I Made My Custom Lip & Cheek Makeup at Lip Lab Queen St W Toronto
Saying goodbye to Bite Beauty was bittersweet. While their iconic lip products are no longer available in retail stores, the brand continues to live on through the personalized experience of creating custom lip colors at their Lip Labs. I still remember my first visit to the Bite Lip Lab in Toronto many years ago (long before my blogging days), when the space had just opened. It was such a unique and memorable experience, and I’m so glad that part of Bite’s legacy remains.
Lip Lab is expanding beyond custom lip products and now offers the opportunity to create custom cheek sticks as well. I was recently invited to visit their Queen Street West location in Toronto to experience the new service firsthand and to create both a personalized Cheek Stick and a custom lip product of my choice.
The space is beautiful and looked very different from my last visit. It’s bright, modern, and can accommodate several clients at once. It’s a great spot for a fun girls’ lip party. I worked with two technicians. Both were friendly and efficient. I brought a hijab to match the shade of my Cheek Stick. Jessi was able to create the perfect match in just a few tries.
Once Jessi nailed down the color recipe for the Cheek Stick, she moved on to the lip gloss. I didn’t bring anything to match this time. Instead, I described the type of shade and finish I wanted. On her second try, she got it just right. The shade was perfect. Here is a little sneak peak into my visit to the lip lab.
It’s a fun experience to watch them create the shade first, then use that formula to make the final product. The ability to name the shades, choosing the case and picking from multiple font options for engraving adds another layer of customization. It makes the whole experience feel even more personal.
The Cheek Stick formula is highly pigmented and easy to blend. It needs to set for about an hour before use so it can properly settle in the case. Since it was a pre-launch visit, only the rose gold case was available at the time. I named my Cheek Stick shade “Pink Haze” and chose the Brush Script font for the engraving. There was an option to add one of five scents, but I chose the fragrance free version for my Cheek Stick.
Lip glosses can be made in three finishes: plain glossy, gold shimmer, or silver shimmer. I chose a muted red gloss with lots of silver shimmer and named it after my daughter. The same five scent options are available for lip gloss too. I decided not to add any scent, but it still has a default vanilla fragrance.
They also provided a recipe card with all the details of custom shade, so the exact same shades can be easily recreated in the future. Overall, it was such a fun and memorable experience. I had a wonderful time and walked away with beautiful, one-of-a-kind products.
If you live in or are visiting a city that has a Lip Lab, I highly recommend stopping by especially if you’re a makeup lover. Creating your own custom lipstick shades is such a fun and personalized experience. And it’s not just about the lip products anymore. Their newly introduced cheek sticks are absolutely worth trying too.
