Between Lady Gaga’s recession-pop resurgence à la her new single “Abracadabra” (which had a surprise debut during the Grammys!) and MAC’s recent Y2K-inspired makeup campaign, it’s as if we’ve thrown a line back in time and adopted whichever noughties trend our hooks drudged up. The latest to resurface? Concealer lips.
Professional makeup artists told us that nude lipsticks were going to be big in 2025, but not in the soft, warm colorways that we’re used to. “We’ve already seen it with MAC, which has relaunched the nude lipsticks everyone was obsessed with in 2017,” Jamie Genevieve, makeup artist and founder of Vieve, previously told Who What Wear.
Celebrity MUAs such as Erin Parsons, who’s glammed the faces of Gigi Hadid and Ashley Graham, have been searching for lookalikes to the coveted ‘00s versions of Fleshpot and Hodgepodge for years, and thanks to the brand’s star-studded nude-forward campaign (Julia Fox! Martha Stewart!), this trend is officially back on center stage—just in a more modern, wearable fashion.
The 2025 way to wear this turn-of-the-century look is to pair a cool-toned lip liner with a pale lipstick. Take it from model and Charli XCX-knighted It girl, Gabbriette, who just three months ago posted an Instagram Reel with Vogue France walking us through her signature two-step concealer lips: a thick line of MAC lip liner in Stone with a light wash of a (likely discontinued, eBay-sourced) concealer that reminds us of the brand’s Pro Longwear Paint Pot.
“[MAC] had it in the early 2000s for people to do that concealer lip, which I am obsessed with,” she says to the camera. Her tip? Dabbing it onto her lips with a finger to avoid the “crusty” look of the overly-pale lipsticks of yore.
If you don’t want to go full millennial by applying a drying concealer onto your lips, we hear you. Keep reading to find 10 of the best 2000s-inspired “concealer” lipsticks that deliver effortlessly-cool, ashen (but never ashy) lips on any skin tone—from just $4.
Shop Editor-Approved Concealer Lipsticks
Mac
M·A·Cximal Sleek Satin Lipstick in Fleshpot
Arguably the “original” arbiter of the concealer lip, this ultra-pale lip shade from MAC is a modernized version of the iconic aughts hue. Elevate this look and suit it to deeper skin tones with a dark lip liner.
Nyx Professional Makeup
Soft Matte Lip Cream in Cairo
Neither too cool or too warm, this neutral ballet slipper shade offers a comfortable matte finish and lightweight feel.
Mac
M·A·Cximal Silky Matte Lipstick in Acting Natural
This featherweight MAC lipstick leaves a wintry wash of color that won’t fade for up to 12 hours. Though it has a demi-matte finish, its coconut- and shea butter-infused formula keeps things comfortable.
Catrice Cosmetics
Shine Bomb Lipstick in Everyday Favorite
The most affordable of the bunch, this delicate shade is more of a “sheer foundation” lipstick versus a stark concealer. It leaves a high-shine finish and can be yours for an on-sale price of just $4.
Parsons once recommended this fleshy shade for a “wearable” concealer lip thanks to its peachy undertones that suit a wide range of skin tones. But hurry—this one’s a sellout risk.
Make Up For Ever
Rouge Artist For Ever Lipstick in Empowered Beige
Though it looks light upon first glance, this beige shade wears more tan-nude than it does pale-nude, suiting deeper skin tones while still providing a brightened look.
Made by Mitchell
Mattitude Cream Lipstick in Extra Cream
One of the lightest formulas we’ve seen yet, this formula is highly pigmented and reasonably priced. According to Parsons, who also recommended this shade, the formula is ultra-creamy upon application but dries down quite matte.
Lawless
Forget the Filler Lip-Plumping Satin Cream Lipstick in Platinum
This pinky-pale lipstick is infused with jojoba and olive oil plus a plumping complex, which offers that nostalgic look while still exaggerating the natural shape of your lips—a very 2025 take, if you ask us.
Victoria Beckham Beauty
Posh Gloss in Bikini
Nobody embodied Y2K beauty like a Spice Girl, which is why we’d be remiss to forget this lusciously light lip gloss from Victoria Beckham Beauty. It’s pigmented, pale, and would look fabulous with a cool-toned lip liner.
Charlotte Tilbury
Hot Lips Lipstick in Kim K.W.
If you’re a pink lipstick devotee but still want to channel your inner Y2K popstar, swipe on the shade Kim K.W. from Charlotte Tilbury. It’s basically OPI’s Bubble Bath in lipstick form.
