OCC’s Fragmented Alice Collection Is Strange And Beautiful

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, our favorite cruelty-free vegan brand for bright colors, drag queen models, and trans activism, is at it again — this time with a collection, which includes a metallic greenish-goldish lip tar, inspired by symbolist artist Gail Potocki's haunting painting series, Fragmented Alice .

According to Potocki, OCC suggested the collaboration, because it loved her interpretation of Alice in Wonderland. "I had taken her out of Lewis Carroll's world and put her into a more contemporary, more psychedelic situation," she told us. "They thought it would be an interesting way to connect their makeup to fine art, and they were inspired by the color palette." That color palette translated into a line, which includes the aforementioned green/gold lip-tar situation as well as a bright crimson and cement gray nail lacquers, and new loose color concentrates in some delightfully bizarre shades — such as Inflicted, a patinaed red/lavender.

The unconventional name of the paintings and the makeup collection comes from Potocki's vision for her modern Alice. "I wanted it to be as though you took the story, shredded it, and dropped it in the sand somewhere. Then a hundred years later, someone comes by and picks it up and has to make sense of all the fragments," she says. "Imagine if you had to pick up the fragments, but inject your own life, your own times, into the story to try to figure out what it meant. I took the images and the essence, but I rearranged the context."

As for Potocki's take on the makeup she inspired, she says, "I love the green lip tar. In the light, you can really see it changing from gold to green — if I could get that into paint I'd be thrilled." As someone who is typically attracted to the unconventional, it seems this makeup color couldn't be more up her alley, even if her first try wearing it was less than successful."I put it on so thick I looked dead," she says. "Though when I saw it applied professionally, I saw that they did it a lot lighter, so that it has this gorgeous, translucent sheen and sparkle to it. It didn't look scary at all."