Portland Black Lipstick Company

http://portlandblacklipstickco.com/

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symmetryeal wrote:Got my products! They're wonderful and everything I asked for. Great pigmentation and colour pay off in one sweep. BEST black lipstick ever.

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galacticmousse wrote:I am officially a fan. Fantastic customer service, good shipping time to an international address (non-US), and fantastic products. Great pigmentation and staying power. The only issue someone might have is with the peppermint smell that the lipsticks seem to have. Otherwise, some of my favorite lip products are from PBLC.

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princealice wrote:Ordered three samples from them: Difficult Island, Chlorosis, The Purple Cloud and Perfect Foil.

The colors are amazing, very opaque! (Although it does vary a little...some of them require a little more building then others, but I think with colors as crazy as these it can only be expected.) The formula was creamy and applied easily, with a pleasant pepperminty smell. Shipping was fine and I had no problems! I would definitely recommend this seller as a great place to get uniquely colored lipstick. (And a great alternative to Lime Crime, if you have an aversion to their shady practices...)

I ordered a ton of samples and although overall I like the brand, but not all the colors are up to snuff. Some of them (especially the metallics) were patchy and didn't last well. But some of them were great! They are a good source for unusual lipstick colors, but I would recommend getting samples first to ensure that the colors you want are of good quality.

I reviewed them here- while I had some issues with the black, overall, I was quite pleased.

I can no longer recommend PBLC in good conscience. Though the lipsticks are fantastic, the brand appears to no longer be shipping out orders without prompting from the customer. I believe I ordered in January 2014, then emailed about a month later when I hadn't heard anything. I got a very friendly response back saying they were delayed from the holidays but my package was going to ship soon. It did indeed ship out shortly thereafter and I didn't have any complaints about my order. Everything seemed fine until I started seeing reports from other customers in June and July, going through the same issues, receiving nearly identical messages back from the brand owner about them being delayed from the holidays. Overall, the pattern seems to be that the brand will just sort of let your order sit until you email to check up on it, then it will get sent out. I don't understand this business model.

I understand some Portland shops stock PBLC, and I would happily recommend any of the non-metallic lipsticks if you can pick them up in person. But I'm really disappointed in the way the company is handling their online end of the business, and I would absolutely not recommend ordering from their website.

Perfect experience. Great products and super friendly customer service. They are very accommodating.

I just ordered from PBLC for the first time recently. I had apparently ordered just when the owner had left town for a family emergency, but she hopped her orders when she got back and my order shipped within a few days. I had my order within 10 business days, so it was still a great TAT.

I ordered 10 lipstick samples and received a free sample of their Purple Glitz, which was all awesome. The samples were $2 per slice, and the samples were only about .5g, so they are a bit pricey, but they are fantastic quality. I got darks, lights, metallics, shimmeries - a plethora of colors, tones, and finishes, and I have no serious complaints against any of them except that I wish Snow Queen had a similar opaque base to Difficult Island or The Purple Cloud.

I'll definitely be returning for some full-sizes and more samples. I know the company gets flack for their shipping, but I didn't really experience any hassle from them: great customer service, great experience, great products.

The Good:
The colors are interesting and fantastic, especially Bad Penny.

The Bad:
Shipping can take a while - and it's actually kind of a fishy situation for a few customers.

The Ugly:  
Actually, both orders i've placed, I've had to prompt the owner about them.  The first time I ordered was in April of 2014, and after a month, I sent her an email.  She told me that her TAT is usually 3 business days, but she was behind because of the holidays (in April?).  She then sent my order out two days after that.  
The second time I ordered was October 30, 2015.  Knowing my experience last time, as well as others reported here and on /r/indiemakeupandmore,  I prompted the owner about the order on 11/14.  She wrote back again saying that her TAT is normally 3 business days, but she had a death in the family, so she was behind.  She sent my order out the next day.
Now, I don't want to be mean, but this seems to be a consistent slowness in shipping for lots of customers, and after seeing a lot of the excuses being offered by the owner, I'm not sure I entirely believe them.  Maybe if she added a TAT estimate that was between 3-4 weeks, I might not prompt about orders in the future.

The takeaway:  The products are nice, but be prepared to wait a while for them.