In the dead of winter I always like to wear bold lip colors - as if a vampy shade could beat the gloomy weather. There's no better time of year to rock a plummy lipstick, and I've selected my three current favorites from the best French beauty brands. Keep reading to discover my top 3!

There are many different ways to wear plum on the lips: here we'll explore a bold, opaque lipstick for a truly vampy look, a sheer and shiny one for everyday looks, and a middle-of-the-road liquid matte-satin for an easy statement lip.




YSL ROUGE PUR COUTURE IN PRUNE AVENUE

This is the one to pick when you feel like rebelling against the mountains of pink, cute and mermaid-y stuff that are shoved down our throat as "feminine" by this consumerist society. Screw that, give me the dark lipstick!

The version of Prune Avenue I own is in the limited edition holiday tube, but you can find the shade in the permanent range. It's the deepest of the 3 lippies I picked, a warm but dark plummy maroon, perfect for an evening out. You should read my very recent review for all the details (and a photo of me wearing it), but here are my thoughts on the formula in a few words: it's very thin yet highly pigmented, with a satin finish that's very comfortable to wear.


DIOR ADDICT LIPSTICK IN FASHION NIGHT

Vampy's great but doing it every day would be exhausting. For those week days when you don't have 15 minutes to spend using a lip liner and applying a dark shade with a brush, there's Fashion Night. Just swipe it on, and this sheer glossy plum with shimmer will give your lips a full, juicy look. You can even build it up for a more semi-opaque result if you'd like.

Check out my review from a couple years ago (vintage pics in there!) for all the details. To sum it up, it feels as comfortable as a balm, and it's a very easy way to wear plum on your lips.


LANCOME MATTE SHAKER IN PLUM PLUM GIRL


The latest plummy addition to my lipstick collection is this cute little cocktail shaker by Lancôme, one of my favorite brands. I've been a fan of the Juicy Shaker since its launch and fell in love with the Matte Shaker released earlier this year, so I can't even describe how delighted I was when Lancôme recently expanded the shade range.

Plum Plum Girl is a purple leaning plum, a bit cooler than the first two. The Matte Shaker applicator works great to apply this darker shade with precision - it looks a bit patchy on the swatch but it evens out very easily on the lips.

I reviewed another shade of Matte Shaker at the time of the launch so you can check that out for all my deep thoughts on the formula. To make it short: it's a user-friendly version of the trendy liquid lipstick, and the full-pigment, opaque sister of the playful Juicy Shaker. It's not fully matte despite its name, the finish is more of a satin, but it does wear a long time for such a lightweight formula that doesn't dry down completely. I love it so much it made it to my list of the top 5 new products for 2017!

Wearing Lancome Matte Shaker in Plum Plum Girl

The products featured in this post were all purchased by me. I received no compensation to write this post, which only reflects my personal opinion. This post contains affiliate links. I receive a very small commission when you click on those links, and the money generated covers a small portion of my expenses to purchase products for review. Clicking on those links helps ensure that Beaumiroir continues to publish reviews of new and exciting high end French products - at no cost to you!