Today I decided to finally try out a look I’ve been both intrigued and intimidated by for some time. I set out to pull off black lips, and while I was at it, I decided to go for an overall grunge-chic look as well. I am absolutely in love with the results. I feel so incredibly fierce and beautiful. If you’ve been dying to try out a black lip, you need to ASAP, and you can, even if you don’t have a black lip color on hand!
How To:
- Perfect your skin. This step is very important for this look. Because the lips are so dramatic, and are meant to be the main focus of the look, you don’t want any blemishes to take away from their rightly deserved attention! I used a combination of a Rimmel London foundation from the drugstore, mostly because of the color, and my Kat von D Tattoo foundation, for more coverage. If you need to conceal dark spots below your eyes, do that as well.
- Add some color to your skin. Since I was getting my inspiration for this look from the makeup that is typical of 90’s grunge looks, I avoided blush to mimic the skin tone that was typical of that era. Instead, I contoured my cheekbones with my usual bronzer, and added just a bit of a more orange toned bronzer on the apples of my cheeks.
- Apply your lip color. I usually do not do lips before eyes, but I waned to go ahead and get the color on so I would know how much eye makeup I wanted to apply since I’ve never worked with such a dark lip color before. I do not have a black lipstick lying around, so I created my own makeshift version for this look. First, I dabbed a small amount of petroleum jelly on my lips. Next, I grabbed my eyeshadow palette and a flat eyeshadow brush and applied the black shadow to my lips just like I would paint on a lipstick. This would also work with a lip brush, if you’re willing to get black shadow on it. If your color is not turning out how you’d like, try wetting your brush a bit, then applying the color to your lips. To make the shadow look just like a lipstick or gloss, and to give the color some staying power, add a clear gloss over the shadow. Nobody will ever know the difference!
- Apply your eye makeup, subtly. I wanted my lips to be in control of this look, so I went light on the eye makeup. I primed my lids with this, then swept on a base coat of a shadow that was the same color as my skin. This particular shadow was from a miniature Ulta palette, but any shadow will do, as long as it is matte. Next, I used a flat shadow brush to line my top lash line with black shadow and smudge it out a little. Be sure to blend it out with the skin tone shadow to get the smudged effect without making your whole lid black. Next, I added just a touch of orangey-brown shadow very lightly right in my crease. Finally, I traced a very thin line along my top lash line with Kat von D’s tattoo liner, just to give my lid and lashes some extra definition before adding mascara. I went pretty light on mascara, as well, keeping it to one coat on the bottom lashes and a few on the top. Note: there is no makeup on the lower part of the eye for this look.
- Add your finishing touches and go rock it. I paired this bold makeup look with an oversized men’s camo shirt over leggings and booties, and a half-up bun. Obviously, you can style yourself however you feel best, but I loved the tough and edgy vibe this look gave me. And never forget the most important part of pulling off a look like this one, confidence! Now you go work that black lip, you little fashionista.
samthropologist 