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8 year oldAccording to retail purveyor Polyvore, there’s been a 67 percent surge in searches for black lipstick after Taylor Swift and Katy Perry rocked grungy shades on the Met Gala red carpet this week — and it’s indicative of a larger trend.
Once reserved for gothic goddesses and the punk fashion and rock ‘n roll crowd, blackish shades are actually making a mainstream splash this spring in both lips and nails.
“Dark colors can look very chic,” actress Kerry Washington tells Yahoo Beauty. “Women want to set their own style and not have to adhere to rules,” she adds, of choosing non-traditional hues to wear.
Washington is partnering with OPI on a nail polish line launching in August that is inspired by the nation’s capital and will feature several dark, moody hues.
Kerry Washington models a dark color f-rom her upcoming OPI nail polish line (Photo: Instagram/kerrywashington)
Meanwhile, Katy Perry’s new CoverGirl Katy Kat ($8) lipstick line includes a full-on black “Perry Panther” shade, and The Estée Edit by Estée Lauder line fronted by Kendall Jenner features “Turn Down” ($22) — a black satin-matte shade intended for applying over and deepening any other lip color.
Allure Digital Beauty Editor, Kristie Dash, tries Katy Perry’s new black lipstick. (Video: Instagram/kristiedash)
In June, Urban Decay will roll out their biggest lipstick launch ever, a Vice collection of 100 shades that includes a stand-out black “Perversion” bullet. Not for the faint of heart, the hue is a saturated matte rendition for those daring enough to go all in.
Urban Decay’s new Perversion lipstick is a total black-out. (Photo: Courtesy of Urban Decay)
If it’s a trend you want to try, taking the full plunge is the only way to go, says celebrity makeup artist Andrew Sotomayor. “Choose a fully pigmented lipstick — a sheer lipstick will look grey and just tired,” he says.
Sotomayor’s trick for a super pro finish: Layer two coats of black lipstick, using an oil-blotting strip in between to remove excess oils for a vivid, lasting look. “Think punk rock, dark glamour, and in this case, futurism — black works like a plum lipstick, but with more intensity,” he adds.
Katy Perry sported the on-trend black pout at the Met Gala - the shade is her CoverGirl Katy Kat lipstick in Perry Panther. (Photo: Getty Images)
It may seem odd to see so much black at a time of year when cheery peaches and pinks typically make a warm weather resurgence, but some say it may be a reflection of both popular and political culture at large.
“With shows like Game of Thrones and all of the turbulence around the world, a sense of mysticism is coming back,” Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, co-founder of OPI, tells Yahoo Beauty.
Indeed, New York Fall 2016 Fashion Week echoed the undercurrent, with bold black lips on the runway at Rihanna’s Fenty x Puma, Marc Jacobs and Rodarte. The darkness seeped into London shows as well, with black-burgundy lips at the Gareth Pugh, Mary Katrantzou and Sibling shows.
So how does one make it all look more mod than Manson?
“Keep the nails short and filed square with oval edges (”squoval”) — and the lips sharp,” advises Weiss-Fischmann. "Vampy — not gothic — is what it’s all about.”
Read More: How to Pull Off the Dior Runway’s Black Lips in the Real World
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