How To Rock A Dark Lip

Dark lips can be scary to beginners. If you read my blog then you might have seen my post about doing the perfect red lip. This is slightly different, the same rules apply on how to apply it and get the most out of your reds but this is more tips and guidelines than anything else.

Here are my dark colours (Left to right) MAC Ruby Woo, MAC Russian Red and MAC Diva. I love a good dark lip and although this can be seen as a very much autumn trend I think you shouldn't confine yourself to that part of the year - do what you want, it's make up so experiment!

Choosing Your Dark

I think this was something that I covered in my prefect red lips post but I'll talk about it anyway.
Again, don't confine yourself to make up 'rules' choose what you like but if you want to stick in some form of comfort zone then here is what I would suggest;

Pick an undertone:

Cool - Do your veins show up blue? Do you look better in silver jewellery than gold? You're probably a cool undertone and you should try to find colours with a blue undertone, I try to stick to this because I am very pale and have a cool undertone so the colours I am showing will work for you.

Neutal - Not sure if your veins are blue or green? Look good in both gold and silver? Aren't you lucky?! The world is your oyster when it comes to colours and you have your absolute pick! Go forth and be bold!

Warm - Green veins? Look good in gold? Try warmer, orange based colours they will really flatter your skin and make you look warm and glowy :) MAC Lady Danger is a good red to try if you want to test out the orange.

If you are totally unsure then don't worry, go to a make up counter of your choice and ask - they should be more than happy to help. As I say, don't let this confine you, if your pale and cool like me then dont let that stop you from wearing corals, peaches and orange. It's totally your choice.

How Comfortable Do You Feel?

Dark lips can be scary, I know. I remember wearing red lipstick for the first time and actually feeling embarrassed to face my family (totally extreme right?). As Gok Wan says "It's all about the confidence!", as long as you can convey confident in your colour then no one can say anything against you, you're bulletproof. I have found that the more I delve into dark lips, the more confident I feel. I used to feel like I had a big siren on me for everyone to stare at but now I don't even really notice it. Be brave and go for it! It's your life.

Lip Care

Okay, so this is super important. If you are like me and you love a good matte lipstick then you have to take such good care of your lips. Matte is not forgiving on chapped lips. I suggest investing in a good lip scrub or a pot of Vaseline and a toothbrush. I am currently using Elf Lip Treatment which uses sugar to exfoliate away all the chapped-ness on my lips. If you're curious about the Vaseline/ toothbrush route then here's what you do. Take a toothbrush (preferably cheap and certainly not your everyday one) and dip it in the vaseline, brush your lips in small circular motions until smooth. Not only is this an effective method, it's totally inexpensive!

When you aren't wearing lipstick/ gloss I recommend you apply a good lip balm, keep them hydrated and conditioned - It'll give you pillowey soft lips.

Lip Liner?! 

It's important! I know this can be a commonly missed step and everyone should do it to increase the longevity of lipsticks and also prevent colour bleeding.

If you are using a lip liner make sure you are using the right one.

I'm about to get technical here.

MAC Russian Red:
Top - This is just MAC Russian Red by itself, this is a matte finish and is also super pigmented.

Middle - MAC Russian Red with Collection Paprika Lip Liner. To be honest, I don't know why this is called 'Paprika' it's very much a cherry red. This is an ideal colour to use, it is a good match for the lipstick.

Bottom - MAC Russian Red with MAC Burgundy Lip Liner. Now this lip liner is a lot darker and really effects the colour of the lipstick. It's great to play around with, to see what colour combinations can do but if you are wanting to get the true colour of the lipstick then you need to try and get the closest colour possible. I still like to use a darker liner underneath to change up the feel of the colour or to do a bit of lip art like ombre effects.

MAC Ruby Woo:
Top - MAC Ruby Woo by itself. This is a Retro Matte so is drier than the regular mattes and this is something you need to be aware of.

Middle - Again, Collection Paprika Lip Liner is a suitable choice for colour matching, this also help to give a richer colour,

Bottom - Now with MAC Burgundy, it's a total mismatch. I imagine if you blended them you could come up with a nice even mixture but generally it wouldn't be a suitable match.

 

MAC Diva:

Top - Mac Diva by itself, this is another matte (I told you I like mattes haha) but is nowhere near as drying as MAC Ruby Woo and is super pigmented. 

Middle - I paired it with the red and this does all a little red tone to it and because it's a darker and very pigmented colour it can work with it. 

Bottom - now with MAC Burgundy which is what I originally bought together and they just go hand in hand. This makes an uber rich deep colour.

So, lip liners can really effect the overall colour. Again, try and play around with colour and see what works for you. 

Tips For Long Wearing Color:

- Try blotting the lipstick to get rid of excess and then apply another coat.

- Use a lip liner (see above :P)

- Blot the lipstick and use a translucent powder in between coats

- Lip top coat, sounds strange but they do exist! Google it. 

Other Tips 

- Take a mirror in your bag, this is for extra security - no one likes lipstick teeth

- Finger trick, sounds dirty, put your finger in you mouth and close your lips on it and then pull it out slowly to remove excess lipstick. Don't do it in public. 

- Use a lip brush to apply lipstick for precision.

So I hope you like this post and I really hope that you give dark lips a try. Let me know if you have any other useful tips and tricks :) 

Speak soon

Roo xx