Hear Me Out: I Don’t Hate Looking Kind Of Goth In The Fall

"And, that's how you do a dark lip without looking goth," every makeup artist on all of our fall beauty shoots has said. In fact, it's starting to feel like you can't throw a rock at a fall beauty story without hitting that "G" word. Usually, it's in the context of avoiding it, like how to make smudgy eyeliner less moody. Whether we're told to dilute them with blush, highlighter, or whatever, witchy fall hues always seem to come with a caveat.

Here's my question: Isn't looking relatively goth just an inevitable byproduct of wearing dark makeup? Maybe, my suburban, emo-kid roots are showing, but I don't mind appearing kind of gloomy and, yes, a little bit goth. I like when makeup disrupts beauty — when lipstick is about making a statement, not being pretty. If there's ever a time to do that, it's in the fall, when the colors are deeper and more mysterious.

Of course, this kind of makeup doesn't make one a goth (goth is a lifestyle, everyone). But, there's a specific, Lorde-esque vibe that comes with it. I like to embrace it. After all, fashion people don't try to soften the effect of all-black outfits — why should beauty people have to minimize the eye-grabbing impact of nearly-black lipstick?

I realize that the grownup goth vibe isn't for everyone. That's fine. I'll just be here in my burgundy lip and leather jacket ("beautiful, but like you might bite someone," as makeup artist Suzy Gerstein once said), not apologizing for it — and definitely not using peachy cream blush or well-placed dabs of highlighter to tone it down. If I wanted to tone it down, I'd do no-makeup makeup.