OCC Lip Tar in Strumpet and Maybeline Lip Liner in Wine - A Match Made in Heaven!

I have a confession to make - I am absolutely frigging terrified of using OCC Lip Tars. In my opinion they are the most difficult lip colours that you could ever use and are not one to use if you don't have a good amount of time to perfect their application before leaving the house.

Because of this absolute terror I have had my OCC Lip Tar in the colour Strumpet for quite a while now and have used it a total of 2 times. One of these times I didn't even make it out of the house with it on because I lost courage and wiped it off so I could apply something a little more 'safe'.

Strumpet is a gorgeous medium to dark magenta colour that I am totally in love with, but, because of it's brightness it takes no prisoners and is completely unforgiving if not applied absolutely perfectly.

It has been a mission of mine to find the perfect shade of lip liner to pair with the gorgeous Strumpet. I have found that if you use a good lip liner with the OCC Lip Tars it makes application a hell of a lot easier and also helps to reduce any bleeding outside the lip line which is a big hazard with these lip colours if too much product is used. Unfortunately, every liner I already owned just did not suit this colour and showed too much of an obvious difference around the edges of my lips. They were either too pink, too purple, too light, too dark..... you get the drift.

That was until I stumbled across the Maybeline stand in my local Priceline a little while ago and had a 'hell yeah' moment when I spotted their Colour Sensational Lip Liner in the shade No. 55 Wine. It just screamed out 'Strumpet will be my BFF' so I couldn't resist buying it and racing home to see if I'd finally found the perfect match.

Well, here is the comparison of the two:

 (Left: Maybeline Colour Sensational Lip Liner in Wine, Right: OCC Lip Tar in Strumpet - No flash)

   (Left: Maybeline Colour Sensational Lip Liner in Wine, Right: OCC Lip Tar in Strumpet - Flash)



I actually paired the two of these last Saturday night when hubby and I had our monthly 'date night' while bub stayed at the grandparents for the night and it was the first time I've been able to wear Strumpet with full confidence that it looked good and wasn't going to budge. Hubby even commented on how good my lips looked before we left the house so that's saying something!

What do you think? Have I found the perfect match? Has anyone else used Strumpet before and combined it with a different liner they think matches it just as perfectly? 

November BellaBox - A Tad Disappointed.....

I was eagerly awaiting the November BellaBox this month as I sneaked a peek at some blog posts from others who received their boxes a couple of days ago. I was mainly excited to try the OCC Lip Tar which was one of this month's contents as I've heard such good things about these and have been wanting to try them for ages. Unfortunately, when mine arrived I felt a little deflated :-( The Lip Tar that I received was in the colour of Strumpet which is an extremely dark bright plum colour which is just way too dark for me to ever wear anywhere out in public! I would have been over the moon with any other one of the lighter shades these come in. Boooo, way to disappoint!

Oh well, here is a complete list of the contents of this month's BellaBox:

1) Lancome Visionnaire (5 ml) - Visionnaire is the first skin care with LR 2412, a molecule designed to penetrate throughout all the layers of the skin's epidermis, triggering a range of micro transformations.

2) Erborian BB Creme, Elixir Au Ginseng & Yuza Sorbet (3 x 1.5ml sachets) - This is a Korean product which has selected priority energising and detoxifying herbs to stimulate the metabolism and speed up microcirculation. The result: natural anti-fatigue and strong anti-ageing properties.

3) Gatineau Melatogenine Force Collagene Anti-Wrinkle Concentrate - Helps stimulate the strength, vitality and longevity of collagen fibres.

4) Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC) Lip Tar in Strumpet (8 ml) - A stunning new innovation in lip colour. OCC Lip Tar combines the longevity of a lipstick with the ease of application of a gloss.

5) Orofluido Beauty Elixir for Hair (5 ml) - A heavenly indulgence for hair containing Argan Oil, Cyperus Oil and Linseed Oil, each producing its own beautifying properties to give remarkable silkiness, lightness and shine.

6) Twistband - A hair tie from California to keep hair secure without snagging or leaving ugly creases.

Personally, I'm a bit disappointed in this month's box and not only because the Lip Tar is practically useless to me. I think all the samples are too small to really give a good indication of any of the skin/hair products and the Twistband is something I could have made myself from some elastic in my sewing kit.

If this had been the first box I definitely would not have stayed subscribing. I know the Lip Tar is most likely supposed to be the spotlight item for this month so because I'm not happy with the one I received that's probably put a dampener on the rest of the contents for me.

Did anyone else receive the November BellaBox? If so, what did you think of it?

Michelle..