Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar and Pencil: Lydia.

OCC Lydia lip tar and pencil.

Alrighty then, step right up! Today I’m going to be talking about a fantastic Brand called Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (I’m going to abbreviate to OCC from now on as it takes so long to type!) which was created in New York City in 2004 by the ingenious David Klasfeld. I actually met him at IMATS London I think it was 2013(?) when I went up to the booth and started talking to him and one of the helpers (by accident As soon as I recognised him I started to fan girl and go stupidly shy for some stupid reason!) He was a really nice chilled out guy with no egotism or superiority complex at all, him and his team were just so passionate about the product and couldn’t do enough to help me out and give me some tips! From that moment on I was a lifelong customer <3

Ahem, okay enough of my personal encounter and back to the brand. OCC is 100% vegan and they preach cruelty free products and are also internationally certified by PETA. These guys are the real Vegan deal unlike some other brands who I feel only make their Products vegan for a Popularity/fashion trend or just to increase their customer base and sell more product. (Seriously though has no one else noticed how Veganism has turned from a life style to a fashion trend recently??)

You can purchase their legendary lip tars from www.occmakeup.com for $18/£12 plus shipping and you get 0.33oz/9.35grams of Lip tar that will last you a life time. Alternatively like myself you can order from www.cocktailcosmetics.co.uk where they sell these bad boys for £11.95 and £3.50 postage. Cocktail Cosmetics have a great range of lip tars, not every shade but most of them and they also restock really quickly as well as getting the new collection stock pronto.

 

Lydia pencil and lip tar swatches.

Okay so the lip tar/pencil I’m reviewing today is called Lydia and she’s described as a ‘darkroom plum’ which I’m not going to lie ‘darkroom’ did throw me off a little as I had no idea what that meant but basically Lydia to me is a blackened plum. The Lydia lip pencil is also the exact same shade as the lip tar so it works as the perfect base for the colour or it is equally as stunning on its own.

Lydia pencil and lip tar.

Lips tars come in a squeezy clear tube that reminds me of artists paint and have a tiny nozzle top, they are packed into a transparent wallet so you can view of the shades without having to swatch. Inside the wallet there is also a little card with instructions (I advise you follow them closely) and a mini lip brush. The pencils are all lacquered white with coloured tips and depending on the shade they either come with a white or black cap, very minimalistic. Pencils come in a small box that is mainly transparent with the ingredients printed in small down the side.

Lydia pencil and lip tar

All Lip tars have a minty smell and taste because they are formulated with peppermint oil, personally I prefer mint to sickly sweet smells so this is a bonus. The Lydia lip pencil is scentless due to the lack of peppermint oil in its mixture so it can be used as an eye pencil too! Bonus!

OCC Lydia pencil and lip tar with Hollywood lip tar dabbed in the centre.

OCC Lips tars at first are a bit tricky to use, the most common mistake made is to add too much product to the lips and then it starts to bleed terribly. Honestly Less is more, it may sound crazy that a single bead can colour your lips but that’s the magic of a lip tar. Just remember to follow the instructions they provide and nothing will go wrong.

“Apply the tiniest bead of Lip Tar with our newly-included #010S Short-Handled Precision Lip Brush for complete, opaque coverage, either mixed with other shades or on its own.

PRO TIP: LIP TAR: MATTE™ is best applied over properly moisturized and primed lips. LIP TAR: PRIMER insures an optimal application.”

Lydia today lasted me 5 hours before needing to be patched up after eating lunch but can last a lot longer if you refrain from eating oily/saucy foods. I'm sure you can already see how passionate I am about this brand and Lydia is another success from the collection! Its a beautiful rich colour that's perfect for autumn. Love it!

What do you guys think of OCC Lip tars? 

Do you have any problems using them?

Love Piggy x 

Melt Cosmetics Lipstick: Summer!

Melt Cosmetics is a fairly new brand (Available from May 2013) from America that has stormed its way into the hearts and Instagram photos of every makeup enthusiast because of the kick ass colours they deliver. Its Tag line is “ultra matte, Bold . Radioactive” and they do live up to their name. They have a range of 13 stunning lipsticks and 2 new eye shadow stacks (that are highly coveted since their release!) at www.meltcosmetics.com. Each lipstick is a reasonable $19/£13 for 0.16oz/4.53grams and are 100% Cruelty free which is always a bonus! Save the Bunnies, save the Planet.  

The packaging is a cute sleek matte black tube with a purple ‘melt’ on the lid, It’s simple, to the point with no added frills and thrills to distract you from the product itself. Minimalistic and I like it J

Summer! swatch under flash.

Summer! Is a beautiful peachy orange lipstick that on certain skin tones can look nude. She suits her name perfectly, everything about this shade makes you feel happy, it’s a great pick me up colour. Melt do claim ‘These babies have most amazing vanilla cake scent, you’ll want to eat them!’ and sadly this is the only time I disagree with them regarding this shade. I’ve asked several people and everyone seems to agree they smell a little like the scented Crayola crayons you got as a kid. Yes there is an underlying sweetness to the lipstick, but it still mainly smells like a crayon. This is my only real ‘complaint’ with Summer!

As most people say these lipsticks are a little difficult to get right at first. I presume it’s because of their ultra-matte formula it makes the lipstick quite dry and stiff, so yes they do tug a lot while applying and the darker colours can look cakey ( Not apparent in Summer!) but there are ways to deal with this.

Summer! in natural light.

PLEASE BARE IN MIND I USE NO PRIMER/PENCIL/BALM/LIPGLOSS IN MY PICTURES TO MAKE SURE YOU GET THE MOST ACCURATE REVIEW OF THE PRODUCTS.

Summer! with flash.

In a later application to try tackle the dryness issue and avoid tugging I first exfoliate my lips with LUSH sugar lip scrub, then apply a generous layer of Burt’s bees lip balm and keep it on for about 10 minutes. I then remove the lip balm and ass MAC lip primer and allow that to settle into my lips.

Then I lightly apply Summer! Over the upper and lower centre of my lips and then push the colour out to my lip line using a lip brush. 

Summer! with indoor light.

The really great thing with Summer! Is that it is packed with so much pigment that even a light sweep of lipstick with have a huge colour pay off. I find that using a lip brush to push out the colour and fill in the gaps really smoothes out and lines and build on that may occur and helps the colour last longer.

 For me Summer! lasted 4 hours before starting to feel dry on my lips and then she began to fade after 5 hours.

But this IS my happy face...

Overall Summer! Is something truly special to me, Initially when I first opened up the tube I was like “ Oh my god I’ve made a mistake getting this shade!!” buy as soon as you apply Summer! you just warm to her. It’s such a happy colour that will suit most complexions and I think it looks beautiful no matter what season you’re in! Lora and Dana are two incredibly beautiful women (seriously hunt them down on Instagram) who together created a line of beautiful trendsetting lipsticks. There’s a shade for every skin tone, every style and every attitude. The possibilities are endless

Do you guys own any lipsticks from melt? 

What do you all think about the texture of these babies?

Love Piggy x

Kat Von D everlasting Liquid Lipstick: Berlin

Product photo off Sephora website

This brand is a Sephora exclusive and only typically available in the US bar a few exceptions. The Liquid lipstick retails for $19 (roughly £13) and contains 0.22oz/6.23gram of product. There is a choice of 12 colours in the range you can choose from either online at www.sephora.com or in store (although most stores I visited while in the states were low/out of the most popular shades. Alternatively these can be purchased on eBay but at a stupidly inflated price.

Berlin in natural light

Berlin is described on the website as ‘warm rose’ and I have to agree this is a really accurate description of the colour in the tube, although I find on my really light skin it looks almost like a pink based neon coral.

The packaging I think is perfect! They come in long, but perfectly handbag sized tubes that are crystal clear so you can get a really great look at the colour of each shade, unlike other well-known brands that used frosted glass so it’s really hard to tell the true colour and get a decent photo. (Rant over!) The tube is decorated with stunning ornate swirls and shiny silver roses that give it a super sexy gothic look. Would you expect anything less from their delicious creator Miss Kat Von D?

Berlin in natural (dreary winter) Light

I find this colour to be nearly scentless which I’m incredibly thankful for as the last think I want is a sickly sweet smell hovering around my nose for hours every time I wear this product. I find this colour extremely smooth to apply, it’s a very thin layer that’s applied to the lips but its best you do apply in even layers across the lips to avoid patches. This colour dries fast (that sucks for me as I like to apply my colours slowly to make sure I get the best lip shape) to an ultra matte finish that feels light on your lips.

Berlin is a truly resistant colour, when it’s on your lips you had better believe its staying there for hours! As I mentioned earlier this shade can go a little patchy, especially if you have to re-apply over a patch you missed during your first layer or a faded spot after a few hours wear, The lesson is try to get it perfect first time, which is easier said than done at times! I find if you do have to fill in a patch or sharpen a lip line the best thing to use is a small, fine angled eyeliner brush to give precise application and a crisp lip line. 

I found Berlin to last 7 hours before eventually wearing away after eating. This was the only time this shade budged, it never transferred onto and glass I drank from, any piece of paper I decided to carry in my mouth instead of my hand.(I tend to do that a lot…) The only thing I find that removes this decently at the end of the day is LUSH lip scrub with added coconut oil, If you use a wipe your more likely to make your lips sore and stain your face mild pink. Not a cool look.

Comparison swatches of other KVD liquid lipsticks

I love this liquid lipstick, I love it so much I ran back to Sephora (technically 3 of them) and purchased 9 other shades from the collection. Kat Von D has really nailed this product, honestly this is my favourite liquid lipstick formula to date. She has some kick ass colours on offer and I’m sure she will release even better ones! *Rumour has it she will be re-releasing Bow & Arrow sometime in 2015* I think everyone should own at least 3 shades from this line, especially Berlin.

Do you guys own any of these liquid lipsticks? What’s your view on them?

Love Piggy x

Sigma Lip switch lip gloss in Transcend

Sigma lip switch glosses are a pearlescent/Opalescent/holographic/shimmery light weight super high impact gloss. This is the first time I have ever tired an item from this American/Brazilian brand and I LOVE this product so much. It’s really versatile and adds another dimension to any lipstick/lipstain/lip gloss, changing its entire look. It comes in 5 different shades which are all categorised as an ‘ish’ eg “green-ish, purple-ish, blue-ish” ect. At first I found this really weird and somewhat unhelpful when it came to picking a shade but oh boy, I can now see why you can’t stick a label on these babies.

These Can be purchased from www.sigmabeauty.com for $14 USD plus shipping, or they can be bought from www.cocktailcosmetics.co.uk where I got mine from for £10.95 + £3.50 postage and it will arrived in 2 days! Cocktail cosmetics are on the ball, they always have super-fast shipping!

Sigma Lip Switch in Transcend

Okay let’s get down to the nitty gritty then.

The shade I chose is called Transcend which is described as “purpleish”. The packaging is a super shiny holographic slim box that you can’t help but wiggle it in the light to see it change colour, but it’s when you open the box the magic really begins. Firstly the smell of this gloss is divine, its sweet coconut and pineapple bliss which is heavenly but not too overpowering! Most importantly for me this gloss is not sticky (hallelujah) in the slightest and feels very moisturising.

Transcend is the most beautifully bizarre colour in the world to look at, in some lights it’s a lime green with blue swirls, in others its electric violet with a yellow glaze. It’s like staring into opal stones. Yet when applied ontop on other colours it actually reflects more blue than purple. Below I have several pictures of Transcend over Lime Crimes bestselling lip stains to show you just how much they can transform a colour, and how different the lip gloss colour can look over different base shades.

                                             UTOPIA

Utopia plain swatch, Utopia with Transcend, Utopia with Transcend taken with flash.

PINK VELVET

Pink velvet plain swatch, Pink velvet with Transcend, Pink velvet with Transcend taken with flash.

RED VELVET

Red velvet swatch, Red velvet with Transcend, Red velvet with Transcend taken with flash.

PANSY

Pansy swatch, Pansy with Transcend, Pansy with Transcend taken with flash.

BLACK VELVET

Black velvet swatch, Black velvet with Transcend, Black velvet with Transcend taken with flash.

At the end of the day I LOVE this product, which is really weird for me to say because I usually hate lip gloss with a passion but there is something so beautiful and unique about this gloss it’s hard to not fall in love. It lasts for a good 4 hours before needing a top up, its non-sticky or greasy so it doesn’t feel like an oil slick on your lips. I got so many compliments while wearing this out today, it really is something special. I just wish I owned the other 4 shades desperately but I know they are selling out fast.

What do you think of this gloss? Would you wear something like this?

Love Piggy x

Kat Von D studded kiss mini lipstick set.

This brand is a Sephora exclusive and only typically available in the US bar a few exceptions. The Studded Kiss mini set retails for $39 ( roughly £26 ) for 9 miniature 0.04oz/1.1gram lipsticks of their most popular shades. Sadly it was limited edition (Christmas?) set and it’s no longer available on www.sephora.com but you can still purchase the set, or individual mini’s on eBay but at a stupidly inflated price L .

The packaging for these mini lipsticks are the same as the full sized version and let’s be honest it’s awesome. Nothing screams ‘ Hugs, Sex and Rock’n’Roll ” louder than shiny black studs covering the tube from head to toe. In all honesty it really does feel like you’re holding something special every time you pick up a tube, they've just got this empowering presence about them. Finally on the bottom there’s the usual little sticker telling you what the name is and an impression of what colour you can expect to find inside.

The Scent of the lipsticks is really light and mildly fruity but it’s nothing too overpowering and they don’t effect the taste of your food while eating. I do find that most of these lipsticks don’t last up to the ’10 hours wear’ as claimed but generally they last between 4-5 hours before needing a top up.

Countess

Countess is a bold orange based red with a matte finish. The Application is fairly smooth with no patching or bleeding, it does drag very slightly but nothing a dab of lip balm before application can’t fix. The texture is silky and slightly moist, although I don’t find the lipstick itself to be moisturising. Countess did last a good 4 hours and lunch before needing a top up. As for dupes the first thing I noted was how similar this shade is to Lime Crime’s Suedeberry although it does lack the velveteen’s ultra-matte quality.

Agatha

Agatha is a pale peach nude (although I find on my skin tone it looks pink) with a matte finish. The lipstick itself seems very dry, when applying it did drag and took a lot of work to get an even colour on my lips. However when you do achieve your desired colour this shade does last at least 6 hours before fading into your natural lip tone. I personally don’t own any shade similar to this as they aren’t quite my thing, but I’ve swatched it next to MAC Velvet Teddy, MAC Kinda Sexy and MAC Sweet and sour with I think is the most similar.

                    

Adora

Adora is a warm red with a deep red shimmer in a matte finish. Adora is soft and easy to apply as its really creamy so it glides easily across the lips and remains moist all day. I found I had to apply 2 layers to get the best colour pay off, but when the lipstick is on it stays on! This lipstick lasted the 10 hours perfectly. With this colour I found the scent to be slightly minty compared to the others and it did make my lips tingle like a lip balm. So far I’ve yet to find a colour I own similar to this, it really is something special.

Sexer

Sexer is a bright, bold fuchsia with a slight pink shimmer and a matte finish. It’s super creamy so it glides across your lips like a dream, colour payoff is great but ideally you will need to apply 2 swipes of this to really get the explosive colour! I have found because of the creaminess of this lipstick it lasts the shortest time compared to the others, it transfers with ease so top up’s are needed BUT this is by far my favourite colour. I’ve swatched it next to MAC Fuchsia pink, MAC All fired up, MAC Fusion pink, Lime Crime Centrufuschia and Illamasqua Immodest.

Wonderchilde

Wonderchilde is an iridescent neon violet in a shimmer finish, although I personally think it’s more of a pink with violet shimmer. This shade is super creamy and feels very moisturising on the lips, which is great because you have to really layer up to build a bright colour. Sadly this colour doesn’t last long at all, only a few hours (although it did stain my lips bright pink!!) and I think this is because it’s so creamy it will transfer onto most things throughout the day. Here its swatched with Dior Mystic Mauve, an unnamed shade from Pop Rox Cosmetics, Lime Crime’s Poisonberry, My beauty Addiction Heliotrope.

Bachelorette

Bachelorette is a pink based red with a matte finish. It doesn’t drag across your lips when applying and its super pigmented so you only need one layer of colour. I found this to feel kind of heavy on my lips like the colour applies thickly but the texture was not drying. This shade lasted a good 8 hours before needing a top up, and it tends to fade in the centre of your lips first. I’ve swatched this next to MAC Ruby Woo, MAC Relentlessly Red, MAC Full Fuchsia and Mac All Fired Up.

Motorhead

Motorhead is a blackened cherry red with a matte finish. In all honesty I had trouble with this shade, it’s extremely dry which makes it really tug at your lips while applying. The dryness also makes the colour really patchy ( as you can see from the photos) but after I did reapply this shade on top of a coconut oil lip balm and it improved the application and colour so much. Once you do have the shade on it does last for at least 8 hours, although it does look patchy from the get go. Here I have it swatched next to MAC Rebel, MAC Fashion Revival, MAC Living Legend and Illamasqua Shard.

Lovecraft

Lovecraft is a mauve pink nude in a matte finish. This shade is my favourite of the whole collection (I loved it that much I bought the full size) It’s soft on the lips when applying and the colour really melts into your lips and adapts to your natural lip colour. The colour is non-patchy and non-drying and feels light on the lips. It’s the perfect everyday colour that’s lasts 6 hours before fading. Here I have it swatched next to MAC Brave and MAC Captive.

Hexagram

Hexagram is a purely perfect matte blood red. This beautiful colour is surprisingly soft and silkiy to apply, it doesn’t drag on the lips and the colour is even with just one swipe and it really melts into the lips. It also feels really light on the lips, you can almost forget your wearing anything at all! Hexagram lasted an amazing 7 hours before fading away into my natural lip colour. I have swatched this next to MAC Russian Red and MAC Ruby Woo.

Overall I think this set is a great way to introduce yourself to the brand if you’ve never tried it before. Some of the shades weren’t quite as I expected them to be, the dryness mainly letting them down, while other shades like Agatha were a dark horse and I end up truly loving them best! I think the 3 best shades from this set are Agatha, Lovecraft and Sexer, which I find weird as I usually avoid these colours, but hey I guess it proves how useful this set when it comes to choosing colours!

Although some shades were a bit ‘meh’ I still truly adore this brand and I hope to get my hands on a few more full sized shades like Thin Lizzy and prayer in the future as well as her Everlasting Liquid Love lip stains ( They are the Shizz).

Do you guys own any Kat von D lipsticks? What do you think of them or what would you recommend I try next?

Love Piggy X