Bite Beauty Lip Lab Custom Lipsticks

Have you always wanted to create you perfect lipstick shade? Then Bite Beauty has got your back! Bite Beauty lipsticks are some of my favorites and I bought several when Sephora US still shipped to The Netherlands. Their Amuse Bouche formula is not only comfortable but also stays put and the fact that their lipsticks are food grade for the most part, means that you are also buying a really natural product too. I love wearing them in the winter time particularly as they add an extra layer of something that helps nourish my lips. So when I went to New York last fall, I knew I wanted to try their Bite Beauty Lip Lab experience in which you get to create a custom lipstick.

Bite Beauty Lip Lab // I Created my Own Lipstick! // Experience + Review

The Bite Beauty lip lab is only available in a few cities across North America: New York, LA, San Francisco and Toronto. So if you’re in Europe it is something you will have to plan as you’re on a trip. I went to the lip lab in Soho and I booked my time slot in advance which I would recommend you do. One lipstick will cost $60 and two like I did will cost $120. That is a lot of money, but you do get your custom blend of lipstick which is not only mixed right in front of you, but you also get to create your own shade. You can go for a cheaper alternative, but then you only get to pick from the Bite Beauty shade range with help of the staff. If you want to have your custom blend, you have to dig deep into your pockets. That said, if you ever run out of your custom lipstick, you can have it recreated for you at the store for $45.

The Packaging

When you’re done, everything is wrapped up nicely. I received my lipsticks in a little box like this and two cards (not pictured) with the specifics of the color blend that I created for the two lipsticks I handcrafted myself. That does make it rather difficult to write reviews about these though. I will not be sharing the exact blend I made for each lipstick as it kind of defutes the point of going the lab and creating your own lipstick. What is right for me and how it looks, will not work for you. However, if you are curious, you can check out this picture on my Instagram. The two shades with the hearts to the right to them are the once I ended up taking with me.

The Lipsticks

But wait, didn’t you make two? Yes I did, but if you make two you get an extra free lipstick. I was able to choose from 4 different shades: a sheer shimmer, a peachy nude, a red and a deep plum. I ended up picking the deep plum shade as that would be more unique to my collection and I had just made a nude and a red, so I felt it would be a bit superfluous to bring home another one of those shades. The actual lipstick bullets themselves are different from your standard Bite Beauty lipsticks: they have magnetized caps and feel much heavier than the regular Bite lipsticks.

The Experience

Before we get into the shades, let’s talk about the experience itself. First of all, you will be linked to an employee who will help you pick your shades. I was helped by Jen who was lovely. They give you something to exfoliate your lips and their Bite agave lip mask for nourishment and then they consult with you what you are looking for. For the nude I knew what I wanted as I own several Bite lipsticks and of the nudes I have and love, I feel that they aren’t always 100% right. So I asked for a shade that kept the middle ground between rhubarb (too dark), pepper (too warm) and sake (too sheer). Where I thought the nude would take the longest, I had found my perfect shade in three goes.

Next up we created the red, which was much harder. I knew I wanted a darker red but one that wasn’t too deep and one that wouldn’t pull purple on me as many darker reds do. So not too berry and not too dark. And that was tough. It took 7 tries to find it, but in the end I just knew: yup that is the one. They will keep going until you’re satisfied, so make sure you don’t feel bad and go for it. Jen was absolutely lovely and she knew exactly what I meant each time I felt a shade wasn’t quite right.

Once you have found the shade, they will start blending the lipsticks. You get to pick the formula and scent. I went for a satin finish with coconut scent for the nude and the red is a matte with violet scent. They then mix it up and pour it into a mold that they put on a slab of metal that covers dry ice. This cools the lipstick down until it is frozen solid. They then get pressed into their tubes, which you can have engraved too and that’s it!

The Nude

So for the nude, I wanted something that wasn’t too warm, not too dark and not too sheer. Rhubarb is still at the hard of this shade and I felt it was just perfect. I have found that Lisa Eldridge’s Velvet Muse is very similar to it but that is a touch lighter than this. I like my nudes to not be too nude and still have enough color to it as my lips are naturally quite pigmented. It looks a lot more brown toned in the tube than it does once it is on. With thin one I also felt like I had to wear down the tip a bit first before it became the shade I remembered putting on in store.

The Red

The red lipstick I created is perhaps the best red lipstick I now own. It is matte, but this being Bite it is still very creamy. I feel it dries down a bit at first and then settles down. I knew I wanted to make this a red as Bite’s darker shades usually travel all over the place and I wanted to prevent that. We ended up putting in a touch of orange to level out the purple undertones in my natural lips to ensure that this lipstick pull red rather than berry.

The Free Bee

Since there were three lipsticks in the box, I thought I could also show you the free lipstick I received. This is a deep plum shade that is unlike any I have in my collection. I haven’t worn it yet though as I haven’t been that much into these really deep shades lately. However, I know there will be a day where I will want to wear this type of shade again.

The Swatches

As you can see, each of these lipsticks are full on pigment and very much in your face. You can’t really see the different in the formulas as the matte needs some time to become matte. In terms of wear time and comfort these are spot on compared to my other Bite lipsticks. They are a joy to wear and especially if your lips are dry, chapped and feel like they can use some loving, I would recommend Bite lipsticks as they do not dry out your lips and glide over dry patches so easily.

On the Lips

So what do these lipstick look like on the lips? Ta-dah! The nude is not as brown on my lips as it looks in the tube I feel. On my lips it is definitely more of a nude. It almost has a bit of a reddish undertone and I find that nudes with a red undertone end up being quite flattering on me. The red doesn’t look as dark in this picture as it is in real life. This red sort of keeps the middle ground between a bright, classic red and a deep vampy red that has a lot of black to it.

My Final Thoughts

It is strange to know that I now own two perfect for me lipsticks. I have been wearing both of these loads, but I have to say that I am currently gravitating mostly towards the red, but then again, I have been loving reds lately. I wore so much nude lipstick in 2019, that I am a bit over it for the time being. However, I know that both of these will go with every look I wear them with and they are just spot on for what I need in a lipstick. If you are looking to spoil yourself and you happen to be near a Bite Beauty Lip Lab I would highly recommend if you want to create your custom shade of lipstick.

What would you make if you could create your own lipstick?