Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar- NSFW

I wasn't going to bother reviewing NSFW, a red lip tar by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics  because this liquid lipstick really didn't agree with my lips. But after I mentioned it here several readers emailed for more details, so I went back and spent some extra time with this OCC lip color. The bottom line is that I still don't love their Lip Tar. I don't even like it. But I do see the point in the product for makeup artists and stage performers, and I did manage to make something usable out of it.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar is a liquid lipstick, sort of. It's actually a liquid pigment for lips, and it's extremely concentrated and tenacious. This stuff stays on forever, and once it's set and sunk into the lips it doesn't transfer. That's all good, right? Except that Lip Tar is a heavy duty pigment, but not a luxury makeup product in any way. It's meant to impart color, but not to pamper the lips or even take them into account much. The color photographs beautifully and makes a dramatic statement, but underneath the surface my lips get parched and start to peel.

Now, since Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar is a liquid pigment, you need very very (VERY!) little and can mix it with various balms and lip serums, which is what I end up doing. It impacts the longevity, of course, but I love tinted balms, so I used a tiny empty jar to create my own using this Lip Tar in NSFW and a wonderful wild rose balm from  PhoenixBotanicals (on Etsy). It's been seeing quite a bit of use lately (NSFW looks red out of the tube but it's pink based and my lips make it plummy) and I'm about to mix a second batch.  Still, I prefer decadent lipsticks.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tars ($18) are available from Sephora and occmakeup.com.