Fall 2011 Lipstick Recommendations and Swatches

L-to-R: NYX Iced Honey, Make Up Store Magic, and NYX Chic Red lipstick

Some of the shades that have been showing up for the Fall fashion season include a mixture of soft, dark, and strong shades. Here are some of my favorites.

SOFT:

Gone are the concealer lips of last season. The new "nude" lipsticks are kittenish (they make your lips look much more pouty) with a warm peachy undertone so they give your face some color without grabbing too much attention. These lips will go with pretty much any look.

Swatches (L-to-R): NYX Iced Honey (Round) Lipstick, and MAC Kinda Sexy (Matte) lipstick.

NYX Iced Honey lip swatch

STRONG:

Strong shades make your lips the focal point of your face. This season, the liner has been jazzed up, but the lips remain strong. Just keep the eye color neutral for the day, and any of these shades would look fantastic as a pop of color when you're wearing a whole suit of dark colored clothes.

Swatch (L-to-R): NYX Chic Red (Round), and MAC Up the Amp (Amplified) lipstick

Lip swatch: MAC Up the Amp is a creamy, strong purple mauve.

VAMPY:

Super-dark lipsticks have been popping up in many collections. The common variations are those that are brown based, red based, and purple based. The tricky bit is avoiding looking too Goth when wearing these lip colors, but you don't have to pair it with pale eye shadows either. Just keep the lids a soft smoky shade for a more modern touch.

Swatches (L-to-R): MAC Prince Noir (matte) lipstick, and Make Up Store Magic lipstick.

Lip swatch: Make Up Store Magic lipstick gives an interesting metallic purple twist on the dark vamp lip.

Wearing Lavender / Purple Lips!

L-to-R: MAC Up The Amp Lipstick, Lime Crime Airborne Unicorn Lipstick, MAC Going Casual Cremesheen Glass, MAC English Accents Lipglass (L.E.), NYX Power (round) lipstick

I love lavender lips. And by purple/lavender, I don’t mean purplish or cool-toned pinks. I mean REALLY purple. 

TIP: The lighter the shade, the more opaque the lip color should be, because glosses will creep and sink into creases and folds in your lips, and anything lighter than your natural lip color is going to stand out like chalky lavender zebra stripes. Not fun. (In fact, I did not post pictures of the 2 glosses I swatched above, as they sank into every line I didn’t know I had. Definitely better over a nude base color like Revlon Soft Nude.)

If you want to wear pale purple glosses, your best bet is to layer them over a nude lipstick or a liner of some sort, although that alters their color.

NYX Power Lipstick

View some lip swatches here!