But when you actually apply a nude lipstick or lipgloss, many wash out your complexion, making your skin look gray. Or, the shade completely erases your lips -- which may look good on models, but makes us mere mortals look like we're auditioning for a role on The Addams Family.

But it turns out there's an unexpected solution: Sheer purple lip gloss.

"Lots of woman like nude lips," celebrity artist Gucci Westman told us at a recent launch event for her new color line with Revlon, a collection of colorful pastels and milky brights she based on colors from the South of France. "Purple gloss tones down the red in the lips just like a nude; it pales down the color for the same effect, but cool, versus warm."

And it's actually wearable. We know, because we immediately grabbed a Westman-designed lilac gloss -- Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Lilac Pastelle, and slathered it on our pout, before she was even finished talking.

And guess what? We didn't look dead, just pastel and pretty; the blue undertones made our skin look tanner, and the whites of our eyes look brighter.

Bring it on, smoky eye shadow.