Pretty in Purple

Purple has been my favorite color for as long as I can remember. From lavender to aubergine, it doesn’t matter the shade. My purple passion hasn’t faded with age. When I was little, my parents dissuaded me from having a purple bedroom. Recently, my husband talked me out of choosing a purple car.

Every autumn, the trend mavens start pitching purple to the public (say that three times fast). At the Emmys, violet gowns were all the rage. I definitely have some pretty purple pieces sprinkled throughout my closet, but my favorite trend of the season is purple makeup. I personally think the color looks good on just about anyone, if applied correctly. Dark shades of purple look especially glorious on women of color. One of the many advantages of having beautiful brown skin is the ability to wear any color. Subtle purple makeup can also add some zing to an otherwise tame grey or black outfit.
For an everyday look, less is more. I start out with one of my favorite items to stock up on at Sephora. Here’s a tip for the Sephora-phobic – the Sephora brand slim eye pencils are a steal of a deal. Four bucks! They come in an incredible array of colors, and unlike other eye pencils I deign to mention that hardly leave a mark no matter how hard I try (or almost put out my eye), the Sephora actually leave a defined, smooth line on my eye. I own these in orchid purple and violet 216 (among other colors), and every time I wear this combination I get crazy compliments.

I line my top lid with these two shades of purple(or smudge them together if I want to), and I line my bottom lid with the usual black. Then I go over it with one of the purple liners for a little extra pop of color. Once I was lucky enough to get a makeover by Victor C of MAC Cosmetics. He did an amazing job, and made me feel like a goddess. Victor highlighted my lids with this shadow in Twinks, a shade described as dirty plum with gold reflects. It was gorgeous, and I’ve been meaning to buy it for myself ever since. And while I’m there, I totally should treat myself to this. I’m a fool for MAC. I can’t afford their stuff, but I totally fantasize about owning all of their colors and displaying them in some kind of fabulous hot pink Caboodles box.

I’m also a sucker for purple lip gloss. My current faves are tinted lipglass in Boldheart and Cargo’s Lip Gloss Duo in Oulu.

I normally would never pay $20 bucks for lipgloss, but I just had to buy it. It totally called my name. The darker shade goes on slick and shiny, and the lighter goes on well over lipsticks for an innocent, understated sparkle. Unfortunately, these glosses don’t last long. Despite the need for constant reapplication, I don’t regret the purchase. It was just too pretty to pass up.