OCC Lip Tar All-Star Mini Set

OCC now has a limited edition set of minis available at Sephora! Love Lip Tar, but want smaller tubes for easy travel? Or, are you curious about trying Lip Tar, but weren't sure which color to buy? Now you can get a limited edition OCC Lip Tar All-Star Mini Set of 4 of their best selling colors (Memento, NSFW, Anime, Black Dahlia) in a cute little plastic zip bag with mini lip brush. The lip tars come in a miniature version of the full size tubes. With lip tar, a little goes a long way, so this set is totally a great budget friendly set for makeup lovers. Such an adorable set! Only $20 at Sephora - these would make awesome stocking-stuffers and gifts for friends this upcoming holiday season!

Keep Acne at Bay with Neutrogena Oil Free Wash and Cleansing Wipes

I've been a fan of Neutrogena since the 90's. Having an older sister, I was always getting into her products, and she always had cool skincare and makeup items like Neutrogena products. The Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash was an essential, and still is. The formula is gentle, lathers nicely, and leaves your face feeling clean without drying out your skin. It also uses salicylic acid to help ease breakouts and acne. It won't clog your pores and it leaves your skin feeling clean and soothed. Definitely a must have to keep pimples and acne at bay.

One of Neutrogena's newer products, the Neutrogena Oil Free Cleansing Wipes in Pink Grapefruit, are something I use daily. These wipes smell fresh and give you a burst of citrus fragrance that lingers on your skin lightly. These moistened wipes are great for on the go, or just having on your bathroom counter for a quick wipe down in the morning and at night. The wipes clean away pore-clogging dirt and leave your face feeling clean, fresh, and moisturized. These are great for oily skin and acne breakouts.

Review: Molton Brown Indian Cress Shampoo and Conditoner

I'm currently using Molton Brown Indian Cress Shampoo and Conditioner and it's great. It smells lovely like jasmine, honeysuckle and sandalwood. The smell is light and fresh, not too strong or overpowering. This purifying shampoo and conditioner improves shine, moisturizes your hair, and it is formulated with Indian Cress, which promotes hair growth. The shampoo creates a rich lather and leaves hair feeling clean and fresh, without over making it dry. The conditioner is rich and fragrant and gives your hair a lovely shine. I'm loving this haircare set right now! Available at Molton Brown for $30 a bottle.

Review: Mixed Chicks Spring Hair Bands

I have been wearing these in my hair non-stop lately. The multicultural haircare brand Mixed Chicks, just came out with awesome new hair accessories called Mixed Chicks Spring Bands. These hair bands are made of a super stretchy plastic material that holds your hair in place without pulling your hair or tangling your hair. Awesome! I often hair problems wearing my hair up in a elastic band or clip because it causes my hair to get tangled or gives me knots, not to mention, it often pulls my hair and can yank strands out. No fun! These hair bands from Mixed Chicks are different. They are comfy, lightweight, super stretchy, and they work on all hair types! They're available in cute colors like pink, blue, and yellow too. Each pack comes with 5 hair bands and is available at Mixed Chicks for only $3

REVIEW: Bite Beauty Cuvée Creme Lipstick

While beauty brands are regularly churning out new products, it's awesome to know that there are great quality brands devoted to lips. Bite Beauty has you covered from various color formula options (shades that pack a pigmented punch like High Pigment Matte Lip Pencils to a sheer kiss of color Lush Lip Tint), to Line & Define Lip Primer for all your priming needs, to Whipped Cherry Scrub and Superfruit Lip Butter to keep your lips in tip top shape. Bite Beauty is definitely not a brand to overlook at Sephora online or at a freestanding Sephora store.
I got to try some of the lipstick formula Bite Beauty Cuvee.  Swatches below!

Coral is such a fun shade. On my lips, Coral tends to lean on the pink side. I'm definitely not complaining, pink or red based corals are my favorite kind. I don't follow the usual color trends (only vampy colors in Fall/Winter and only bright shades in Spring/Summer). I personally believe that you should wear whatever color you want, whenever you want. This is similar to High Pigment Matte Pencil in Corvina, but with a creamier finish and overall texture/feel on my lips. I love how moisturizing these are!

Rose is a really pretty saturated red color. I can't get over how moisturizing these are. I'll admit; I have applied these lipsticks with less than super smooth lips and by the time I removed them, my lips were a lot softer and smoother. The pigmentation is amazing. I like to apply 2-3 coats in general with most lipsticks, but even a single coat of this delivered bright and bold evenly distributed color. You will never ever have to worry about patchiness with Bite Beauty lipsticks.

Note: At the time this review was initially written, the Cuvee Creme Lipsticks were available as individual shades. Sephora has since changed the availability, and the colors are available in a four shade gift set. The gift set includes Coral and Rose (swatched in this post), Blush and Blanc (two natural/neutral shades). It's a great way to try the Cuvee Creme formula while also trying out shades from separate color families.  The set is available at Sephora for $72.00

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics debuts at Comic Con 2013

How awesome is this?! I wish I lived in California so I could snag this gem of a lip tar. The metallic finish of OCC lip tars is simply out of this world. This Fall, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics will be adding six new beautiful Lip Tars to their already perfect product line-up! The Fall 2013 Lip Tar Collection, Moderncraft will feature a gorgeous mix of Stained Lip Gloss, Metallic Lip Tar, and regular Lip Tar. Moderncraft is scheduled to debut in August, which couldn't be more perfect because my birthday is in August!!!

Be sure to like Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics on Facebook and Twitter so you can keep up to date on all of the latest products and other news!

Check out this awesome press release!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SAN DIEGO, CA (July 2013) – Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics makes their long-awaited debut at San Diego Comic-Con (July 18-21, 2013) in a collaboration with artist Gail Potocki. 

To commemorate their arrival into Comic-Con, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics has worked with renowned Symbolist painter Gail Potocki to launch a limited edition metallic Lip Tar^TM that is inspired by her latest series of paintings, "Fragmented Alice" -- a uniquely macabre take on Alice in Wonderland.   

The exclusive Lip Tar^TM in 'Fragmented' is a metallic acid green shade that boasts an unprecedented amount of metallic pigment, leaving a spectacularly foil-like finish on the lips that's unquestionably attention-getting.  San Diego Comic-Con is the perfect platform to launch this collaboration as it has become the largest pop-culture event in the world and features not only comics but all aspects of popular arts.  

Attendees of San Diego Comic-Con can be the first to pick up 'Fragmented' Lip Tar^TM: Metallic at the Century Guild booth (#2845) beginning on Preview Night, July 17th.

But that’s not all!  'Fragmented' Lip Tar^TM: Metallic is a preview of what’s to come next from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics.  Stay tuned for more announcements coming soon on the full “Fragmented Alice” limited-edition collection, set to launch August 2013. 

 

REVIEW: Bite Beauty Matte Creme Lipstick, Luminous Creme Lipstick, and High Pigment Matte Pencil

It is absolutely no secret that I love Bite Beauty. I have a special affection for the brand because it ultimately caters to my favorite kind of cosmetics: lip products. I love when Bite Beauty releases new shades, I'm always excited to see what new beautiful shades Bite Beauty adds to the already existing gorgeous shade selection. Recently, Bite Beauty added Pomegranate to the Luminous Creme variety. Pomegranate is an existing shade in the High Pigment Matte Pencil, my sister bought it last Christmas and she loves it. It's one of her favorite reds! I decided to swatch "Pomegranate" High Pigment Matte Pencil next to the new "Pomegranate" Luminous Creme Lipstick to show how the two colors are alike, and how they differ:

Pomegranate High Pigment Matte Pencil and Pomegranate Luminous Creme Lipstick swatched

Pomegranate is the newest addition to the Luminous Creme Lipstick color selection, and I'm so glad this shade was introduced. I'm a huge fan of reds (and bold lip colors, in general) so I knew I would love this even before I tried it on for the first time. This is a gorgeous blue-toned red, that I think would contrast nicely against the fairest fair skintone (like mine) and even the deepest ebony skintone, and all shades in between. I noticed a bit of a teeth whitening effect, but that tends to be true for most (if not all) blue-based reds.


Corvina is one of the three new shades launched by Bite Beauty. The three shades are perfect for Spring/Summer! Syrah (nude peach), Violet (lavender violet) and Corvina (bright coral pink).
The shade I'm raving about today is "Corvina". I have (faux) red hair, so I love my corals. I have been searching for a light to medium coral infused with enough pink tones to keep it from going "creamsicle orange" on me. Bite Beauty has not let me down, as I knew they wouldn't. The opacity is divine, and the comfort of wear is impressive. One of my biggest gripes about certain lip products is how uncomfortable some can be to wear, but I usually forget I'm wearing anything when I slick one of these pencils on. I really prefer a light-weight lipstick formula, and Bite Beauty more than delivers. Besides the comfort of wear and opacity, the color itself is just amazing and brightens up my face.

In my most recent review for Bite Beauty, I showed two of four Pastille Matte Creme Lipsticks (Pastille Violet and Pastille Lilac). This bright beauty is Pastille Rosebud. Like Corvina, I feel that this shade is an instant complexion brightener. This reminds me of a shade Snow White would wear. There is a healthy looking sheen, but a simple blot with a tissue should tone that down if a truly matte look is desired. I can imagine this shade suiting many skintones. I really like the contrast this shade has against my super fair skin.

Bite Beauty is amazing and if you haven't tried a product from Bite yet, you really need to get on that - asap. :)

-Ashley