With the air getting chillier, and winter now fast approaching, I’ve been reaching for my richer, darker coloured lip products more and more often.

I know that dark colours can seem quite daunting, but they can be so easy to use, and can really make any look, day or night, that much more glamorous!

I decided to try and round up my Top 5 winter lip colours that range from light and glossy, to dark and VERY matte.

I was lucky enough to win a set of these lovely Juicy Shakers from Dave Lackie, over his blog and on his Twitter.  He’s based in Canada, but we do get these here in South Africa as well for R270.  I’m not sure if this shade is available locally, as I don’t think we have all of the shades here.

These offer a very sheer wash of colour, in a rich, oily base.  To me, these feel like a lip treatment oil, with a tint, rather than a lipstick or a lip stain, yet they do give great nourishment to your lips (perfect for the drier, cooler months), and they do leave behind a bit of a stain too.

This shade, Cherry Symphony, is a bright, deep red, and smells absolutely delicious.

I received this in a very thoughtful goodie bag, when I attended the NYX Professional Makeup launch in Umhlanga, prior to their grand opening at Clicks Gateway earlier this year.

It’s a rather pigmented, very glossy lip gloss, that also leaves my lips slightly stained with colour once it wears off – so fab, as I really hate having to touch up my lips, and more often than not I’ll just forget to.  This rich plum colour is just so gorgeous.

This has quite a similar texture to the Butter Gloss if you ask me, a rich and moisturising formula that isn’t too sticky, but more buttery and thick.  I find it leaves a stain on the lips, which for me, the Butter Glosses don’t.  This might just overtake my love for them!

This is another product I can’t find on the Clicks site, so I assume that we’ll only be getting them in the next few months here in SA.

Swatches left to right: Lancome Juicy Shaker in Cherry Symphony, and NYX Lip Lustre Glossy Lip Tint in Liquid Plum.

This one is a product that isn’t available here in South Africa at all – at least the other two are, or will be!

I ordered this from Debenham’s last year, and had a friend bring it back for me from the UK for me, when he came out to visit his family.

This feels velvety-light, dries down completely matte, is super opaque in colour, and lasts all day.  The shade is super dark (as the name would suggest), described on the Sephora website as a ‘rich blackberry’.

Such a winner!  If you’d like to see a more comprehensive review on it, click HERE, as I did a full blog post dedicated to these bad boys.  They are really one thing that’s worth bringing out from overseas.

Swatched – Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Exorcism (not dried down yet).

I love my MAC lipstick already, and am on my second tube of Velvet Teddy, but this shade isn’t only perfect for winter – it’s the shade I’ve picked out for my wedding day!

It’s a lovely berry, burgundy colour in a matte finish, so the staying power will be fantastic.  If I blot this and set it with powder, it stays put really well, barely transferring at all.  It’s also cooler-toned, so it’ll keep those pearly whites looking as white as possible!

Swatched from top to bottom: Essence matt matt matt in 07 Purple Power and MAC matte lipstick in D for Danger.