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12 Best MAC Brown Lipstick Shades from Nude to Dark Skin

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Since I’ve written about the best MAC brown lip liners some time ago, it only felt right to couple this guide with the best MAC brown lipstick shades as well! I love, love, love brown lipsticks of all kinds, and two of my very first MAC matte lipsticks were actually brown colors; Antique Velvet and Whirl.

Now, I’ve talked a lot about the Whirl lipstick here, and some of the best MAC lipsticks for medium skin and dark skin.

Since brown is literally the perfect nude lipstick shade for brown and black skin, you’ll find here a lot of amazing nude light brown and dark brown MAC lipsticks in this guide.

If it’s your first time here, hi – I’m a makeup artist and used to work for MAC Cosmetics in Paris, in the flagship in the Champs-Elysees, as well as in Covent Garden, which hosts some of the best makeup stores in London.

I love sharing with you all kinds of lipstick shades; from gold lipsticks to the most iconic MAC red lipsticks and fun, fall, and wintertime berry MAC lipsticks.

I just love color, and I’m only just getting started – at some point, you’ll find here all the best MAC lipstick shades for olive skin, Asian skin, Indian skin, and fair and dark skin tones in all types of colors!

For now, we’re going to be focusing on the best MAC brown lipstick shades for dark skin, fair skin, and everyone in between.

Whether you’re looking for a light brown nude lipstick or a dark brown shade, you’ll find here everything you’re looking for, with tips to combine them with MAC brown lip liners as well!

12 Best MAC Brown Lipstick Shades from Nude to Dark Skin

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In this guide, I’ve tried to put together some of the most famous and best MAC brown lipstick shades for fair skin, medium skin, and dark skin – if you’re Asian, Indian or have an olive skin tone, you’ll still find here a lot of neutral, nude and light brown MAC lipsticks to suit your skin tone.

Most of the best MAC brown lipstick shades are actually part of the Matte and Satin ranges, and it kind of makes sense.

Dark brown lipsticks look much better in my opinion in a matte finish, while you can find in the hydrating MAC lipsticks many more light and bright shades.

After all, most people who don’t have a dark skin tone would actually wear really dark shades, plum, burgundy, or raspberry lipsticks during the fall or wintertime.

And these are the seasons when we tend to wear more matte lipsticks than Amplified, Cremesheen, or Lustreglass lipsticks, which all provide a more shiny finish.

In any case, I’ve always felt that whether you’re looking for MAC lipsticks for Asian skin, medium or dark skin, a dark lipstick with some Lipglass in Clear on top of it looks incredible.

However, we all have our own tastes, don’t we, and since makeup is made to experiment and have fun, I can only recommend you try out different shades to see what you like better!

Best MAC Brown Lipstick for Dark Skin: Antique Velvet

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Intense Brown

The first MAC Satin lipstick I ever owned was Captive, and right after that, I got Antique Velvet from the Matte range.

If you’re looking for a MAC brown lipstick in a matte finish, Antique Velvet is one of the most beautiful lipsticks ever released by MAC in my opinion.

You’ve got a true chocolate brown lipstick shade with the MAC Antique Velvet lipstick, which looks stunning on medium skin, dark skin, Asian skin, Indian skin, and even fair skin with warm undertones.

I usually apply it with the Chestnut lip liner, and it’s perfect if you’re after an everyday MAC brown lipstick for dark skin.

Read: The Best Duochrome and Multichrome Eyeshadows

Best MAC Dark Brown Lipstick: Film Noir

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Intense brown

The MAC Film Noir lipstick is part of the Satin range, which is one of my very favorites. With Film Noir, you’ve got roughly the same color as Antique Velvet, but while Antique Velvet is fully chocolate, it seems to me that Film Noir has more of a reddish-brown lipstick undertone.

It’s perfect on medium skin tones, Indian skin, and dark Asian skin, but while I absolutely love the color of Film Noir swatched, I feel like on fair olive skin (I’m an NW15 to NW20 when I tan), it doesn’t look that good.

Probably more of a MAC reddish brown lipstick I’d recommend only for warm undertones, or people without an olive undertone unless you wear plenty of bronzer as well.

Read: The Best Juvia’s Place Eyeshadow Palettes

Best MAC Brown Lipstick for Medium Skin: Consensual

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Deep brown w. gold undertones

Now, if you’re looking for the best MAC lipsticks for dark skin, you’ve got Consensual, from the Matte range, which was released only a few years ago.

At some point, it feels like MAC Cosmetics actually realized they didn’t have enough neutral, nude lipsticks for all skin tones, and released a whole range of new light and dark brown lipsticks – among which the Consensual shade.

With my olive skin, Consensual is one of the MAC brown matte lipsticks I would never pick up. It really has this gold, yellowish undertone perfect if you’ve got fair skin with warm undertones, medium skin, brown or dark skin, though.

If you’ve read my MAC Cork lip liner and lipstick combination post, you might have seen similar shades to Consensual, and since it’s also got this really warm undertone, it’s a perfect lip liner to wear with this beauty of a MAC brown lipstick.

Read: Barry M Lip Liners Review + Swatches

Best MAC Light Brown Lipstick: Spirit

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Muted pinky-beige brown

Now, if you’re looking for a MAC light brown lipstick, a kind of 90s brown shade to wear with the Spice lip liner or the Whirl lip liner, you’ve got Spirit.

It’s one of the most underrated MAC nude lipsticks, and for all fair skin tones who love the Velvet Teddy lipstick but would like something a tad darker and more hydrating, Spirit is one of the best choices.

There are lots of amazing MAC Satin lipsticks, but it seems like the brand has risen to fame with matte lipsticks, and lots of people tend to go for these instead of discovering the hidden gems from the Satin range, like the Spirit lipstick.

It’s perfect with lots of lip liners like Spice, Whirl, Stripdown, or even Chestnut, if you’d like to combine a MAC lip liner for dark skin and create an ombre lip look with Spirit.

On fair skin tones, this neutral lipstick has a great balance of brown, beige, and pink, which means it suits most skin tones to perfection.

Read: The Best Revolution Eyeshadow Palettes

Best MAC Brown Lipstick for Asian Skin: Taupe

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Muted reddish-taupe brown

I’ve written about the best MAC lip liners for Taupe, Honeylove, and Kinda Sexy a few days ago, and it’s indeed one of the most versatile MAC brown lipstick shades for all skin tones.

Whether you have fair Asian skin, medium Indian skin, or fair skin with warm undertones, the MAC Taupe lipstick has been an iconic shade for ages, and there’s a reason why.

If you’re looking for an everyday MAC brown lipstick with a matte finish, something not too dark, and not too light, Taupe is a very interesting choice.

You can wear it with lip liners like Spice, Cork, Mahogany, and Auburn, which will make the reddish brown side of the Taupe lipstick pop a little bit more.

Read: The Best Max and More Eyeshadow Palettes

Best MAC Brown Red Lipstick for Asian Skin: Marrakesh

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Intense orange brown

Now, Marrakesh is one of the best MAC lipsticks for Asian skin tones, on whom it looks absolutely stunning. I’ve come to find in time that even with my olive skin, Marrakesh is one of the most beautiful shades on me.

Maybe because I have a Moroccan background and some of the MAC brown lipstick colors which shouldn’t look good on olive skin (like Antique Velvet, I’d say) actually do.

If you’re looking for a MAC reddish brown lipstick, something a little bit different and you know you already like red lipsticks like Chili, Marrakesh is from the same color family.

It just looks beautiful on its own with some eyeliner, but I do like to wear it with some shimmery green eyeshadow, just to make the colors contrast.

Wear it with the Auburn or Mahogany lip liner, two of my favorite MAC lip liners, and you’re good to go.

Read: The Best MAC Lipsticks for Fair Skin

Best MAC Brown Lipstick: Bronx

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Muted golden taupe brown

If you’re looking for a really light brown MAC lipstick, the shade Bronx from the Retro Matte range is one of the most underrated colors. You’ve got a really, really light taupe brown color, with a tinge of pink, and a super matte finish.

I always recommend people who want to get a Retro Matte lipstick like All Fired Up or Ruby Woo to get the Prep + Prime for lips as well, as you’ll definitely see a difference in application, lasting time, and comfort.

Bronx is perfect whether you’re looking for MAC brown lipstick for pale skin, dark skin, medium skin, or anyone in between.

I do think it’s best suited for fair skin, which can wear the MAC Bronx lipstick on its own or with the Whirl or Stripdown lip liner, or really dark skin, which can wear it with the Chestnut, Stone, or even the Nightmoth lip liner. Not a shade I’d recommend for Asian and Indian skin tones with warm undertones, though.

Read: The Best Delanci Eyeshadow Palettes

Best MAC Light Brown Lipstick: Yash

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Deep neutral

Yash, like Spirit, is another one of the MAC brown lipstick shades for fair skin which deserves a lot more recognition in my opinion. I only discovered it a few months into my first contract at MAC Cosmetics, and I fell in love with it instantly.

If you’re looking for a MAC pinky brown lipstick, Yash is from the Matte range, which means it’s not only super flattering on pale and fair skin tones (and perfect with the Whirl lip liner!), but also really long-lasting and fully pigmented.

Of course, with such a neutral brown shade, it’s suitable for lots of different skin tones, from olive to fair Asian, and medium and dark skin tones with a darker lip liner around it, like Cork, Stone, Stripdown, or why not Chestnut as well.

Read: The Best Makeup Shops in Rome Italy

Best MAC Brown Lipstick: Whirl

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Dirty Rose

Another MAC pink brown lipstick, and one of the most famous in this guide; is the Whirl lipstick! There are lots of amazing MAC Whirl lipstick and lip liner combinations to be made, from Cork to Chestnut and even Nightmoth, and it’s perfect on almost every skin tone.

That’s partly why the Whirl lipstick is so famous, isn’t it: it looks beautiful on Indian skin, fair skin, and medium and dark skin tones, and with my olive skin, Whirl looks incredible.

If you’re after a matte MAC brown lipstick, mid-tone, and wearable on a daily basis, it’s one of your best bets out of this whole guide.

Read: The Best Yankee Candle Scents For All Seasons

Best MAC Brown Lipstick: Can’t Dull My Shine

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Rich brown

The MAC Can’t Dull My Shine lipstick is part of the Lustreglass range, and it’s one of the newest colors released earlier in 2022 if I’m not mistaken.

On fair and medium skin tones, Can’t Dull My Shine really is that MAC 90s brown lipstick, just a tad darker than the Spice lip liner, and more chocolatey.

If you’re after a MAC brown lipstick for brown skin and dark skin, Can’t Dull My Shine is a perfect nude lipstick for warm undertones.

Now, that’s clearly one of the rich brown lipsticks I wouldn’t pick up at MAC Cosmetics; I’d much rather stay with some cooler-toned lipsticks like Whirl, or something a bit more brown red like Marrakesh, so I’m sure it suits my skin tone. But anyone with warm skin, go for it!

Read: The Best DW Home Candles

Best MAC Brown Lipstick for Brown Skin: Photo

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Golden brown

If you like the Lustreglass lipstick Can’t Dull My Shine or shades like Consensual from the matte lipstick range, you’re going to love Photo, from the Satin range. Again, it’s one of the most underrated MAC brown lipstick shades, and it looks perfect on anyone who has a skin tone with a warm undertone.

On medium skin and dark skin, I think you can hardly do any better than the MAC Photo lipstick, which offers even more pigment than the previous lipstick, Can’t Dull My Shine, and longer wear time.

It’s full and complete, really a good yellow-brown lipstick to wear on a daily basis for yellow Indian skin tones, dark Asian skin, and medium and black skin. Wear it with the Cork lip liner, and you’ve got a winning combo.

Read: The Strongest Bath and Body Works Candles

Best MAC Brown Lipstick Shades: Paramount

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Reddish-brown

I kept the best for last, clearly – if you’re looking for the perfect MAC reddish brown lipstick, Paramount is one of the most beautiful lipsticks from the Satin range. It took a very long time before I actually got it in my stash, but once I got it, I never let go of it.

The MAC Paramount lipstick is the perfect MAC brown red lipstick, that 90s brown shade that was worn throughout all 10 seasons of Friends by Jennifer Aniston – that’s how you know it looks perfect on fair skin with warm undertones.

Paramount is one of my favorite lipsticks to apply on Asian skin, medium, brown and dark skin; the darker the skin, the redder Paramount looks. On me, Paramount looks more brown, really like a red caramel type of shade which looks perfect with cool gold eyeshadow.

Read: The Best MAC Twig Lipstick and Lip Liner Combinations

12 Best MAC Brown Lipstick Shades from Nude to Dark Skin

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There you have them, all the best MAC brown lipstick names, finishes, and stunning shades whether you’re looking for a matte light brown lipstick for fair skin or a really beautiful dark brown shade!

As usual, and as I always say – makeup is made to have fun, so don’t be scared of trying out new things. Just pay attention to the undertone of the MAC brown lipstick shade you want to pick up, combine it with a sharp black eyeliner, some light blue eyeshadow, or glossy eyelids, and you’re good to go!

Until next time!

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Sam is a certified fashion makeup artist, a freelance writer, a blogger and a digital nomad. Since 2019, she roams around the world, from London to Rome and shares her knowledge about makeup, scented candles, travel, blogging and the digital nomad lifestyle.