Paris F/W '11: The world needs more pink lipstick—and today, beauty editors are buzzing about this one (at Nina Ricci)

Remember my rant about medium tones not being flattering? I still stand by it—with a caveat that in makeup, “medium” usually means a boring, milquetoast, “dusty” or “tawny” rose with far too much brown in it.

And this is why my philosophy to date, specifically with lipstick, has been to focus on either Bright! Loud! Look At Me! shades like fuchsia, red, berry or orange… or to go to the other extreme, which is nude, nude, nude. Nothing in between.

But you know what? I think I forgot about our old friend, pink. NOT rose. NOT fuchsia. But bubblegum, sorbet, salmon or candy pink. I wouldn’t put these shades in the “medium” camp, because they’re kinda sorta bright (ish). But they’re definitely not as bold as the pigments I usually gravitate towards—and this, I think, makes them incredibly versatile for all kinds of skin tones.

We saw pink already at Pucci, Vivienne Tam and Donna Karan (although I’d never suggest pairing with orange eyeshadow). But the real showstopper is the look at Nina Ricci, which had beauty eds Tweetin’ up a storm this morning.

Are you loving it? I swear this looks just as good on the blonde and Asian models, above, as it does on this brunette beauty:

And now for the bad news.

I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that this was a custom-mixed pigment—the best colours always are,  it seems!—created by makeup artist Pat McGrath, who matched it to a piece of fabric from the collection.

And I was reaaaaally hoping it would be something we could buy from CoverGirl. Please, CoverGirl, make this up and sell it toute de suite!

You’re going to love the nails, too, but again, they’re a custom mix. Boo.

So what CAN I tell you about? Well, we can talk about the eyes, which have CoverGirl eyeshadow in Tapestry Taupe, along with brown mascara.

And I just raided my archives to see what shades we might be able to use to achieve this look.

For the lips, I’m thinking Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in Génial:

And for the nails, OPI Nail Polish in My Chihuahua Bites!

or Zoya Nail Polish in Elodie (this is actually one of my all-time favourite summer shades)

But I’m sure you guys have tons more shade suggestions, so why don’t we crowd-source this problem…

Are you a fan of the Nina Ricci pink?
Do you have a shade like this—for lips and/or nails—in your collection? Do tell!
Do you like the pink worn bare-faced, like this, or with the heavy eye like yesterday at Pucci?