Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Sci-Fi Lullabies Lip Tar Collection — A Colorful Space Jam

Last season, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics explored the wonders of alchemy with its Metallurgy Lip Tar collection, and now the innovative makeup brand is delving into the realm of fantasy once more with its Sci-Fi Lullabies collection of Lip Tar shades. This collection saunters back and forth from reality to science fiction, with some colors that celebrate our humanity and other hues that feel paranormal, more akin to a cyborg, alien, android or other sentient creature. In many ways, it feels like a nod to 1982’s dystopian epic Blade Runner, set in a dark and seedy future in which big corporations and police units have employed technology in Machiavellian ways, going as far as to create human clones (dubbed “replicants”) who are faster and stronger, thereby making them ideal soldiers, and who are said to lack any empathy, thereby having sociopathic tendencies. The film, however, shows that humanity itself has grown so detached, so apathetic, so disengaged, that the line between human and replicant is rather thin and tenuous. In any case, two of the shades in the collection openly reference Blade Runner: Pris, an über pale, whitened beige with pink undertones and a metallic finish named after Daryl Hannah’s character in the sci-fi classic; and Zhora, a warm peach shade with a red-and-gold metallic duochrome finish that’s both named after Joanna Cassidy’s replicant character and arguably developed to resemble her look in the classic Snake Pit scene, when she was dancing in a flesh-toned nylon ensemble with hundreds of golden sequins glued atop the fabric and even onto her face, the nightclub’s reddish light making her skin look an eerie golden orange color.

But Blade Runner isn’t the only science fiction offering that inspired the collection. The Annika Lip Tar shade, for instance, could very well reference Star Trek: Voyager‘s Seven of Nine character, whose birth name was Annika Hansen, a creature who was born human but had cybernetic features implanted into her during early childhood. In the TV series, Annika had a primarily human appearance — save for a metallic  cybernetic implant around her left eye — and this shade, a richly pigmented neutral peach with a satin finish, stays true to that. Similarly, the rClockwork Lip Tar, a rich terracotta with vivid orange undertones, nods to Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, while the Batty shade, a midnight black with a metallic gunmetal sheen, could very well be a nod to modern Batman movies that incorporate more science fiction elements than their campy predecessors.

Last but definitely not least, there’s the Lovecraft Lip Tar, a lilac-tinged iridescent pink shade with tons of clear and silver sparkle for a futuristic metallic sheen.

Each of the six shades in the Sci-Fi Lullabies collection is formulated with antioxidant-rich vitamin E; moisturizing hemp oil, which is rife with omega fatty acids and gamma-linoleic acids ; and peppermint oil, a cooling and soothing ingredient that works as an antibacterial and antimicrobial agent. Each vegan, long-lasting, vivid shade retails for $18 at OCCmakeup.com and Sephora.com.

Here’s a closer look at the four shades I tested out (from top to bottom): Annika, Pris, Lovecraft, and Zhora.

Next, you’ll find swatches of the Annika, Lovecraft, Pris and Zhora shades. As you can see, Annika is the only shade that has a true satin finish, while the other three hues count on a metallic sheen. Lovecraft is my current obsession since the tonality is itself swoon-worthy (who doesn’t love a cool-toned, peony-worthy pink?) but the product’s iridescent quality lends it a fascinating, can’t-stop-myself-from-looking quality. The Annika, meanwhile, is an excellent choice for days when you want to go for a more natural look, but don’t want to bother with boring beige and coral nude shades since it’s relatively neutral but still packs a nice peachy punch.

To see what the shades look like on, check out these photos of me wearing the Lovecraft Lip Tar:

And here I’m rocking the Annika Lip Tar shade:

They may  be part of the Sci-Fi Lullabies collection, but these Lip Tar shades certainly won’t put you to sleep! Get ready to enter another color dimension, folks!