Hi everyone! If you've ever gone hunting for a lipstick in an unusual shade, chances are you've been pointed toward Portland Black Lipstick Company. As their name suggests, they boast a gorgeous, opaque black lipstick, but they also sell a large variety of other lip colors and a small selection of other products. I recently made my first purchase from this company, and I'd love to tell you how it went!
I also received a free sample of Glitz, which is the brand's glitter, in the same kind of bag. It was stapled to a pretty fabulous business card:
Full sized lipsticks come in twist-up lip balm tubes. I haven't purchased a full sized PBLC lipstick yet, but in my experience, packaging like this makes it easy to apply straight from the tube but tough to get a clean border around your lips. If I had these in tubes, I would likely apply the more sheer colors straight from the tube, but would probably use a lip brush for the more opaque colors. Fortunately, the tube gives me the option to choose between those two options, so I think it's a great packaging strategy!
Selection: It's clear the brand has a specialty! PBLC's star product is their lipstick, which comes in 21 shades from standard to completely unnatural, plus a "moisturizing lipstick" which appears to be their clear lipstick base. As you saw above, they also offer eight shades of glitter. According to the brand, this is not your standard cornea-scratching cosmetic glitter:
"Our natural glitter, or ‘Glitz,’ is made from a form of calcium— not polymers or aluminum foil like standard commercial glitters. Colored with mineral makeup pigments, glitz is FDA approved for use on the eyes, lips and body. Available in 5 gram volume sifter containers."Finally, PBLC offers three different face products: a heavy moisturizer called Night Cream, a vegan white pancake base called Corpse Paint, and a talc-free translucent powder called Phantom Powder which the brand hints may work on a variety of skin tones.
At the risk of undermining my upcoming review on the lipsticks, I think the best way to get a sense of the brand's range of colors is to point you to Robyn's amazing, comprehensive review and swatch post of all 21 lipsticks. I will provide my own swatches when, as I mentioned before, we get a break from the persistent clouds.
Just-for-fun swatches of PBLC Black (left) and Chlorosis (right) until the sun comes back!
Samples: As far as I can tell, samples are available for every single product the company offers. You can select them on this page, which you can find on the Products drop-down list.
Quality: There's a reason these products have gained so much notoriety - they're wonderful! The lipsticks apply smoothly, build up beautifully, and last nicely. I will happily continue to recommend them.
Cost: Samples are $2 for a little slice or scoop of product. Full sized lipsticks are $12 for 0.15oz of product. A full sized Glitz will run you $8 for an unspecified amount of product in a 5 gram sifter jar. Corpse Paint costs $15 for 0.15oz of product, the same volume and packaging as the lipsticks. Night Cream is $15 for 1oz. Phantom Complexion Powder is $18 for an unknown amount of product in a 20 gram jar.
Customer Service: Customer service is stellar! I wrote in a couple of times over the course of my selecting and ordering and got quick, extremely friendly, helpful responses. I have a couple of hesitations about the brand (more on that in a moment), but I feel the fabulous customer service tips the scales enough to keep me feeling comfortable purchasing from PBLC.
Just-for-fun swatches of PBLC Gilded Lily (left) and Bug's Blood (right) until the sun comes back!
TAT: This was one of the hesitations I mentioned above. I haven't found any place where PBLC lists their current TAT, and since this was my first order, I don't know what the standard experience is. I placed my order on January 12. Soon after, I started hearing word in forums that people's orders were taking a while due to backups from a surge in holiday orders. Almost exactly a month after placing my order, I emailed Kim a friendly inquiry just to check up. Kim was extremely friendly and apologetic, and let me know my order was scheduled to ship out a couple of days later. It shipped shortly thereafter.
Like I said, since this was my only order, I don't know if this is standard for the company or was a fluke due to holiday orders. I am content with a long turnaround time when the owner is as quick and responsive as Kim, though it might be a bigger issue for others. I will happily purchase again from this company, and I will go in expecting to keep track of my order and email Kim if the TAT starts running long.
Shipping: My samples arrived loose in a bubble mailer, which is perfectly fine by me. All the little discs of lipstick were perfect and unsquished; what more can I ask? Lovers of frilly packaging and cute extras might be a little let down, but I'm happy with simple packaging so long as it's functional.
Personal Thoughts: In case it wasn't already clear, I'm really happy with this company and will likely be back for full sizes of my favorite lipstick shades. However, I did want to point out my second hesitation with the brand: there are no ingredients lists available anywhere on the site. This is problematic for people with allergies or other ingredient restrictions, such as people who shop for vegan products. I'm in the former group, so I emailed Kim before placing my order to confirm the lipsticks were safe for me to use. Since Kim had a quick and extremely helpful response, I went ahead with the order, but generally I prefer to support brands that follow FDA rules for ingredient lists so everyone can have safer and happier shopping experience. Overall, though, I think PBLC is a very fun brand, and they're usually my first recommendation for anyone looking to wear unusual colors on their face.
Have you purchased anything from Portland Black Lipstick Company? What are your favorite shades? Does the absence of ingredients listings affect your purchasing decisions?
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