TheBodyNeeds is an shop based in Savage, MN that sells a mixture of their own cosmetics, DIY pressing supplies, and MAC samples (full-sized products repackaged into small sample sizes). They had a coupon code for St. Patrick's Day, so I purchased a mixture of the house brand cosmetics and some MAC lipstick samples I'd been eyeing.
Packaging:
For the most part, TheBodyNeeds gets high marks for packaging. Everything came nicely wrapped in baggies and bubble wrap, and I received a discount code for my next order of house-brand cosmetics.
I always prefer pressed powders to loose ones, so I ordered only pressed eyeshadows ("Crush Pots") and blush, no loose powders. Each pan arrived glued into a cute mini clamshell made of translucent plastic branded with the company name on top and the product name, size, and ingredients on a white sticker on the bottom, along with the contact details for the company. Most of the products had "may contain" for the ingredients rather than "contains," and the sample they included only had the name of the product rather than its ingredients. I haven't tried depotting the pans from the clamshells to see if they can be easily removed or if they're magnetic.
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| Packaging for eyeshadow, lip luster sample, and blush. |
I ordered one lipstick from TheBodyNeeds's selection and a number of MAC samples. They were all packaged into translucent plastic, slimline twist-up tubes (they twist down, too). The MAC samples have clear lipstick base poured in first, with the MAC lipstick poured on top. I really like this because I hate using my fingers or a brush to apply lipstick, and would much rather apply lipsticks straight from the tube if possible. The slimline tubes allow you to apply straight from the tube even though it's a sample size. If given the choice, I would opt for this convenience over a slightly cheaper sample sold in a clamshell-type container.
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| Sample of MAC Candy Yum Yum lipstick, twisted all the way up. You can see the clear lipstick base below the actual lipstick. |
However, I have to mention that the house-brand lipstick I ordered, Tender Kiss, was packaged differently from the MAC samples--it had a clear plastic label instead of a white paper one, and the label completely melted and disintegrated the first time I tried to use it. I may have had some lotion residue on my hands, but whatever the reason, I was horrified and my Lip Lustre is now covered in a lovely layer of toilet paper lint--I had to rub the paper all over the melting label to blot it up and keep it from getting everywhere. F minus for that.
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| Gross melted label covered in toilet paper. |
Other minor quibbles with the packaging:
I received a free Lip Luster sample in a plastic clamshell (this was poured directly into the sample pot, not into a metal pan that was glued into the pot.) Since they sell other samples of lip products in tubes, I would have preferred a tube for this one as well.
I thought the blush would be pressed into a larger pan (because I can't read, apparently; it does state the pan size for all the products); however, it's the same size as the eyeshadow pans, making it somewhat hard to pick up blush on a normal-sized blush brush.
Selection:
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| L-R: Tender Kiss lip luster, Chalet Green eyeshadow, Forget Him! lip luster |
If you're interested in ordering MAC samples, they have lots of lipsticks, pigments, glitters, and samples of creamy products like Paint Pots and Fluidlines (they do mention these won't keep in the packaging they offer). There are samples available for a few shades of foundation or other base products as well.
Samples:
For the MAC stuff, samples are all they offer.
I don't think samples are available for the house-brand cosmetics, but the loose shadows do come in either 5-gram or 10-gram jars. All the TBN house-brand cosmetics are quite inexpensive in any case--and you can order free random sample packs of house-brand cosmetics by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope! This includes international customers as well. That's a great deal, and I would have taken advantage of it had I not planned to order some MAC products.
Quality:
The quality of the products I ordered was pretty decent, but not amazing. The eyeshadows and blush have a somewhat dry feel and are not as pigmented as I'd like--they don't have the lovely buttery feel of a pressed Fyrinnae eyeshadow, for example. The shadows were a mixed bag, color-wise--Smoked Copper was hands-down my favorite--it applied smoothly and lasted all day over primer, and it's a gorgeous luminous pinkish-copper color that reminds me of Fyrinnae's Serendipity. However, Aqua Brown looked a bit muddy when applied to the eye, and Chalet Green was very sheer and full of gold sparkles; the sparkles migrated and the green base was hard to blend. I wasn't a fan of that one.
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| L-R: Aqua Brown, Chalet Green, Smoked Copper eyeshadows. Swatched over UDPP and photographed in natural light, indoors. |
The Lip Luster I ordered, Tender Kiss, is a pleasant shimmer-free coral but has a strong fake fruit scent (strawberry, I think). It's moisturizing, pigmented, and comfortable to wear, but it's so slippery and pigmented, I find it bunches up into lip lines and smears very easily; it was a little difficult to apply evenly. The sample Lip Luster, Forget Him, is a shimmery, almost metallic magenta-berry shade that applied more evenly than Tender Kiss.
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| L-R: Venus blush swatched over UDPP, Forget Him! lip luster, Tender Kiss lip luster. Photographed in natural light indoors. |
Cost:
TheBodyNeeds is quite affordable on the whole, and offer coupon codes regularly.
Eyeshadows are $1.99 for a 5-gram jar, $3.79 for a 10-gram jar, or $3.99 for a Crush Pot (26 mm pressed pan). I haven't ordered the loose eyeshadows, so I'm not sure how full the jars are. Pressed blushes are the same price as the Crush Pot eyeshadows.
Lip Lusters are mostly $2.79 for a 4 g/0.14 oz tube, a mere $19.93 per ounce. (Some are on sale for as low as 69 cents)--compare this to Temptalia's PDF matrix of price-per-ounce for lip products, where the cheapest PPO for lipstick is $46.51!
[Non-indie, but relevant to my order: MAC samples are $3.79 for 0.5 g, or 1/6 of a full lipstick, which works out to $215 per oz. A full-sized MAC lipstick is $16 for 3 g, or $160 per oz.]
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| L-R: Aqua Brown eyeshadow, Chalet Green eyeshadow, Smoked Copper eyeshadow, Venus blush, Forget Him! Lip Luster, Tender Kiss lip luster |
I didn't contact Customer Service. TheBodyNeeds does not have a phone number, and their contact email goes through a form.
TAT:
Average processing time is listed at the top of the site--currently 3 to 7 business days. I received my order in a timely fashion.
Shipping:
The only US shipping option seems to be flat rate first class for $4.95. The site offers a huge list of countries in the shipping dropdown (Italy, a common exclusion, is not included, but apparently if you live in Tajikstan or Kiribati and want to place an order, you're in luck). I checked the price for shipping a single 5-gram container of loose eyeshadow to Ontario, and it came up as International Standard Flat Rate $6.95.
Personal Thoughts:
TheBodyNeeds's cosmetics don't have the imaginative geek culture-themed collections I find attractive in many other indie companies, so I don't have as much fun shopping from them as I would from a company like Shiro or Notoriously Morbid. On the other hand, their products are very affordable, reasonably good quality, and nicely packaged for the most part, and they seem organized and professionally run. (Also, while this doesn't really fall into the indie cosmetics category, I'd rather spend $16 to purchase 4 MAC samples in tubes than a single full-sized MAC lipstick, since I'm highly distractible and hardly ever use up lipsticks.) Their international shipping seems quite affordable, so I think they're a good option for international shoppers in particular!
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