Aromaleigh Astronomical swatches, part one

Hi everyone!

This post is long due because Miss K sent me her Astronomical collection for a review and I received the package on Dec 16th. Of course, that was the day I got my epically epic sniffles that led to infection asthma. I've been more or less sick ever since and now it seems it's happening again. However, after washing my hands until they were red an raw I decided to post these swatches. Sorry about the image quality. It's very cloudy in Helsinki at the moment and it's fricking snowing. Again. We already have about 60cm of snow.

I'm doing the swatching in two parts because of the light issue and because I'm not feeling well. So just bear with me.

The swatches are inside without a flash and I've used TFSI + Pixie Epoxy as a primer. BTW, these are so shimmery and glittery that I heartily suggest using a sticky base for maximum sparkle fest.

The colour descriptions are based on what I see when I look at these colours. Ye be warned.

Top (L to R): Milky Way, Celestial, Umbra, Ephemeris
Middle: Magellanic, Apogee, Perihelion, Heliosphere
Bottom: Neutrino, Nadir, Extra-Galactic, Dark Matter

Milky Way: a peachy off-white with tons of green sparkle (which of course isn't visible in the photo).
Celestial: a very sparkly baby pink with golden shimmer.
Umbra: a shimmery, satiny mauve (not as sparkly as Milky Way or Celestial) with pink flashes.
Ephemeris: a light golden taupe with greenish shimmer.
Magellanic: a bronzey brown with red flashes.
Apogee: maroony, red-based brown with tons of shimmer.
Perihelion: a French Vanilla yellowish white colour with cool pink sparkle.
Heliosphere: a metallic olive gold.
Neutrino: dark chocolate brown with intense teal shimmer.
Nadir: shimmery pink coral.
Extra-Galactic: a metallic, slightly dusty purple
Dark Matter: a cocoa brown with golden tones with blue-ish (?) sparkle

My favourites from these are Milky Way, Celestial, Umbra, Ephemeris, Perihelion, Neutrino, Extra-Galactic and Dark Matter.

Colours that are more unique: Perihelion, Neutrino

This is the more neutral part of the collection. The shades are extremely shimmery and/shiny, it's like a burst of stars, really (well, duh). Perihelion and Neutrino stand out to me as the more unique colours but that doesn't mean that the other colours are somehow worse, not at all. For me these two are colours that I don't remember seeing anywhere.

Anything you like in this collection?

Sugarpill: Burning Heart Monster Palette

Happy Halloween!


A few weeks back Sugarpill had a special Halloween sale on their shop where they sold 'Monster' palettes, i.e. their regular palettes that had some minor defects in them. I ordered the Burning Heart palette on a whim and I got it on Friday.

I know that some of you were interested to see what would a monster palette look like so I took you some pics! And swatches too!

Since this post will be picture-heavy, the story continues after the jump...

Jewels enough to make a woman: Whimsy Beading

Hi there!

If you follow me at Twitter, you may know that I've got a new, more challenging job and that most of my days are spent freaking out about new stuff that I have to learn and trying to do stuff I already can do. So for these reasons I have had to ignore this blog and unfortunately you.

I assume that most of the people that read my blog are familiar with my friend's Phyrra's blog. She's almost always wearing these amazing jewellery pieces by an indie company called Whimsy Beading. After drooling over the pics of Phyrra wearing all kinds of stuff from them, I had to give in to my urge to get something for myself.

First of all, Kelly (one of the owners, the other one being her husband Joe) is a total sweetie. This became very evident the first time I contacted her. I wanted a custom colour set of earrings and necklace but I wanted them in the style she had on their Etsy store. I didn't know how much it was going to cost me or if she'd be willing/able to create what I wanted. Kelly's answers were very friendly and she was very helpful in advicing me on the colour schemes of the pieces I wanted to get from her. My first order took over a month to reach me but during that time I was in contact with Kelly and we talked about what to do if my order never reached me. It did and I got my first order. Of course that wasn't the last time I ordered from her.


All the pieces I've gotten have been beautiful and well-made. I'm allergic to nickel and the reason I usually don't buy or wear a lot of jewellery is because I'm afraid that they contain nicklel. I haven't gotten any reaction from my Whimsy Beading jewellery. One thing to remember if you buy from Whimsy Beading is that you shouldn't bathe or swim in the jewellery or wash them with water.


I assume you'd like to see some photos of some of the beauties I have?

These green earrings were custom-made for me and are my favourite pair. I asked Kelly to create olive green and gold/bronze earrings for me in their Rivoli style (meaning that there is a large crystal in the center of the earring). I just love these. The colour is amazing and I love the style immensely.

Kelly sent me a surprise gift of magenta-purple threader earrings with one of my orders. Clever woman that one to know that I'd love this colour scheme! I wear these very often, too, with my jeans and purple/pink tops. I have to admit that I'm not 100% comfortable wearing them because they're quite long and I'm afraid that they'll get stuck somewhere and tear my earlobe. No such thing has happened but I keep my hair down, just in case.

This is my first earring order from Whimsy Beading. I also have a matching necklace. The darker crystals are actually purple (some of them, as you see, have a slight teal cast to them) but I wanted to mix them with turquoise/aqua crystals. This colour scheme was suggested to me by Kelly. It was like she could read me mind because this is exactly what I wanted.

This picture was taken on our holiday in Southern Croatia (extremely beautiful place, by the way). I blew this photo a bit larger so you could see the necklace. The colour way is identical to the earrings. I had other jewellery with me but I ended up using this necklace with the earrings throughout the trip.

If you want to look at the stuff that Kelly and Joe have made, pop to their Etsy store or Whimsy Beading Facebook page (the FB page has a lot of pictures and some of the jewellery might not be on sale in Etsy but may be custom-orderable, just ask Kelly).

I have another pieces too but I didn't manage to take a decent picture of them (yes, boo for me). I'll try to take more photos or maybe do some of my future looks wearing my Whimsies. BTW, if you're a fan of Sir Terry Pratchett and his books, there are some Discworld themed jewellery sold by Whimsy Beading (I myself have a pair of Wintersmith earrings).

If you have any questions, contact Kelly (convo through Etsy or if you have a Twitter account, she's @whimsybeading).

Have you ordered from Whimsy Beading? Are you interested in doing so?

Review: One Hand Washes The Other (OHWTO)

Hi everyone!

I really need to get back on this blogging thing but lately I have had tons of stuff to do. Some good news: I got a new job! I've been a temp for over 2 years and I finally got a steady job in a better position. I'm starting in my new position next month so I'm really excited!

So, back to the business. One Hand Washes The Other (or OHWTO for short) is a company selling soaps, perfumes, lipbalms and other sweet smelling stuff made by the very sweet owner, Becca. Most of the stuff is vegan and ingredients are clearly marked.

I think I first heard about OHWTO in Twitter and maybe read one of Grey's reviews. My first purhase was two roll-on scents, Green Tea and Black Tea.

Green Tea: Long prized in Asian countries for its health benefits, this is a true-to-life scent.

Black Tea: smoky, sexy and sophisticated fragrance is reminiscent of roasted tea leaves with strong overtones of tobacco. With surprising top notes of Italian Bergamot, Sicilian Lemon and Southern Orange, the blend winds down with Black Tea Leaves, Star Jasmine, White Cedarwood, Amber Crystal and a rich musk. This is a bold and unusual scent sure to intrigue.

I wasn't terribly fond of Green Tea but something in Black Tea made me go to that scent more and more often.

Now I've made 4 orders from OHWTO in quite a short time.

I love that everything is made by Becca herself. The scents are very true to life and her blends are exceptional. You can find the list of the scents here. Not only are the products top-notch, her packaging is lovely.

International shipping is extremely affordable and my orders have come to me in a week after Becca has mailed me my shipping notice. Every time I've stared at the package thinking "How come it's already here?" and then of course ripped it open and sniffed everything till I've passed out.

The customer service is just amazing. Becca'll answer any questions you have. I made some questions about her scents in Twitter and I had a reply every time. She also notified me right away when she was having some trouble with Paypal.

Although I originally ordered roll-on perfume oils, I'm now partial to Becca's solid scents. They're easy to use, the scent says on the skin for hours, they don't have the greasy side smell like some solids have and they make good travelling companions (since the liquid control is still on).

Here are some of my favourite scents from OHWTO:

Ginger Ale: This one smells JUST LIKE ginger ale, and I always get thirsty when I smell it. You'll swear that there are bubble tickling your nose when you get a whiff of this one!

I love ginger ale and now I love Ginger Ale. This smells EXACTLY like my favourite organic ginger ale I treat myself to every once in a while. It really does tickle your nose. The scent is very refreshing, not overly sweet.

Twigs&Berries: The smell of a deep forest and the wild berries that grow within. A bold, somewhat masculine fragrance, it's sweet without being food-y, if that makes any sense.

This is another go-to scent. I wore this to my job interview and now it's my official feelgood scent since I got the job. It smells autumn-y with the sweet fragrance of berries.

Viva La Juicy!: After reading the descriptions of what this boutique fragrance duplicate smells like, I HAD to get it for my shop. It's fruity and floral, with the two balanced very nicely. You'll smell wild berries and mandarins, honeysuckle, gardenia, and jasmine, complimented nicely by notes of amber, vanilla, sandalwood, and praline. It sounds like there's a lot going on in this one, and there is- it reminds me of Pink Lady, in that it smells a little different every time you sniff it. This one is definitely a fun fragrance to wear.

This is a very sweet scent but I love it. It's definitely a juicy scent and it makes me think about champagne for some reason. I wear this scent when I'm wearing a short denim skirt. Don't ask.

Yuzu: Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit. This scent has wonderful sparkling overtones of grapefruit, citron, and a hint of mandarin orange.

Sweet and a bit bitter at the same time, I find this scent really refreshing.

Calaveras: Named for the sugar skulls which adorn the Day of the Dead altars, this fragrance is sweet and spicy. Cinnamon, sugar, orange, and sweet bread dressed up with a smattering of dried roses on a sandalwood altar.

 This is a bit of a food-like scent but not in a bad way. It's sweet and spicy, just like the description says. This is a Halloween limited edition scent so snatch it up if you want one!


I also have some of Becca's lip tints, which I love, so I'll try to make a separate swatch post about those!

I have nothing but praise for OHWTO so if you love scents, I'd recommend checking their stuff out.

Have you tried OHWTO? What are your favourite scents?

Aromaleigh Victoria's Revenge swatches and a look

Miss K from Aromaleigh sent me samples of her new collection, Victoria's Revenge, for me to swatch and review. First off, my camera freaked out by the complexity and the sparkle of these colours and is now on medication and demanding an all expenses paid holiday to Bora Bora. I tried to tell him that he's just a camera and he has no right to demand such things and how could he even handle himself on a holiday but you know cameras. Demanding little buggers.

The collection is inspired by Victoriana, steampunk and gothloli themes so the shades are all very deep, complex and edgy. As said, these are very hard to photograph or even describe accurately because so many of these colours change according to lighting or application. Colour descriptions aren't available because there's a contest going on. Bloggers, such as I, who received samples for review and customers who have ordered samples can participate to write shade descriptions. More about the contest can be found here. I've swatched all the eyeshadows on top of TFSI + Pixie Epoxy. I'd strongly recommend using a sticky base with most of these because there's so much sparkle in them.

(L to R) Infernal Chaos, Cyanide Sorrow, Oleander Vapor, Airy Ethos

(L to R) Brazen & Bitter, Perpetual Motion, Magick & Metal, Bleeding Poppy

(L to R) Scratched Scruples, Frigid Gloom, Obscura, Mayhem's Trilogy

(L to R) Private Lunacy, Freakshow, Tarnished Strychnine, Splintered

(L to R) Skeleton Key, Gaslight Tears, Mania's Locus, Mourning's Whimsy

(L to R) Apocalypse Pansy, Phantasm, Ruthless Indulgence, Poison Utopia, Nightshade


I also did a look with Oleander Vapor, Private Lunacy, Tarnished Strychnine and Splintered yesterday.

Sweet Poison

Face:

Aromaleigh Glissade foundation in ICL
Aromaleigh Pure Mineral Rouge blush in Rosette
Aromaleigh Ultra Resolution Finishing Powder in Clear

Eyes:

TFSI (as a primer)
Aromaleigh Victoria's Revenge eyeshadow in Oleander Vapor (inner 3/4 of the lid)
Aromaleigh Victoria's Revenge eyeshadow in Tarnished Strychnine (outer vee and crease)
Aromaleigh Victoria's Revenge eyeshadow in Private Lunacy (to blend in Oleander Vapor and Tarnished Strychnine)
Aromaleigh Victoria's Revenge eyeshadow in Splintered (to darken the crease)
Aromaleigh Carolina Summer eyeshadow in Oyster (below brow to highlight)
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
Lumene Blueberry Curl waterproof mascara in Rich Black

Lips:

Aromaleigh Botanical lipstick in Rosebud

I somehow like to combine pinks with greens and even though this is not my best attempt to pull it off, it looked really cool irl.

Here you can see that although Oleander Vapor looks bright-ish sweet pink in the swatch photos, it has that murky undertone that makes it very dramatic.

No, I haven't gotten a perm or curled my hair. This is what happens when I crunch my hair dry when I blowdry it. I wanted to look a bit more girly than usual and is this collection is so decadent and luxurious, I figured that wavy hair would only be appropriate.

I love Aromaleigh's Glissade foundation. It makes my skin look so glowy and even. BTW, what do you think about the colour of the foundation on me?

Victoria's Revenge is a really different than other collections that come out during the spring/summer season. Usually you get bronze, turquoise, peach, lime green and pink so Victoria's Revenge is really standing out. There are so many colours that have a contrasting shimmer to them (like Mania's Locus and Frigid Gloom) and black-based glitter explosions (Nightshade, Ruthless Indulgence, Poison Utopia) that it'll make any person who craves darker shades really happy.

My favourites from this collection are Infernal Chaos, Cyanide Sorrow, Perpetual Motion, Frigid Gloom, Private Lunacy, Tarnished Strychnine, Skeleton Key, Mania's Locus and Phantasm.


What do you think about this collection? BTW, if you want any swatch photos re-taken, let me know in the comments!


And now for something completely different. This is my knee today:

Storming the Castle: Shiro Cosmetics swatches and mini-review

I was approached on Twitter by Caitlin, the owner of Shiro Cosmetics, asking if I were interested in trying out and reviewing her products. I found out that she had just opened her store and that her eyeshadows were named after Pokémon which made me giggle, in a good way. I agreed to swatch her products and write a review. Since she's a new company owner, I offered to show my review before publishing it but that she couldn't alter the contents of the review or I wouldn't publish it. She agreed to this so here we are :)

Disclaimer: these products were sent to me for review by Caitlin of Shiro Cosmetics. However, this does not affect my opinion of the products nor the tone of my review.

I thought I'd be getting a few sample baggies. Instead I got this:

A LOT of products, samples AND full sizes. Everything was packed neatly in a red organza bag with business cards. The jars were secured with scotch tape to prevent any spillages. The jars have no sifter so opening them is a delicate job and there may be spills (this happens with Fyrinnae, too since they don't have sifters, either). I saw Caitlin mentioning that she would add sifters to her jars which is a good move. The jars were filled to the brim and there were no concave bottoms so no need to fear that you're getting less product than expected.

Now onto the swatchies! These colours are very intense, some more opaque than others. These are all swatched on Too Faced Shadow Insurance + Pixie Epoxy. Shade descriptions are from Shiro Cosmetics website.

(L to R): Pikachu, Charmander, Mew, S.S. Anne

Pikachu: Vivid, opaque, shimmering yellow with eye-safe red glitter sparks. Chuu!
Charmander: Soft yet bright shimmery orange, like a candle's flame, with yellow undertones and just a hint of gold.
Mew: Cheerful, bright strawberry-bubblegum pink with a slight peachy tone.
S.S. Anne: Lovely, shimmery, subtle yet rich golden brown with a peachy-copper tinge - appropriate for all ages and occasions, universally flattering, and pretty much just gorgeous. 

(L to R): Vulpix, Brock the Rock, Squirtle, Acid

Vulpix: Gorgeous shimmering coppery red-brown, soft but intense - kind of like hugging a Vulpix, I imagine.
Brock the Rock: Dark, rich, shimmery chocolate brown with red tones.
Squirtle: Bright, clear, shimmery pool blue. Apply it wet to get a gorgeous metallic effect!
Acid: Vivid, opaque, shimmery yellow-green with golden undertones and just a touch of darker green eye-safe glitter.

 

(L to R) Bulbasaur, Zubat, Team Rocket, Lance the Dragon Trainer

Bulbasaur: Bright, opaque, shimmering grassy green with a hint of a gold undertones.
Zubat: Dusky, shimmery, semi-sheer blue with a violet tinge.Team Rocket: Opaque, shimmery red-toned purple, kind of a cross between the Team Rocket uniform and Jessie's hair.Lance the Dragon Trainer: Deep, rich, shimmering indigo with golden sparks of eye-safe glitter.

(L to R): Articuno, Mewtwo, Hyper Beam

Articuno: Pale, powdery silver-blue with plenty of shimmer and sparkle.Mewtwo: Sheer, shimmery, medium purple with blue tones.
Hyper Beam: Sparkly opaque black, absolutely loaded with silver eye-safe glitter.

What I LOVE about the ingredients listings on the sample baggies is that they mention if the colour is lip-safe or not. As you can see from the photo above, Pikachu is lip-safe and Zubat is clearly marked as not lip-safe. Awesomeness for those who are like me and are too lazy to check the website.

I like the colours, my favourites are Mew, S.S. Anne, Team Rocket, Charmander, Articuno, Mewtwo and Bulbasaur.

These colours are extremely long-lasting with TFSI+Pixie Epoxy combo. I wore Mew with Team Rocket for our company's cruise to Tallinn. I sat on a sunny terrace for about 2 hours, I dragged my shopping bags... My foundation has melted a bit but my eyeshadows were intact except from the outer corners because my allergies caused my eyes to water. Other than that, these shadows lasted from 6am to 9pm and they still looked vivid when I took them off at night.

The lovely Phyrra got to check out these colours before I did and I went through the comments becasuse some people were worried about these colours being repacked TKB stuff. Here's Caitlin's reply (taken from Phyrra's blog):

Dropping in to clarify a bit: I consider the wax part of the base. I do use the C-SMAX from TKB, which is mica coated in carnauba wax, but I blend that with titanium dioxide and occasionally, depending on what I'm working with, additions like zinc oxide, magnesium myristrate, or silica. So it's a pre-mixed base within a base, I guess. I wanted to use the wax because of the finish it gives, and I thought the best way was to use the C-SMAX.

As for the colors themselves, I do get what you're saying about them not being especially unique. All of my colors have at least 3 unique colorants in them, but as you said, several are at least somewhat based on the Pop! colors. They're noticeably different when swatched side by side, though, and not just because of the inclusion of the base. That said, most of them are in fact fairly basic - I'm attempting to create higher levels of complexity as I learn more about how the colorants interact, but these 15 colors are my first attempts.

I appreciate Caitlin for her honest and friendly response and also the fact that she's admitting that she's still learning the art of making more complex colours.

I can't comment on the customer service since these were sent to me for review but Caitlin seems very friendly and is willing to answer any questions about her products and she's also taking new colour suggestions.

I'm sure I'm going to order some stuff from Shiro Cosmetics in the future. I already saw a swatch picture of a cool pink shade called Jigglypuff on Twitter and I've read some pretty interesting shade suggestions Caitlin may be working on in the future.

 Have you tried Shiro Cosmetics? What do you think about these swatches?

Safe But Elegant For Work: Silk Naturals swatches and review

Hi there!

I think I've finally conquered the damn virus that was pestering me for days so I thought I'd get back to blogging. Also, Happy International Women's Day!

I've received some hauls and I decided to swatch them because when you find something good, it's nice to forward the message to your fellow makeup addicts. First up is Silk Naturals.

Mini Review and Swatches: Sugarpill

So this is the second post of the day, as promised.

Everybody's been buzzing about Sugarpill and I have to say that after seeing the product, I can't say I wonder why. The colours are gorgeous. Seriously.

I placed my order on February 15th. I ordered two of the Chromalust pigments: Goldilux (flashy gold) and Magpie (blackened blue). Yes, before you say anything I really did order a blue eyeshadow. I was going to order Hysteric, the purple shade, but I wanted to take a risk and went for Magpie. I intend to use it for a smoky eye at some point. The Chromalust piggies cost $12 a piece which is more I normally pay for my pigments. The shipping was reasonable, $8. Sugarpill also has pressed shadows which seem to be matte.

My package arrived about two weeks later. What shocked me was the size of the parcel. I'm sure most of you have seen by now the lovely cardboard box the products come in, completed with a cutesy kitten image. But this is where I was disappointed. If I order just two eyeshadows, I think there's no need to use a parcel that's over 10 times bigger than the product packages. It was cute with pink paper around the goodies but I felt it was too much. Okay, ordering stuff overseas is not ecological but I still think that using that much packaging material is a huge waste. Sorry, this is just my opinion on the matter. Also, the packaging may attract the customs officers. I prefer my small orders in padded envelopes.

The product jars do not have a sifter or any kind of seal between the lid and the actual products so there was some minor spillage. This, as the packaging thing, are completely fixable problems so I won't go to that.

But the products? I feel like I have enough words in my English vocabulary. So I'm using the expression "fricking amazing". I did my swatches over TFSI and Pixie Epoxy and I only sweeped some colour that had been stuck on the lid of the jar. The pigment glides on evenly and you get great coverage with just a tiny amount of it. The colours are beautiful and shiny. You see the metallic finish without having to squint or slab on tons of the pigment.




(L to R) Goldilux, Magpie


I'm very happy with what I got and I'm 100% sure I will get more Sugarpill in the future.

What about you readers, have you tried Sugarpill? Are you more interested in the pressed shadows or the piggies? Any colours that interest you?

Aromaleigh Hi-Fi Retro Matte review and FOTD

The lovely Miss K from Aromaleigh sent me samples of her brand-spanking new collection to swatch and try out. Unfortunately it's dark outside and I can't take decent swatch photos :( Right now it's about the darkest time of year in Finland. In fact, I can almost make a bet that if you came here now, you would think that Finland is the most depressing place on earth. A little snow would help with the lighting problem but in Helsinki there's no snow. It snowed a little yesterday but it was gone almost instantly.

Okay, back to business. To compensate for the lack of swatch photos, I did a look with my new treats. Most bloggers have already done something with this collection and I noticed that most of them have used greens, blues, pinks and purples. I love using orange andd pink together so I decided that I should cover some of the oranges on my blog!

Heels on Fire: Intense mauved pink. Strawberry milkshake sweet shoppe heaven
Cat's Pajamas: matte coral with warm orange tones. It's not orange, it's not red. It's simply the cat's pajamas
Supermurgatroid: Intense coral orange - far out!

The colour descriptions on Aromaleigh's site crack me up. Not only are the colours lovely and cheerful but I like that the same attitude is reflected in the shade descriptions.

FOTD: This is the Cat's Pajamas!

Face:

Purely Cosmetics Skin Smoothing foundation in Custom Blend
Purely Cosmetics Silk and Pearl primer (as a top coat)
Cory Cosmetics Illuminator in Riot (as a blusher)

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Aromaleigh Hi-Fi Retro Matte eyeshadow in Heels on Fire (inner 1/3 of the lid)
Aromaleigh Hi-Fi Retro Matte eyeshadow in Cat's Pajamas (middle of the lid)
Aromaleigh Hi-Fi Retro Matte eyeshadow in Supermurgatroid (outer vee and crease)
Aromaleigh L'Orchidée eyeshadow in Orinoco (as a highlighter below brow)
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
Lumene Blueberry Curl waterproof mascara in Rich Black

Lips:

Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Lollipop-pop









I know that most people are afraid of matte eyeshadows because they're afraid that they're chalky or that they are hard to apply. Well, Hi-Fi colours are not chalky, far from it! Actually, they look chalkier in the sample bags and when I first tried out Fake Out (which looked greyish blue in the bag), I went 'holy cow!!!' because the colour was really intense. For application I suggest that you use a good primer and make sure you apply it very evenly. These colours blend really well so you don't have to worry about that. But go lightly at first because these babies are very VERY pigmented!


What you have to be careful about with mattes is that you don't "rub" the colour to much. It may become blotchy. Aromaleigh mattes are very smooth so you don't have to be too heavyhanded with the blending.

I think these three colours look utterly delicious! I used a shimmery eyeshadow as a highlighter because it makes the mattes pop even more. Try it, I swear it works! Orinoco was a perfect choice for this look because it's a pink-toned peach/coral shade.




Me and my messy hair!

I also suggest using a shimmery blush with matte eyeshadows. Too much matte will make you look a bit washed out, no matter how vibrant the colours are.

I'm bummed out for the photo quality. I tried taking photos indoors with flash but it's so dark that I looked like the ghost of a ghost. Seriously.

I love this collection. When I have the money, I will buy some full sizes. I think only colour this collection is missing is a matte fire engine red.

If you're not sure about using mattes, try them with shimmery colours. Use a matte shadow all over lid and then shimmery colour on your outer vee and crease. The result is stunning.

My opinion of this collection: I think these are the best mattes -ever. These are smooth and non-chalky and very unintimidating to use. The colours are yummy and I suggest getting as many samples as you can because I wouldnever in a million years thought that Supermurgatroid would be my colour. As it is stated on Aromaleigh website, two of the colours, In Orbit and Cranked, contain a little lustre. The shimmer is more visible on the baggie than it is on the skin. So these are both mattes, too.
The matte trend has been going on for ages on nails but I think matte makeup is so much hotter! These candy colours will bright up your day, no matter how much sunlight you're actually getting. In all, this is a wonderful collection to have this time of year!

My list of must-haves: Kookie, Got Dibs, Cat's Pajamas, Heels on Fire, In the Mix, Supermurgatroid, In Orbit, Radioactive.

So, what are your thoughts about the look? Have you tried out Hi-Fi Retro Mattes? What are your faves?

Review and swatches: J. Lynne

I look like I have the plague. My face is covered in spots and blemishes. I think they are caused by stress (work, my birthday is in a couple of weeks etc) and Friday's office X-mas party didn't help either (although I had fun!).

So this is a perfect day to post a review. I also have swatches but I'm afraid the lighting issues continue. So bear with me.

I stumbled accross J. Lynne through Mineral Makeup Mutiny website. I hadn't heard of the brand before and I decided to have a look at their website. After that, I was 100% sure I wanted to give them a go. All their products are cruelty free and made by the company so that's a huge plus.

I wanted to try out their Japanese garden collection. The colours looked soft and pretty and I'm such a sucker for Japanese-themed products. I also got offered a free gift, either two blushes or two eyeshadows in sample sizes. I went for blushes and I asked if I could choose those samples. I got an answer that due to logistical reasons it wasn't possible to choose the samples which I respect.

The website has pictures of the shades as well as a written description. However, some of the described colours sound a bit odd , like "cool bronze". To me, bronze is a warm colour.





This is the oh-so-sweet packaging in which my order I arrived. I felt like it was my birthday or Christmas already!

I unwrapped the papers and went "hmmmmm...". The jars are HUGE. First, I thought that I got sent full sized products instead of samples. The jars are also fairly heavy because they are made of thick plastic.

This is where the disappointments begun. Inside the enormous jar was a tiny amount of the product. Maybe it wasn't as little as it was made to look like but it felt and looked strange. I took Fyrinnae's sample to compare the packaging and the amount of product.





The website says that the sample size is "1/16 teaspoon of product in a 5 gram jar".






I have used Fyrinnae's sample pictured here several times. It's one of my favourite highlighters, Sakura. Funny thing, J. Lynne's sample pictured here is Sakura, too! (I wasn't kidding with the Japanese names) I'm pretty sure that Fyrinnae's sample has more product but I'll have to verify this. However, putting this little product in such a huge jar is a waste in my opinion. Also, the jars are so large that I have problems storing them!


Let's move on to the swatches. I used Too Faced Shadow Insurance as a primer.



Top row, from left to right: Mokuren, Nashi, Wakakusa
Bottom row, from left to right: Sakura, Tachibana, Kuzu, Fuji





Kinoko, Takenoko, Seri, Mikage





Mokuren = delicate ivory with icy buff and pink tones
Nashi = lush wheat colour with golden tones
Wakakusa = icy, pale green with golden tones
Sakura = sweet, lustrous pinky-peach
Tachibana = golden-peach with pink irisdescence
Kuzu = sweet, luminous plum-pink
Fuji = soft, icy silver-violet with hints of pink
Kinoko = lush golden-brown with silver tones
Takenoko = olive green with icy bronze tones
Seri = soft, cool green with silvery highlights
Mikage = lustrous silver-grey
(shade descriptions from J. Lynne website)

These colour are all Satin Pearls shadows which means that they are silky and pearly shades. They are pretty but nothing special, to be honest.

Also, there's an issue with the price. Sample sizes are $1.25 a piece, full sizes $8. Sample set (all 12 colours) is $15. Shipping fee for international orders is $11.

I wanted to love J. Lynne but I just can't. There's nothing wrong with the products and the colours are all pretty but something felt missing. Also, the sample blushes I got? One was almost fark brown and the other beige. A bit of a risk sending these sort of colours to an unknown customer.

I hate writing negative reviews and I wasn't sure if I should write this at all but I've also promised to give my honest opinion of the products I've tried.

If you're a fan of easy, pretty colours then you might like J. Lynne. Their customer service is first class and the formula of the products is good.

Have you tried J. Lynne?

FOTD: Make It Work (+ a mini review on Sassy Minerals)

Guys, it's Caturday already!

Yesterday I received a huge sample haul from Sassy Minerals. I had seen Lisa Kate's and Nea's looks and swatches and so I had to make an order.

So, I wanted to do a look with Sassy. Yesterday I watched the Project Runway finale (I had hoped that Carol Hannah would win) and I got my inspiration from Tim Gunn.

Do I hear you say "Whaaaaaat?"?

Well, let me explain. I adore Tim Gunn. He seems so sweet and I love his catchphrases. Sassy has an eyeshadow called Make It Work and I have to admit that I ordered a sample of that simply because I loved the name. But I love the colour, too. It's a "rosy brown with aqua sparkle". The sparkle is nice and not too disco. Because of the theme I paired it with Fashionista which is a "rich copper with silver sparkle". An amazing colour that I believe will soon be lemminged all over the blogosphere, just wait and see. For highlighting I used Witty Banter (I think it suits the theme perfectly), a golden tan colour with gold sparkle.

Although Tim Gunn will probable never see or hear from this look, I hope that he would be happy with what I came up with. At least it's not too costume-y :)

FOTD: Make It Work

Face:

Purely Cosmetics Skin Smoothing foundation in custom blend
Purely Cosmetics Diamond Perfect Finish finishing powder
Sassy Minerals blush in Plus One

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance (as a primer on upper lids)
Sassy Minerals Eye Candy in Make It Work (all over upper lid)
Sassy Minerals Eye Candy in Fashionista (outer vee and crease)
Sassy Minerals Eye Candy in Witty Banter (as a highlighter below brow)
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack (upper lashline)
Lumene Blueberry Curl waterproof mascara in Rich Black

Lips:

Aromaleigh Nourishing Color Creme in Cakewalk





I hate that I couldn't get a decent photo showing the sparkle of this colours. They are really shimmery in a nice way. It's that time of year again when we have a minimum amount of daylight in Finland. As a matter of fact, the sun doesn't come up at all in the north in the winter. Summers are a completely opposite, the sun doesn't seem to set at all (and it doesn't in Lapland, the northernmost part of Finland).





The colours blend really well and I love the chocolatey look of this combination. Although these are the most shimmery colours that Sassy offers, they are still perfect for days at the office.





The blush I'm wearing, Plus One, was the free blush I received from Sassy. I'm in love with it. It's very delicate peach/pink/beige blush with a hint of golden shimmer.

I hate the pic. I'd love to post perfect photos everytime I do a look but it seems impossible. I still blame the lack of natural light.

For the review part. Sassy's website is very easy to navigate, all the products are in alphabetical order in their respective categories. The shipping was incredibly fast: I placed my order on Friday 13th and I received it exactly 7 days later. That's really fast for international orders. I also got a shipping notice when my order was dispathed (I like when companies do this because then I know that my order is on it's way home to mama).

The colous are beautiful. Sassy may not go crazy with its colours like Fyrinnae but it provides gorgeous and well-pigmented shades that blend well and are multifaceted. The shimmers seem to be a big hit but I also ordered from the less shimmery line and wasn't disappointed. There are photos of the products as well as written colour descriptions which is extremely helpful. I wanted to post you some swatches but I have to leave that until later because the colours wouldn't look as exciting as they are because of the lack of light (Fashioned in Finland and Sparkle Is My Crack have beautiful swatches of some of the shades).

Eyeshadow samples are $0.75 and full sizes are $4.25. There is enough product in the sample jars for several applications. You get free samples with every order you make.

I'm very happy with what I got from Sassy. I just sent them an e-mail asking if they create their own colours and I will post the answer as soon as I get it.

Some must-have shades: Lyrical (emerald green with bright aqua sparkle), Cocktail Party (purple with blue shimmer), Fashionista, Hang Out (taupe with subtle mauve tones), Fierce (smoky grey with red and blue sparkle).

Have you ordered from Sassy? What did you think about their products? How do you like the look?

****UPDATE****

I contacted Team Sassy and they said that they create their own colours. They were supernice and gave me additional information which makes me very happy to recommend them to my lovely readers.

Illamasqua swatches and review

Hello there!

When you are a beauty junkie, you pretty much browse the net looking for new exciting things to drool at and test. I had never heard of Illamasqua and would've lived my life in complete ignorance if I hadn't found out about their nail polishes through Scrangie's blog. I had no intention of buying nail polish but I decided to check out Illamasqua's webstore and just have a quick look. UH-OH. They were selling cosmetics, too!

Illamasqua is a relatively new makeup brand from UK. They are not selling trend products as such, they are interested in night time makeup. They describe their line with the words "Makeup for your alter ego". Simply put, it means the edgier and stronger side of you that comes out when you go clubbing etc.

Well, it didn't take me too long to make the decision to check their products out. And it only took a week when I got my goodies.

Here are some of their lip glosses in their nifty squeeze tubes:

From top to bottom: Move, Mistress, Soul, Galactica

Move, Mistress and Galatica are Intense Lip Glosses which means they are more pigmented than Soul which is from the Sheer Lip Gloss line. Move and Mistress are both matte in the sense that although they are very glossy, they don't have shimmer or glitter in them.

This is Move on my lips (sorry about the face, I'm not wearing any makeup apart from the lip gloss in these photos). It's a lovely pink-mauve colour. I used to have a similar colour but I think I accidentally threw it in the bin (and afterwards banged my head on the wall for several minutes). Really lovely, I'm very happy with this shade because it's so flattering.

And this beauty is Mistress. A warm, a bit orangey red that looks scary in the tube but gorgeous on the lips. I find it hard to wear red lippies because they usually clash with my skin colour but this is just pure love. It's becoming my mistress for sure!

Soul is a champagne shade and compared to the other glosses I hauled, it's very sheer. I like it and it gives a nice shine to my puckers. It's from Summer 2009 Sirens collection which concentrated on sexiness and golden shades. I think this is a beautiful shimmery nude and from what I've gathered, it's a big hit among the Illamasqua fans.

Galactica is pure, molten silver. Not just silvery but really rich, foiled silver goodness. I had a hard time taking this one off after taking the pics because it's full of shimmer and highly pigmented. Although it seems unwearable, I have worn this in public in daylight hours. Just apply it a bit less and it gives your lips a nice shimmer. This looks awesome on top of other lippies, too. This lip gloss is from Autumn 2009 Dystopia collection that has some really dark and edgy products.

I wanted to concentrate on the lip products because I often ignore them on my blog because I like to concentrate on my eyes when doing my makeup. Here are swatches of some other products from Illamasqua:

Upper row, from left to right: Solstice, Phenomena, Involve

Bottom row, from left to right: Fondle, Rude

Solstice and Phenomena are Liquid Metal products. They are creamy and can be used on eyes, lips, face and body. I've only tried them as eyeshadows and they are too greasy for me, they just creased in less than an hour. But I'm not giving up on these because the colour pay-off is great and the metallic effect is so cool. I swatched them on bare skin.

Involve is a Pure Pigment. Of course I had to have something purple for my eyes, are you kidding! I love it. It's very pigmented and as you can see from the photo, it has this amazing silver and blue shimmer to it. I swatched this one on top of Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

Fondle is a golden pink (or pinkish gold) Illuminator. It can be used on eyes, cheeks, lips, basically everywhere. I wanted it for a blusher and a highlighter because I'm such a sucker for golden pinks. It's very runny when you squeeze it out (same packaging as with the lipglosses) but it dries quickly.

Rude is a Cream Blush. The pan is HUGE for how little of the product you need. And I mean you need only a small dab and you get a lot of colour. It's completely matte but because of the creamy texture, it looks very dewy on your skin.

I haven't tried out Illamasqua's Powder Shadows. From what I've read, they are almost all completely matte because Illamasqua wanted to cater also for people who have a few or more wrinkles on their skin.

I'm going to buy Illamasqua again. I love their approach to makeup and they have interesting products (and crazy product names!). Right now I have a serious hankering for Underworld lipstick, Tantrum sheer lip gloss, Phallic nail polish (told you!) and some of their false eyelashes. They also have brushes and other makeup tools. AND, when you have made your second order through their website, you get 10% off from the following orders until a year has passed from your very first order. In the US, Sephora is carrying Illamasqua but I've understood that they aren't yet having the limited collections in sale. So if you want to shop something from Dystopia, you either need to travel to UK or make an order through Illamasqua.

So what do you think? Does this make you want to buy some stuff for your alter ego?

Finally: Obsessed Minerals swatches and review

I've been meaning to do this for a long time but since I seem to be a wee bit accident prone, I've been mostly concentrating on my physio and just trying to stay positive through it all.

My friend Decorative Diva had posted about Obsessed Minerals so I decided to try them out, too.

First of all, the customer service is beyond amazing. Dr Michael Huwe is a really kind and helpful lady. She answered any questions I had about her creations. It's always inspiring to be in contact with a woman who has created and is running her own business. So if you're about to order, and are not sure about some colours, just ask Michael. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to help.

Michael also told me that her loose minerals hadn't been reviewed when I ordered. These days I prefer loose minerals because the application is easier to control. So I ordered four loose mineral eyeshadows (Mai Tai, Boogie, Shag Me and No Shame) and also received one pressed shadow (Peasant).



Top row (from left to right): Mai Tai, Boogie, Shag Me
Bottom row (from left to right): No Shame, Peasant

The colours apply easily. However, the loose minerals aren't as pigmented as the pressed one is which came as a surprise.

Mai Tai is a creamy, shimmering off-white. It's one of my favourites, on it's own or as a highlighter.

Boogie is, according to website description, "great colours of reds and violets sparkling together". To me, it's more like a mauve with a hint of purple sparkle.

Shag Me is, according to website description, "two toned mauve and blue". Again, I have to disagree. To me, it looks greyish purple with purple sparkle.

No Shame is a light turquoise with a golden shimmer. I have to say that this colour is just super. It's perfect for summer and very flattering.

Peasant is a golden copper. It's vibrant and edgy. I'm very happy that Michael sent me this as a freebie because it makes green eyes pop!

Another pic, colours as above.

Now for the not so good. Out of the three duotoned shadows (Boogie, Shag Me and No Shame), only No Shame looks like a real duotone. In my opinion, Boogie and Shag Me are not "real" duotones, just colours with different coloured sparkle. I was quite disappointed with Boogie and Shag Me because they look better on the website than irl.

Also, the shadows have a tendency to crease a bit. They are a bit gritty, especially Peasant, although the grittiness in Peasant makes it easy to reapply when it creases.

Also another problem, at least for international customers, is the price. Eyeshadows cost $9-$10 and currently there are no samples available. Because there are so many colours and not all of them have written descriptions, shopping with Obsessed Minerals can be intimidating. This is why I would advice to contact Michael before making your purchase. I'm sure she can offer some help if you're torn between two similar looking colours.

Next time I'm making an order with Obsessed Minerals, I'll probably go for the pressed eyeshadows rather than loose ones.

Go check out Obsessed Minerals: http://www.mineralobsessed.com/index.htm

Heavenly Naturals: swatches and a review

After reading xsparkage's glowing review about Heavenly Naturals I decided to have a go at them myself. Heavenly Naturals sell a variety of beauty products but I've concentrated on eyeshadows.

Pigments

I really like the smoothness of the pigments. Some of them are more sheer than others but overall I'm not diappointed so far. For those who don't like shimmer, there are several matte shadows to choose from. The mattes blend easily and there was no clumping like there sometimes is with matte pigments.

Colours

Well, you won't be disappointed with Heavenly Naturals' range of shades! Ok, there are not as many to choose from as there is with Fyrinnae or Aromaleigh but I dare you to say that you can't find anything you would like. There are reds, pinks, aquas, purples, oranges, yellows, nudes, whites, blacks... Something for everyone.

Shipping costs

As someone who doesn't live in the US, I always look at the shipping costs. That's partially why Fyrinnae has become such a staple for me. Heavenly Naturals offer international shipping at very affordable prices. I hate companies that charge me $15 for shipping and when that package arrives, I notice that the actual cost of shipping has been $3-$5. Heavenly Naturals doesn't charge you outrageous prices for putting the stuff on an envelope. The shipping costs were somewhere around $3.

Customer Service

I had a problem with my order. I received a wrong eyeshadow due to a glitch on the website. I e-mailed René and received an answer in two days. The problem was fixed instantly and with friendliness. They must be a bit swamped with orders after xsparkage's posting so I understand why I had to wait for two days. Plus that's not bad. There are companies that haven't answered me until I started getting really angry (I'm looking at you FaceFront).

Website

Okay, I'm such a language police and there are a lot of spelling mistakes. Also, individual samples are only available with certain colours, otherwise you have to do a package deal (which is not entirely bad). But mostly you can find the stuff you're looking for. I hope René will find the time to list the shadows according to colours because that would be very helpful.

In all, I give Heavenly Naturals an excellent grade. One has to remember that they are a small company and that brings some limitations. But the key points (product quality, shipping costs and customer service) were all right on.

I advice you to order samples first and then go for full sizes.

Finally, some swatches of the colours I have :) (I've used Too Faced Shadow Insurance as primer)

1st row from the top (from left to right): Cupcake, Baby Doll, Demure, Sacrifice

2nd row (from left to right): Daddy's Girl, Sleeping Beauty, Persuasion, Diva

3rd row (from left to right): Lemy-Lime, Fairytale, Panic, Fantasy

This pic was taken outside in direct sunlight. The shimmer is way more sparkly in direct sunlight, it's exquisite!

Same colours inside in sunlight. The difference in shimmer is noticeable when compared to the photo taken outside.

1st row (from left to right): Vanilla Crush, Bashful, Chocolate Brown

2nd row (from left to right): Fierce, Coutour, Ransom

This was also taken outside in direct sunlight. Look at all the shimmery goodness!

Same colours, picture taken inside in sunlight.

Is there some colours that I think are a must-have? Yes. If you love purples, you need Diva. Dady's Girl is lovely too but if you have MAC's Stars N' Rockets, it's almost a dupe. If you are a sucker for greens then I'd recommend getting Fairytale because it's a gorgeous golden green. For nude lovers, Bashful is a good choice. If pink is more your cup of tea, Cupcake should be on your list. If you want something out of the ordinary, check out Coutour and Ransom.

I really love Heavenly Naturals' mattes. Demure is almost like MAC's Yogurt,Vanilla Crush is a lovely off-white shade and Chocolate Brown is, well, chocolate brown :)

Heavenly Naturals has a spring collection called Spring Dollface. Vanilla Crush, Demure, Chocolate Brown, Bashful, Baby Doll and Fairytale are all from that collection.

So what do you think? Will you be sampling Heavenly Naturals?

Coming up, hopefully sooner than later

I didn't get my Facefront haul yet but I did get one eyeshadow from that brand from Ilse as I had made my order before they released their winter collection. The eyeshadow I got was Ice Melt which looks like a peach colour but when you apply it, OH MY, it has an undescribable colour. It's sort of peachy but there's blueish sheen and some pink and the whole colour changes according the light. It's AWESOME. I'm wearing it today with Meow's Port (from their Winter Spirits collection) and MAC's black Technakohl. I decided not to wear lippie as I want to flaunt my eyes!



So, as I couldn't take pics because of the lack of light but I decided to write on choosing a colour on the webstores. Most webstores have pictures of their makeup colours, usually the picture is taken of a clump of makeup. Some have a verbal description as wll and some combine these two ways of depicting colour. Of course, there are differences in the quality of the pictures and how one's monitor displays them. So, I decided to review some of the places I've bought my makeup from by looking at their way of describing and depicting makeup colours.



Meow Cosmetics has both a picture of the product and an explanation of the colour. The picture of the colour is taken from a clump of the colour. I don't know if it's because of photography but some colours look exactly like they look in irl but some colours can be way off. For example, Abra-Cat-Abra! feliner looks almost bright fuchsia in the pic, the text says it's "Bright, true grape purple with gold and silver sparkle!" but what I got was light lavender liner. This is very rare with Meow as usually if I'm torn between taking or leaving a colour, I make my final decision on their verbal description. And Abra-Cat-Abra! is the first colour that has been off in both descriptions. And I have a lot of stuff from Meow. But I still recommend getting samples before buying full sizes since especially some of the more complex colours are a bit tricky. You can also do a search for Meow swatches on a search engine and my friend Decorative Diva does Meow swatches too (a link to her blog on the right side of my blog).



Lime Crime has a pic of the clump of colour, a pic of the colour on eyelid AND a verbal description of the colour. This is great since you can actually see what the colour looks like on you eyes (or someone's eyes, teehee) and you can read about the possible undertones. And the colours look exactly like in pictures! You can also try a search engine for finding swatches, though it's not necessary since the photographs and descriptions are very accurate.



Facefront is the most ambiguous about their colour description. The pics are very small and they are not taken of the actual products (at least it seems that way, correct me if I'm wrong). There's no verbal description of the colours and they don't offer samples. So basically you're ordering products by your gut instinct and hoping to get something you'll love. There are some swatches on xsparkage's blog (click Product Reviews on the upper corner of her blog and look for Facefront swatches) and again a search engine will solve some of this problem. But most of the swatches I found were taken of the same colours. I have only one Facefront's eyeshadow, Ice Melt, and the pic doesn't tell you anything about the colour. As I mentioned, I'm getting some goodies from Facefront soon, so I'll be posting some swatches.



I'll probably do another post like this when I order from a new company and get the products. These opinions present my own subjective view and my experiences on these companies.

Until then,

Saila, the Adventurous Purple Koala