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You’re seeing it everywhere right now. The dark lip trend is in magazines, on the runways, even strutting up and down the city streets and sipping at the local coffee shop. You might be thinking, “That trend isn’t for me. I’ll never be able to pull that look off.” But guess what? You soooo can!  And here’s how…

• Pick the right shade – Rest assured, there is a lush, dark hue for each and every skin tone out there. If you have fair to medium tone skin, try versions of purple-based merlot colors. For those with medium to olive skin tones, try hues of burgundy with a more terra cotta base. Deep tone skin can really push the boundaries of deep and dark, so try a merlot with a bit of black or brown.
• Exfoliate, Exfoliate, Exfoliate – You’ll hear this tip in almost every lip color guide…because it honestly makes a huge difference to how color glides on and looks. If your lips are dry, cracked, and flaky, any lip color will get stuck in the cracks and crevices…but a dark lip color will look positively atrocious. Scrub gently with a product like Fresh Sugar Lip Polish, or Bliss Fabulips. You can also use something simple like olive oil and sugar. Then wipe with a warm, damp cloth and follow with a non-waxy moisturizer.
• Check your upper lip – You may not think it will make a difference, but trust us, it will. Wearing a dark lip color will draw attention to…yep, you guessed it…your lips. Not only can the dark color get snagged on the tiny hairs, but the hairs can also cast a shadow on that upper lip. Both of which will draw the wrong type of attention. And bleaching the hair won’t work. So, go the distance and remove the hair completely.
• Let your skin glow – Dark lips will tend to highlight any blotchiness or imperfections in the skin, so even it up and make it glow as much as possible. That means scrubbing and exfoliating your face, removing any little patches of dry skin, then applying a skin brightening BB or CC cream, which will also help to even things up and get you glowing. After all, you want a clean, even canvas for those bold lips!
• Even the base – Everyone’s lips have some sort of natural hue, and sometimes, that hue can throw off a perfectly wonderful deep Winter lip color. So after applying foundation, dab on a bit to your lips and blend. You’re not looking to completely white-out your own hue, you just want to tone it down a bit so that the lip color reads true when you apply it.
• Strategically line – Lining when applying a dark lip color can be tricky. If you make a mistake, it will be very The best way to line a dark lip is to start with a nude color. Line just outside your natural lip line and blend away from your lip. The will not only help to keep the lip color from running, it will also make the color itself pop. Next, apply a liner in a similar shade to your lip color to just the area of your cupid’s bow and the middle portion of your bottom lip. Next, apply the lip color with a lip brush, to give you more control over color placement.

And there you go! Perfectly luscious, perfectly beautiful deep, dark lips for the Winter season.

You’d like to think of yourself as pretty hip, sometimes adventurous, and you definitely know a thing or two about makeup. So when you get invited to a party, you immediately think of all the wonderful, slightly daring, party eye makeup looks you want to try…but when the night comes, you settle for the safe-but-pretty brown smokey eye and marginally-brighter-than-you-normally-wear red lip. Well, we say no more! No more playing it safe! It’s a party…you should have party eye makeup to match!

• Glitter girl – The easiest, fastest, and most fun way to get the party look you’re after is to go for glitter! Party eye makeup is glitter eye makeup. And glitter eye makeup needs a good lid/shadow primer first (best picks: Urban Decay Primer Potion and Too Faced Glitter Glue). Apply to lid and allow to dry before patting on glitter shadow (pat…don’t sweep! It will go everywhere). There are many powder shadows with anywhere from a little to a lot of glitter, but if you want to pack a true punch, check out a glitter pigment (MAC has several amazing shades).
• Metallics – Metallic eyeshadow brings a lovely and highly reflective shimmer to the eye area. Here, too, a good primer is recommended before use, since this party is going to put your new party eye makeup through its paces. Metallic shadow can also be used along with matte shadows to create a sultry and edgy smokey eye.
• Big lashes – Another winning way to make a big statement is with big lashes! You can flaunt your own by first curling with your trusty ELF eyelash curler, applying lash primer, and then two coats of the best thickening mascara you can find (Dior Show or Maybelline The Falsies are both awesome for adding volume and length). Of course you can opt for false lashes too! There are literally hundreds on the market to choose from (some of the best picks for quality and cost are Eylure, Ardell, and Dolly Wink). Many are natural hair or mink eyelashes, and are reusable. All it takes to create a look is eyelash glue, and a little imagination!
• Liquid eye liners – The choices of liquid eyeliners and liquid eyeliner styles today can help create incredible and fun eye looks. And liquid liners aren’t just black and brown…there are bold and vivid brights, sparkling jewel tones, mega metallics, and even glitter! Line just the top lashes for a flirty pop, or line the entire eye for an exotic wow!

There are so many eye makeup options, you can’t help but step out of your comfort zone in the most beautiful and daring way. Remember, you’re going to a party or event… your makeup is not supposed to look like you’re just heading out to the grocery store or a regular ol’ day at the office. With a little courage, your look will no doubt win rave reviews from your friends…but, more importantly, your new party eye makeup will make you smile and give yourself a silent pat on the back every time you pass a mirror.

If you’ve got hooded eyes, then you know what a challenge applying eye makeup can be. While everyone else seems to just sweep on a fierce cat-eye, you’re trying to figure out how to keep it on, let alone apply it. Sure, some of the most popular young celebrities today, like Blake Lively, Taylor Swift, and Jennifer Lawrence, have hooded eyes, and their eye makeup manages to look fabulous all the time, but they also have the benefit of countless makeup artists at their beck-and-call. Lucky for you though, there are some simple tips you can use to make your hooded eyes really pop!

• Primer is your best friend – This is the single most important element of applying makeup for hooded eyes! Since your upper lid tends to fold over and hide your lower lid, any eye makeup you apply there is likely to be rubbed off quickly by the friction, so primer (like Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, or Benefit Stay Don’t Stray) will provide your products with loads more staying power. Apply from base of lashes to just below the brow bone and blend in, then allow to dry before applying any other products.
• Brows – You might not realize it, but unkempt brows can actually make your hooded lid look even heavier. Likewise, an over-plucked brow creates the appearance of more lid space, which draws attention to your hood. If you are unsure about the best shape for your face, go to a salon. They can help you get the basic shape established, so then all you will have to do is maintain. To keep them filled in, the best eyebrow makeup is usually powder, applied with a stiff angled brush. Powder often looks more natural than pencil, but the best brows usually combine both! Try a combo of Anastasia of Beverly Hills Brow Wiz and Smashbox Brow Tech.
• Use smudge-proof, water-proof liner and mascara – Again, if you constantly wrestle with disappearing eye makeup, the formulation of your products could be the culprit. You might have shied away from “smudge-proof” or “water-proof” before, but there are such great products out there, like the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil, that go on smoothly, blend effortlessly, and, most importantly, stay on! If it’s the removal of those smudge-proof and water-proof liners and mascaras that has you fretting, a product like Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover will quickly and gently wipe your eyes completely clean.
• Shadow placement – This is probably the second most important element in hooded eyes makeup, right behind using primer. With the sagging skin of hooded eyes, typical eye makeup tutorials often don’t apply to you. But don’t lose heart! You just need a slightly different placement technique. The goal is to camouflage the hooded skin to create the illusion of a more balanced, open eye using light and dark color placement (light colors bring forward, and dark colors recede). So, after your lid primer is dry, sweep a light, shimmery shade all over the lower lid. Next, apply a darker, matte shadow into the outer V (extending it a bit up and out). And now for the real magic…looking forward, with your eyes relaxed (so you can clearly see the hood), sweep a darker matte shadow in and slightly above your crease (yes, onto the lower part of the hood). In a light, windshield-wiper motion, bring the shadow about half way in, then connect it with the shadow in the outer V. The darker shadow will help to recede the skin of the hood. Always remember, if you’ve got hooded eyes, always have a matte shadow pallet handy!