OCC Lip Tar in NSFW and January Rising Review, Swatches and Pictures

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Several months ago, I posted about the release of a special limited edition OCC lip tar called January Rising in order to raise money for an OCC employee’s (the titular January) transitional surgery. I gladly contributed to the campaign, and received my lip tar quite a while ago — maybe a month or even longer. Even before I received that, however, I’d gone to Sephora and tried out the OCC lip tar in NSFW — my boyfriend liked it so much, he bought it for me as a gift. So, this is a very belated review but I felt I had to do it considering how much I like them.

OCC Lip Tar in NSFW

All OCC lip tars come in a squeeze tube with a thin nozzle tip. They include instructions and a small lip brush for precise application, and this is an absolute necessity. When they say you need only the smallest bead for your whole lip, they mean it. Start small, and you can always add more if you need. If you add too much, it bleeds and looks awful and goopy. The lip tars have a minty scent and taste, but I find it fades quickly after application.

OCC Lip Tar Instructions

NSFW is described as “true, balanced red.” January Rising is a bright neon bubblegum pink. Whereas NSFW has totally opaque coverage, January Rising has a bit of an almost jelly-like quality to it, so it is slightly translucent. This translucent quality makes it much more flattering than you might think a neon bubblegum pink lipstick would be. (By the way, sorry for the strangely mismatched nature of these pictures. I took the product and swatch photos as I got each one, so they were done months apart.)

OCC Lip Tar in NSFW

OCC Lip Tar in NSFW

OCC Lip Tar in January Rising

OCC Lip Tar in January Rising

Before applying them, it’s important to make sure your lips are properly prepped and moisturized. They cling to your lips, and can accentuate any unflattering flakes. But this also makes them extremely long-wearing. When first testing NSFW, I wore it out to dinner — to my surprise, it lasted even through a huge plate of nachos and a margarita. I was shocked when I went to the bathroom, assuming I’d need to touch it up a bit and found that it was still going strong.

The only downside is that, especially if your lips are not properly prepped, they can feel drying. I recommend applying lip balm and letting it sink in for a few minutes, then tissue off the excess right before application.

They are moderately priced at $18 each (excepting January Rising, which was a limited edition charity product and “cost” a $25 donation), and since you only need a teensy bead each time, they’ll last forever. In addition, their long-wearing nature means you won’t need to be toting this around for frequent touch-ups. I really highly recommend OCC Lip Tars, and all the hype over them is well deserved, in my opinion. They recently released a metallic and stained lip gloss collection, which I’ve been meaning to go test at my local Sephora.
Best yet, OCC lip tars are vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free and gluten-free.

Have you ever tried OCC Lip Tars? Which are your favorites?

Price: $18 each
Where to buy: OCC; Sephora; Beautylish
Would I repurchase?: Yes! They perform well and wear beautifully. Considering how long they last, I probably won’t need to repurchase individual shades but I am definitely interested in buying other shades.