RSSDARK LIPSTICK DOESN’T WORK IN REAL LIFE
April 22, 2008
Dark lipstick looks like you tried too hard. It may work in the fantasy world of magazines but real women live on a different planet. On which of your friends do you think dark lipstick is attractive? Unless you hang out with Catherine Zeta-Jones, prominent lipstick does not work.
Of course, a color that looks dark on me might just be neutral on woman with darkly pigmented skin. Dark on a very pale woman would be light or medium on me. It’s relative to the intensity of your own pigmentation. If someone looking at you would find your lipstick color dark, then that’s dark. Ask your kids, or anyone’s kids. They have natural aversions to dark lipstick on real women and the instincts of children are so accurate, it’s spooky. They’re the best Image Consultants alive.
I can be more specific.
6 Reasons
1. It’s too high maintenance. If it wears off even slightly, it is incredibly noticeable. You could avoid eating or talking all day, and only drink through a straw, but who lives in that world? If you wear it at night, when you’re almost certain to be eating or drinking, it will wear off in no time. What’s the point?
You could talk to me about long-lasting lipsticks. They’re horrible. They get dry and crumbly and it’s even more obvious with a vibrant or darker color. The attached gloss tube is greasy and often leaks or gets so slick that it separates from the color tube. If you rub your lips because they feel dry and you have little pieces stuck to your mouth all day, like terribly chapped lips. This technology has a long way to go. I’ve been stung too many times to ever buy another one. Now, some women love them and that’s fair.
2. Dark lip color emphasizes color or application mistakes. Color mistakes are very unforgiving. Application mistakes are worse, especially if you get some color on your teeth.
3. Dark lipstick makes small lips look smaller. It makes thicker lips too prominent.
Some women, when they get the color just right, can pull it off , if they have a very well-shaped mouth but the odds are against you.
4. You can’t just reapply it anywhere. Who has time to fuss with lip color that requires you to be in front of a mirror to apply? Are you really going to do this every hour? I do not want to be in front of a mirror more than once in a morning or afternoon.
5. If the lipliner matched the lipstick, you can see it for hours after the lipstick is gone and it looks clownish. There are ways around this, with colorless lipliner for instance. You could try The Body Shop’s Line Fixer. It works well.
6. It looks hard. It’s distracting. It’s hard to not notice it. It works in photographs of models who sat for 20 minutes to have it applied, because you’re supposed to notice it more in those pictures.
Now, pale lips, that’s better.
Easy to reapply. Looks classy. Works in the real world.
The color should not be so pale that it looks like you’re wearing concealer. That’s another look that only works in magazines.
What about bright but not dark? That’s a matter of personal preference if you are very good at finding colors that suit you. For most of us, these are impulse purchases that don’t get used very much because bright color has to be applied carefully, just as dark color does.
Comments
3 Responses to “DARK LIPSTICK DOESN’T WORK IN REAL LIFE”
Got something to say? I hope so.
-
A Greener Tea
Web Maintenence by Rick Beckman
Hey guys, I am a fairly fair woman and I wear dark burgundy, plum lipstick. I also use a lip liner and the dark colors are the only thing that keeps me looking alive. I have a very old fashion face and these colors work well. However I cannot use vamp from chanel, too dark. I can apply lipstick without a mirror. If I go nude , slightly or medium, I look dead. End of story.
Really interesting comment, Lynn.
I’m trying to imagine your coloring. I think about “fairly fair” as Hilary Swank.
If you’re darker, like Catherine Zeta-Jones, then a “nude”, which usually is a fleshy pink-beige or peachy-brown, could easily look dead. Red or plum might well be her “nude” since those colors are natural to her complexion.
Goes to show that there are no blanket rules that apply to everyone. Each woman is unique and that’s a great thing. Thanks for pointing it out.