Ever so often, the beauty world presents us with a brand new trend that can only be described as SEVERELY QUESTIONABLE. The most recent as of late, lavender lipstick. This shade can look gorgeously goth on drapey, Helmut Lang inspired minimalist fashion types., or tackishly garish when done incorrectly. A friend of mine blithely described this soft, yet eye-catching shade as making people look dead. However, after about a month of deliberation, I finally took the plunge and bought a tube of MAC Cosmetic’s “Up the Amp”.

Let me just say, I’m absolutely in love. On darker skintones, the super pale, as those who are more olive in colouring, this almost orchid purple adds a fun, summery vibe to your pucker.  It makes me feel less like Lady Gaga, and more like early Madonna wrestled the easter bunny and won.

It’s a shade that’s intense enough to be worn on its own, but soft enough that it doesn’t compete with a strong eye, or a strong brow. If you’re worried about the colour being too intense (or too purple), look for pinker tones, that still have that touch of brightness to them. In a sea of bright oranges, corals and tomato reds–trying a bright purple lip is one way of bringing a little strangeness to your summer beauty routine.

Here are three of my favourite shades:

  • MAC Cosmetics lipstick in Up the Amp ($16.50)
  • Lime Crime Opaque lipstick in D’Lilac ($16)
  • Illamasqua lipstick in Liv  ($22)