Whoever said that black is boring is bound to be proven wrong thanks to one of this seasonís hottest trends: gothic. Dark, strong and mysteriously beautiful are just a few words that best describe this trend. Inspired by the classic movie The Vampire Bat, Christian Siriano is one of the designers who awed us by going gothic in his fall 2012 New York fashion week show. To suit his collection, he teamed up with Polly Osmond of MAC cosmetics to create a look any vampire would fall for.

As the key makeup artist for this collection, Polly Osmond took the whole thing quite literally by creating bat-shaped lips which she also refers to as “dark and creepy lips”. As dramatic as these lips may be, they’re also subtle enough to serve you for a wicked night out. Here’s how to get the yourself:

Face

Start with the usual priming routine which is washing and then applying a primer or moisturizer. This might be a vampish look but it will do you well to keep your skin healthy.

The skin is kept really natural and you can do this by applying just the right amount of foundation all over your face. You can also use a bit of concealer for darker areas like under the eyes.

Eyes

Dab a bit of lip gloss on your eyelids just to give them a little bit of a pop. No eye shadows and eyeliner needed because this look is all about the lips.

Cheeks

You wouldn’t want to look as pale as a vampire so apply a little bit of blush right above your jaw line. This will give your face some contour and give a slightly stronger look.

Lips

This is the most important part of this look and therefore needs extra attention.

You will need a lip liner and lipstick in a very dark or almost-black shade of red.

Start by drawing out the lines using a lip liner. Instead of following the usual curves on top of your lips, create a bat like shape by using straight lines. Your upper lip should look like it has two triangles coming together. This part of your lips is the head and wingspan of the bat.

For your lower lips, create a point that goes toward your chin much like drawing the bottom of a heart. This pointed part is the tail of the bat shape.

Once you’ve drawn the outline, you can now fill in the lips with your dark red lipstick.

vamp lipstick look

You can pair the beauty look with something highly feminine to counterbalance the darkness of it, or go all out on the sweeping black gown – the choice is yours.

Author

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Melanie is a fashion designer, entrepreneur and writer who is always up for a challenge. This is probably the reason why she has immersed herself in the very dynamic fashion industry. She currently has her own couture business in her hometown of Manila, Philippines and confesses to being a hair and makeup junkie. She also loves all things D.I.Y and considers herself a bookworm.

Written 24.08.2012.