[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] Home made lip balm!

Hi everyone! I know things have been a bit quiet lately but it's mostly because I've been pretty busy at work ^_^ but that doesn't mean I haven't been up to my usual shenanigans. For starters I just started a YouTube channel sometime last month so all the recordings have been keeping my time jam packed too.

Anyway, lets get to the crux of things.

A friend of mine recently started making her own home made lip balm! she makes both tinted sheer lip pots as well as the clear kind using food grade ingredients so they're not chock full of weird chemicals and other oogey stuff like that.

I got to try out the clear one, in a pot of course, because she hasn't quite nailed getting them in tubes yet but it's all part of the process ^_^

Here's the full ingredient list:

Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (cold-pressed), Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Beeswax, Grapeseed Oil, Chocolate Flavoring (food essence), Cosmetic Grade Mica Pigments (not in the clear version).

Verdict:

The lip balm feels quite velvety without being too oily or melty, which is great for our rather hot local weather. It melts to the touch which makes it even easier to apply. The primary ingredients are beeswax and virgin coconut oil so you get a nice coconutty scent alongside a whiff  of mellow chocolate essence.

It feels quite moisturizing without that oily feeling so I like that part. But I'm not sure if I really like the chocolate scent but I'm still waiting on the peppermint one once it comes out XD I pretty much leave it in my office because the air conditioning is pretty cold and causes my lips to dry out so it's great I've got this heavy duty balm just sitting there when I need it.

[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