London, Mar 8 : British women are ditching classic red lipsticks for softer, more muted “nude” shades, just like celebrity chef Nigella Lawson.

The natural look as portrayed by “Domestic Goddess” Lawson on the cover of this month’s Vogue magazine is becoming the norm.

For the first time in three years, nude lipsticks are outselling bright red shades, High Street chain Debenhams said.

Sales of sheer, natural shades are up 62 percent compared with this time last year, the Daily Express reported.

The news should cheer Chancellor George Osborne. Lipstick sales are often seen as a broad economic indicator with sales of bright red lippy said to rise in a recession and fall during an upturn.

Estee Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder named the phenomenon “lipstick index” theory in 2001, although the effect was first noted in the 1930s Depression.