Trend to Try: Wine Lips
Trend to Try: Wine Lips
Trend to Try: Wine Lips
Lips that range from deep cherry to aubergine rocked the fall runways, and the best news is that this trend is extremely wearable. āWine looks good on a variety of skin tones, making it one of the easiest colors to pull off,ā says Creative Makeup Director for Fashion Fair Sam Fine. But makeup artist Kate Lee cautions against making sure you ādonāt end up looking like The Cureās Robert Smithā with a smudged, too-dark shade. How to get it right? āExperiment with different shades on the wine spectrum, then play with the intensity by blotting and layering,ā says Lee. Whatever your skin tone and age, weāll show you how to work your Merlot like you mean it.
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If you're in your 20s-30s:
āYouāre young-throw caution to the wind!ā says Lee. Most makeup artists agree that youthful, dewy skin makes wine lips look dramatic but not overly severe. "When youāre young, you can pull off a trendier style, like Camilla Belle's super-dark wine lips. Itās a very bold look, so be sure to keep eyes clean-looking with just a nude shadow and mascara,ā says makeup artist Rosie Johnston. To make the color look āworn-in and somewhat vintage, apply lipstick with your fingers and then blotāit will leave a perfectly stained lip,ā says Fine.
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If you're in your 20s-30s:
Rouge Dior in Fantastic Plum ($32; dior.com)
ILIA Lip Gloss in Gypsy ($24; iliabeauty.com starting in October)
Maybelline ColorSensational Lipcolor in Deepest Cherry ($7.50; drugstore.com)
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If you're in your 40s, 50s and up:
Youāve heard the old adage that dark lipstick makes a woman look older. āTo hell with that rule. Wear strong color with confidence!ā says Fine, citing Iman, whoās nearly 60 and looks fabulous in dark wine lipstick. āApply a moisturizing, highly-pigmented creme lipstick with a brush, then put a dab of contrasting gloss in the center to make lips appear more dimensional,ā Fine says. Before youāre done, Johnston recommends āblotting gently with a tissue to help stop the lip color from bleeding into fine expression lines around the mouth.ā We love Kyra Sedgwick's subtle wine lip that also complements her complexion.
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If you're in your 40s, 50s and up:
Edward Bess Ultra Slick Lipstick in Night Romance ($32; neimanmarcus.com)
Tarte Glamazon Pure Performance 12-Hour Lipstick in Playful ($26; sephora.com)
Chanel Rouge Coco in CaractĆØre ($32.50; chanel.com)
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For a fair complexion:
Sure, you can stick with always-flattering wine shades that are āmore of a neutral red or berry shade, which always look good on light skin tones,ā says makeup artist Jenn Streicher. Or, you can be more vampy and daring. Fairer skin can pull off any shade of wine-itās all about how dramatic you want to go,ā says makeup artist Mai Quynh. āYou can pull a Kate Bosworth, whoās very fair and wears a very vampy deep red.ā The benefits of going bold? āYour teeth and the whites of your eyes look whiter,ā says makeup artist Kim Bower, who swears by Tom Ford Black Orchid lipstick.
BONUS: See the next slide for Kate Bosworth's exact wine shade!
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For a fair complexion:
NARS Semi Matte Lipstick in Scarlet Empress ($24; narscosmetics.com)
What Kate Bosworth wore:
NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in Volga ($25; narscosmetics.com)
Tom Ford Beauty Lip Color in Black Orchid ($48; neimanmarcus.com)
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For a medium complexion:
An olive or almond skintone like Rachel Roy's can handle more depth. āTry a true burgundy or a maroon shade-they really flatter medium skin tones,ā says Streicher. Keep in mind that even though you may have some golden brown undertones, you should steer clear of brown-based lipsticks. āOpt for fruity dark shades,ā says Lee. āThat will help you avoid ones that are too red or too brown.ā
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For a medium complexion:
Lancome L'Absolu Nu in Rouge Resille ($24; lancome-usa.com)
Bite Beauty High Pigment Matte Pencil in Scarlet ($24; sephora.com)
Giorgio Armani Rouge D'Armani Lipstick in 408 ($30; saksfifthavenue.com)
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For a dark complexion:
āDark skin looks great with wine lips, and theyāre less of a dramatic statement than on someone with fairer skin because thereās less of a contrast with skin tone. The best shades are deep red, blackberry, and dark plum,ā says Quynh. The browner your skin, the better you look when you use lipstick or gloss with a brown undertone like on Selita Ebanks; on lighter skin, it can come off as too severe. āI use browner berries and truer purples on women with deeper colored skin,ā says Bower.
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For a dark complexion:
YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Mats No. 203 Rouge Rock ($32; yslbeautyus.com)
Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color in Apocalypse ($19; urbandecay.com)
Illamasqua Lipstick in Underworld ($22; sephora.com starting in September)
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If you work in a conservative office:
Remember, you may be bold and fashion-forward, but that doesnāt mean your accountant boss will be a fan of your edgy, bold wine lips. You can maintain the wine color, but at the office, itās best to water down the intensity by playing with the texture like Dianna Agron's glossy berry stain. āUse the sheerest option, like a stain, tinted lip balm, or sheer gloss,ā says Quynh. If you already have a not-so-sheer lipstick you love, you can get the look by blotting until youāre just left with a hint of the original, or āsoften the impact of a lipstickās pigment by applying a clear balm to your lips beforehand,ā says Streicher.
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If you work in a conservative office:
Buxom Full-Bodied Lip Gloss in Va-Va-Voom ($24; sephora.com)
Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm in Bitten Berry ($16; target.com)
Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Amore ($22; sephora.com)
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How to wear for daytime:
When your lips scream color, keep the rest of your makeup a whisper. Make the wine shade less severe on lips by āapplying with your finger for a softer, less intense look, or apply from the tube and blot so the color doesnāt appear too deep for daytime,ā says Fine. As for your skin, āapply a sheer blush, then lightly dust a natural-looking bronzer onto your entire face so the dark wine lip doesnāt wash you out,ā says Quynh. āFor your eyes, keep your makeup light-just groom brows and apply mascara.ā Sophia Bush's fresh, natural complexion is contrasted well with her pout's pop of color!
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How to wear for evening:
After dark itās time to amp up the drama, like Jessica Alba's heading-turning pucker. Rather than a sheer stain or gloss, you can wear wine lips in full-force. āLine and fill in the lips with a matching pencil, and apply lipstick with a lip brush to achieve a crisp application,ā says Streicher. For the rest of your face, use foundation and powder sparingly. āPowder makes skin appear lighter so only use it on your T-zone to kill shine, not all over the face. Add pink creme blush to the apples of your cheeks to add color and sweetness to your complexion-thatās what keeps you looking fresh and modern, not gothic or Elvira-like!ā says Lee. As for eyes, take it from daytime to evening with āblack-rimmed pencil liner or a small wing of black liquid liner,ā says Quynh. āYou can also add a little shimmer onto the inner eyelid for some lightness, then finish with mascara.ā
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If you have thin lips:
Yes, dark shades can exaggerate thin lips, making them look like a flat line. āThe darker the color, the smaller your lips will appear, and a matte texture makes lips seem even smaller,ā says Bower. But that doesnāt mean that those lacking a voluptuous pout are left out of the trend. Simply āgo for more of a soft, stained lip rather than a hard, defined shape youād get with an opaque lipstick,ā says Lee. Or ātry using a tinted lip balmā says Bower.
Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Plum ($5; drugstore.com)
Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey ($15; clinique.com)
MORE: See our top makeup, hair and skincare picks of 2012 in InStyle's Best Beauty Buys list.