On a warm and sunny summer day in New York, I decided to turn into Marilyn Manson.
No, Mom, I didn't actually try out the whole ripping-out-Bible-pages, wearing-wild-contacts brand of gimmicky '90s shock rock. But I did go goth -- at least with my makeup.
A couple decades ago, the so-called "goth" beauty look was all the ominous rage. (Think Drew Barrymore at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, or Christina Ricci at basically any point in the '90s). Even Gwyneth Paltrow got into the act -- perhaps because she was dating "Interview with the Vampire" star Brad Pitt.
The look caught on. In the more sophisticated scene, this meant ladies rushed to get Chanel's Vamp on their nails and to tint their pouts as blood red as possible. In my high school in Florida, the look went more along the lines of baggy Nine Inch Nails t-shirts, lip piercings and wallet chains. We all agreed on one thing about the goth craze, however: it demanded a dark lip.
Eventually, ebony lipstick gave way to a Kardashian-style smokey eye and a nude lip, which ruled the beauty world for much of the late 2000s. But, lo and behold, the dark lip is back.
I first spotted it in the wild when I was doing red carpet reporting at the 2012 Met Gala, and actress Camilla Belle wandered over to us to do interviews. She looked gorgeous in her nude Ralph Lauren dress, but I was most struck by her lips, which were painted a shade of deep chocolate brown.
I started thinking: if this trend is really back, could I go goth? I never wear tons of makeup (mostly because I have NO IDEA what I'm doing), but surely someone with more skill could turn me into a decent goth chick, right? I headed to the MAC Pro store and let makeup artist Keri Blair pile me with enough pale face powder and dark lipstick to make a Hot Topic quiver. Having done her research, Keri, who was as excited as I was to give the goth look a go, styled me with one "daytime" look with a dramatic eye and chocolate brown lipstick, and then a second "going out" look by adding some vivid lime green eyeshadow and a deep plum gloss.
I'm not sure I'd go goth for an everyday look -- I'm picturing myself in a work meeting with black lips, or trickles of eyeliner sweating down my face at yoga -- but for a day, it was fun turning heads on the streets of Manhattan.
Check out step-by-step photos of my transformation below!
