Black Moon Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick Review #indiefeature

     I'm so excited to finally have my hands on a product from the indie brand, Black Moon Cosmetics. I've been eyeballing their Autumn Trio since its release on September 15, 2017, but I kept putting off the purchase in favor of big name releases. On a side note, I'm going to try and publish more honest reviews on indie companies to help spotlight smaller brands, as I believe supporting smaller brands is key to keeping our markets, diverse and void of monopolies, so keep your eyes peeled for #indiefeature in the title and in the description of my Instagram posts to hear my thoughts on these potentially hidden gems. 

      The Autumn Trio, which is limited edition, originally retailed for $54, but it is currently on sale for $40. The trio contains three of their matte liquid lipsticks, two of which are limited edition: Cider (limited edition) a mustard yellow, Hazel (limited edition) a green with olive undertones, and Harvest, a pinkish red with orange undertones. The two shades, which are limited edition, are currently on sale for $14.40 if you buy them individually, but if you buy liquid lipsticks from their permanent line individually you'll pay $18, their liquid lipsticks contain 0.2 oz / 6 ml of product. Black Moon Cosmetics describe their liquid lipsticks as: creamy, comfortable, dry in 1-3 minutes, long wearing (avoid greasy foods), kiss-proof (not make out proof), very pigmented with a vanilla scent, and they've been formulated to be gluten and parben free. Black Moon Cosmetics is a cruelty free and vegan company.

About the Brand:     

     Black Moon Cosmetics was founded in 2015 by Tina Markary. The brand's mission was to create a line of high quality cosmetics with a dark twist. They are made in the USA in Los Angeles, CA, and they ship out of Burbank, CA. The brand offers a decent shade range of liquid lipsticks from matte and metallic, they also offer multidimensional lip toppers, liquid eyeshadows, eyelashes, a makeup palette, and a crescent moon shaped bag. They offer a 30 day return policy on all items except for items on sale, discounted, and gift/ bundles which are final sale, and they request that customers contact them within 7 days, accompanied by pictures, if your item has arrived damaged. Almost all of their products are limited to 2 per customer, which I'm absolutely floored to see! This will help prevent them from running out of stock too quickly and having customers buy out their inventory to resell their products at higher rates.  To the best of my knowledge Black Moon Cosmetics conducted the reformulation of their liquid lipstick formula in late 2016. While I do not have the original formula to compare to the new one, I wanted to point this out for anyone who may be curious on how the new formula performs. 

Shipping:

     They do offer international shipping with a processing time of 2-6 weeks and a flat rate fee of $15 for purchases over $100. If you live in the US, processing will take 1-5 days and you will receive free expedited shipping on purchases over $100 . For both international and domestic shipping, the price varies depending on location and weight of purchase. Currently they only offer tracking numbers for Canada, some European Countries, and most of Mexico. I was excited to see that they accept payments through Paypal, with all the companies who've had their customers information stolen, I appreciate having a Paypal option when shopping online on behalf of their purchase protection for buyers policy. I placed my order on March 8th and received a shipping notification on March 9th, my order arrived on March 13th.

Description/ First Impressions:

     I'm very thankful that the lipsticks didn't arrive in a box that is larger than the item ordered. There's nothing more annoying than when the box, which is already too big for what's being sent, doesn't fit in my mailbox and I have to go to the front desk of my apartment and ask for my package.
   
The package came in a black box, sealed with a sticker of their logo. When you open it up, it has a hand drawn image of a Gothic castle under a starry night sky. In the middle of this drawing, is their company's name in an old English style font. The package came complete with black tissue paper for protection, a copy of my receipt, a thank you business card, and a small postcard that advertised their website and featured two images of models wearing their products. The Autumn Trio is a bit smaller than I imagined it would be, but it's so eye catching, you could easily put the triangular box on a vanity, it's so pretty. The box has three sides: One side has the names of the lipsticks printed on it, another side says "Hello Autumn", and the front which has the logo for the Autumn Trio and a brief description of the item. On the top of the box, there is the same description on the front, but with the addition of their logo. Down the middle of the box, there is a deep set crease to give the box the appearance of being hand folded. On the bottom, their website name is listed along with the location where they produce their cosmetics, Los Angeles, CA. On the inside, the top flap has the description once more, along with their website name, information on the company and a small message that states that the ingredients are on the bottom of the inside. Honestly, I don't care for the fact that the
ingredients are listed at the bottom on the inside of the box, while you can look up the ingredients on their website, it's difficult to read the ingredients from the box alone. I would have much preferred they put the ingredients on the outside, in place of where the shade names are listed. It may have taken away from the look, but I would have liked to have the immediate reference. The lipsticks are help in place by two triangular holders, I really like that they've included two holders because it provides the lipsticks with extra security. The lipsticks have a beautiful black ombre which fades to nothing, allowing you to see the lipstick color. The caps have their trade marked holographic logo, and the bottom of the tubes have the shade names, location where they're made, and website address. Each lipstick has a creme brulee scent (the smell becomes faint after application) to it and they use a paddle wand which made the application quite difficult for me. I tried my hardest to apply the lipsticks neatly without any liner, that way I could see if paddle design was indeed a hindrance to an application, and they were for me. The paddles are good for distributing the product evenly, but they make creating precise lines quite difficult, furthermore these lipsticks do not layer well and they begin drying pretty fast. After the first coat, all additional layers were thick and crumbled, it made applying the lipstick perfect the first time so much more important.

Review:

     As I'm sure you all have gathered from my first impressions, applying more than one layer didn't work well for me with any of these three shades. The shade Hazel didn't want to work with me at all. No matter how many times I tried, I couldn't apply this shade evenly, it came off patchy, and there were visible streaks from the applicator. When I tried wearing this shade throughout the day, it gradually became patchier. I don't have much of a chin, which can lead to my bottom lip and chin touching. When I tried wearing this shade, even with one thin layer, I could see crumbled up pieces of the lipstick transfer onto my chin. It's a nice color, but it just doesn't perform well. Luckily, it was the shade Cider that sold me on buying this trio, and that shade worked heavenly.
    Wearing Cider, within the first hour I had to lick my lips a couple times, but considering the fact I had applied all the shades the same day and started my applications over a few times trying to get used to the paddle applicator, my lips were already a bit raw beginning the wear test. If I rubbed my lips together, the lipsticks felt a tad bit on the chalky side and would begin to peel ever so slightly. Not that I do this throughout the day, but it's a good indicator to me of how the lipstick will perform. A lipstick too rich in moisture will still feel tacky or wet rubbing my lips together and a lipstick on the drier side usually won't peel when I rub my lips. The lipstick did disappear from the inside of my mouth and form a ring, but all lipsticks tend to do that to me. When colors don't match your natural lip color, it can be quite obvious if the shade is patchy. This is especially problematic with colorful lipstick, which made me very grateful that this shade applied fully opaque in the first coat. My lips didn't feel tight from the lipstick which was a great sign and this stayed the case throughout the day. My lips are quite wrinkly, which makes it makes difficult for me to say if this formula emphasized any additional texture.
     The last shade harvest, was probably the best of the bunch in terms of wear. It's not my most favorite shade as I tend to lean towards the more bizarre colors, but I'm sure others will enjoy this one. Being a pinkish shade, it's hard to tell if this applied evenly on my lips as any discoloration would have blended in with my natural lip color and likewise, any patches from the lipstick would have also been difficult to notice. Wear I could notice wear was in the corners of my mouth. I did have water the day I conducted this wear test, but I drank it through a straw, which shouldn't have caused discoloration to the corners of my mouth. If you do touch up this lipstick, do it sparingly, as I mentioned before, multiple layers don't fair well.

Final Thoughts:

     I believe that there's a lot of potential for Black Moon Cosmetics to become a large name in the beauty industry.  Even though I didn't get in touch with their customer service department, I'm quite impressed with their shipping time. While only having tried three variations of one product they offer, I can comfortably say that with the exception of one lipstick, their company is offering top notch products that are unique in a market over saturated in conformity. By offering unique colors, they've found the key to standing out among other companies and judging by the design of the company, there's a clear vision of what the company aspires to be. It's obvious that the team has put a lot of love, care, and thought behind each of the products they've released.  If they play their cards right, I could see this company landing in our local Sephora or Ulta in the near future.