[Review] Portland Black Lipstick Part 3

Hi everyone,

We're back with more Portland Black Lipstick Co colours! This batch is a fairly eclectic mix of colours that I mostly haven't seen or tried myself which arrived with my latest order courtesy of the ever awesome Kim Damio.

A quick overview of the colours as per their website:

Goodbye, Little Yellow bird : Not available,because I can't find anywhere that sells it besides Beauty Bohemia. It's not a new colour though.

Lux Et Voluptas : Lux et Voluptas is a two-toned lipstick. It has a top layer of metallic gold backed by a charming carmine-based pink. It is somewhat more translucent, light and sparkly than most of our other colors, which works well for those who prefer more subtle lip wear than we usually offer. And, yes, this is a personal tribute to the restrained decadence of the 1990s, to Hakim Bey, and to this year's long awaited spring season in Portland. Look forward to the launch of our new autumnal color -- 'Nox et Veritas'!!!

Imitation Cherry: This colour has been around for a fairly long time, but doesn't seem to be for sale anywhere as far as I can find it. You should still be able to order it though, by contacting the sellers via email or their FB page.

Graey: None either, because I'm highly suspicious this is a new colour ( or at least not one that has been updated anywhere afaik). Only place stocking it is yet again, Beauty Bohemia.


Imitation Cherry

It's a very deep dark cherry red. It's a fair bit brighter and seems to have more of a true red base than compared to say, Undead Red which is a bit more of a plum colour. Seems to be great for making a statement or hitting the right note for that film noir style. Might be a tad too fierce for work though, but I love it all the same.

Goodbye, Little Yellow bird

It's a cheerful yellow as expected, is creamy and a bit minty as all their stuff. I personally find the shade a bit weird to wear, and it's like a matte non metallic version of Gilded Lily. I had some issues getting it as opaque as I wanted with my brush. Slightly pastel too. It's oddly not available on either their Etsy or website pages but I've seen people purchase tubes of it before.

Graey

It's a creamy bluish matte light gray. It takes a few more layers to get it opaque compared to the rest, the consistency reminds me of Abominable. It is a very nice steely light grey colour but I can't think of an application for it at the moment unless you are a cyborg or something and have metal lips.

Lux Et Voluptas

One of PBL's more 'recent' colours, it's a very wearable pinkish colour with gold flecks in it. The flecks aren't very visible once it goes on but it's a very cute colour. Similar in vein of shade with The Coral is Coming Out of the House.  It's also available on their site! Whoo!

Rating: 4/5

Pros: Creamy, tastes nice, has staying power. Wasn't as hard to remove as the darker colours.

Cons:
Save Lux Et Voluptas and maybe Imitation Cherry, I have no clue what I would do with these colours outside of costume use. Lux Et Voluptas contains natural carmine and might prove to be an allergen to some people.

[Review] Portland Black Lipstick [part 2]

This time, we're taking a look at Portland's titular Black lipstick, Metallurgy, Artificial Amethyst and Chaiborg.

A quick overview of the colours as per their website:

Black: The best ever! A perfect blend of black iron oxide and mice in a moisturizing base, this colour is opaque and long lasting.

Metallurgy: This unique lipstick is forged from black, green and gold colours to produce a truly unusual metallic experience. The results are surprisingly sophisticated - but with the primitive boldness you have come to expect from Portland Black Lipstick Company products.

Artificial Amethyst: We introduced this dark purple lipstick at this year’s wonderfully fun Portland Hallowe’en Bazaar. In true modernist fashion, we celebrate the fact that it is not made from real gemstones, but from FDA approved mineral pigments. After all, have you ever *tried* to stick amethysts on your lips? They fall off and bounce around on the floor…

Chaiborg: This futuristic lipstick is a cross between the metallic silver gray of industrial robotics and the warm light brown of milk tea. Neither too warm nor too cold, Chaiborg is a cosmetic life form all its own!

Time for swatches!

Artificial Amethyst

Looks like a rich metallic dark purple like it's namesake The colour goes on beautifully, producing a very deep purple colour with a faint metallic shimmer. I would call it within the same family as Indigo Bridge in terms of looks. 

Of all the colours tested I like this about as much as Indigo Bridge. Photo doesn't entirely do it justice.Very pigmented as well, it took very little to get it this opaque. If you want it slightly lighter, a blotting would bring out more of the purple hue.

Black

Ahh yes, the colour that Portland Black Lipstick is most famous for. It's a very rich black that goes on opaque with minimal amount. It stays on pretty well too and is one of the darkest blacks I know on the market. The caveat: it's a bit hard to get off and might stain lips a little bit. Time to break out the makeup remover! it's rich and pigmented but it really isn't a huge favourite  for me though I can see why lots of people love it.

Chaiborg

Is a  metallic silver grey with a warm brown tone, like it's namesake chai. It's very similar to the other metallic lippies but being one of the more neutral shades, it's pretty wearable. Makes you look kinda like you have iron -robot lips, and it straddles the line between being a warm and cold shade too. Photo sadly doesn't really do it much justice either. 

It's nice but it's not one of my favorites because it looks a little odd against my crazy pale yellowish skintone.

Metallurgy

Is a deep greenish gold, metallic colour. I'd say it's somewhere between black and pewter cauldron with a hint of gold sprinkled in. A nice shiny metallic colour for those who don't want to hit full on black. It goes on great and it's crazy pigmented. In terms of metallics I still like chaiborg more in terms of the cooler metal colour options.

I think I was a little unlucky with this sample that it had gone off a little. It smelled and tasted weird so after the review I got rid of it. I've tried it before with another friend who introduced me to the brand and I didn't experience this. We HAVE very hot weather and I hadn't stored the sample properly so that's likely the cause of it. According to Portland Black Lipstick Co. each lip stick colour has a different shelf life and if it smells sharp and a little like crayon or has dried out, it's probably reached the end of it's lifespan.

Rating: 5/5

Pros: Creamy, tastes nice, has staying power.

Cons:

All these colours save for Artifical Amethyst were very hard to remove without any form of makeup remover. Artificial Amethyst has natural carmine and might prove to be an allergen to some people.

[Review] Portland Black Lipstick [part 1]

Hi all!

Seems we'll be doing more reviews off and on when I can get my hands on interesting things to talk about!

Recently I was introduced to the world of indie lipstick. Especially that of weird colours that you'll never find on the shelf of any drugstore or regular makeup brand.

I'm talking about Portland Black Lipstick Co. an indie brand famous for their long-lasting lipsticks that come in hues both strange and wonderful that are cruelty free!

The review will come in batches, simply because I don't like making super-long posts and it's a better idea to break up the contents because it's easier to post. We will be trying out more Portland products (we've already reviewed their Corpse Paint) as we get them so stay tuned for more :)

Today we'll be looking at Cthonique, Indigo Bridge, Undead Red, The Coral is Coming from Inside the House and Abominable. We got Abominable, Coral samples and Cthonique free from Portland as they love to give out extra samples in your order and the full-sized Cthonique was an extra due to an order slip up ^^;(Thanks Kim! :D)

A quick overview of the colours as per their website:

Undead Red: A dark, dark red that wants to be called 'plum' or something

Indigo Bridge: This is a dark, metallic blue that verges on black

Cthonique, Abominable and The Coral is Coming from Inside the House have yet to be listed on their website and I recall seeing somewhere that Cthonique is a limited edition colour so you may or may not be able to purchase these online as of yet.

I think the Abominable and Undead Red melted in the mail. Curse our hot weather >.>

Before we start, I have to say that any smudging and uneven application is basically my own fail on part of being very clumsy with a lip brush. The vast majority of product here isn't smudgey at all!

Onwards to lip swatches!

The coral is coming from inside the house

Looks a lot like a deeper, pinkier shade of Lux et voluptas minus the gold sheen. It has tiny, tiny multicoloured sparkle bits in it and it looks well, coral. Appears to be a pretty useable daily shade, but dang it's a cute colour. Freaking goreguous shade of metallic coral. It's creamy like abominable, but notably thicker.

The full size is not for sale yet on portland's site, free sample. If they ever update the site with the full sized one, I'm getting it on my next order!

Indigo Bridge

Probably my fave of all time. I love how deep the blue is and how metallic-shimmery it is without being a glitter bomb. A popular fan favourite, Indigo Bridge is a very rich, deep blue that can function even for daily use, for the days when you don't feel like wearing your black ;)

Undead red

This is a staple among the PBL users I know. It's a delicious dark red, the kind that you wear when you want to scream 'I mean business!' at people. Without the actual screaming of course. It's a bit cooler and darker in colour than most reds I've had and very pigmented, needing little to get it opaque.

Chthonique

A very metallic dark green. It's quite subtle in colour but it certainly will make heads turn as green lipstick still is nowhere near the norm but it's not 'in your face' enough to knock people's eyes out. Like the rest it's got a nice minty feel and it's wonderfully thick. Blends very well with Indigo Bridge for a rich blue-green.

Abominable

Very creamy and it went on easy, but being pure matte white I have no idea what kind of applications you could use it for, aside from giving yourself spiky teethy lips on halloween. Might have potential for certain cosplay characters, I don't see how it's possible for daily use.

It looks like the lipstick version of corpse paint. It's very moisturising and buttery, but doesn't seem to have as much staying power as the other lippies I tried (own opinion)  but takes a LOT to get it opaque.

Rating 5/5

Pros:

Very pigmented

Thick & smooth

Minty

Moisturising

Cons:

Lip balm format makes it rather clumsy to apply

Some colours are hard to remove

[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