Swatch and review: Venemous Cosmetics Lip Poisons

I placed a second order with Venomous Cosmetics which included a mini lip poison for myself and a full-sized for my dear friend Elimy. Tracy, being the super generous soul that she is, wrote me a note thanking me for my review and including TWO free purse sized Lip Poisons! I passed one onto Elimy, and kept the other. I thought I'd swatch them all for you. I'll definitely be getting more of these, I adore the formula.

Hallucinate 

(purchased from blogsale)

I wore this at work, layered over Morgana Cryptoria's Roses and Violets lipstick, and received a compliment from a customer on my "really pretty pink lipstick" :) it's a milky fuchsia-pink with an incredible blue-violet iridescence which is incredibly hard to capture on camera. 

Flamingo 

(free)

Quite a sheer one, this tints my lips a pretty, soft pink. A swipe-and-go colour suitable for absolutely anything. My bottle was a bit streaky but this didn't translate to the lips, it came out quite even.

Northern Lights 

(purchased by me)

This was by far the most opaque of the Lip Poisons I purchased, which was a shame because it's FAR too light for me to wear! I did a lip swatch but honestly, it looked so awful, here's a hand swatch instead.

What I DID do was layer it lightly over Morgana Cryptoria's lipstick in Cocoa, a soft nude beige. I think this is definitely more of a layering Poison for those of us who aren't ghostly white anyway ;) if you're the right colouring for this, or just a fan of pale lips, apply it thin and slow, it tends to streak.

Comparison swatches: Northern Lights alone, Cocoa alone, Cocoa with Northern Lights on top.

A note on the formula: this is an amazing gloss. It contains Jojoba and Almond oil, so after you wipe it off your lips are oh-so-smooth. Layered over lipstick the results aren't as moisturising, BUT they're not at all drying either. It's the perfect consistency and weight for me - I can tell that what's on my lips isn't a balm, but it's not oh-god-my-hair sticky either. It's tacky enough to have staying power, doesn't feel greasy, and has great slip. They wear pretty well, fading after 3-4 hours and retaining a fair bit of colour after eating or drinking. None of these three stained, but Hallucinate does leave a little hint of blue/violet sheen behind.

The price? $3.50 for a mini tube and $5 for a full-sized one! Like I said, I foresee a lot more of these in my future. The mix of conservative and unusual shades have you covered no matter what your taste, colouring and needs.