various brands have attempted to create lipsticks that looked good on everyone, but only some succeeded, while the majority missed the mark. Not to mention, the colors are usually pretty bland and not exciting at all. The most recent brand to take on the challenge is Maybelline with its Color Sensational Made For All Lipstick line. The collection, which consists of seven “universally flattering” shades that have been tested on more than 50 skin tones, hit stores this month.

Maybelline sent me the Made For All lipstick collection to test for myself. I tried on each lipstick without tweaking it with a lip liner or lip gloss so I could form an opinion based solely on the lipsticks alone. Here’s what each of the seven lipsticks looked like on me:

Spice For Me

An orangey-nude, satin finish lipstick. With all the lipsticks that I own, I can honestly say I don’t have one in this shade at all!

Fuchsia For Me

A deep fuchsia lipstick with a satin finish.

Red For Me (Matte)

This bold red is the only matte lipstick in the collection.

Mauve For Me

A mauve lipstick with a satin finish.

Pink For Me

A soft pink lipstick with a satin finish.

Ruby For Me

A true red lipstick with a satin finish.

Plum for me

A deep plum lipstick with a satin finish.

My final thoughts

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with this lipstick collection. For starters, I didn’t use liner for any of the shades, and I didn’t need to. I was a little nervous to apply Mauve For Me and Pink For Me without a liner, but to my surprise, neither shade looked bad without. When you have full lips like me, applying a light shade of lipstick without a lip liner can easily be a recipe for disaster.

As for the formula, it is absolutely phenomenal. The shades glide on smoothly, and there’s a lot of pigment with one swipe. If you choose to build up the color (which really isn’t necessary in my opinion), the lipstick still applies smoothly. Even the matte red (Red For Me) is super smooth and non-drying, which is great especially for a red lipstick. I wish Maybelline made more shades in the matte formula, but hopefully that will come in the future. I personally would love to see more shades for the line in general, like a deep brick red or deep brown that would be perfect for the winter.

I can’t speak for all shades of women in regards to this lip collection, but I can say I’m impressed. Though the lipsticks don’t require liner, I plan to experiment with mixing them with my favorite liners and glosses.

If you have trouble finding the perfect lipstick shade, I would definitely try one of these. These universal lipsticks are a great starting point, especially if you’re looking to step out of your comfort zone. From my experience, they are truly universally flattering.

If you want to try out the Maybelline Made For You lipsticks ($7.49), they are currently available in Ulta and other drugstores for purchase.