NYC — Winter 2015: Bite Beauty Lip Lab

One place I knew I had to visit during my trip to NYC was Bite Beauty Lip Lab. Yep, there is a store in Soho where you can create your very own Bite Beauty lip product. We originally went on Monday, but they were fully booked for appointments, so we made one for the next day. When we walked in, we were greeted by our Lip Lab Artist, who seated us at one of their stations and promptly took out a sterile clear plastic sheet and wrote my name down on the top. She asked me what I wanted to make that day, and I told her a lipstick. She handed me a swab of their Agave Lip Mask to condition my lips first, and then asked me what kind of colour I was looking for.


Going in, I had originally wanted to do something nude-ish, an MLBB. But then I thought it was too boring, and I have way too many of those types of shades as it is. So I scrapped that idea, and decided on a purple; something that was brightened, fun, but still wearable, and unique. Something that I wish were on the market without having to mix two or more products. So I told her that I wanted a kind of cool-toned, brightened lilac colour, something that was lighter, less pink, and less bright than their Violet High Pigment Pencil or MAC's Up The Amp, but definitely not in the pastel category. She originally mixed a kind of pink-mauve shade, and I wanted it darker and more purple. So she mixed in some more blue and a bit more red. It was a touch too dark and too pink, so she mixed in a bit more white and a touch more blue. When I tried on that final third shade, I knew that was it: she nailed my perfect colour. For reference, my shade is lighter, cooler, and less pink than Bite Beauty's Violet and MAC's Up The Amp; lighter, brighter, and more pinked than NARS' Dominique; warmer and less blue than Lime Crime's Airborne Unicorn; and darker and more pink than Colour Pops' Brills. 

When she asked what finish I wanted, I asked for a creamy matte, so it doesn't make the lips look dry or chalky but is more matte than satin. Luckily for me, that's really the only kind of matte they make. We then moved on to flavour/scent, which I knew I wanted. ("Scentless" basically means "plastic" in my books, and that's a big no-no for me.) They have six different flavours to choose from, all natural food grade (as you can expect from Bite Beauty); you can choose one or any combination of the six. I decided to choose equal parts citrus mango and vanilla, resulting in a lightly sweet Creamsicle flavour. She put the correct amounts of several different colour blocks to create my shade, as well as the scent/flavour oils I chose into a container, and then put that into a machine that heats and blends all the ingredients together. About two minutes later, the concoction was ready to be poured into a lipstick mould. 

While the mould set, she asked which tube I'd like for my lipstick. There are four tubes to choose from, and they are all designed to look like how people wear down their lipsticks: one is slanted on one side, one is slanted on two sides, one has a minor curve, and one has a steep curve. I chose the one with a minor curve, since that's the way I wear down my own lipsticks. Finally, the mould was set, and she inserted it into the tube. We waited for another couple minutes before she put the cap on, and voilà, my very own custom lipstick! The price for this whole endeavour? A mere $36. I had a most amazing experience at Bite Beauty Lip Lab and I will definitely visit again next time I'm in NYC (I was tempted to make another appointment on the trip, but alas, our days were numbered and our time was limited). I whole-heartedly recommend a visit to Bite Beauty Lip Lab to anyone and everyone who loves lipstick. 

Bite Beauty Lip Lab 174 Prince Street New York, NY 10012 (646) 484-6111