Lip Lab Soho — Attraction in New York

I don't understand the hate for this place because I had a very pleasant experience. I called them about 6 days before my actual appointment and received one with ease. The receptionst or employees there were able to accomodate my last-minute reservation from saturday afternoon to monday morning. As term of service and them tending to your custom lipstick color, it's good as it's going to get. Jaqueline helped me while another lady helped my cousin and my friend. We chatted about where we're from and where we were going to go next. They even gave us recommendations. They were really knowledgeable about the product. They let us know that the color you try on is less matte than the color you're going to get at the end. We also kept in mind of the colors we would like to get customized so it was in and out under 30 minutes. Keep in mind that we tried on the lip colors at least twice. I made the appointment at early in the morning so there was essentially no crowd. There were 4 finishes you can pick from creme, matte, sheer, and deluxe (this finish is the most pigmented and last the longest). I ended up picking the matte finishes becuase I just can't deal with the glisten from the deluxe finish. My cousin picked matte as well while my friend picked the sheer finish. The sheer finish is also buildable so keep that in mind. It's good for those that want to carry something to put on every day and then if they go out at night they could use a heavier hand. We all have different taste in lipstick colors and this lab satisfy all of preferences. My cousin prefer brown nudes with a slight pink/violet in her lipstick. My friend like the bright reds, but it needs to be wearable because she works in the office. I prefer a pink nude with a slight brown undertone so it won't be that pink. For scent, you're able to smell each flavours. My cousin picked the mint. I picked mint and violet while my friend picked mint and cherry. The mint flavour is slightly overpowering so the other flavour you pick might be a second note to the mint. As for the price, it's not expensive at all. To help you better gauge, Tom Ford is $50, Chanel is $34, Mac is $16, Too Faced Melted lipstick is $21, and their regular range is $24. This customized lipstick is ranging from $36 (creme, matte, sheer) or $48 (deluxe). If you want to wear your lipstick right away, you have to wait about 30 minutes so the lipstick can set into the packaging (there are four different shapes you can choose from as well). It's perfect for those who want a group activities with their friends that are girls or guys that are into lipsticks (whichever, i don't judge, do you). It also a thoughtful birthday gift for your loved ones who are into make-up or have a problem finding the perfect lipstick. I arranged this for my cousin's birthday and she really liked it so you can't go wrong. It is also a souvenir gifts to ourselves as well so it was a memorable experience. I will definitely come back if I were to come back...

This was a great experience. Both Kat and Weslynn (sp?) were attentive and knowledgeable and made the whole experience awesome. I love that you can customize the tubes with your name, quotes, etc. and choose from a few different fonts and have it engraved on the side or top of the tubes. For the lipstick and lip balm, you can also add an essential oil which was very nice. Lipsticks will last 3 years, balms will last 2 years and blushes will last a year. All ingredients are clean and vegan.

I know some other reviewers mentioned that the colors were too sheer or didn’t have enough pigmentation. I customized a matte red for my lipstick and the color was true to what was formulated. Kat made a slight error with the color formulation (wrote it down incorrectly) but it got fixed and all was fine. With the lip balm, there was sufficient pigmentation for my preference and the formula is very moisturizing. I added rose scent to my lipstick which made it even nicer. And Kat added lots of mint oil to my lip balm which gave it a nice scent.

The blush is really nice and creamy and is long lasting. A little goes a long ways. I’m so glad I opted to get the blush done, too. There are fewer customization options for the packaging but that wasn’t a big deal. I mostly just wanted the customized engraving.

There were lots of parties and celebrations at the lab so, be prepared for crowds on weekends. It’s a fun thing to do with a group of friends.

Price wise, expect high prices as you might with any high end cosmetic line. A fully customized lipstick will cost $65 and you get a discount when you purchase a bundle like I did.

Time wise, I thought it would only take 1 hour but it was very busy and there was that slight snafu with the color formulation so it took 2 hours. So be prepared for it to take a little longer if it’s crowded or getting your color formulation correct takes a lot of tries.

Also, they keep your color formulations on file so, you can always reorder your custom color online. And you can select new packaging or get the same tube with the same engraving bc they keep all your info on file.

For those who might not know, the company was a spin off from Bite Beauty, a Canadian cosmetics company that closed in 2022. Lip Lab has multiple locations and managed to survive the closing of Bite Beauty. If you don’t want to customize, they also offer a line of pre-made lipsticks, balms, blushes, eyeliners, lip scrubs...

I recently hosted a bachelorette party here for a group of 7. Making the reservation was stressful and unorganized. The experience on the day was well below what I expected given the $85 price point. When I tried to make a reservation, a few months in advance, I received emails from multiple folks at the Soho location, with different responses. One person told me there were no openings, another told me there was one for the time slot I wanted. It was several days before I heard back from the employees and was able to book the time. Then, a week before the event, a girl dropped out from our party. I contacted the Soho location, asking if they could drop us down a person, and just apply the $20 party fee towards our total on the day of. They refused, stating that they need 14 day notice for any cancellations. It was not a cancellation, simply a reduction in party size. And for what reason is this policy applied for just reducing the party size? I understand for a full cancellation, but we were still going to attend on the day. It's not exactly a customer-friendly policy. Finally, on the day of, we received TERRIBLE service. Our party was rushed out in just 30 minutes. Your employees provided no feedback at all about the colors we chose, they hardly even explained the process or the pricing. One employee audibly sighed when we asked to see more colors. I can't believe that we each paid $85 for 30 minutes of your time. It was not an "experience." I could've just gone to the store and bought a reasonably priced lipstick instead. On top of that, there wasn't even enough room at the location for the original party of 7, so I don't understand why they refused to lower our party number. In addition, since they refused to return our party fee for the missing attendee, we should have - at the very least - received a bag and lip product for that extra attendee. Since I did pay for it. This was supposed to be a special event for my sister's bachelorette party; instead we left your location feeling as though we were rushed out and had wasted our...