The Search for a Darker Nude

(Or What-to-Wear-Under-White-Even-After-Labor-Day)

Every woman should have lingerie nearest to her skin color as a foundation for white or the sheerer pieces in her wardrobe. For most brands, this is a Nude or a darker shade usually called Tan - but nothing else in the middle, or on the other side of the spectrum towards Black.

As with most women of colour, Ade Hassan couldn't find anything out there nearest her skin tone... so she designed her own line of intimates - Nubian Skin. When I walked the aisles of Salon International in Paris earlier this year, Nubian Skin stood out with the most refreshing collection of neutrals that I had seen in my 5 years of visiting lingerie trade shows.

The Nubian Skin line carries four brown skin tones - Cafe Au Lait, Cinnamon, Caramel and Berry. For her opening collection, she offers a basic t-shirt bra, a lace bra and strapless bra with matching briefs and thongs. And very thoughtfully, she worked with cosmetologists and make-up artists to find the closest foundation colors for each shade of brown offered.

Cafe Au Lait is the the lightest shade. As it name suggests, it is a milky brown.  It matches Bobbi Brown "Warm Honey", Lancome 06 Beige Cannelle, Estée Lauder Rich Caramel 5W2, Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow in Amber and Chanel Perfection Luminar 50.

Caramel is the medium-light shade with gold and orange highlights.  It complements Bobbi Brown "Golden", YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat Beige 70, Estée Lauder Double Wear "Toasted Toffee", MAC Matchmaster 7, Smash Box Studio Skin 4.1, Bare Minerals "Warm Tan/Golden Tan" and Revlon Photoready 010 Caramel.

Cinnamon is the medium-dark shade with red-orange undertones, just like the spice. It works with Mac N8/N9/NW45/NW47, Iman Earth 3-4, Bobbi Brown "Warm Walnut", Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint in Beige 80 and Nars Macao.

Berry is the darkest shade with deep red lowlights. It goes well with Mac NW50, Iman Earth 6, Blackup HC 14, Laura Mercier "Espresso", Bobbi Brown Espresso 10 and Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint in Beige 90.

These foundation colors are, of course, just suggestions and there are even more make-up brands out there now offering darker color palettes. If you have found a Nubian Skin tone matching your favorite foundation color, let us know so we can add it to our list and help other gals out there.

Shop our new mobile friendly store for your Nubian Skin fix - always free US shipping with a minimum $50 purchase. And if we receive your order by 3pm on a weekday, we mail it out the same day!

Have a great Labor Day holiday weekend, everyone!