Dark lips are forever. Classic and chic yet vampy and mischievous, a dark lip takes you from plain to insane. Here is some inspiration. 

At the moment I’m obsessed with two matte velvet lip pencils from NARS. I either swipe them on and then blot with my finger for an unfussy stain or counterproductively, pair them with a gloss. The benefit of layering a gloss is that it easily hides any imperfections of the pencil application and adds staying power. Train Bleu is a deep plum, while Damned is a blue-toned red with a hint of purple. If I’m going the gloss route I’ll pair them with either Bad Education or Penny Arcade, also by NARS. 

NARS velvet matte lip pencils ($24), NARS Larger than Life Lip Gloss in Penny Arcade ($26)  and Nars Lip Gloss in Bad Education ($24) are available at sephora.com.