Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (if you don’t know them already) is an artistry brand with a passion for color and a commitment to vegan production.

Their product offering is basically (1) airbrush — both the equipment and the shades, (2) Lip Tars, (3) Loose Colour Concentrates, and (4) nail polish.

As a brand for artists, they also sell primer, mixing medium, pure pigment (for adding to mixing medium), ultra-fine cosmetic glitter, and empty bottles and palettes.

I ran into OCC at The Makeup Show (and met founder, makeup artist, and total genius David Klasfeld) — and finally got to play with their products first-hand.

The Loose Color Concentrates are loose eyeshadow pigments that can also be used elsewhere on the body. They’re quite luxurious to swatch, and $10 buys you a 2.5 g sifter jar.

Loose Color Concentrates are ready-to-wear, unlike OCC’s “pros only” Pure Cosmetic Pigments (which should be used sparingly, combined with mixing medium or mixed into primer).

Nori, Wasabi, and Ginger are new shades; Flicker and Glisten are their current best-sellers. Click the image to view at full size, and you’ll see that all these shades had some sparkle to them (and that Flicker was the most sparkly).

Of course, if I had to point to the product that made OCC famous (at least to the casual consumer), I’d probably name their Lip Tars.

These full coverage, mixable “gloss paints” are unlike anything else out there. They’re like pure liquid pigment for your lips. As you can see, they come in some “weird” colors — bright blue, grass green. You might use these colors for a photoshoot (or a rave. Do people still go to raves?)

But Lip Tars are an artist’s dream, because you can mix the colors to create any shade, with any undertone. (Ideally, you’d probably want to mix your shade on a palette, then tap onto your lips.)

Complex, Vapid, Hoochie, and Demure are new; NSFW, Grandma, Melange, Hush, and Petty Beige are best-sellers. All shades are $12.50 for an 8 ml slant-tip squeeze tube. (The Lip Tars were formerly ~10 ml, but with such a pigmented product, no one was ever going to be able to finish a whole one.) You can also buy all 24 shades for $300.

I went to dinner with a friend wearing Grandma. On first application it was a bright coral (but still looked great on her fair skin); it “wore” down to a really lovely, slightly less bright color. Â As we sat down to dinner, she did leave color on her straw, but I would say her lips lasted through appetizers (until she wiped her mouth on her napkin, really).

Last thing: I just want to briefly mention the nail polishes. They come in some nifty colors, and are $8 for a 0.5 fl oz bottle (that’s standard size for most polishes). But the two “special” OCC polishes are Flatline (a matte topcoat) and Shellac’d (an ultra glossy topcoat) — worth checking out if you get the chance.

OCC gave me these products to swatch, and now that I’ve swatched them, I’m going to give them to you. Â Look for several of these to appear in an upcoming weekly giveaway — the rest will be sent out as prizes for writing great reviews.