Why Don’t You… Wear Almost Black Lipstick?

‘Why Don’t You’ is my weekly tribute to legendary editor Diana Vreeland who penned a column of the same name for Harper’s Bazaar for 26 years begging, “Don’t just be your ordinary dull self. Why don’t you be ingenious and make yourself into something else?”

I marched into Sephora with a purpose. I wanted a vampy, sooty, almost-black lipstick. And I needed it to match my Chanel Rouge Noir nail polish.

I get in these moods sometimes, usually in the fall. I love a color so hard and long, I end up wearing it an entire season. It’s happened with OPI Russian Navy, OPI Here Today, Argon Tomorrow, and now Chanel Rouge Noir.

Coincidentally, Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel in Wine Stock is the perfect dupe so now I can save that bottle for super special occasions.

I had done a little research beforehand. I knew that YSL made an oxblood shade of lipstick called Forbidden Burgundy. I looked for it in Nordstrom. All sold out.

I checked Sephora. All sold out.

Defeated, I asked the sales lady what would give me the look I was going for. “How dark are we talking,” she asked as she swiped on a burgundy color on my hand. “Darker,” I told her.

She reached for Kat von D’s Homegirl. As she painted my lips, she told me that I had a good mouth to pull off such a color. She finished applying it and I peeked out myself in the mirror.

Goth chic is here.

“Wait,” she said. “You can’t wear a color that dark without adding some color to your cheeks.”

And I’m going to add that this isn’t a color that you should wear if you aren’t feeling your best. Hair done, cute outfit, whole look on fleek. Is that how the kids are using that word? Fleek?

What say you? Will you wear a vampy, almost-black lip this fall and winter? What color are you reaching for to apply to your tips and lips?

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