Last Friday evening, four Toronto chicks headed over to the trendy Queen street West downtown to experience the thrill of making our very own lipsticks at none other than the BITE Lip Lab!
I’ve never made my own lip colour before save for the one time I melted some Vaseline with a bit of food colouring when I was around 12 years old. bei tempi! The BITE Lip lab is just a tad more advanced than my at home “lab”! XD
Look at everyone so focused on what they’re doing!
I attended this event as a guest of cat of MyLipAddiction! along with cat and myself, there were Maria of best Day Blogger, and Grieta of TO appeal ‘n Beyond. It was such an intimate event that they had closed up shop and served us some wine…
I didn’t indulge too much because I wanted to have some sobriety when I was deciding my shades (or else I might have come home with a pastel blue lippie )
A quick bit of FAQ on the BITE Lip Lab. BITE Beauty, as a lot of of you know by now, is a homegrown Canadian brand that focuses on food grade ingredients in their products. Go ahead and munch on those lipsticks all you want, it’s all good. The BITE Lip lab is a natural extension of the ready-made shades – choose from different formulas, a variety of scents and an limitless possibility of colours!
There are 9 natural scents to choose from (vanilla, mint, wildberry, cherry, coconut, lime, citrus mango, violet, fresh citrus) and you can choose one or combine two.
I was of two minds when it pertained to trying to decide what colours I wanted. must I create something special and not easily found “off the shelf”? Or, get something common but knowing that it would be in the remarkable BITE formula? I ended up getting the best both worlds!
Our Lip lab Magicians disguised as Lip lab Artists: Austen and Jen. Austen worked with Grieta and Cat, and Jen worked with Maria and I. Maria was my lipstick making buddy for the evening!
First, the lip prep!
1) removal of existing lipstick – I was rocking BITE luminous Crème Lipstick in Pepper that night (when in Rome, right?) and it came off cleanly with lush Lip Wipes. completely clean lips void of any existing product is a need to when testing new lip colours.
2) exfoliation using the Agave Sugar Lip Scrub. I *think* the instruction was to tissue off the excess but um, I just licked my lips clean. This tastes like candy.
3) Hydration – we were used their Agave Lip Mask but if you recall, I tried it before and it made my lips itch! So I asked if there was another option available and Jen offered used me the Agave lip balm version, which I ended up liking so much that I’ve already gotten it from the Sephora sale!
The Shades
Would you believe that I made a decision to make a red lipstick? Me, the lover of MLBB shades and sheer tinted lip balms?
1) everyday Red
This is such a tough shade to pin down for a lot of people. but having a amazing red lipstick is like having a little black dress! I wanted a shade that was brightening on the face and was easy to wear. Jen wrote down the following notes based on my preferences:
• blue based red
• creamy / AB (Amuse Bouche finish – there are other options available including Luminous, Matte Crème, and glossy Sheer)
Jen mixing up the first batch of red.
Here are the formulas for the red:
Version A:
• 1/2 K7121
• 1/4 tannin
Although I requested a red, it took some getting used to actually seeing RED on myself. It was a bit difficult to apply on my lips precisely from the disposable flocked applicator so Jen supplied a BITE lip pencil for me to fill in the edges – very helpful. I got a lot more comfortable seeing myself with red lips (after lots of rounds of assurances from the gang!) but I requested just a touch toned down shade of red.
My lipstick mix sheet. like a work of art in itself.
Version B:
• 1/2 K7
• 1/4 tannin
• 1/6 almond
This was the winner! The addition of the almond shade toned down the colour to a more wearable red for me.
There’s Austen, creating lipsticks and dispensing wise words.
Austen said it best when he described this shade as “You’re wearing that red, it’s not wearing you.” Esattamente!
I’ve made a decision to call this shade “I’m Not really a Streetwalker“. It’s scented with a tantalizing citrus mango vanilla fragrance. Swatch will be below.
My second shade is one that I’ll be wearing a LOT. The quintessential MLBB colour. Hey, I just had to. I’m fairly certain that a MLBB nude shade is BITE Lip Lab’s a lot of requested custom-made colour. It makes sense considering that what’s my best nude may not be your best nude – why not get it customized.
2) best Nude
• midtone
• AB (Amuse Bouche finish)
• Mauve
Version A:
• 1/2 nude
• 1/6 musk
• 1/4 rhubarb
The first iteration of this was slightly too pale so I asked for some “oomph” – I know, very technical!
Originally, the sheets had both “Stashy” and my real name but I requested it to be removed because I knew I’d want to photograph these for the btronco d’albero!
Version B:
1/2 rhubarb
1/4 musk
1/4 nude
See how the base colours are all the same but just a tweak of the ratios? This mixture was genuinely my best nude! I wore this for the rest of the evening. It felt so good on my lips – the amuse Bouche formula is dreamy.
This one is scented with coconut lime – yum. I’m calling this shade “Sleepy Tofu“, in honour of Cat’s cute Chihuahua.
The scene of the crime. trying on lipsticks is messy business. At one point my fingertips were stained bloody red…
La creazione
The actual “production” process of the lipsticks is quite straightforward but fascinating at the same time.
“S” for super! These jars hold exact ratios of bases and pigments based on the “recipe” from the sheets.
At one point I compared it to cooking, which it kind of is: measure out the right ingredients, mix it up, and “cook” it. Voila, a lipstick!
The waxes / oils are warmed to melt them and mixed in a centrifuge. (Never thought I’d ever use the word “centrifuge” on my blog!)
The scents are added.
Prepping the molds.
Pronto all’azione.
The mixture is then poured into metal lipstick molds.
The molds are then chilled rapidly using an anti-griddle (similar to the ones that are used to make Thai rolled ice cream! new side service for BITE Lip Lab? ) I would have a photo of this in action but I think I had too much white wine at this point…
Once set, the bullets can be released from the mold.
Then a blank lipstick tube is used to draw out each lipstick bullet.
It is encouraged not to apply the lipsticks for at least 40 minutes to allow the bullet to completely set. To be safe, I waited 4 days before I opened the tubes. You guys know about my delayed gratification, right… 4 days is a speed record for me to open up new makeup! XD
And now, some glamour shots of the lipstick creations:
The caps are magnetic on these tubes.
L: I’m Not really a Streetwalker (ie Wearable Red), R: Sleepy Tofu (ie best Nude)
Swatches:
For me, the BITE Lip lab isn’t only about the end product – the lipsticks – it’s about the experience. I’ve never had the opportunity to interact face to face with the people who actually create what I’m going to wear. think about that for a second – when was the last time you spoke to the person who made anything you’re wearing, be it makeup, clothes, jewellery, shoes, etc? There’s just something special about being present through the whole process. The event lasted for an hour and a half but it will live on forever in my mind!
Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re creating your own lipstick colours:
• DO opt for an open mind – don’t bother bringing in a lipstick to try to dupe, it really takes out the fun in the whole experience. It’s better to cite an famous look or reference a colour family instead.
• DO supply direction – just like going to a hairdresser, it’s valuable for the Lip lab Artists to have an idea of what you prefer. After all, it’s your very own custom-made lipstick shade for YOU
• DO speak up if you’re not satisfied with the mixture before they finalize the shade – they’re terrific listeners and can also supply ideas if you’re not sure of how to improve the colour
• DO look at the colours in various lighting conditions – similar to foundation matching, one set of lighting isn’t going to supply the complete view of how the colours will look on you. We were encouraged to walk to the windows to look at ourselves in daylight.
• DO wear your normal makeup (foundation and blush especially) to see how the lipstick colours will work in combination with the overall look. I even brought along my concealer because I knew there’d be quite a bit of rubbing to try on the various test shades and my skin gets a bit red when rubbed. This helped to clean the edges of my lips as well.
• DO bring a pal along if you can. I think this would make a terrific party idea for a group of pals or mommy / daughter / sister / aunt / grandma dates.
Thank you BITE Lip lab and cat for the terrific evening!
I’ve been spoiled now – a bespoke makeup item has been a dream of mine for ages! first a bespoke lipstick, what’s next? Bespoke foundation? Ombretto? smalto per unghie? Have you been to the BITE Lip Lab? What would be your dream lipstick shade?
For a lot more information on the BITE Lip lab in Toronto, click here.
This event was organized by cat Forsley of MyLipAddiction.com. As always, these views are my own.
PS. I revamped my site design as inspired by the tissue paper that BITE Lip lab used to wrap our precious lipsticks.
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