I was going to behave.

Really, I was.

When Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC) announced their Fall 2014 collection–called “Unknown Pleasures”–I was going to resist.

The were gorgeous of course, as all Lip Tars are, but I really didn’t need any more Lip Tars at that time. Especially not crazy colors like dark purple, navy blue, metallic purple, bright red/orange with gold shimmer… I wanted them; make no mistake about it but–no. I’ve been trying to scale back my rampant shopping (which I too often excuse for “reviewing purposes). I told myself that I didn’t need such colors in my collection. I’m a bridal makeup artist and a receptionist, after all. Metallic purple lips are just not something people in my life often request, nor something I could pull out and wear to the office on any given day. (Although, I think my boss would just look at my funny and walk on by if I did…)

I was good. For a long while, I was good. I looked, but I didn’t touch.

Then, one day, it occurred to me that New York Comic Con was right around the bend. Friends, the husband, and I will be attending again this year and are super stoked about our geek Mecca being so close. That got me thinking. I mean, really, where else would I ever get the chance to rock deep blue lips without anyone batting an eyelash if not at Comic Con… right?

So, I broke down.

Blame it on Comic Con. (Evil, wonderful Comic Con.) I just had to have these awesome colors, and it was the perfect excuse. Even though I finally gave in to temptation, I limited myself to two of the new colors and picked the colors I feel I’d get the most use out of–both wearing alone and as mix-ins for other colors.

I chose Pagan, the blackened purple, and Vain, the deep dark indigo. Both colors looked absolutely beautiful on the screen and…. Well, it helped that the blue went with a Doctor Who themed outfit I had in mind. I had no such excuse for the purple at the time, but since then a (generic) Evil Queen look with horns and chain-mail spiderwebs has come in to play, so it turned out to be a good choice!

Before I get into the colors, let’s recap the whole Lip Tar spiel again:

OCC stands for Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics and Lip Tars are quite possibly the product that they are best known for. They are liquid lipsticks that apply like a gloss, going on slick and moist, but drying down to a satin or matte lipstick-like finish. They come in dozens of colors, and can be mixed to create custom shades.

They are vegan, free of cruelty, and gluten-free. One thing to note is that they do contain peppermint oil for preservative  purposes, so if you are sensitive to that oil or its scent, keep that in mind. Being Queen of Sensitive Skin over here, I can say that for me they did not cause any sort of reaction, other than being a bit drying.

Okay; enough of that.

Let’s take a look at these dark, crazy colors that I just could not resist…

I mean… Look at that!

::makeup swoon::

Pagan: darkened purple.

Gaaaaaah; I love purple. I especially love this purple. Its deep, its dark, its vampy to the extreme–it just screams bad-ass to me. (Or Evil Queen. Take your pick.) I wish wearing something like this every damn day was socially acceptable, because I just might.

As you can see, these darker shades are pretty unforgiving when you’re trying to do a quick lip swatch before running out the door, sans lip liner. Womp, womp. Oh well; you get the point. This stuff like to smear and leave little pinky purple streaks if you try to wipe it away, so slow and steady wins this race. It also applied much brighter when I sheered it out more, so this could be a fun one to play with and experiment with how much depth you can get out of it.

There was a little staining when I took this one off, but not nearly as much as I had feared. Tissues didn’t do the trick but a makeup wipe (I think I used one from Pond’s) got it all off with no problem.

The same cannot be said for…

Vain: deep, dark indigo.

Damn, that’s such an awesome color. Deep, saturated, dark blue–its somewhere between navy and indigo. I keep calling it TARDIS blue in my head even though its a bit too dark to really match up…

Again, speed is not your friend with this shade. Working quick and sloppy looks…. well, quick and sloppy. This one also feathered quite a bit if you have fine lines around your lips. A clear lip liner is a must. (Unless you happen to have a matching blue lip liner. Which I don’t, but would probably consider if I could get away with wearing this color by itself more than once, twice a year.)

Holy hell, does this one stain! I had a bitch of a time getting it off both my lips and my finger; even after a makeup wipe (again, Pond’s something-or-other), and some Philosophy Purity Made Simple I still had a blue streak on my finger. My lips didn’t look quite as blue as my skin; instead they had a weird gray tint to them. I kinda looked corpse like. Which, of course, opens up whole new costuming possibilities, but wasn’t what I was going for at the time…

I think I’ll save this one for Sunday, so it doesn’t ruin any other makeup looks I have in mind…

Verdict

Man, I wish Halloween came more than once a year. Or that Comic Con came more than once a year!

I’m going to have a terrible amount of fun playing with these, staining issues or no. I can’t wait to play more with them and finalize the crazy makeup looks I intend on doing. (Doctor Who! Evil Queen! Batman! Wonder Woman!)

And, on that note–the blog will be undergoing a little pause next week. I will be away from posting for the entire length of the Con (October 9th through 12th), and the likely the following Monday as well. I know you’ll miss me greatly, but feel free to follow me in Instagram (mrsrobinlcole) to see any of the Con craziness I post!