Perfume Review! Sixteen92's Spring 2015 Collection

Purchased

Sixteen92's Spring 2015 collection is based on literature from the American south.

Spring is such a dangerous season when you enjoy indies, and it's particularly impossible to keep true to any no-buy initiatives you might have. It seems everyone has so many great seasonal collections bursting into bloom this time of the year. How do you keep up with them all?

I enjoyed my first blush with Sixteen92 back during the autumn, and I missed out on the winter collection. So when the shop's first spring collection popped up and was American literature in the south-themed, I was eager to try it! I tossed it into my carriage without really stopping to read any of the descriptions. Did it pay off? Let's look.

Swatch Post! Femme Fatale Cosmetics : Demon Soul, Divinity, Flowers From Flames, and Levitate!

Purchased

From the website: It is a black based shade with a colour-shifting finish, going from green through to red/pink depending on the angle of the light.

Eye Shadow Ingredients:  Iron Oxide (77499), Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide (77861), Silica, Carnauba Wax, Magnesium Stearate.

Vegan

Eye safe, Lip safe

Personal Comments: Part of The Worldbreaker Collection. This is a black with strong purple notes and a red highlight. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: It is a lovely pale pink eye shadow with a subtle orange duochrome finish.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide (778161), Carmine, Magnesium Stearate.

Non Vegan

Eye and lip safe

Personal Comments: A soft pink with a satin finish and gold highlight. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: It is a mid-tone tangerine orange with soft rust-orange undertones, and has a bright green shimmer with soft aqua sparks.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide (77861), Silica, Iron Oxide (77492, 77491), Mica, Carmine, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Synthetic Fluorophlogopite, Magnesium Stearate, Carnauba Wax.

Non Vegan

Lip safe

Personal Comments: From The Queen of Life Collection. This is a bold, goldfish orange with a gold shimmer. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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Sadly discontinued! But here's a swatch in case you ever see it up for trade!

Personal Comments: A soft lavender shade with a satin finish and a pink highlight. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Jessye Gets Bubbly: Special Edition! Haus of Gloi Spring 2015

Purchased

Spring is here! Time to change from the foodie gourmands of winter on to the florals of the new season.

Haus of Gloi's 2015 Spring Line has six scents this year - down from the nine of last year - all returning classics from 2014. Last spring, Lisa did a huge review of the 2014 Haus of Gloi Spring Collection. In their newsletter, the Haus noted that Honeybelle was "slightly reformulated to be more creamy and more orange blossomy." There was no mention of any changes to any other scents so make sure to check out Lisa's review for a perspective from another nose!

Today we're focusing mostly on the bath and body side of the spring release but since our spring order was pretty large, we're also going to be doing a compare and contrast of the scents between different products. Since the same scent is used throughout, there should be very very similar notes but different elements come out over different bases.

Haus of Gloi will be doing one restock of the Spring Collection on April 5th (probably at noon PST) and their stuff has been selling out FAST so make sure to mark your calendar if you see anything that you like!

Selkie

The break of waves, gurgling sea foam, kelp, rain tinged air, sand smoothed driftwood and wild sage. 

Jessye

I bought All The Selkie for The Husband. And then promptly considered stealing it for myself. And then I tried it. It's a great scent, but it's not a great scent on me. The perfume oil is this beautiful sage water mix that smells delicious on him and blah on me. On him, it is this lovely mellow, blends into his skin and just gives him a bit of a watery herb to his natural scent. On me, it's a little astringent and sage heavy and I don't like smelling it on myself.

The soap is great. The Husband claims he smells cucumber, but I get this lovely fresh watery herbal smell that I cannot get enough of. It's bright and clean without being sunny or citrusy.  It's all his, but I do love using it on him. ;-)

The pumpkin sits between the two for me. It's a little hard to smell if you aren't applying it to yourself and are having it applied for you. I knew it existed. I knew it was there. I just could barely smell it even though it was all over my entire body. This smell was much closer to the perfume oil, just slightly muted. The Husband found this particular blend to be a little lighter than previous HoG pumpkin butters and left very little residue on his stress-induced eczema legs, whereas my more naturally oily skin was left with enough reside on it that I went and washed it off.

AG

Given how few Haus of Gloi perfumes work for me, it's pretty surprising that they make one of my favorite scents from any brand. I've been using Selkie in Pumpkin Butter, hair oil, and perfume oil forms for the last couple of years.

The Pumpkin Butter is my favorite Selkie format, and not just because the PB formula works nicely on my dry skin. On application it smacks me in the face with bright, aggressive, slightly bitter sage. The sage slowly recedes and reveals a beautifully done salty aquatic base with no musk in sight, thank goodness! I love applying this as a body lotion right before bed - it's got enough punch in lotion form that my sheets smell amazing the next morning. The perfume oil is lovely as well, but doesn't have quite the same amount of punch or staying power as the lotion. The hair oil smells true to the perfume oil and lotion, but since I can only smell it when I'm applying it, it's also lacking the longevity I'm looking for with this scent.

Selkie always tops my list of recommended aquatic scents, partially because I love the truly salty base and partially because I think the sage is a brilliant addition to the mix. If you're a fellow salty aquatic lover and you find that so many aquatics smell like musk and disappointment or just too many goddamn flowers, I can't encourage you enough to nab some Selkie before it disappears for the year

As a side note, the jar of Selkie Pumpkin Butter I picked up this year smells a little different in the jar than last year's Selkie products when I sniff them all side by side. Fortunately, after about twenty minutes on my skin, it settles into the scent I know and love. This is definitely not one to judge right out of the jar!

Kristin

The first thing I noticed when I opened up my jar of Whipped Soap is that the Haus is getting creative. I have three soaps from this release: Selkie, Splendiferous, and Honeybelle, and they all have a colored bead-like exfoliant that doesn't dissolve along with the rest of the soap. Selkie has tiny blue beads, Splendiferous has purple, and Honeybelle has orange. In addition, the Selkie soap has a slight blue tint while Splendiferous has a pale yellow streaks through it. edit: User Pookabbit on Reddit contacted Haus of Gloi and found out that these tiny beads are made of jojoba oil! 

But back to Selkie in Whipped Soap form. I have to agree with Jessye's The Husband. In the shower, cucumbers. It's like a cucumber salad tossed with cucumber dressing topped with more cucumbers. At least, that's how it is in loofa form. When I lather it with my hands, the scent becomes less flat watery and more of a complex "I've just been walking along the beach" scent. I'm going to have to remember to keep this one by the sink instead of in the shower.

Purchase Link

Whipped Soaps Selkie (left), Splendiferous (right)

Splendiferous 

White cake, lemon zest glaze and sugared violets.

Kristin

On first sniff out of the jar, this was just violets. A batch of violets drowning in a sugary grave. I was almost ready to pass it off at just that but I gave it a shot in the shower and mmmmmm this one changes. 

I think gourmand soaps are wonderful so when the cake note came out on this one, it was mmm mmm good. The cake note wasn't heavy kind of general "cake-y" note though, it was definitely closer to a light and fluffy angel-food kind of cake. I couldn't detect the lemon note (sadly) but the appearance of the cake turned the floral note into more of a frosting sweetness. 

Purchase Link

Ruth

Fresh strawberry, green patchouli, rose geranium and crushed violet leaf. 

Jessye

Patchouli is my go-to fragrance whenever I need to feel grounded and in tune with myself. It's one of those scents that I have been smelling since before I had strong opinions on smells- my mom loves import shops and “hippie” smells. I was so excited to see a mix of strawberries and florals and patchouli that I couldn't wait to smell it. When I first opened the jar, I smelled something sickly sweet- like the strawberries had died in the making of this soap and scrub. But I persevered. This is patchouli! It will come through. Well, not so much. I very much agree with Lisa's post about this perfume from a year ago. It is like the strawberries moldered in the basement for a couple of months before being put into this concoction. And the patchouli doesn't come out very well or at all. But in the shower, it does become more pleasant. Once the initial air out phase, the sickly sweet backs off and the germanium leaves and violets come out a bit in the shower, allowing for at least a more balanced scent, though one I am still debating on how much I enjoy it. The more I smell it, the more palatable I find it, but I will probably get through the whole thing without ever once decided if I actually like it or just tolerate it.

Also- How awesome do they look! I love the random chunk of green in the soap and all the color swirl in the scrub.

Kristin

I actually completely avoided this scent since I don't think I'm a big fan of patchouli at all but I smelled Jessye's soap and I think I kind of need to have it. Given Jessye's reaction to the lack of patchouli, this one might work out for me after all!  

Purchase Link

Honeybelle

 A blooming orange orchard, orange blossom honey, soft white tea and creamy white amber.

Jessye

So what's the difference between normal honey and orange blossom honey? I know I've eaten orange blossom honey at some point in the past, but couldn't remember, so I went and bought orange blossom honey and another single note honey that was unrefined to find out. I had clover honey at home as a base for comparison. Pro-tip: don't smell honey. It smells like fermented yuck. Clover honey is sticky sweet and has a very sharp taste to it. The orange blossom honey I purchased was a more rounded soft flavor with less sweet. I tried them on peanut butter and toast. The clover honey stuck out on my palette more, fighting for recognition and to stand on its own, whereas the orange blossom honey enhanced the flavor of the peanut butter and added just a hint of sweet. I won't discuss the other honey because it isn't necessary for this post, but I will inform you that unrefined, unfiltered honey is very very different than filtered refined honey.

Knowing what I know now about orange blossom honey, it made much more sense when I used Honeybelle in the shower afterwards. It's a soft scent, which does more to hint at what's in it than to smack you over the head with it. There are suggestions of green leaves or something a little herb-y and just the tiniest hint of sweet. The white tea gives it just a bit of that clarity that comes with tea. The whole thing just seems like a suggestion to go be feminine and sweet. It's perfectly spring. I would have happily somehow dumped either the whole of the scrub or the soap on my head and just wallowed in it for awhile.

Kristin

This is another one that was blech for me out of the jar that changed in use. The amber is the only thing that I can smell straight out of the jar and even when used with a loofa, amber. But lathered thickly on the hands, there's a soft citrus note that isn't quite like orange but is more like what I'd expect from walking by an orange tree. Just a soft note in the air. It wasn't much but it tempered the strong amber note really well.

Purchase Link

Ploughman

Well worn leather, dirt n' dandelions, carrot, a pinch of tobacco and a light sheen of feral skin musk.

AG

Ploughman has a half dozen masculine-leaning notes listed in its description, but on me it's all dirt, baby. It smells like fresh and strikingly realistic dirt. One of the other elements is definitely present in the background making the dirt smell softer and cleaner than real, live (?) dirt, but it's not bold enough for me to pick out exactly what it is. I don't get any hint of the leather, dandelions, tobacco, or musk, so I suspect the shy tempering note is carrot. I've tried umpteen Haus of Gloi fragrances but have destashed most of them; Ploughman passes muster for me because it doesn't go weird or artificial on my wacky skin chemistry.

I was surprised at how much this scent reminded me of one of my absolute favorite scents, Mishigami by Darling Clandestine. If you removed Mishigami's mild sweetness and turned the dirt factor way up, you'd have something remarkably close to Ploughman. Did I mention Ploughman smells like dirt? If you're interested in scents which smell as though they just got harvested straight out of the ground, it's worth a try.

Kristin

I was super curious about this scent. I mean, "feral skin musk" what is that even? Is it different from tame skin musk? I took a wiff of AG's perfume oil during a sniff session and man do I regret not picking up something in this scent. To me, this smells like wet grass. It's everything that I've wanted from a damp, earthy smell but without all of the weird herbal stuff that usually comes with it. 

I'm not sure how this will turn out in whipped soap form but I'm definitely going to find out. 

Purchase Link

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That's it for today readers! Sadly, none of us got our hands on anything in the final scent, Milkmaid. Have any of you tried it? What do you think?

We've got an eye on a couple things from the restock but hopefully this is helpful for your planning. What are your favorites?

Random Product Review! Live Amplifying Lip Glaze from Silk Naturals

Purchased

Berry pink and ready for spring!

Lip-plumping products are really not all that magical, but they certainly are popular. From plumping balms to doe-foot applicator glosses, the basic idea behind them is all pretty much the same--an ingredient causes some type of irritation tingliness to push blood to the lips, giving a fuller appearance.

Silk Naturals might not be a fancypants newcomer to the indie scene. They're a well-established "oldie but goodie", and you know you can probably count on their products. One popular line is the Amplifying Lip Glazes, hopping on the plumping bandwagon. There are a whole assortment of colors, and "MORE ALGS PLEASE!" is usually one of the top requests each time a forum post about an upcoming collection is made. One of my favorites of the ALGs is the newer shade, Live.

Company Overview! The many molds of theCharmingFrog!

Nothing to Disclose

I stumbled upon theCharmingFrog (or The Charming Frog?) in my search for adorably shaped soaps and the shop definitely delivers. They have a huge assortment of shapes in extravagant detail and coloring and at a very reasonable price. Think of every gift soap that you've seen, the ones that are so pretty that you're loathe to be the first one to use it and muss the artwork. Now imagine all of them in one place and that's basically theCharmingFrog.

Rose Soap Packaging

But past the huge selection, I think theCharmingFrog goes above and beyond in the smaller, unlisted details.

The soap listings are posted with a "default" scent but the shop owner also allows any soap to be made in any of their listed scents (or totally unscented) at no additional cost.

And everything comes fastidiously packaged. I made a purchase of two soap listings and a lip balm and I opened the mailing box to find everything in perfect gift-able form. The image to the left is a set of three rose soaps and the box in the top image had a single otter soap. Even if I were trying really really hard, I don't think my packaging attempts would have come out even close to as beautiful as these came.

Even the single lip balm came in its own plush velvet bag with tags.

Count me impressed.

Packaging: 

I've already gushed over how beautiful the packaging is in the previous section but on the more practical side, all of the soaps came individually shrink-wrapped and the lip balm came with a safety seal.

Lip Balm Packaging

Unfortunately the plush velvet bag shed-ed all over my lip balm in a static clingy manner but I'm still too impressed by the effort to care to much about it.

Selection: 

Large and varied. And that's just in the soap category. As of this writing, there are 423 items listed in the Etsy shop. Of these listings, only 36 are lip balms and there are 16 body scrub type products. That leaves 371 listings for soaps. Now it's true that there are some listings that are the same design in different colors but from what I can see, it's not an excessive duplication (as in, there aren't 20 of the same design). 

As I mentioned above, the soap listings are posted with a "default" scent but the shop owner also allows any soap to be made in any of their listed scents (or totally unscented) at no additional cost. The scent list is nice and varied and the shop owner is helpful in helping to explain the differences between ones that sound similar. Rose Bouquet vs Rustic Rose for example (Rose Bouquet which smells more floral whereas the Rustic Rose smells like fresh cut roses if you're interested).

Here's a shot of the front page of their Etsy shop just to give you an idea of the kind of gorgeousness that they produce. 

From their front page

theCharmingFrog also does a bunch of seasonal soap shapes. Currently, they have a bunch of Easter themed soaps but prior to that, there were tons of roses and hearts for Valentine's day.

Other than soaps, they also offer lip balms in interesting scents like zucchini bread and dill pickels. The one that I picked up is on the more tame side in Chai and Lemon (currently not listed in the Etsy shop). 

In the bath products section, they have "loofa soaps," salt scrubs, and bath salts. There is an organic loofa scrubby thing in-bedded in each loofa soap and it looks a little scary to use truth be told. The listings advise using it for especially rough patches like heels, elbows, or knees. They look a little too rough to use regularly in all locations. The salt scrubs look to be made of more scrub than anything else but do contain a mixture of oils to ease in the rubbing. Also potentially too rough to use regularly in all locations.

Samples: 

theCharmingFrog doesn't exactly offer samples but they have a listing for three miniature soaps that is intended for scent sampling. You can pick three different scents and try them out before investing in a different soap in a larger size.

Quality: 

Some of the soap designs are on the more delicate side and fall apart easily but I think that's the type of thing that goes hand in hand with the detail. The more solid looking soaps don't have that kind of problem. 

Jessye reviewed a few of the soaps a couple months ago. 

I've been enjoying the lip balm that I picked up. It's more solid than a lot of other indie balms but nicely moisturizing. This particular Chai and Lemon scent is more lemon with a hint of the tea in it.

Cost:

Given the gorgeous packaging and customization options, I think this shop is very reasonable.

Customer Service: 

I contacted the shop with a question about scents and the owner responded quickly. After I placed the order, I received a quick thank you note via Etsy that I thought was a really nice touch.

TAT: 

Turn around time is listed as 3-5 days on their shop policies page. I received a shipping notice 4 days after placing an order and it was in my hands 3 days later.

Shipping: 

Shipping in the US starts at $3.75 and follows the Etsy model where multiple items get discounted shipping. The page states that any shipping charge over $1 over the actual cost will be refunded.

Personal Thoughts:

Though I don't think I'd buy anything from this shop for personal use - I'd just end up hoarding them without wanting to use them - I think they make fantastic gifts. They have so many designs that I think anyone could find something for anyone here. I love not only the designs but also the care in coloration.

One thing to note though; several of their designs have shimmery/glittery elements to them. If glitter in soap isn't appealing to you, make sure to ask the seller to leave that out.

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Swatch Post! Scaredy Cat Cosmetics : Aurora, Horse Feathers, Owned, and Tudor!

Purchased

Readers! This post is the final swatch set of all 60 Scaredy Cat Cosmetics eyeshadows!

Scaredy Cat Cosmetics has 57 eyeshadows listed in their regular line but they also offer 3 additional shades if you purchase the 60 Trial Vial Pack. The last 3 in this post are the 3 additional shades and do not have individual listings. Please contact the owner via Etsy if you are interested in purchasing them!

I'm a little sad to be coming to the end of these swatches. Scaredy Cat was one of the first indies that I fell in love with and I'm glad to have gotten to share them with all of you.

You can find the rest of our Scaredy Cat swatches here on the blog or on our Flickr Swatch Gallery.

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From the website: Royal and smokey, this deep sooty grey has a regal violet sheen that's so luxurious you may loose your head.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Iron Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Caramine, Boron Nitride, Magnesium Myristate, Silica.

Safe for: eyes and face.

Personal Comments: A silvery grey, the purple highlight comes out more when sheered out. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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One of the special three from the 60 Trial Vial Pack. This shade does not have its own listing. 

Personal Comments: A purple with red notes, this shade is on the sheer-er side of things. It has a shimmery finish. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

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One of the special three from the 60 Trial Vial Pack. This shade does not have its own listing. 

Personal Comments: A strong blue-purple shade that looks more blue or purple depending on the light source. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

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One of the special three from the 60 Trial Vial Pack. This shade does not have its own listing. 

Personal Comments: A muted orange with added shimmer. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Perfume Review: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Bub

Purchased

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab does a lot of officially licensed perfumes. Some of them, like the Neil Gaiman and Labyrinth scents, get a ton of attention; others fly below the radar, I think, like the ParaNorman perfumes. I haven't seen a lot of reviews of these out there, so I'll talk about Bub from the ParaNorman collection this week.

Speaking of officially licensed scents: I really wanted to review one of the Good Omens scents, in honor of Terry Pratchett's recent passing, but I still feel sad enough that I didn't feel like I could do it this week. Maybe another time.

Price: $26 for a 5 mL amber glass bottle of perfume oil with polyseal cap.
Samples: Not available for this scent.
(More details about price and shipping can be found in our Company Overview post about Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.)
Description from the website: "A dog’s bright, beaming memories of playing in the sun, rolling in the grass, and begging for table scraps."

I always love a nice green-grass scent, so I was kind of hoping for one here, based on the description. However, it comes across light and sweet and charming and not very green at all--it smells like citrus cookies to me, sort of like those lemon-ginger cookies with the creamy filling. I think the citrus might actually be orange, upon further sniffs, but the citrus combined with a cookieish spicy scent with subtle hints of cinnamon and ginger made me think of those lemon-ginger cookies immediately.

It's also softly fuzzy and lightly amber-musky, very soft-feeling, though there's a hint of carbonated fizziness in it--the combination is very pleasant and cozy. Strange, because you wouldn't think fizzy fur plus citrus cookies would make a nice combination, but it smells very comforting, much like a clean animal. (Bub will always be a cat name to me more than a dog name, but that suits me fine!)

I had a bottle of a past BPAL scent called A Wonderful Light for a while before selling it--it was oranges and linden and amber, which sounded great in theory but in practice, I always found it too heavy and didn't want to wear it very often. Bub almost smells like a flanker to A Wonderful Light, a very light, airy, clean tincture rather than a heavy rich perfume, but both share that impression of sweetened amber and citrus.

If you like "cozy" clean musk scents like Haus of Gloi's Cozy Sweater, I think Bub will be a perfume that's right up your alley. Sweet and clean, it's pleasant and easy to love. It's not very strong or long-lived at all, so you might have to reapply throughout the day, but it's one of the "easier," more conventional-smelling BPAL perfumes, the type that doesn't call attention to itself and would be appropriate for a workplace or family gathering.

For other reviews of Bub and other scents in the ParaNorman collection, you can also check out Sequential Tart, cookinguptales, or the bpal.org forums.

Note: this scent is vegan.

Swatch Post! My Pretty Zombie : Hangover, MaryJane, Rabid Weasel, and Wicked Crochet!

Purchased

From the website: Hangover is a matte pepto pink.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: mica, carmine, titanium dioxiode, Magnesium myristrate

NOT VEGAN   

LIP SAFE

Personal Comments: A bright and bold totally matte pink. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Maryjane is a mid tone gray green with a slight pink/red shift.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, titanium dioxide, blue #1 lake, yellow #5 lake, hydrogenated polisobutane, palmitic acid, tin oxide,  silica, iron oxide, Ferric Ferrocyanide, magnesium myriatrate

VEGAN   

NOT LIP SAFE

Personal Comments: A soft grey with a gold highlight to give it a bit of a taupe-y look. The pink shimmer is subtle. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Rabid Weasel is a matte ashy super light cremains gray.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: mica, Titanium dioxide, d and c black number 2, polyester 3, magnesium myristrate

VEGAN   

NOT LIP SAFE   

Personal Comments: Patchier over a glitter glue. This is a totally matte light grey. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: a dusty lavender with enough green glitter to make you puke

Currently not listed on the website though I'm not sure if it's been removed or just currently sold out. 

Personal Comments: This is a purple with grey notes and a satin finish with added green glitter. As you can see, the green glitter was pretty difficult to work with. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.



Jessye Gets Bubbly! A review of SAHTORI’s Lotus Flower Bath Bomb!

Purchased

SAHTORI’s Lotus Flower Bath Bomb

Last year, I began a year-long rigorous animal cruelty free trek. I finished out products I wasn't comfortable giving away due to spread of bacteria, and found new products to use when it was time to change. I found SAHTORI when I was looking for a new eye cream. It's a product I have definitely enjoyed. (I am not reviewing it for the sole purpose that I am very not picky about my eye creams. So long as they moisturize, I’m happy. I wouldn't even know where to begin.)

The products used are made using “Ayurvedic wisdom.” Ayurveda is an ancient Hindu study of medicine. (Thank you, Wikipedia!) I am not going to get into what it is because it is long and complicated. The important part for this review is that a lot of the herbs used in Ayurvedic practice are still used today, including those that are used for anti-aging.

I have tried a couple SAHTORI products and have been overall happy with them. However, the Lotus Flower Bath Bomb is a stand out. The little guy packed a wallop. The water turned a beautiful rose lavender. The scent was the perfect aroma of clean floral. As far as I know, I had never smelled lotus flower before this bath. It was beautiful. It was a soft floral, unlike tuberose, for example, which can be very heady. The oils in the bath bomb were soft and silky. It was very similar to Solstice Scent's Burnishing Glace, in that regard, but without the ability to over pour and have a bath that is too oily. This is a definite re-buy. This is definitely Top 5 of favorite bath bombs I have tried since my foray into indie companies.

Purchase Link

What are some of your favorite indie bath bombs?

Random Product Review! DreamWorld Hermetica Fantasy Lip Twist

Purchased

Photographed in direct sunlight.

I haven't reviewed a lip product in awhile, so for today's Random Product Review I'd like to show you a Lip Twist from DreamWorld Hermetica in the shade Fantasy. Lip Twists are described as "Extremely thick, long lasting, moisturizing and highly pigmented," and are $4.99. There is no shade description for Fantasy on the website, but I would describe it as a hot pink with a purple sheen. It looks quite dark and purple in the tube but applies much lighter and pinker. I love the colour and the pigmentation, and while balm does feel nice, it suffers from graininess. I had to rub my lips together for about a minute to try and break up the chunks of product on my lips (the graininess might be visible in my lip swatch and product shot if you enlarge the image). I've heard of other indie tinted balms suffering from the same predicament and a remedy I've seen online is to microwave it a bit to melt it, so I may try that to smooth out the texture. Unfortunately if I don't find a way to fix the graininess, I probably won't be wearing this much, since it won't be ideal to bring with me for touch ups if I have to worry about that when re-applying.

Have you tried any of DreamWorld Hermetica's lip products? Let me know below in the comments!

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Indies 101! Should I Buy From This Company?

Nothing to Disclose

Hey everyone! Valentine kicked off this series with a fantastic beginner's guide to indies, and I'm going to expand on it today. In this post, I'll be sharing my personal considerations for vetting a new-to-me indie company. My routine is based on a mix of general safety and personal preference, so I encourage you to think about your own priorities and create a vetting procedure that meets your needs. Please also note I'm in the US so I am writing this post with my own country's regulations and shops in mind; obviously the rules and considerations change for shops and customers located in other countries. 

In no particular order, I consider the following before purchasing from any new-to-me company:

Reviews

I can't adequately describe just how important reviews are to my buying process. Indie makeup blogs have gotten more and more popular of late, so a quick google should get you plenty of swatches and reviews on most established companies (and, shameless plug, our Company List and Flickr Swatch Gallery are good starting points). If the company is on Etsy, check their reviews and star rating. Read back until you've seen at least a handful of ratings that are 4 stars or below, and get a sense of why unhappy customers are unhappy. Stop by Reddit's indie community and its associated Brand Experiences Forum  - though any makeup community will likely have its own indie contingent to help you out - and see what people have to say about the brand. If a brand owner responds to any reviews of their products, see what they have to say. Make sure to check the dates on the reviews, too; I can think of a few brands which had difficulties in the past but have resolved the issues and become fantastic, trustworthy places to shop.

A lack of reviews is by no means an instant dealbreaker for me, especially if the shop is brand new, but it means I'm even more careful about checking the rest of my criteria described here before I consider purchasing. If you do purchase from a company with few reviews, consider writing a review of your ordering experience and the products you received so others can benefit from it.

Product photos

Take a look at how the brand is advertising their goods. If they're selling makeup, are there clear photos of the products? Better yet, are there well-lit swatches showing the product in action? Serious brands will often (but certainly not always) provide solid photos to give you a good idea of what you're buying. If a brand is using stock photos or heavily Photoshopped images to sell their products, that makes me wary. 

Read through the description and see if the brand gives any information about whether their swatches are shown over a base, how many layers of lipstick are on the model, or any other information they have about how they achieved the performance shown in their product images. Be critical - their goal is to show the product in the absolute best light possible, even it if takes six coats of nail polish, four blotted layers of lipstick, or liberal application of a sticky eyeshadow base to look good. 

Ingredients

This is a whole can o'worms that we'll hopefully address in future posts, so I'll try (and possibly fail) to give the 10,000 foot perspective on this. I consider a few different things here.

First, is there an ingredients list? I've browsed the FDA's website on labeling regulations, but they seem silent on whether ingredients lists are required on online listings for products. Regardless, I have a personal rule not to buy from companies that don't list their product ingredients (though do note some brands such as Meow have their ingredients all listed separately on one page). I want to make sure none of the products I'm considering contain my personal allergens, I want to confirm the products contain ingredients which are approved for the features on which they're advertised to be used, I want to make sure they're using preservatives and anti-rancidity ingredients where appropriate, and I just generally want transparency about what I'm putting on my body. Furthermore, I expect brands to more or less follow the FDA's guidelines for ingredients lists, which means putting components in decreasing order by amount and explicitly stating every ingredient - no hiding behind "micas and oxides for color" or similar. Regulations allow perfume makers to protect their fragrance components as trade secrets, but I expect them to at least list what carrier oil(s) they use.

I keep an eye on the ingredient lists as I flip through products. If the ingredient list is identical for every eyeshadow regardless of color or finish, and the list doesn't include a "May Contain..." at the end to account for different shades, I'm suspicious. Here's a good test - if a brand has a blue eyeshadow that doesn't list ultramarines, ferric ferrocyanide, or blue dye among its ingredients, that's a quick way to learn that the ingredient list is probably incomplete.

Finally, I'd encourage you to read up on repackaging (for makeup) and stock fragrances (for perfume) if you want to explore new-to-you indie brands. There are a ton of indie sellers creating gorgeous, unique, handmade labors of love, but there are also a few bad apples who buy bulk micas or stock scents and resell them for a huge markup without disclosure. Some respected brands do sell stock makeup or scents alongside their own handmade goods, but the stock products should be clearly marked as such. 

There are also some indie brands which will buy a pre-made product base (such as an unscented lotion base) and mix their own handmade fragrance into it. This is a bit controversial in the indie community, so I encourage you to consider whether you fall into the camp of "I'm buying indie because I want it to be 100% handmade by the person selling it to me" or "I'd prefer the brand owner spend their time making more beautiful perfumes rather than trying to perfect a base recipe". I lean toward the latter view, but it is completely up to you to set your own priorities and purchase accordingly.

Claims

This one's pretty easy. If a brand is claiming their products will make you look pretty and feel happier about your appearance, awesome. If a brand is claiming that OMG YOUR DRUGSTORE FOUNDATION IS GIVING YOU CANCER but thankfully theirs is "chemical-free" or will cure your various medical ailments... I roll my eyes, close the tab, and write them off forever. If a product "treats or prevents disease or otherwise affects the structure or any function of the body" (source) the FDA will likely consider it a drug, which means it needs to be reviewed and approved by the agency (source). Friends don't let friends buy snake oil, and cranky bloggers don't let unethical brands make money selling fear.

Policies

Take a peek at the brand's policies and see if they note any guarantees for bad batches of products or otherwise dissatisfied customers. It's normal for indie brands not to accept returns given the nature of cosmetic and body products, but many reputable brands will offer refunds or replacements if your products aren't working for you. The policies might have other helpful information about product shelf life, shipping costs, turnaround time, and what countries the brand ships to, so they're always worth a read.

Secure checkout

In light of the recent Lime Crime train wreck, it's more important than ever before to be vigilant when buying anything online. Use PayPal or another reputable payment system if that works for you, look for "https" at the front of the URL on any webpage which asks for your password or credit/debit card information, and consider backing away slowly if your browser warns you the website is not secure.

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Are you scared yet? Don't be - problems are generally few and far between, and most are easily avoided. If you're brand new to indies I'd suggest following Valentine's recommendations on what indie companies to buy from, and if you decide you want to explore more, work your way from there. Have tons of fun, and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it!

What do you look for when you're considering buying from a new-to-you company? Did I miss anything important? Did I get anything wrong? Let me know in the comments!

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Swatch Post! Blackbird Cosmetics Mattes V2! Part 2 of 2

Press Samples

Hi everyone! We've reached the last post in our series comparing the old and new formulas of the matte shadows from Blackbird Cosmetics. Check here for our Collection Overview and part 1 of the Volume II swatches!

As always, let's start by checking out the eye look...

Old formula:

 New formula:

 In general, the reformulated shadows in this group packed much more of a pigment punch than the old shadows. I tried my best to use the same amount of product on each eye, and the new formula eye came out looking a lot more heavy-handed than the old formula eye. Blending was improved pretty much across the board; I'll go into more detail about this in the individual shade reviews below.

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From the website: Neutral golden brown.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Talc, Titanium Dioxide, Magnesium Myristrate, Iron Oxides, Boron Nitride, Isoeicosane, Zinc Stearate, Mica, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Alkyl Benzoate, Lauryl Laurate, Caranauba Wax, Tocopherol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Jojoba Oil, Meadowfoam Seed Oil

Vegan & cruelty free. Eye, lip & face safe.

Personal Comments: I used Modesty as a brow and inner corner highlight in the look above. I felt there was a small improvement in blending, which is just fine because I didn't think the old version was that terrible at blending to begin with! I will say the new version appeared to show just a bit more of my skin texture than the old version, but they both look nice and smooth from normal viewing distance. I didn't see any noticeable color difference between the two once I got them on my eyeballs.

Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Blackened red.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Talc, Titanium Dioxide, Magnesium Myristrate, Iron Oxides, Boron Nitride, Isoeicosane, Zinc Stearate, Mica, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Alkyl Benzoate, Lauryl Laurate, Caranauba Wax, Tocopherol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Jojoba Oil, Meadowfoam Seed Oil

Vegan & cruelty free. Eye, lip & face safe.

Personal Comments: Ruca is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. In Kristin's swatch photos here and on the back of my hand, the new version is definitely, absolutely, no doubt about it more pigmented than the old version. On my eyes, the exact opposite was true. I have no idea if the old version grabbed onto some excess oils on my skin or something, but it applied with a serious bang. I'm blaming aliens. Fortunately, the new version builds up just fine so you can achieve whatever pigmentation you desire. The new version also blends significantly better (seriously, go check out my lower lashline in the eye looks above) and looks very slightly less red/more brown.

Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Dark taupe.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Talc, Titanium Dioxide, Magnesium Myristrate, Iron Oxides, Boron Nitride, Isoeicosane, Zinc Stearate, Mica, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Alkyl Benzoate, Lauryl Laurate, Caranauba Wax, Tocopherol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Jojoba Oil, Meadowfoam Seed Oil

Vegan & cruelty free. Eye, lip & face safe.

Personal Comments: The new version of Smudge is definitely some combination of darker and more pigmented! As always, I tried my best to use the same amount of product on each eye, but you can see that Smudge looks significantly heavier in the crease of the new formula eye above. There's also a big improvement in blending. I use Smudge a lot in my crease and I've found the new version is much, much easier to blend out into a smooth gradient.

Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Muted, but somehow still vibrant mid-toned violet.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Talc, Titanium Dioxide, Magnesium Myristrate, Iron  Oxides, Boron Nitride, Manganese Violet, Ultramarines, Isoeicosane, Zinc Stearate, Mica, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Alkyl Benzoate, Caranauba Wax, Tocopherol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Lauryl Laurate, Jojoba Oil, Meadowfoam Seed Oil

Vegan & cruelty free. Not lip safe.

Personal Comments: On the eye, the old and new versions of Vintage appear to be the same color. However, the new version of Vintage looks more pigmented and is easier to use as a result. I found it's much easier to get the new version to look true-to-color on the eye. I thought both versions blended out just fine; I didn't notice much difference between them in this regard. I used this on my upper lashline in the eye look above. 

Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Light perfect grey.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Talc, Titanium Dioxide, Magnesium Myristrate, Iron Oxides, Boron Nitride, Isoeicosane, Zinc Stearate, Mica, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Alkyl Benzoate, Lauryl Laurate, Caranauba Wax, Tocopherol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Jojoba Oil, Meadowfoam Seed Oil

Vegan & cruelty free. Eye, lip & face safe.

Personal Comments: The new version of Whisper is definitely more pigmented and came across as perhaps a shade darker than the old version on my eyes. Both versions seem to both sheer out and blend out well, especially when applied with a fluffy brush. I do think the new version of Whisper shows more skin texture than the old version when packed on the lid, but it's not really noticeable until I get up close to the mirror to do the super critical blogger thing. On a more personal note, one of my favorite looks to date started with a wash of Whisper through the crease. I know this is possibly the lamest thing I've ever written on this blog, I couldn't help but think that it looked - true to its name - like a whisper of color across my eye. 

Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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Final Thoughts: At risk of making this post even longer than it already is, I've got some parting thoughts as we wrap up this series. Overall, I think Maleah did a great job with the reformulations. One or two of the shades were misses for me, but in general I saw very noticeable performance improvements across the board. I believe Maleah's main goal was to improve blending, and I'd call that a success for most of the colors. I also think that tinkering with the pigmentation on a lot of the shades was a good move.

But let's get serious here - all of the products shown in this series were press samples, and I think the true test of what a person likes is what they're willing to pay for. Maleah just launched pressed versions of her shadows and I placed an order for Whisper and Lucid. If I didn't already have full sized jars of Dog Days and Smudge, I would have picked up those as well. Between the performance improvements and the fact that the colors are just to my personal taste, those are my favorite shades from the lineup.

Links to the rest of the Blackbird reformulation series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

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