Review: Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Annika

Today I'm reviewing a product whose hype train used to plunge full steam ahead, bells and whistles clanging rigorously, but has since been retired to a few cargo-bearing trips a season.

That product?

Why, it's Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar, of course!

This one, Annika, is a mini size- what OCC cleverly calls a "test tube". I have a whole whack of these- 15 different shades, actually- from taking advantage of the Sephora sale section. They are mixable liquid lipsticks that are fairly genius- the theory is that by buying only a few shades of Lip Tar, you could conceivably mix up any colour in or out of the rainbow. I'll be reviewing all my shades for what they are, of course, but I may make a post or two showing off the combinations I've experimented with.

Annika is a Matte lip tar and is described as a "pale neutral peach ".

With both sets and individual lip tars, a brush is provided, as it's imperative to applying the lip tar, which only has a nozzle and no applicator. I find it's a very good quality lip brush- I've washed it nearly every time I use it and it's never shed or lost shape. However, hauling a brush around with you for reapplication gets really old, especially since the brushes don't come with caps, nor does OCC sell one separately. I usually wrap the end in toilet paper or saran wrap, toss it in my bag, and hope to hell it doesn't get crushed/stain all of my belongings. 

You only need a small drop of lip tar to cover your whole mouth. It's important that you use less than you think you'll need- otherwise, the formula will feather like crazy and that's not a good look for anyone. I recommend applying the drop of lip tar to the brush itself rather than your lips, to make sure it goes on even.

 The formula is insanely pigmented and smooth. It smells rather minty but the scent disappears once the lip tar sets. You have about five minutes to play with it and clean up your edges before the product sets, and I find it takes about a half hour for it to totally set to a mostly-transferproof finish.

And here's Annika on my face. This is about twenty minutes after I woke up for school, so that's why I have that distinctive look of existential dread in my eyes. I thought Annika would be the perfect nude for me, but it's actually too light and too peach. It looks a whole lot pinker in the tube. However, it's not a tragedy- it's still wearable, doesn't make me look ghastly and can be mixed with a more pink/mauve shade in order to appear more flattering on me.

The longevity- or lack thereof- makes it unflattering as hell, though. Within a few hours- maybe four- it gets positively crusty.

The main problem area is around the center of my lips, the edge of my mouth. And honestly, this surprises the heck out of me because it's the opposite of any problem I've ever had with an OCC lip tar. In the past I've had problems with them bleeding outside my lipline and never fully drying down, but never this.

Applying more coats did nothing. I'm really confused as to why this happened. Maybe the lightness of the shade made the formula have to be a bit more chalky? Either way, I'm unimpressed.

I still love OCC lip tar, but this problem is going to make me read reviews for that specific shade to see if it has similar problems, as clearly some shades pose different issues than others.