Ombré Lips Are a Perfect Way to Highlight Your Holiday Ensemble

If there’s ever a time to take a baby step outside our makeup comfort zone, the holiday season is it. Winter is the time of dramatic, bold colors that contrast with our tan-free complexions and add some much-needed verve to our look. Our current obsession? The ombré lip trend. Don’t let the image of heavily penciled-in nineties songstresses deter you from experimenting. The gradually fading lip is actually something that dates much farther back than its “Jenny From The Block” incarnation.

Case in point: Marilyn Monroe’s lifelong friend and makeup artist Whitey routinely highlighted the bombshell’s smile with a dab of white at the center of her lower lip. Not only does a change in gradation add dimension to your mouth, it’s also an extremely chic, holiday party-appropriate look. Just ask the makeup artists behind Fall’s Marni and Gucci shows, or Blake Lively, who arrived at a recent Van Cleef & Arpels event sporting a sultry, multi-hued pout.

How does one pull off a dramatic ombré lipstick while appearing dramatic, but not overdone? Don’t worry, the ideal balance is far easier to execute than one might imagine