NYX Lip IV Hydrating Gloss Stain: Find Your Shade by Colour Season
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
There’s something about a lip product that gives you gloss, colour, and a stain all in one that immediately gets my attention.
The NYX Lip IV Hydrating Gloss Stain has that juicy, high-shine finish, but underneath the gloss it leaves behind colour — which makes the shade you choose feel even more important.
And this range gives us quite a bit to play with.
There are soft nudes, rosy tones, richer berries, cool browns, and brighter reds, so instead of looking at the whole collection as one big wall of colour, I’ve sorted a selection of shades by Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
That way, if you already know your colour season, you have a much easier place to start.
Not every shade needs to be an exact match to your palette, of course — but understanding whether you generally suit warmth, coolness, softness, brightness, or depth can make choosing between very similar lip colours much simpler.
Spring: Let the Colour Have Some Energy
For Spring, I wouldn’t be afraid of colour. Red-y.Set.Wet has that candy-red quality that makes much more sense here than a dark wine or heavily muted red.
It’s especially worth looking at for Warm Spring and Bright Spring, where stronger colour can often feel completely natural rather than overpowering. And this is where the glossy finish actually becomes quite fun — that extra shine plays nicely with Spring’s fresh, lively quality.
Spring shade to explore:
Summer: There’s More Than One Kind of Pink
Summer is where this range gets especially interesting, because you’re definitely not limited to just one version of pink.
If you prefer a softer everyday lip, Hydra-Honey gives Soft Summer a lovely cool-toned nude option that feels understated and easy to wear.
Then you have Bubblegum Burst and Petal Pourin', both of which work beautifully across Summer more broadly — one offering that classic rose-pink direction, and the other leaning a little deeper and richer.
Blush Rush brings in a soft rosewood for Cool Summer, while Magenta Mist gives you a stronger pop of colour without moving away from Summer’s cooler feel.
So if you’re a Summer who’s ever thought your lipstick options begin and end with “dusty pink”, they really don’t.
Summer shades to explore:
A wearable rose pink that sits comfortably across the Summer palette.
A soft rosewood with enough depth to cross into Winter too.
A deeper terracotta-rose direction for when you want something richer.
A ruby-red option when you want considerably more colour.
A cooler nude for when you want something understated.
Autumn: Gloss Doesn't Have to Mean Bright
I think Autumn is a great example of why we shouldn’t confuse glossy with bright.
You can still have that wet-look finish while keeping the actual colour soft and grounded.
Drippin' In Rose gives Soft Autumn a blush-nude option — easy, wearable, and not trying too hard.
Then Dripping Nude moves things slightly richer with a muted cranberry feel.
Both give you colour, but neither needs to become overly vivid to make an impact.
Autumn shades to explore:
A soft blush nude for an easy everyday lip.
A muted cranberry-kiss shade when you want a little more richness.
Winter: Now We Can Turn Up the Contrast
Winter is where I’m happy to let things get a little more dramatic.
Mocha Me Wet is an interesting one because it gives Winter a cool brown rather than another predictable red or berry.
For Dark Winter, Grape Gushin' brings in that deep black-plum direction that can look incredibly striking against a palette built to handle depth.
Then we have two crossover shades: Blush Rush and Magenta Mist.
Both also work for Cool Summer, but Winter can take those colours and let them feel a little stronger.
Winter shades to explore:
A cool brown for something deeper but still neutral-ish.
A dramatic black plum for the deepest Winter palettes.
Soft rosewood that bridges the two cool seasons.
A classic ruby-red direction with more presence.
Gloss It or Stain It?
One thing I particularly like about Lip IV is that you don’t necessarily have to wear every shade at full intensity.
NYX recommends applying it as a high-shine gloss or blotting it down for a softer stain; the brand also suggests letting it sit for around ten minutes before wiping it away if you want the staining effect.
That gives you some room to play.
A shade that feels stronger than your usual everyday lip might suddenly become much easier when worn as a stain.
And sometimes that little change in intensity is all you need.
The One I’d Start With
If you already know your colour season, start with the shade recommendation that sounds most like the kind of lipstick you actually wear.
Not the boldest one.
Not the one that looks prettiest in the tube.
The one you can imagine reaching for on a normal Tuesday.
Because the best colour-season recommendation is still the one that makes sense for you, your style, and your real life.
You can explore the full NYX Lip IV Hydrating Gloss Stain range here. The range is currently offered in a much broader selection of shades than the original launch lineup, so it’s worth checking the live product page when you shop.
And if you’re looking at all of these shades thinking, “Lovely… but I still have no idea which season I am,” a Personal Colour Analysis is where I’d start.
Once you understand your palette, you stop looking at twenty tubes of gloss as twenty separate decisions.
You start seeing the few that are actually worth trying. Book a colour analysis here.
Yours in style,
