| Black lipstick: the most difficult of all products to review in a fair and meaningful manner. As someone who handles the colour every day in a range of media, I'm well aware of the technical challenges posed by the shade itself. Black militates, against almost everything; this is of course why we love it, but attempts to incorporate it into something that will adhere to damp organic surfaces usually ends in a pile of godawful shite. Every black lipstick formula I've ever tried has been cursed with at least one fatal mutation, rendering it unwearable in any real-world sense. They're all too patchy, too bleedy, too chalky in the case of mattes while anything less stodgy turns out too thin or unstable.  |  Even with the best formula in the universe, lighter-end-of-the-spectrum peeps are going to be confronted by a basic chromatic reality- for tighty whities, black lipstick is too high contrast to be an easy wear. We just need to accept that and work around it. |
| Sweetpea & Fay Liquid Lipstick in Ominous is one of those newish-fangled tube formulas to which MAC Pro Lipmixes are ancestral. I'm often shocked by the sheer density of pigment packed by these products and ditto Ominous; it oozes out in a deep shade of black-blackity black that seems to go on forever, no matter how much you smoosh it around. 10/10 for pigmentation, and the same rating for its solid 100% blackness. Many crappier black lipsticks have a dreadful tendency to pull green but I'm happy to report that Ominous is a very true neutral tar or jellybean black. It is blacker than MAC Feline eye kohl, which is famous for its comprehensive darkness. The emulsion spreads thinly and very evenly and a little goes quite a long way. It's easy to apply with a brush as far as getting consistent coverage is concerned, even in that annoying centre-of-the-mouth area that so often rejects darker colours and this impressed me greatly.  |  The finish yields a medium satiny shine; think MAC Lustre or one of the glossier Amplifieds. It dries down very slightly; some comfortable slip remains. There is a persistent vanilla caramel smell that you'll either love or loathe. A thick application on bare lips feathered into my outer lines after 10 minutes of doing the dishes, and I don't usually have that problem. Clear liner and/or less product improves that outcome to within perfectly acceptable parameters. That doesn't solve the transfer issue, though- without a decent amount of care, the Ominous on your mouth soon becomes the Ominous on your fingers, teacup, sandwich, cigarette, sleeve, pets, nose, keyboard etc. |
L 2 R: Ominous (maxed), Ominous (sheered), MAC Nightmoth liner, MAC Feline kohl.
neutral/coolish filtered outdoor sunlight
neutral/coolish filtered outdoor sunlight
Note- it looks crazy-shiny in these two swatches because I piled it on thickly from the tube. The strong light reflected in the lustre in the swatch below left makes it look much greyer than life.
| You can matte it down with HD powder but it's still going to travel. I used a bit of Ben Nye Translucent in Fair and got a lovely, slightly muted vintage charcoal without clumping or much settling into lip lines, and this is how I will wear it. BELOW Ominous, MAC Feline kohl warm outdoor daylight  |  Ominous leaves a fetching greyish stain behind when you scrub it off and with a light application and a little bit of finger work you can achieve a really nice translucent lavender storm cloud look, especially on darker lips. Most will probably be looking to Ominous to amend their red and purple lipsticks, and in this respect a little goes a verrrry long way. In fact, don't use more than a teeny micro-dab on a brush or the black will utterly overwhelm the other shade. |
All in all, I'm very impressed by Ominous Liquid Lipstick. At $18 NZ for a generous 10g tube (as opposed to $40 for standard MAC) the price is an awesomeness in itself. And Sweetpea & Fay claim to be 'handcrafted' and cruelty-free, so let's throw some money their way. They ship worldwide- lifts eyes to heaven. Quick tip for applying difficult shades; first do your mouth over in a lipstick you're comfortable with, wait a moment, wipe it off carefully then use the remaining stain as a template for the darker shade. Works every time for me.
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