OCC Lip Tar Blend - Sebastian + Lydia

I have always been fascinated with lavender lips. And I don’t mean pastel, pinky-purples. I mean real lavender; muted purple with a strong touch of grey. But this sort of color is extremely hard to find, and it also has to go with your skin tone.

Sometimes when you can’t quite get that perfect shade you’re thinking of, a little mixology is needed. I mixed a bit of OCC Lip Tar in Lydia into Sebastian.

I’m wearing: 

• Wet n Wild Color Icon Trio in Silent Treatment on the lids (pale beige pink all over, taupe all over the lids, dark charcoal brown in the socket and outer corners.
• The Balm Bahama Mama to contour
• MAC Coy Girl blush - this is a great muted plum purple
• OCC Lip Tars in Sebastian (2 parts) with Lydia (1 part) - Sebastian is a soft chinchilla grey and Lydia is a muted plummy purple which helps add color to the grey so you don’t look like a corpse if you have medium to tan skin.

Other tips:

• If you have very pale skin, use less of Lydia. Or just buy Lime Crime’s Chinchilla, which is a perfect dusty lavender grey.
• If you have very dark skin, try using very little Sebastian if you want that dusty feel, or just wear Lydia neat as it has some muted dusty tones already, and that comes out more on dark skins.
• Make sure you wear a heavier coverage base than usual if you have redness or discolorations in your skin. A very muted lipstick tends to bring out those discolorations more.
• If you can’t get hold of a matching liner, just wear a clear liner so the color doesn’t bleed too much.
P.S. if you’re outside the US, my favorite place to buy OCC products is beautybay.com (free international shipping with a minimum purchase amount). They usually have a good color selection compared to other sites (other than occmakeup.com itself), and free international shipping is a big deal!

Shade Highlight: OCC Yaoi Lip Tar

I'm a complete OCC Lip Tar addict. I have probably around 40 tubes in total, and have been collecting them since a few years ago. 

Which is strange if you consider the fact that these are some of the most basic beauty products in the world. They are literally oil and pigments/dyes with some preservatives. That's it. But somehow they're just perfect in their simplicity. 

That said, I do happen to prefer most of their creme (or what they now call "Matte") colors because some of the metallic ones can have a slightly odd consistency. The sparkle pigments are a bit coarse, which makes for a more visible sparkle, but also a texture that is more gritty on the lips, and also tends to sink into lines and emphasize flakes more.

The darker metallic shades are much nicer in general than the pale ones because the darkness makes them automatically appear more even. 

But I do love me some Yaoi.

OCC Yaoi worn over fuchsia lip liner

If you didn't know, Yaoi in Japanese refers to "Boys' love" roughly. I.e. a specific genre of manga and fiction in Japan popular among some women, which depicts romantic attraction between boys/men. Don't ask me. I don't get it. But I do get this lip color.

It's a frosty neon, blue-toned candy-pink. In fact, I'd probably describe it as a metallic/semi-sheer version of Candy Yum Yum from MAC.

It's such an over-the-top, potentially-tacky, frosty Barbie color that it's actually cool. 

You can mix a teeny tiny bit with clear gloss for a sheer frosty pink, or just lay it on strong for that shiny lip effect. What I will recommend if you want to wear this at full intensity, is to 

1. apply it over a hot pink lip pencil or a matte lipstick. Lip Tars are oil and pigments. They contain no wax, so they WILL bleed. There is no getting around it. Also, the metals have a bit more of  a tendency to be sheerer and not as opaque and even as the creme textures, so a base layer of color will ensure everything looks even.
2. start small. Apply just a tiny bit first, and add more if you need more. This is more true for the matte colors than the metallic ones, but it's still good to use less because when you over-apply, everything slides around.

Frosty opaque lipsticks have been out of fashion since the 80s, so wearing this looks instantly retro. My favorite OCC pinks are probably still Pretty Boy and Anime, but I have to say - this one is still fun fun fun.

Do you own any metallic Lip Tars? And what colors are they?

LIP TARS: What they are, how they work, what I think of some of the colors.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tars

I was recently asked my thoughts on Lip Tars and whether I thought it was worth it to invest in them. Well, I own 5 tubes so that's saying something. The thing to remember though, is that it's not for everyone. I'd recommend it if:

1. You need to enjoy "mixology" and blending colors to make your own,
2. You LOVE very strong accent makeup on your lips and you don't mind spending more time on your makeup, OR
3. You're a makeup artist and you need to do both of the above.

 Most people would have no use for lip tars because:

• They can't be applied quickly like a balm or gloss; it would look crazy
• With most colors you need to use a brush
• A lot of the colors are incredibly strong and not practical for school or regular office-work (ultraviolet, yellow, blue, black, white,... )
• The pigments separate from the oils after awhile, and you need to have the patience to tip it the other way and shake it around until everything is mixed up again

That said, here are the colors I own and what I think, plus tips at the end of the post if you want to use them!

OCC Lip Tar in RX

True black. But you MUST wear a lip liner or some sort of wax base round your lips with this. It will very quickly bleed into fine lines.
I actually recommend MAC's Black Lipmix from the Pro range if you can get it.
It's not as glossy when it goes on, but the formula doesn't separate as badly and it goes on more opaque, with no bleeding. I would probably not repurchase this after I use it up unless I can't get my MAC for some reason.

MAC Lipmix vs OCC Lip Tar: The MAC isn't bleeding. It's just smudgy application. The OCC is though.

Mix with: ANY color to darken it or dull it.

OCC Lip Tar in RX

True, true primary blue. If you're looking for an opaque, intense blue whether to mix or wear on its own, this is the BEST shade you can get. I love it. Here's a post with a few things I did using RX.

One word for bloggers and those taking photos; this blue has a tendency to flashback in flash or bright lights, so it looks almost pastel blue in certain conditions. 

Mix with: Any color to cool it down. Use only a TINY dot when mixing!

OCC Lip Tar in Belladonna

This bright purple doesn't look this blue in real life. But even more than RX, the blue in this picks up in most frontal shots I take. In real life, it's not so ultraviolet.

Still it's a fantastic bright purple, and if you're the sort to love things that are "somewhat left of the center" (like me), you'll love wearing this color neat, without mixing anything in.

Mix with: Pinks to make them more lavender toned, with red for a burgundy/wine. 

OCC Lip Tar in Pretty Boy

Bright fuchsia pink.
This is the older sister (or brother) of Anime, OCC's best selling neon pink. It's still bright, but slightly more grown up and slightly more flattering on most skins. This is a shade I would recommend wearing just on its own with a fuchsia lip liner.

OCC Lip Tar in Ophelia

Soft beige pink.
The only pale shade I have in my collection at this time. It's a gorgeous cool-toned pink, but you can see no matter how much patting and blending I did, the lines are still visible where the pigments sank in. From a slight distance, and in real life, it's not really noticeable. Just be careful when you're taking anything in high-res.
Mix with: A bright color to soften it slightly. Although I'd also recommend just wearing this on its own because it's a very pretty and wearable shade for those with pale to medium-fair skin.

A few tips for those who can't resist the lure of these little tubes:

• Try to always use a lip brush, except with some paler colors that look patchy or streaky. Then I recommend using your ring finger to lightly spread an pat it out.
• Apply a very very thin layer first, spread it out sheer, let it set a bit, then build up more when needed. Don't plonk on a whole lot (this is not regular lip gloss!) because it will seep everywhere, and be more likely to bleed and sink into lines.
• Lip tars are a blend of pigments and oils. This is the reason they separate, and why they seem to go on glossy, then lose some of the shine after awhile. The oils vaporize and get absorbed, leaving mainly pigments, unlike wax-based glosses and lipsticks which will just sit pretty on your skin.

If you want to make your own D.I.Y. Lip Tars (works better with metallic pigments), I also have a post on that here.

OCC: http://www.occmakeup.com/

Dramatic Metallic Lips: Making your own Lip Tars

Note: All images show D.I.Y. lip tars applied neat using a lip brush, without lip primer, liner or lipstick as a base!

Get your own metallic brown lips with a rich copper-brown pigment like MAC Chocolate Brown.

If you've spent some time being obsessed about OCC Lip Tars, you'll probably be interested to know that the formula is extremely simple. It consists mainly of oils and pigments. There's nothing really magical or all that hard to recreate aside from the color formulations, because matte pigments are harder to work with than metallic ones. 

Arm yourself with:

• A light vegetable oil (avoid extra-virgin as these have a stronger smell and go rancid faster), jojoba oil, or silicone oil
• a bunch of pigments in shades that you feel would make great lip colors
• [Optional] skin-safe essential oils like rose, mint, etc. according to your preference
• Clean plastic ziploc bag in the smallest size available
• Small eye dropper bottle
• Spatula/scoop

The steps are quite idiot-proof:

1. Drop a scoop of pigment into a small ziploc bag and add about half the volume of oil
2. Zip up and smoosh everything around, getting everything as smooth as possible. If the formula is too fluid, add more pigments. If there are lumps that refuse to dissipate, then slowly add a drop or two more oil. It's better to add too little oil at the start than too much, as you won't be able to go back if you've used all your pigment and the formula is too sheer.
3. Test a tiny bit on the back of your hand. You should have a lotion like consistency and the formula can be as opaque or sheer as you want. If you're really going for the lip tar look, make sure it's opaque, but smooth to the touch.
4. When you're done with the formula, cut the corner off the bottom of the ziploc bag and squeeze the mixture out into a small travel dropper bottle like you would pipe cake icing out of a bag.

And you're done!

Like lip tars, the pigments will settle to the bottom after awhile, so you will need to shake a bit before each use just to re-distribute the pigments.

It goes without saying these work better applied with a lip brush than applied with your fingers or from an applicator tube like actual lip glosses. 

Dark metallic purple home-made lip tar.

One thing to note whether you're using an OCC lip tar or a home-brew is that natural oils tend to absorb into the skin or dry up after a few hours, so the product will start to look less shiny and more matte. If you want a really sticky, high-shine finish, you will need to buy specialty ingredients like Versagel 750 ME, as lip balms and petroleum jelly won't quite cut it, although mineral-based or silicone oils tend to be shinier for longer than organic oils.

Metallic pigments tend to stay true to their finish and shade when suspended in a medium, but if you are working with matte pigments, you'll need to take note that they will always become darker once suspended. What looks like a bright neon pink powder will become a deep magenta once "wet".

To get it to look as light and bright as it does when dry, you will often need to slowly add in white pigment to slowly adjust and make the color "creamier", brighter and paler. If you're working with matte pigments, it's a good idea to have a digital micro-scale to weight how much of each pigment you added, or you will find it exactly hard to mix the exact same shade again once you run out of your current batch.

Electric pink creme-finish lip tar made with matte neon-pink and white pigments.