TREND ALERT! Dark and Bold Lips Hit the Red Carpet. By: Alexa Ronsivalli

During this fall and winter season, bold and dark lip colors have been hitting the red carpet and the streets more than ever before! Various celebrities and runway models have inspired the everyday woman to rock this look.

When venturing into the reds, burgundy's, and plums, it is important to keep the rest of the face simple. This will keep all of the attention on the lips.

A neutral eye look with champagne and light brown shadow works best for bold lips. Add a touch of black winged eyeliner, mascara, a quick fill in of the brows and voila! You have the perfect start to your lipstick.

Here's an example of a perfect neutral eye look:



Next let's talk about the lips!

The classic red lip is a timeless accessory to the face that continues to be seen and loved on many different people.
 Miley Cyrus wows with her bright red lip shade. It pops against her fair complexion and her eyes are kept simple, yet still glamorous with lots of mascara and defined eyebrows.

Some of my favorite red lipcolors include:

Ruby Woo lipstick by MAC Cosmetics

 

Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl

The next lip trend seen this season is the burgundy lip. It's a beautiful combination of red and plum. This is for the more daring girl.

Modern Family actress Sarah Hyland looks gorgeous sporting her dark burgundy lipcolor.

Jennifer Lopez looks equally stunning in this look.

My recommended burgundy lip product is:

                       Diva Lipstick by MAC Cosmetics

 

Finally, we have the plum lip which screams the fall season.

Megan Fox definitely turned heads while rocking this plum lip.

Katy Perry's violet hair and lilac dress tie in with her deep plum lips.

My favorite plum lip colors: 

 Smoked Purple lipstick by MAC Cosmetics

Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense lipstick in #49 

 

Tacky Time

It’s that time of year again. Here comes the snow, the holly, the Christmas songs, and those atrocious holiday sweaters: deemed as Ugly Christmas Sweaters. In the past those sweaters were thrown in the cellar and collected dust for they were the most embarrassing gifts ever. So when and why did the trend come back and full force?

Why is our culture so attracted to them? Is it the humor? The theme of ugly sweaters stem from the pop culture of a particular time and it just took off like wild fire. The trend supposedly originated from the Bill Cosby show. A Cosby sweater being an oversized hideous sweater with unnecessary patterns and colors.

Thirty years later we are lighting up brighter than the average Christmas tree with our sweaters. Our culture has taken a huge twist on the original Cosby Sweaters. As each year passes the garments just keep getting tackier. The more adornments are added, the more people love them.

And that’s not all. They don’t only fly off the shelves the same day they come in store, there are online sites for them:

Tipsy Elves, My Ugly Christmas Sweater, Ugly Sweater Store and more. The creativity continues with homemade sweaters! They sell out so fast, many people just make their own. How hard can it be? Buy a cheap sweater and adorn it with Christmas ornaments, garland and you have tacky at it’s finest.

Girls! If you want to participate in the ugly sweater fest but find the ugly sweaters unappealing try out

the even newer trend of the ugly sweater dresses.

 

All this hype is in preparation for National Ugly Sweater Day -December 20, 2013. A day where everyone rejoices in his or her unsightly holiday outfits together. It adds to the character of Christmas! In addition to the national day, people even throw parties for the occasion. Everybody must wear his or her new ugly sweater to the occasion. That’s a party full of laughs that’s for sure.

By. Alyssa Wilcox