Slaying the Dark/Black Lip

Its, that time of year again, Leaves turn deep red, yellow, brown and fall to the ground, wind picks up, the time where we put away our summer clothes, pull out our winter ware.  change from the sandals, strap heels to our stylish boots and close toe shoes, just as we change our wardrobe it is time for the makeup colors to change also, so we put away our bright and flashy pinks yellows, orange, fuchsia, even our pool blue lipsticks as we transition into deeper hues to represent the change of the season.

 Many attempts have been made on show casing the dark lip whether it be the beep burgundy, the dark plums, or deep wine shade even your basic black shade, so many have tried to no avail. I’m not going to lie when I first attempted wearing a deep shade like black I failed so bad, Mama said "and that one there is dressing like death", Yes, it was that bad. Now of course that was as I was going through a pre-cosmetology class in high school. I soon went to beauty school and picked up so many tips and tricks about makeup not to mention I have always been very artistic and loved to play with paints crayons and markers. One of my favorite courses in elementary and mid school was art. I did not realize it at the time that the skills I learned in that class would stay with me threw out life.  What many must understand about pulling off any type of dark lip is there are rules to creating a dark lip, if followed and done right these steps will get you a double take when you step out in to the world.

When slaying a dark/black lip the key to making this look work is to get a clear understanding on where the focus is going to be. Any time this look comes into play the lip is always going to dominate or at least that is the hope. I have seen a few attempts the look, not only are we working the dark/black lip but we have the dramatic eye shadow with the wing eyelashes, winged eyeliner, can I just say team to much??  Let me be clear I am not saying that a dramatic eye cannot be paired with a dark lip because the two can come together and be balanced out in harmony. However, when the two looks cross paths, the lip still dominates over the dramatic shading of the eye due to the thought-out application process that brings a harmonious balance. The few I have seen pull the look off have done so by opting to go with a neutral eye look but even with the neutral some still manage to go overboard, there still needs to be balance. First things first let’s slay the dark/black lip and then we will talk about balance.  I will share a few of my tips that I have learned threw out my career of being a Makeup artist, some I picked up from mentors some are just trial and error.

Let slay this Dark Lip

Step 1.

Skin Tone / Under tone,  I recommend if this is the first time you are attempting the dark lip , get a good understanding of you skin tone and your undertone. This is just my opinion, but I beleive this is where a lot of people go wrong when choosing a dark lip . I am committed to knowing my clients skin tone not everyone can wear a deep red lip stick with blue undertones. There for first step is know your skin tone. 

Step 2.

  Always start with a clean, smooth lip that is going to be key to pulling off that smooth canvas use a lip scrub. Currently I use a lip scrub by Mary K, Satin Lips, lip scrub will remove all dry dead skin from the lips the last thing you want is to have a dark flaky lip nasty. 

Step 3.

Hydrate lips with a menthol free lip balm. The product I  currently use is Satin Lips from the Mary K  line.

Step 4.

Choosing your color, this is where you will really need to pay attention to your skin tone if you are going with a color other than black. When it comes to wearing black lip stick or any dark color lip stick a quality matte lipstick is best.  You want to go with a color that is close to black (Wines, Dark Plums, browns, burgundy, and mahogany) in a matte finish.  Let’s get started.

Step 5.

Lining your lip and applying the base. The base color is normally the black lip stick, however if you don’t have a black lip stick use a black eyeliner to fill lip in. Line your lip to create the canvas, once the shape has been outlined apply the base color with a brush a little at a time

Step 6.

Take a tissue and blot your lips. Repeat step 5 (base application) and step 6 blot, till the color starts to stain.

Step 7.

If the black lip is the look you are going for then at this point a little black color can be added, blot slightly and you are done. However,If a colored dark lip is the goal,  now is the time to add the  deep color, repeat step 6 until the desired shade appears.

I Stop at  step 7, because ,the reinforcements steps that where taken in steps 5 and 6, have been repeated 3 times. Moving me into step 7 and; I find that this method holds the color all night. However for those who want that  additional reinforcement , meaning you don't want that color to go anywhere.  Step 8 will give you that extra protection that you are looking for which is why I put it as an optional step 

Step 8. (Optional)

  To reinforce the stain very lightly dust translucent powder over the lips.  

   voila There is your sexy dark lip, Slayed to the Gods honey.  Let me be very clear; This type of lip may take some time to nail. I say this because going back to what I said in step 1. The key to a dark lip that is going to drop jaws is knowing  your under/skin tone.   You will be surprised at how knowing this key tip will make you look in the mirror and think wow this lip rocks.  

When you want a colorful dark lip ,Knowing your Undertone will get you that five minute stare you are going for.