On the runway and in editorials, we’ve been seeing a return of the dark lip, beautifully seen in the latest Balenciaga campaign as a high fashion example but also singer Lorde is a huge champion of a dark lip & we have seen it on red carpet too. I wanted to inspire more women to have fun with a darker lip and show how you’d put it together in a modern way.  A dark lip has an unexpected quality and there is a soft but dark romance to it as opposed to the more conventional sexy red lip. You need a flawless base to complement a dark lip so I used the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. It’s a great easy to use base and has a range of colours for all skin tones. There was a tiny bit of concealer under the eyes and powder in the T-Zone but I used it sparingly to keep the skin looking fresh. I used some RMS Living Luminizer applied to the cheekbones with my fingers to highlight but I skipped contour completely as it would have made the look too gothic. I didn’t curl the lashes, I didn’t use mascara, and I didn’t put anything in the brow, just brushed them. In editorial looks, I’ve sometimes done a bleached brow with a dark lip but that’s hard to pull-off in real life. I wanted Vanessa to look striking rather than weird. I did use a metallic grey cream shadow from Bobbi Brown called Galaxy over the eyelids. I applied it with a fluffy brush in a straight shape across the lids as a colourwash with diffused edges to keep it looking soft. Of course you can wear a strong eye and a dark lip together but I think that can feel very overwhelming. The lip colour was TopShop Lip Bullet in Bewitched. The texture is somewhere in between a matte and a cream and it’s an easy to use product as the shape of the bullet makes is easy to apply. Traditionally you might associate a dark lip with the autumn and winter but I actually like a dark lip for spring and summer with very minimal make-up. I’ve always found it difficult to stick to those seasonal conventions and I feel we’ve moved on in beauty terms. If a look works and makes you feel amazing then it’s trans-seasonal.

Airflash CC Primer by DIOR
Luminous Silk Foundation by Giorgio Armani
Select Sheer Pressed Powder by MAC
Metallic Longwear Cream Shadow by Bobbi Brown
Living Luminizer by RMS
Lip Bullet by TOPSHOP