Vampire Moi

Dear Readers,

YSL Black Lips

Today's post is about Vampire lips: my current obsession and one of the biggest make up trends for the coming season. This is a love-it or hate-it thing, and as far as I'm concerned I'm all for it.

I'm not into Vampires. I'm one of those people - insane people, according to some - who hasn't watched or read 'Twilight'. I have no intention of doing either of them in the foreseeable future. 'The Vampire Diaries' doesn't make my 'Favourite Series' list, even though I've heard hundreds of positive comments about a handsome vampire called Damon (or Damien? I don't feel like checking). As a sidenote, this Damon guy is nothing compared to 'Angel' in Buffy. RAWR! What was I going to say? Oh yeah, there's another series about vampires I believe. It's called 'True Blood' right? I don't watch that either. Anyway, you get my point. I'm not very crazy about vampires, unless they come in the form of David Boreanaz. 

BUT that doesn't imply that I despise mysterious, dramatic, Vampy looks. There's something incredibly attractive about dramatic, dark lips. I blame movies like 'Corpse Bride' and 'The Nightmare before Christmas' for this. Tim Burton exercises a huge influence on me, enough to make me flirt with 'the darker side'.

Deep reds are also an option

The great thing about this trend is that it gives us some leeway with regard to colours. This is not the 'red lip' trend, where you're only confined to wearing red. For this trend, all dramatic, dark colours will do. This means you're free to experiment with colours like wine red, maroon, dark plum, burgundy and, for the super brave, black. I'm still quite sceptical about black though, I'm still trying to broker an agreement with the bad-ass as I write. My point is that we have a good variety of colours to choose from, and we can also change the hue with put on from time to time. Both matte and glossy colours will do. 

Unless you want to look like you're getting ready for a Halloween party, keep the rest of your make up as simple as possible. Fair-skinned ladies have an advantage here, because the contrast created by your lips and skin will favour you greatly. Focus on contouring your face, highlight your cheekbones and make sure you don't look too pale. The least thing you need is looking like you've woken up from the dead. If you're slightly more daring, I advise filling in your eyebrows to create definition and avoiding eye-liner. Some mascara won't do any harm.

I think she wants to bite you

Here comes the million dollar question, 'What should I wear this with?' I say 'Lace, plenty of lace.' The whiter, the better. I'm all about contrast, so nothing will beat the dark + light contrast in my eyes. Be careful if you want to pair black with vampire lips, it's like dancing the Macarena on thin ice. It might be too dramatic for some to pull off. Then it really depends on how daring you are, as always. Oh, and while we're at it, you'll need plenty of confidence with Vamp lips. It's mandatory. People will look at you. A lot.

I'm still hunting for the perfect Vamp shades myself, although I've spotted a couple of potential candidates in my huge lipstick palette. I'll keep you posted about my favourite shades, promise. In the meantime, think less about Damon and put more effort into finding your perfect shade.

-B