First and foremost, this article should be read while listening to 200 Million Thousand. I've been meaning to throw more musical suggestions all up on the site and totally forgot. This was too obvious and corny not to do. Great music, cool dudes, with even cooler girlfriends. Because, really, it's all about the hot girlfriend, right?
SO! I love the look of a black lip. Problem is, most in-actual black lipsticks have a creamy consistency, with the end result being that your lips will TOTALLY REFLECT LIGHT which is wrong, wrong, wrong. Plus, anything with an emollient will probably smudge. Black smudges are probably the worst smudges, unless we're talking greasy black eyes, because in that case, smudges can be mega sexy, but we're not--ARE YOU EVEN PAYING ATTENTION?
Hannah's on point with the clear gloss, but if I'm going to do a black lip, I want to look like I have an infinite pitch-dark hole in the middle of my face, in which I will ingest the souls of a 1000 tatted-up grease daddies after letting them pay for my drink. Because stick-and-poke-gnarly-older-motorcycle-dude souls are pretty much the only thing you will be able to eat with this look. And they're more filling than lame-ass baby hipster boy souls (pro tip).
Basically, we're using long-wear gel eyeliner rather than lipstick. I've road-tested the method multiple times, and it stays put even as your lips stretch to smile really huge; just don't scrape it up with food. I ate toast last night because I can't freaking resist toast, and it knocked off the innermost blackness, leaving me with a line of pinky flesh where my lips part. Bummer.
As always, and especially when applying highly pigmented makeup, EXFOLIATE FIRST. Skipping this step is just setting yourself up for frustration. I then like to let a swipe of lip balm set in for about 5-10 minutes, then wipe off the excess before applying the lip color.
I started by lining my lips with NYX black eyeliner. Think of this as a pigmented primer for the REAL black we're about to use, because using just a pencil won't give you the coverage that you really want. I mean, look at it; it's basically brown.
Be sure to line underneath your lips, like slightly into your mouth. Pink inner-lip is the pantyline of black lipstick, and everybody will notice and judge you.
Next we take one of my most favorite beauty products ever that I've mentioned probably five times now (which isn't nearly enough): Esteé Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Gel Liner. In black, come on. Smile as you apply, so that you get the pigment in every micro lip crevice. See the the cracks in the upper lip? Paint those in!
Ew, just glance at the photo above, I included it for comparison sake, not for public scrutiny. Keeeeep scrollin', KEEEEEEEP SCROLLING.
This look is by no means full-on goth--and I would never claim to know what that is--but dewy, freshly moisturized skin didn't seem right. I wanted a paler, matte look to match the matte black lips.
Enter: Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Powder Foundation. This stuff made me a believer in AN ENTIRE MAKEUP CATEGORY. Seriously, I always laughed off powder foundation because I'd never found one with great coverage that didn't look cakey. It comes with a soft little brush applicator, and leaves your skin looking airbrushed but feeling totally naked. While it won't take the place of a concealer or a heavy foundation, it totally blurred out small areas of underground "activity" on my forehead, cheeks, and around my chin. And the pale, matte color it left my face is BEAUTIFUL!
For the eyes, I wanted to keep it simple. But simple DOES NOT have to mean neutral.
I've been dying to do a pink lid forever. I had Urban Decay eyeshadow in Last Call on hand, and, you guys, photos just don't do it justice. I did the natural light shot, flash, an arm swatch, blah blah yadda. Nothing would pick up the multifaceted pinky flirty glitter action that is this eyeshadow. It's packed with flecks that match my dress exactly, and it looked SO COOL in person! So I guess we just all need to hang out IRL to really understand.
Next time, I'm trying their Woodstock shade, which is more of an intense hot pink. But I like the subtlety of this look, I think "flirty goth" is a good description. GOTHS GOTTA GET LAID TOO, YAH?
So what are you even doing this weekend? And how do YOU wear a black lip?