Company Overview: Notoriously Morbid

By Unknown

Purchased

Notoriously Morbid is another brand introduced to me by Kristin's swatches and after reading so many rave reviews online (particularly by Serenity, who recently named Notoriously Morbid as her Top Indie Brand of 2013), I had to try them out.

Packaging: 

The items I ordered were placed into a ziploc bag and shipped in a padded envelope. Since I ordered during a Halloween sale, there were also some cute little metallic green skulls and black spiders in the bag :)

Full-sized items are shrink-wrapped. Both full-sized products and samples contain a full list of ingredients, whether or not it is vegan and eye/lip/face safety.

Kristin adds: I purchased the Notoriously Morbid Black Friday Limited Edition set and it came packaged in sheer mesh baggie. For their Halloween 2013 collection, the eyeshadows and lip balm came in a "cute" little cardboard coffin (as far as coffins can be called cute I mean). Check out this post by Serenity to see pictures!

Selection: 

Notoriously Morbid currently sells eyeshadows, Ripper's Rouge blushes, and Coffin Kisser lip balms. 

Kristin adds: The eyeshadows are mostly straightforward "what you see is what you get" however, they've created some really beautiful subtle duochromes for their Christmas 2013 collection. Swatches of those are coming up!

Samples: 

Notoriously Morbid offers samples of all of their eyeshadows in sample baggies. There are also Sample Packs that contain a selection of samples based on theme or colour scheme.

Quality:

My favourite items so far are the Coffin Kisser and Ripper's Rouge. The Coffin Kisser (I have Terrified Mint Tango) is lightly scented and not too sweet,  I like to wear it at night because it's not too thick/greasy and the next morning my lips still feel soft. I have Mary Jane's Demise Ripper's Rouge which is nicely pigmented and easy to blend, it has a hint of shimmer but it's not disco-ball-y so it works nicely for daytime wear. I find the eyeshadow formula to be very good, but it didn't blow me away. I personally prefer to apply eyeshadows dry and over a regular primer, and these apply smoothly but not as densely pigmented as I would like. If you're used to applying loose eyeshadows over a sticky base (like Kristin does in her swatches), that will display the complete depth and complexity of the shades.

Kristin's swatches from the Save Me Collection Spotlight

Cost:

Eyeshadows start at $1.25 for samples (roughly 1/4 tsp), $2.75 for minis (roughly 1/3 tsp in a 5g jar), $5.50 for 5g jars. Ripper's Rouge blushes are $8.50, and Coffin Kisser lip balms are $3.00. They run sales occasionally and have a weekly deal called Free Day Friday (previous Free Day Fridays have included a free 5g eyeshadow, a free Coffin Kisser, and 2 free minis).

Customer Service:

I haven't had to contact customer service before, but they are very active on their Facebook page and there are lots of rave reviews on /r/indiemakeupandmore.

TAT:

On the Storenvy site, the current turn-around-time is 14-20 business days, beginning the next business day. In the FAQ on notoriouslymorbid.com, it says the TAT is normally 10-14 business days. My order was placed during a Halloween sale, and shipped 5 business days afterwards.

Shipping:

My shipping cost was $8.80 (from Notoriously Morbid headquarters in West Virginia to Western Australia) which is about average for me, considering my order contained a variety of full-sized products as well as samples. 

The FAQ states that most domestic orders take from 2-10 business days to arrive, while international orders vary between 2 and 12 weeks. I received my package a little over 3 weeks (17 business days) after I had initially placed my order. 

Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion, photographed in natural sunlight.

Kristin adds: I'm located in the US and when I purchased during a non sales period, I received a shipping notice within 5 days of making the purchase and it was in my hands 3 days later.

Personal Thoughts:

As the name suggests, Notoriously Morbid has a bit of a macabre theme and even though that's not really my thing, I do enjoy their products. For those who prefer more uplifting themes, fear not - there are other references. I am a bit of a Trekkie (Voyager being my favourite because it had a female captain!) so I had to indulge in Andorian and when X-Men came out, people would call me "Jean Grey" so Phoenix Flame was another name-based purchase. On a serious note, Notoriously Morbid has also created an eyeshadow called Jupiter Rain, in which proceeds are donated to RAINN (Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network), it's great to see a company produce a permanent item that gives to a worthy cause.

Kristin adds: I honestly wasn't overly impressed with the first order that I made with Notoriously Morbid. I'd picked up a couple shades with matte bases that were pigmented but a little patchy and I found the shimmer in some shades chunky and difficult to work with (like in Shoes to Kill for). I may have just picked the weird ones though because from my second order, I was really impressed by the quality of the Black Friday matte collection. They're smooth and look great (maybe NM will release them again and I'll have an excuse to post them?). And the recent duochromes are wearable and gorgeous.

Have you tried Notoriously Morbid? What are some of your favourites?

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