Beauty in Color: The Bold And The Beautiful
By Daria V. Wright

I’m excited about where beauty is headed this spring/summer for two reasons. Reason one--it’s about wearable, pure spectrum colors that can make any causal diva appear fearless and uninhibited by adding a little pop of color to her pout. Reason two-- Nothing speaks sassy more than a woman who can pull off an unexpected shade confidently. For darker skin tones, there are a plethora of shades that can be explored. It’s easy to stick with honeyed hues, golden shimmers, and neutral shades on the lips. But be daring, be avant-garde this season.

Before you begin your quest for the of the moment lip color, rehab your pretty pucker from wintertime dryness. Remember that old trick of exfoliating your lips with a toothbrush? Save it for your teeth. Bourjois has innovatively created a dual ended lip buffing/treatment wand, the Duo Lip Scrub and Baume ($17 at sephora.com). It exfoliates and hydrates your lips utilizing glycerin emollients for maximum hydration. It also contains pearlized pigments that give your lips a beautiful pearlescent veil.

Smashbox’s Emulsion Lip Exfoliant ($18 at smashbox.com) is another solution for lip recovery. It’s enriched with hydrating shea butter and much-needed antioxidants, reviving your lips to kissable fabulousness! Your lips deserve it.

Does the mere thought of eye-catching color on the lips leave you feeling a little intimidated? Try a translucent version of that electric pink with Stila’s Lip Glaze in watermelon ($22 at stilacosmetics.com). It will brighten up your face faster than you can say, “it’s electric!” Stila’s lip liner in contour #20 ($16.50 at stilacosmetics.com) is most flattering to this scented, tasty shade, and defines your lips with precision. It’s all in the gloss ladies…

Discover the perfect colors for your pout at Colorlab Cosmetics to create bold, yet agreeable shades for your skin tone. Wander from counter to counter no more. Colorlab can even recreate the color of that discontinued, “I can’t live without it” lip shade lingering in your makeup bag with super-sized benefits such as smooch protecting sunscreen, flavor essences, and lip plumping properties. Pure utopia! Log on to www.colorlabcosmetics.com to browse products and locations.

If ready to wear shades tickle your fancy more than playing cosmetic chemist, try MAC Cosmetics lip gelee´ in lust is lush ($14 at maccosmetics.com), for luscious lips. This bright red orange glosser doesn’t have a high color payoff, but it complements darker skin beautifully and can be applied in a flash. Paired with MAC’s cremestick liner in amber ember ($14 at maccosmetics.com) guarantees others will follow suit and scoop your trendsetting.

Beauty in color is our monthly beauty column aimed at reviewing products, highlighting color trends, and focusing on the hair care and skin care needs of women of color. Please contact Daria V. Wright if you have story ideas or product suggestions.