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.

Neutral Eye with Thick Cat Liner (Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner and Wet n Wild Greed Palette)

Beige and grey cut crease with thick cat eye liner.

Neutral can be dramatic even without tons of glitter and metallic textures. It all depends on the application.

This look was done using all drugstore or budget products. 

• Maybelline Lasting Drama black gel liner
• Wet n Wild Coloricon Greed Palette (POP Pretty Puzzle in Smoked Out Silver has 3 comparable shades)
• Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Mascara in Black
• Maybelline Pure Mineral Blush in N01 Original Rose
• NYX Round Lipstick in 556 Iced Honey
• Sephora Shimmer Gloss in 17 Golden Beige

Step 1: Apply a matte beige along the inner 2/3 of the lids and around the inner corners to highlight  the eyes. Then a smoky grey heavily along the outer half of the crease. I applied the shimmery black in the Greed Palette, and then smoked it out with the shimmery grey.

Step 2: Apply a thick swatch of solid black gel liner along the lower lash line, making sure to cover the water line. Gel liner gives you the best control and opacity, so I wouldn't recommend using a regular pencil or liquid liner.

Step 3: Repeat along the upper lash line, and then run the brush along the tide line as well to  make sure there isn't any white gap under the lashes.

Step 4: Finish with a voluminising mascara after curling lashes. False lashes would work just as well, but I wanted to try my Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Mascara.

Finish with a warm peach-pink blush that isn't too shimmery (you want the texture to be as muted as the eye makeup.
For the lips, I decided a touch of frost might be in order, so I applied NYX Iced Honey liipstick, and topped with a shimmery beige gloss (Sephora Golden Beige).

The finished look once again.