Quick Look: OCC Lip Tar

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC) can be found at Sephora or online in a myriad of colors ranging from sky blue to sunny yellow to bright pink to inky black. The display is small but interesting and I have always been interested in the idea of a blue or black lip. After many weeks of sampling all the colors in the display, I decided to go with a matte lip tar in Black Dahlia. The OCC website describes this color as the "blackest, blackened red" and was the obvious next choice for me in my pursuit of Gothic lips.

Black Dahlia at its darkest (bit blurry!) 

Each lip tar comes in a small, plastic pouch with an applicator brush and instructions for application. They recommend that you put a small bead of tar on the brush and apply from the middle of the lip out. Application is pretty simple but I am a little less skilled with a brush than I am with a wand or tube of lipstick, so that did take a bit of adjustment. However, it was easy to use and didn't gush out of the tube and was very spreadable. Color pigmentation is true to the tube. My lips looked black, which is what I hoped for but not exactly practical for my job. Luckily this color is very versatile and easy to sheer the color out.

Lightest version

I've found that Black Dahlia has about three different shades that I can achieve. First is obvious the black red that it is advertised as being, second is a dark purpley-red, and the last is a nice deep red. You can expect to have your lips go through these three shades as your day progresses if you are like me and are a little lax about reapplication. Despite this expected lightening, color did remain all day once it settled on red.

The one complaint that I have is that it is very easily transferable. Anything that came in contact with my mouth came away colored and was only solved by removing the lip tar completely.

I can definitely deal with the transference and am interested in trying more of the line to see if all colors are as versatile as Black Dahlia. Anyone else have an opinion on OCC Lip Tars? xx Jenna

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New Favorite Alert!! Soap & Glory Orangeasm Body Butter

One of my favorite beauty brands ever, Soap & Glory, recently released their new scent, and it's an amazing one! The new scent is dubbed "Orangeasm" and, as you might guess, it's an orange- dominated citrus scent. The official description is that it is "scented with fresh green mandarin, sicilian lemon & sweet orange peel oils." You can find Orangeasm's scent in a super rich body butter, a zesty- fresh revitalizing body wash, and a super tonic fragrance. 

I was unable to located the fragrance and have one too many body washes as is, so I opted to try the body butter. The orangeasm super rich body butter contains shea butter massage balls & MANGOMILK, green mandarin, Sicilian lemon & sweet orange peel oils. I was very intrigued by the "massage balls." I have bought many other Soap & Glory body butters, but have never encountered massage balls before. 

Upon opening this product, I absolutely fell in love with the scent. In my opinion, it's the perfect fresh citrus scent. It's energizing, and applying this body butter makes me feel more awake and clean, no matter what my state. It is definitely a noticeable scent, but it's not too strong. I really have an issue with scents that are very overpowering and linger a lot. An example of a scent like this is the Body Shop's Satsuma body butter. If I use that body butter all over, I can smell it on me hours and hours later - still very strong, and I never enjoy that. This has the perfect scent, and the perfect amount of scent. 

I am always impressed by Soap & Glory's products, and their body butters are a standout favorite of mine. Every one I have tried is super moisturizing, sinks in quickly, and continues to make my skin feel amazing all day. The Orangeasm body butter performed equally as well as all of the others. The body butter is rich, and does contain very tiny neon orange beads that are the massage balls. I can't say I really noticed a difference with the addition of the massage balls - they were too small to make a difference in the application, and they didn't particularly bother or excite me. I wouldn't be fussed if the massage balls were taken out, but they didn't decrease my enjoyment of the product either. 

the small orange dots are the mini massage balls!

I would highly recommend this product. As usual, Soap & Glory has made an excellent body butter with a perfect- for- spring and summer scent. I am already addicted to using this, and I think you will be as well if you like citrus scents. This is just perfect! 

<3

What new products are you currently loving? Will you be trying Soap & Glory's Orangeasm scent? 

Xx Kate

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Quick Look: Benefit's The Big Easy

Benefit's new foundation, The Big Easy, came out a few months ago and, after reading some pre- reviews of the project, I was so eager to try it. The reviews for this "Better Than BB" product promised good coverage that felt lightweight on your skin. One of the unique innovations with this product is a 'liquid to powder' formula that was supposed to be especially nice for oily skin. I personally do have oilier skin, and I feel like a lot of foundations are good for dry skin, but few that are targeted to oily skin. Benefit does claim that this foundation is good for all skin types, though. I quickly purchased it and have been trying it out for the past few weeks. Here are my thoughts.

The application of this product is relatively easy. It's one of the few foundations I feel comfortable using my fingers to apply it, but it also yields a very nice application with a foundation brush and with my beauty blender. It's really quite user friendly.

The Big Easy really does sink into my skin well and feels incredibly lightweight. However, I think that it feeling lightweight logically means that it will be lightweight. I would say that this coverage is light to medium. It's great for me if I'm having a relatively good skin day, but sometimes I prefer a fuller coverage alternative. I'm not saying that this doesn't cover things nicely, but I struggle to build it up to full coverage. Here is a picture of this foundation on my skin not blended (left) and blended (right). I don't even detect it on my skin once blended out.


The Big Easy has an SPF of 35, which I was really excited about, as I love protecting my skin. I have five other foundations with SPF, and they are all 15 or lower. SPF 35 is very significant, and I know that this is going to give me great protection, which will definitely be beneficial in the long run. I know some people do shy away from SPF in your foundation, as it tends to have a "white out" effect on your face when you take pictures. I was aware of this, so I made sure to test this out for The Big Easy. I took a picture of it with flash, and I was very pleased to see that it didn't seem to blanch my skin. However, because of the SPF, there is a detectible "sunscreen" fragrance. It's extremely mild, and I didn't notice it until I actually consciously smelled it, but it could be something to keep in mind if you're sensitive to smells.

enjoying the sun with The Big Easy!

This product hasn't broken me out, and I find that I can wear it all day and my skin doesn't get as oily. I don't feel that I need to set the foundation with powder, as the liquid does change to powder, so that saves me a step on rushed mornings. Overall, I do really enjoy this product. I will admit, it's not my holy grail, as I do like a foundation that I can build up to fuller coverage easily. I would recommend this product for anyone with oily skin who doesn't struggle too much with blemishes or dark spots. This is an excellent foundation to have during the summer when SPF and oiliness are even larger concerns, so I do look forward to continued use.

What's your holy grail foundation?

Xx Kate

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Orchid, the Color of the Year in Blush

2014's color of the year, according to Sephora+Pantone Universe, is "Radiant Orchid." Kate was very excited about this since the announcement while I only realized it was happening about a week before it was released in the store. So naturally, when it was finally in stores, Kate was on vacation and I went to Sephora for concealer but left with the new orchid blush palate and a cute make-up bag that was a free gift with purchase.

The purple blush was to enticing for me to pass up but I was also hesitant about actually putting the palate to use because my previous feelings toward blush had been more of the 'well hopefully no one can tell this is here'  variety. But that is more to blame on my general lack of makeup knowledge than anything else, I have since been introduced to the combined efforts of blushes, bronzers, highlighters, contouring, etc. That being said, this blush is a lot brighter tone than I was used to working with in general.

There was a definite learning curve involved with application, which I should have expected because I also own a bronzer from the same brand and it has to be parsed down before application unless I want to look like Attack Of The Self-Tanner. This is an attempt one morning before work that was a bit brighter than originally planned (but also I tend to apply make-up without glasses/contacts so...) (additionally ignore this weird expression, it was before 6 AM).

This photo is more recent and toned down to a level that I prefer. The times that it is too bright/much for me, it is necessary to remove all makeup and start again because I've found that trying to blend down does not work as efficiently as I would like but does attest to the staying power of the color. That being said, I do really love the brightness of the purple and the level of pigmentation. I find that its really suitable for Spring and a lot more fun than the duller mauve-y tones I had previously be more inclined to purchase. I definitely recommend giving the palette a shot while it is here.

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Hair Must Haves: Fudge Urban for Target

Fudge Urban is a hair company from the UK that I have been dying to try ever since I discovered it a few months back. But like many things that originate in the UK that I am interested in trying, there was no way (that I could find) to get it sent to the US. Then, eureka!, news broke that select Target stores would be selling their products. I was more than excited and made a ridiculous trek to the lone Target in my area that was selling Fudge Urban. Of course the whole Fudge line is not available, including their hair color (is something I am very interested in trying). However, I have been very pleased with what I was able to obtain. I purchased Miracle Ends, Sea Salt Spray, and a hairspray. All products have a very nice coconut scent that refrains from being overpowering but still manages to linger for most of my day, giving off a faint scent burst that never fails to make me long for pina coladas and island lounging.

First lets talk Miracle Ends, the product that I find myself reaching for most often. It is a lotion-like substance with Argan Oil that is supposed to seal ends and add shine to hair. You can use it on dry hair to help de-frizz ends or apply to damp hair prior to blow drying (I tend to use Miracle Ends on dry hair because I only wash my hair twice a week and use the hair dryer maybe once a month). It is great for my second and third day hair when my ends start to rebel and puff out. For my hair, this would not work on a day that I was trying to go for more texture in my hair because it smooths and sleeks my hair too much for a bedhead day.

Next, Salt Spray: The bottle says you can either spray on dry hair and scrunch or spray on wet hair and blow dry for volume and texture. The best use for me is using it as a volumizer/texturizer on wet hair. Volume is something my hair lacks and this definitely adds an oomph. When it comes to beachy texture, I can't say that I get a "beachy" look but that is maybe more at the fault of my hair than the product. My hair is very thick and tends to not hold wave or curl no matter what I do. The spray does give my hair texture which is something I want because I tend to go with the messy, un-brushed look. I've yet to experiment with what happens if I add the Sea Salt Spray to curled hair.

Finally, the hair spray: Fudge Urban boasts a long lasting "48 hour mega-hold". I can't attest for a full 48 hours but I will say that the hold will last at least all day. The spray stream is also nice because it covers large areas and you don't have to spray a lot to compensate for a dud stream or worry about unsightly hard clumps.

So yes, I recommend Fudge Urban. I want to try more of the line and will definitely keep this three as my hair must-haves.

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