Review: OCC Lip Tar Test Tubes x3 in Pink Prism

I Bought This

I love OCC but I've never tried wearing a Lip Tar. I've only swatched and admired them.

I'm that girl who can't pick ONE color from a massive selection that's made to be mixed for custom shades. Especially when trying to pick a normal color—I pick out a weird color, like blue, purple, etc, very easily but tell me to get a normal color and I don't know what to do. But thanks to OCC's brilliance, these little Test Tubes make it easier.

There are three sets of three shades to pick from: Blue Blood, Pink Prism and Champagne Shores. I love the names so much ~ All three come with the clear Primer Lip Tar, and two colors. Blue Blood has Stalker (true blue based red; matte) and RX (rich medium blue; matte); Champagne Shores has Pris (pale beige/pink; metallic--very futuristic to me) and Trollop (bright coral; matte); Pink Prism has Lovecraft (frosty bright-light pink; metallic) and Pretty Boy (bright, dark fuchsia; matte). For those scratching their head over putting RX with Stalker, like I said above: Lip Tars are made to be mixed. You can make Stalker bluer or even purple! Go nuts!
 

Since I have too many reds, Trollop isn't of interest (I'm just not a coral-y person), and I've been trying to find a brighter pink that isn't absolutely screaming for attention, I opted to get the Pink Prism set. I had my eyes on Pretty Boy (plus Anime and Queen!) since it was one of the pinks I liked best.
 

Test Tubes come in a clear plastic box with the three Lip Tars lined up on a small plastic tray, nose down so you can see the shades with the lip brush lined up next to them. There's also a card in the back showing the shade names and a diagram of the two colors mixed into a custom color. Information about Lip Tars is printed there as well, giving you insight into the product. Convenience!
 

Lip Tars are multi-use, just DO NOT use them on the eyes! They contain peppermint oil amongst other nourishing ingredients. Because of the peppermint oil, these do have a slight cooling effect. It's not as intense as a mint gloss or a peppermint lip plumper.

Pretty Boy Test Tube next to full-size Batty.

Test Tubes are miniature versions of full-sized Lip Tars, so you can test to your heart's content without committing to a shade or two you might not actually enjoy. Since you can mix, you can create a more customized look to suit your tastes. With metallics mixed into two of the three sets, it gives you a slightly more diverse range to choose from and play with—Lip Tars come in their original matte formula, a special selection of metallic shades, and the new Stained Glosses (that completely stole my heart). These sets also have a #010S Precision Lip Brush to make applying easy. Obviously, if you have a lip brush or a small concealer brush, you can use that too! (Has anyone ever noticed how relatively affordable OCC brushes are? No lie—I looked at the site the day I bought this and its not too bad!)

Primer, metallic Lovecraft, matte Pretty Boy & the #10S Precision Lip Brush

The #10S Precision Lip Brush is an excellent little brush for applying Lip Tar. You can easily define the lips with the brush and spread color across the lips. It's denser and the bristles have less give than my fake MAC #316, but still flexible enough to work with your lips.

Primer

Primer is... Well. It's a clear Lip Tar. You can use it to sheer others, as a base, as a moisturizing lip balm on its own or to add a sheen to a matte Tar. It has a yellow tone in the tube, but no worries: its completely clear on the lips. This is nicely moisturizing without being thick or goopy but once it sinks into the lips and wore away after some hours, my lips were a little drier. It's really very slick! I only used a tiny drop and it covered my lips perfectly. Since it's summer, my lips aren't terribly dry but they do benefit from a little moisture! I noticed it was worn away after a few hours (maybe two or three). It was pleasant while it lasted.

Lovecraft

Lovecraft, oh dear Lovecraft. You were an amazing writer with a wicked last name! But this Lip Tar, not so much... The formula is a little bit gritty, as I noticed when I put a teeny dot on the back of my hand and blended it out. It's not as gritty as say, a glitter eyeshadow, but its certainly there. It is full coverage though, like WOW. I'm not particularly sure I would wear it on it's own; it's the frostiness of it. I'm not a fan of pink, frosty lips! Unless, you know, you're doing some kind of futuristic-y or wintery look. Described as "pink/lilac metallic," it's a light, bright pink with a certain lilac tone that makes it quite pretty at the base and silver shimmer that makes it very frosty. Sci-fi Barbie would approve. I like to use it as a little bit of a highlight in the center of my lips. You know, the same way you put gloss in the center with lipstick? (That never ends well for me...Messy, messy!) This did cling to dry patches, and was drying, noticeable particularly in the first half-hour of my wear test. Lovecraft wore for well for 2 hours until I started to eat, transferring to a glass when I took a sip and sinking into lip lines quite quickly. As the base wears away, this becomes more gritty and will transfer a lot as well. The color won't be there so much as you continue to eat and drink but the shimmer will be!

Pretty Boy

Pretty Boy came out back in Fall 2011, which was also my introduction to OCC and Lip Tars in general. OCC describes it as "super rich fuchsia." It's a blue-based fuchsia and you might think, "Fuchsia? Isn't fuchsia screaming though?" No, not so much in this case. It's a darker fuchsia, one I quite like over other bright pinks I've seen around. It's a pleasant sort of fuchsia to me personally. I don't wince when I look at it online, which is always nice when I'm trying to look at products. I had Queen, Anime and Pretty Boy all side-by-side... I could have gone blind from photo-flipping on my iPod. Heck, compared to the new Melted lipsticks from Too Faced, specifically Melted Fuchsia, Pretty Boy is tame! I walked outside from searching at Sephora and Melted Fuchsia blinded me. Ouch! This is my perfect pink. I need a full-size tube of Pretty Boy! This wore quite comfortably, though I noticed some dryness an hour and a half later. This has a satin finish that will slowly become more matte as it wears. It even help up against eating and drinking, only slightly fading away on the interior of the lips. Having some slip though, I was easily able to hide it with just rubbing my lips together a little.

Pretty Boy, Lovecraft, and Primer in daylight. (Ack I got cat hair in my swatch!)

Pretty Boy, Lovecraft, and Primer in daylight.

These swatches are on paper, which yes, is unusual! But the reason is simple: Pretty Boy leaves quite the stain on my skin! Lip Tar stands up against my favorite makeup remover, sweet almond oil, which is great but also rather unnerving--how in the world will I manage to get it off my skin? Eek! This won't stop me from wearing them.

These Test Tube kits are currently at Sephora for $19.00 for three mini-tubes of Lip Tar (0.08 oz), a value of $23.50. A full-sized tube is $18 for 0.33 oz, with the brush included, so this isn't a that bad a deal! You get three Tars to test, mix, and decide if you like one color or all three. You also get the brush and the clear Primer, which would set you back $18 plus any other Lip Tar you buy. Minis do last, since you quite literally need a tiny drop. I am in loooove with Lip Tar now. It doesn't say if these kits are limited edition or not anywhere online.

Can I take a second to just rave over their Creme Colour Concentrates? OCC has In Your Face Kits, that have a Lip Tar, a matching Cosmetic Colour Pencil exclusive to the set, and a Creme Colour Concentrate. I took a second to swatch the Vicious Violets set, which has Pleasure Model, a very pale, pearlescent pink.

Oh. My. BATS!

Pleasure Model is so creamy, soft and smooth. It doesn't leave much color on the skin, just a sheen. And what a sheen it is! It's a beautiful pinky-red duochrome. It's like a cream version of Datura Loose Colour Concentrate! Love it! There is a bit of very, very fine shimmer that's noticeable in incandescent lighting but otherwise its a glowy duochrome sheen!

For now, no lip swatches since Pretty Boy and cleaning it off did a number on my lips.

SPOOKEHDOOM