10 Winter Lip Picks.

It's probably no surprise that I love bold, dark, vampy lips. So much so that this post was both a joy and a torture to write. 50% of me was so excited to share with you my favourite dark lip colours because well, I love talking about lipstick! The other 50% was dreading it because it was extremely hard for me to narrow it down to a) a particular number and b) permanent, readily available shades. I'm happy to say that all these colours are permanent, no limited edition ones here! I managed to restrict myself to just 10, otherwise I'd be here all day listing lipsticks! Most of these are more berry, purple and burgundy toned colours (although I did include a couple more subtle shades for you guys!) because I find them more readily available than the darker reds. That being said, I am waiting on a certain Lime Crime product that I'm hoping will prompt a follow-up post closer to Christmas around my top 5 holiday reds. Keep an eye out!

A lot of these are MAC, but I have a few budget/drugstore lipsticks here too that I love for winter and I hope you will too! These are just some of my favourite dark lipsticks, particularly the ones I've been using this year... if you want to see more lipsticks (and to see them in action on ma faaaace) then follow me on Instagram. I always post new makeup purchases on there and usually show them in a FOTD before they feature on ze blog!

Review | Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC) Lip Tar - Black Dahlia.

When Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics came on the beauty scene a few years ago, I was so eager to try their products. I can't believe it took me this long to finally buy one of the Lip Tars! When I saw Black Dahlia, I knew I had to have it. OCC isn't an easy brand to come across in Ireland/UK and buying makeup online can be a bit of a pain when you can't swatch the items properly. I had a look on Temptalia for Lip Tar swatches and made a firm decision to go with Black Dahlia because it's a colour I gravitate towards anyway - not a very summer appropriate shade, but one I wear a lot anyway so I thought it'd be a good first pick! I've seen OCC on only a handful of UK based sites (no Irish ones unfortunately) and I think the only place you can buy OCC in person is Selfridges in London. I got mine from Cult Beauty for £14 which isn't too bad at all. 

OCC Lip Tar + Brush

Lip Tars are a really interesting product - they're essentially a very heavily pigmented liquid lipstick lacquer. OCC offer some avant garde shades like yellow and blue which may not be for everyone but make for great mixing shades, especially if you're a professional makeup artist. I had tried the Sleek Pout Paints previously (considered a Lip Tar dupe) but always wanted to try the real deal! As I said before, Lip Tars are made for mixing so if you have a couple of shades you can easily create a custom colour to suit you which is definitely something I'll be doing in the future! 

A nice thing to note about Lip Tars is that they are vegan and cruelty free. They contain castor seed oil, hemp oil, peppermint oil and vitamin E. While the ingredients seem moisturizing, Lip Tars can definitely be drying on the lips so it's important to exfoliate and moisturize the lips beforehand, particularly with a dark shade like Black Dahlia!

Black Dahlia

Onto the shade itself, Black Dahlia is described as a "blackened red". It looks pretty much straight up black in the tube, but the real shade shows through in the swatch. It has no shimmer and is a deep burgundy with the right amount of red and purple. I love these vampy colours and even though I'm writing this review in July, I hope no one dismisses this shade for the autumn/winter months by the time September comes around! I had heard before that Black Dahlia was more liquidy and sheer than some of the other lip tars. It has quite a thin, slightly watery consistency so you really need to do 2 layers of this to get it fully even if you're not wearing a lipliner. Personally, I always wear a lipliner with dark lips so it doesn't pose a problem. I've worn this with both Current and Nightmoth liners (MAC) and they compliment it very well. Regardless of the thin formula, it still has great pigmentation and I have to stress that a little bead/dot of this product goes a very long way. Lip Tars are not to be applied like a lipgloss because you're left with a gloopy mess that will bleed out to your ears come lunch time. However, if you apply a small (very small) pea sized amount dot then you should have no problem. 
I exfoliate and moisturize my lips before applying any makeup, let the lip balm sink in while doing my eyes/face and then come back to the lips. Blot off any excess lip balm and line the lips (OCC offer matching pencils to compliment their Lip Tars). I apply a little bead of product onto the tip of my lip brush, applying it to the centre of the lips and working the product outwards. This ensures minimal feathering as the least product is on the perimeter of the lipline. A lip brush is a must with this product and OCC now market the Lip Tar with a mini version of their brush which is fantastic for travel. The lip brush is actually really nice - I have a couple of lip brushes but prefer to use this one because its small and allows you to carve out the lips and get a good shape. They also offer a 'Black Metal Dahlia' shade which is the same deep burgundy but with a metallic shimmer... so cool!

Black Dahlia Swatch

                      

Overall, I love this product and the shade is absolutely beautiful. OCC are a really ethically sound company which is great to see, too! Lip Tars are a great idea and while they look intimidating, are easy when you get the hang of them. If you have tried any of the other Lip Tars then please let me know either below, or tweet me @GraceyOConnell because I'd love to hear your shade suggestions... I'm dying to try more colours! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! x

The Lip Product Addict Tag!

If you've been on my blog or Instagram for more than 10 minutes, I'm sure you've probably guessed that I like love lipsticks. I wasn't tagged specifically by anyone but when I saw the lovely Hannah from Love Life and Makeup do the tag last month I knew I had to seize this golden opportunity to talk (even more) about lipsticks and some other lip products I love! If you've tried any of these products or have any lipstick recommendations then please let me know :)

1. Favourite Balm/Treatment?

I can safely say that my lips are drier than a camel's behind 99.9% of the time so I always seem to have at least 3 lip balms handy at the bottom of my handbag and dotted all over my house. I should probably start by saying that the germaphobe in me hates travelling with potted lip balm so I tend to keep those to the comfort of my own home. I really don't think you can go wrong with good old Carmex (original or cherry!) as they are super moisturising and have an SPF which is great if you're out during the day. It also comes in a travel friendly squeeze tube which is perfect to throw in your bag. I'm also a fan of the EOS lip balms, but I won't lie... it's majorly for the smell and packaging (I mean... it's in the shape of a little egg!) and use this when I'm on the go because I don't have to deal with lip balm all over my hands. Treatment wise and because my lips are so dry, I always use Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream on them before I go to bed at night.

2. Best Eye-Catching Red?

I love red lipstick and found it so hard to narrow it down to just one. However, my fool proof eye-catching red that never fails me has to be Ruby Woo by MAC. Ah, Ruby Woo - the red that needs no introduction. The best long lasting pin-up matte red there ever was. Pair this with Cherry lipliner and you will never want to take it off... in fact, pair Ruby Woo with any lipliner and it probably never will come off!

                                            

                             

                                               

3. Best Luxury and Best Drugstore?

In terms of very high-end luxury I would have to say Tom Ford.. Not that I own many TF lipsticks but they really are fantastic! Casablanca is the newest edition to my teeny collection and it is a beautiful plum mauve that would flatter a lot of different skin tones. If we're talking middle of the road high-end then I can't recommend MAC and Urban Decay lipsticks enough! However, I also think you can find so many brilliant drugstore lipsticks like Rimmel, Barry M and Sleek, but my favourite has to be the Wet n Wild ones. The formula is wonderful and very comparable to a lot of MAC lipsticks. I have an entire blog post (here) dedicated to swatching and comparing dupes if you're interested!

I just want to look at the packaging all daaaaaay.

4. Best MAC Lipstick?

Ahhhhh... so hard! Possibly my worst nightmare seeing as I probably have the most MAC lipsticks out of everything. I have to agree with Hannah and say my most reached for nude/pink is Creme Cup and if I had to go with anything else I would say Diva because it is hands down my favourite dark lipstick. Frankly, I was shocked and appalled to see that I didn't already have a photo or swatch of Diva on my blog but I'm sure it will make several appearances when Autumn/Winter comes... until then, have a crappy old lip swatch type selfie thing (shout out to my silver Cinderella hair... RIP, you were taken too soon)

                           

5. The Most Disappointing? 

Have to completely echo Hannah again here and say the Rimmel Apocalips. Very unpopular opinion because I know the blogging world when cray cray for them when they released but we just never really got on and the 2 I bought pretty much sit at the back of my mirror untouched to this day. They stay glossy and thick, bleed horribly, smudge and feather out to my ears within an hour of wearing them and I just don't think anybody has time fo' dat. I bought Nude Eclipse and the super bright shade Apocaliptic. The former preformed slightly better than the latter, but I think that it was just because it was a nude and didn't show up feathering half as much. I really wish I got along better with these, because Rimmel lipsticks are some of my favourites.

6. Liner - Yes or No?

I never really wear a liner with nude lips but with a bright or dark bold lip then I would say it's a must! MAC probably do my favourite lip liners in terms of bold shades, but you can find some great cheaper ones with Kiko, Rimmel and Barry M in particular! In terms of MAC, my favourites are Current/Vino, Beet, Cherry and Magenta.

7. Best Gloss?

I detest lipgloss so I'm going to be short and sweet here and say I don't think there is such a thing. I haven't bought a lipgloss in I don't know how long!

8. Something Extra?

I had seen so much online about OCC Lip Tars since they first came out a few years back and always wanted to try one but could never decide on a colour. I'm sure everyone and their mother knows about Lip Tars but they're essentially liquid lipsticks that you can mix together to create custom or more avant garde shades.When they came out with Black Dahlia I fell in love and knew I had to have it because it's a colour I gravitate towards anyway and was sure I'd be happy with it on me. I eventually came round to buying it from Cult Beauty about 2 weeks ago and have fallen in love! Although it definitely isn't a typical summer shade I've been wearing it a lot and will definitely be doing a small post on it soon, showing tips and tricks on how to apply it. I think that these are fantastic products for both makeup enthusiasts and (especially) professionals! They have a variety of shades to choose from and now come in a glossy stain formula. I'm so excited to try more but cannot for the life of me decide on what colour to choose next so if you have any OCC recommendations I would be so grateful!

                             

I really loved doing this tag and I hoped you enjoyed reading! I of course tag anyone who wants to do this or tell me about their favourite lip products below. I specifically tag Susan from whatsnewwithsuzieq because I really just want to have a nosy at her lip picks! ;)