Some makeup shades are created to make a statement. Others become essential because they solve a problem that consumers have quietly been trying to solve for years. REFY’s latest shade, Clove, sits somewhere between the two.
The brand’s deepest lip shade to date arrives across its much-loved Lip Sculpt and Lip Gloss formulas, introducing a rich neutral brown designed specifically to sculpt, define and complement tan to deep skin tones. The launch may centre on a single colour, but its significance is broader. As beauty becomes increasingly attentive to undertones, complexion depth and the way colour behaves across different skin tones, the idea of a universal “nude” has become increasingly outdated.
Clove offers a deeper interpretation. It is a shade designed to bring definition without overwhelming the face, while also creating a foundation for more dimensional lip looks.
A brown designed for depth
Brown has become one of the most versatile colours in contemporary makeup, moving comfortably between minimalist beauty and more dramatic looks. But not every brown performs in the same way.
Undertones can determine whether a shade appears warm, cool, grey, red or almost black against different complexions. For deeper skin tones, finding a brown that provides genuine definition while remaining wearable can be particularly important. REFY’s Clove addresses that space with a rich, neutral brown.
The shade has been introduced across two of the brand’s established lip products, giving consumers different ways to interpret the same colour. For those who prefer precision and structure, Lip Sculpt provides the foundation. For those drawn towards shine, Lip Gloss transforms the same brown into a more reflective finish.
The result is a colour that can function independently or as part of a layered lip combination. That versatility is central to its appeal. A deeper brown does not necessarily have to mean a dramatic makeup look. Used lightly, it can create definition. Applied more fully, it becomes the focal point. Combined with gloss, it takes on another dimension entirely.
Sculpt, define, layer
Lip Sculpt in Clove carries the characteristics associated with REFY’s original formula, including highly pigmented colour and transfer-proof precision. The formula is designed to make shaping and defining the lips straightforward, giving the new shade a practical role beyond simply adding colour.
Worn alone, Clove can create a defined neutral-brown lip with a deeper finish than the shades traditionally associated with the nude category. But it can also serve as a base.
That is where the shade becomes particularly interesting. A deep neutral brown can create contrast beneath a lighter or glossier lip product, adding dimension without requiring several different colours. The same principle is behind the introduction of Lip Gloss in Clove.
Rather than simply reproducing the Lip Sculpt shade in a different texture, the gloss allows the brown to become softer and more reflective. The rich colour remains, but the glossy finish changes how the shade interacts with light. Together, the two formulas offer different interpretations of the same colour story.
It is a simple idea, but one that reflects how consumers increasingly approach makeup. Products are no longer necessarily assigned one fixed purpose. A lip colour can be liner, lipstick, base or statement depending on how it is applied.
Expanding the modern nude
The arrival of Clove also contributes to a larger conversation about representation in beauty. The modern nude is no longer one colour. For years, makeup categories often treated nude as synonymous with pale beige or pink, leaving consumers with deeper complexions to adapt shades that were never developed with their skin tones in mind.
The expansion of deeper neutral shades has changed that conversation. REFY’s decision to introduce its deepest lip shade to date signals an acknowledgement that definition and everyday neutrals need to exist across a much wider spectrum.
Clove is particularly suited to tan to deep skin tones, according to the brand, giving those consumers a shade designed with their complexion in mind rather than as an afterthought. That makes the launch feel less like a seasonal colour experiment and more like an expansion of the brand’s core palette.
There is also something appealing about the simplicity of the proposition. Clove does not require an elaborate makeup routine. It is a shade that can be used to sculpt, worn alone or layered with gloss. Its strength is its ability to adapt. In a beauty landscape filled with increasingly complex routines, that kind of flexibility has its own luxury.
The result is a lip colour that occupies a useful space between understated and dramatic — deep enough to create definition, neutral enough to remain wearable, and versatile enough to move between finishes. With Lip Sculpt, Clove delivers precision and structure. With Lip Gloss, it becomes richer, smoother and more luminous.
Together, they expand the possibilities of the brown lip while reinforcing a simple truth about modern makeup: sometimes the most important new shade is not the loudest one.
It is the one that was missing.
