Wednesday, June 18, 2014

[Review] Portland Black Lipstick Corpse Paint

Along with my last purchase of Portland stuff, I picked up some Corpse Paint to share with a friend. Sure there are other brands of white face paint like Kryolan and even M.A.C (believe it or not they do have theatrical face paint) but these were way out of our budget and we liked the idea of trying it out as we've heard a lot of good things about Portland's Corpse paint so why not.
Corpse paint as it's name suggests is pure white facepaint meant for theatre or any other things you might need a stark white face for. It comes in a cute little plastic case with the ingredients label on the back.

As described by their site:

Vegan Corpse Paint is a pancake makeup-style theater white, made with all natural ingredients. Matte white and unscented, this product can be applied lightly for a pale and powdery finish, blended with skin-toned foundation, or applied opaquely like a traditional greasepaint. Our formula contains mango butter and jojoba oil to help keep your skin soft and ensure comfortable wear while provided excellent coverage. 

Amount: .15 ounces (about 4.25g) priced at 12 USD (Approx RM 38-40)
The ingredients are all natural and have no animal products, so it's suitable for vegans. Due to it's simplistic ingredients there's a chance it might be hypo allergenic as well, but don't take my word for it.
The formula is intensely creamy and it melts to the touch, making even a little go a very long way. A thin application of Corpse Paint will mute the colour of your skin and it will dry to a matte powdery-like finish, great for achieving the 'not entirely alive' look or for adding highlights to special effects.

Apart from being insanely pigmented, it's also very slightly water resistant so it took a bit of effort to wash off. It doesn't leave your skin dry either, so that's an awesome bonus.
I only used this much for one layer!
Here's some examples of what it'll look like with varying degrees of application. Sorry, but not going to use my face for this one because the shots were insanely tricky to get nice looking x_x

Light: Very small amount used:
Light/ dusted with pale translucent powder:
Medium/heavy: 2 layers, not dusted:
I did not intentionally wear black nails for this review
It still needs to be 'sealed' though, so a light dusting of finishing powder of your preference is a must if you're using more than just a thin layer (I think their Phantom Powder would work swell too!). Don't use body powder to set if you can, it's too heavy and tends to make the paint rub off during application.

The Corpse paint also comes out wonderfully matte, which is a massive plus given how often face paint comes out glossy. But it does settle into creases like any other makeup product so you could pair it with a primer for better effect. Personally I like it rather sheer as mutes all that annoying pinkness in my skin and replaces it with a marble-like pallor that I particularly enjoy.

I haven't yet given it a stress test to see how long lasting it really is (like a 4+ hour con for example), but I have no doubts that it will stay on if applied properly.

It would be awesome if Portland Black Lipstick Co. decides to do more colours down the line or decides to bundle it with Phantom Powder for those who really do need that sort of combo ;)

Rating: 4/5

Pros:
Affordable
Very easy to apply
Buildable coverage
Vegan
Unscented!!!

Cons:
Rather messy
Needs sealing for thicker layers