Beauty Trends for Fall/Winter 2012 - Berry Lips

With the UK winter just around the corner (we've just hit the -ber months!), I can't help but feel excited for the fall/winter trends in beauty this year. I browsed through various websites and have picked a set of beauty trends that I personally like and feel are wearable for *almost* everyday use. 
I will be splitting the trends into various posts, which would include my thoughts, tutorials on the looks and my product recommendations. This is the first time I've done this sort of thing; I hope you'll find it useful.  So without further ado, here's the first of the series!

Berry Lips

Gucci, Rochas, Gucci

  It's no surprise that berry lips have come up in fashion this season as it happens every year.  There's just something about dark vampy lips and the cold season.  It could be the contrast between our generally fairer complexions during the winter season and the lippie?  If you have any bright theories, let me know.   But there is usually some variation between the vampy shade "in-season".  Last winter, we saw the rise of MAC Rebel lipstick (one of the most popular lipstick shades blogged about in the blogosphere), which is a more purple pink toned dark berry.    This year seems to be a red to brown dark cherry shade - reminiscent of the   MAC Cult of Cherry Collection,  which is remains to be one of my favourite MAC collections of all time.   Celebrities seem to be loving the dark lips too:

"Emphasize your eyes OR lips - not both."

These are just my opinions, but I believe in the saying that when wearing makeup, the emphasis should be on eyes or lips, but not both. I find that wearing heavy shimmery pigmented eye makeup with dark lips can be a bit too much, leaning over to drag queen ish (unless it's the look you're going for). 

I find that dark berry lips look best with minimal eye makeup - like in the models above with matte skin-toned eyeshadow, winged black liner and mascara +/- false lashes - vintage/retro style. Among the celebrity looks above, I like Lana del Rey's and Jessica Alba's the most. The peachy shimmers on Emma Stone and Rihanna's eyelids seem a bit too much for the overall look.

"Lip Liners are a must with dark lipsticks."

When it comes to dark lipstick shades, wearing a lip liner is a must. 

Lip liners prevent the product from bleeding outside your lip line.

Lip liners also help you apply your dark lipstick with more accuracy.

When I'm in a rush, I tend to use a lip pencil as an overall lip colour, then I top it off with some clear gloss if I want the glossy look. If you're on a tight budget, you can just purchase a single creamy dark lip pencil and you're set for this trend!

Here are my picks from my personal collection:

And swatches:

MAC Brick lip pencil, MAC So Scarlet lipstick, NYX Mahogany lip pencil,  MAC Dark Deed lipstick, NYX Currant lip pencil, MAC Rebel lipstick, MAC Mahogany lip pencil, MAC Kittenish lipstick

 MAC So Scarlet lipstick, MAC Kittenish lipstick, MAC Dark Deed lipstick, MAC Rebel lipstick

Sleek Mossberry Kohl Pencil, NYX Currant lip pencil, NYX Mahogany lip pencil, MAC Mahogany lip pencil, MAC Brick lip pencil

As I implied earlier, MAC Rebel lipstick was the popular shade of last year's winter, and I just added it here for comparison. 

For lip pencils, I recommend MAC, NYX, Rimmel and Maybelline. I know these brands provide lip pencils in very creamy consistencies with minimal tugging.

If you're not used to dark lips, it can be intimidating to try out this trend. It takes confidence to wear but I'm sure if you apply this shade correctly and wear appropriate eye makeup, you can definitely pull it off!

MAC Brick Lip Pencil and MAC So Scarlet Lipstick, Neutral colours for eyes

What do you think? ♥ Livia xx