Swatch Post! Fyrinnae Arcane Magic Eyeshadows in Alchemist's Curse, Conjuror, Dark Fantasy, and Faerie Glamour!

Purchased

Note: Something a little different today! These swatches are all over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy and have been photographed to show the color shift.

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From the website:  This shadow is pink shimmer and sparkle on black, but closer to light or at a different angle and it becomes a vivid gold to green, the black base setting off the highlights.

Ingredients: Mica, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Stearate. May contain: Iron Oxides, Manganese Violet, Tin Oxide, Ultramarines, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Silica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Magnesium Myristate, Blue #1, Red #40, Yellow #5, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Chromium Oxide, Ozokerite.

Personal Comments: Like Temptalia, I didn't see a green shift in the duochrome. The shift that I saw was pink to gold. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken indoors under daylight bulbs.

Sadly discontinued! But you can still pick this eyeshadow up at Beautylish.

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From the website: Rich burgundy-brick shade filled with shimmer that changes from aqua to bright crimson-pink, depending on proximity to light or angle.

Ingredients: Mica, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Stearate. May contain: Iron Oxides, Manganese Violet, Tin Oxide, Ultramarines, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Silica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Magnesium Myristate, Blue #1, Red #40, Yellow #5, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Chromium Oxide, Ozokerite.

Personal Comments: This is a purple-red shade with a teal shimmer. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Some of these pictures were taken indoors under daylight bulbs and others were taking outdoors in natural light. 

Purchase Link

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From the website: Dark Fantasy is an intense grass green shimmer on a black base, which changes to a golden-peach to deep orange-coral at an angle or close to light

Ingredients: Mica, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Stearate. May contain: Iron Oxides, Manganese Violet, Tin Oxide, Ultramarines, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Silica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Magnesium Myristate, Blue #1, Red #40, Yellow #5, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Chromium Oxide, Ozokerite.

Personal Comments: A deep green with a strong green highlight that looks gold in some light. The highlight didn't look orange-coral to me, more on the gold side. Fyrinnae's Callipygian is similar but brighter and with less of a transition. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Some of these pictures were taken indoors under daylight bulbs and others were taking outdoors in natural light. 

Purchase Link

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From the website: Semi-matte violet base with an aqua shimmer that changes to a bright purple-pink when closer to light or seen at an angle. 

Ingredients: Mica, Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Stearate. May contain: Iron Oxides, Manganese Violet, Tin Oxide, Ultramarines, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Silica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Magnesium Myristate, Blue #1, Red #40, Yellow #5, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Chromium Oxide, Ozokerite.

Not lip-safe

Personal Comments: This one is interesting because it's less that the highlight changes and more the base shade. It's a blue-toned purple in some lights and more of a blue-toned purple in others. Fyrinnae's Cuddlefish is similar. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Some of these pictures were taken indoors under daylight bulbs and others were taking outdoors in natural light. 

Purchase Link



Random Product Review! Bentley's Body Bars in Creosote!

Purchased

One of my favorite people ever sent me a couple soaps from one of her local indies, Bentley's Body Bars. It's a cute etsy shop based in Arizona with a variety of soaps but one in particular is specially themed for the area. Cresote is meant to be reminiscent of the desert.

A Sonoran Desert Exclusive! Infused with the leaves of the Creosote bush, hand picked locally myself, this is a specialty soap that smells like our desert after a rain

I can't say anything about how accurate the scent is since my experience in Arizona was more in the air conditioned zones but the friend who gave me the soap told me that it smelled dead on. She's spent enough time out there to fry half a million eggs so I trust her judgement.

Ingredients: Olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, Creosote leaves

The bar came in a stiff plastic wrap, open on the ends but the air exposure didn't fade the scent and the bar still smelled strongly by the time it got to me.

I don't believe that I've had any experiences with Cresote leaves so I can't comment on how strongly the scent is compared to the natural leaf but there is something here that I can't quite pin down a description for. It's kind of sweetly grassy but there's also a creamy note that I suspect comes from the cocoa butter.

In use, the bar is nicely moisturizing and doesn't leave my hands feeling dry. Compared to other olive oil based soaps, this bar doesn't leave me with a lingering slickness and is easy to rinse off without leaving a residue. The ingredients list is pretty basic but I think that Bentley's has done a good job with the proportions. 

It lathers nicely though the bar is on the stiff side and the leaves pop out after using it for a little - leaving some leafy bits out for exfoliation. They do break off pretty easily and aren't harsh on the hands but you can definitely tell that there's something there. It does say on the listing though, "Don't be alarmed if you come across tiny twigs or leaves. It's just a little bit of Tucson embedded in a lovely bar of soap." The leaves are picked by the owner and embedded in the soap in both crushed and whole form.

Purchase Link

The soap makes me want to head to Arizona and take a good sniff for comparison's sake. I probably won't get there any time soon but I'll post an update if the chance arises! Have any of you smelled cresote leaves before? What did you think?

Swatch Post! Shiro's COTM's Still Not a Planet and Largest Moon of Still Not a Planet!

Purchased

Hey everyone! Today I'm excited to show you the Shiro Color of the Month for August 2015, as well as its companion shadow. Thanks so much to Kristin for putting together these photo collages while my computer was out of commission! Let's take a look:

From the website: Peachy rose shimmer with strong copper-gold shift and turquoise sparkle.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, calcium aluminum borosilicate, silicon dioxide.

Lip-safe!

Personal Comments: Still Not a Planet is inspired by the loneliest celestial body and its demotion from planetary status a few years back. Peachy rose is a good way to describe it. I spotted some blue sparks in the arm swatches, but they didn't seem to translate to my eyelids over silicone primer. The shift was also pretty shy in practice unless I used glitter glue. Additionally, I found that this shade needed a bit of layering to have full impact on the eye, at which point it looked a touch bronzier and darker than it did in my swatches. This is all nitpicking though! Overall it's a solid neutral shadow and should work nicely for anyone looking for an office-friendly color. 

Swatches are, from left to right, applied over: bare skin, Urban Decay Primer Potion, UDPP + Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, all taken in partial sun. The angled swatch at top center is the Pixie Epoxy swatch in direct sunlight.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Rose-tinged taupe with intense turquoise shift and copper-gold sparkle.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, calcium aluminum borosilicate, silicon dioxide.

Lip-safe!

Personal Comments: The Largest Moon of Still Not a Planet is inspired by Charon, the biggest rock orbiting Pluto. The major selling point on this shade is a reasonably strong blue duochrome which presents itself pretty well even without glitter glue. The base color looked taupe on my arm but came across as more gray on my eyes. As strong as the duo effect is, it's also a bit flighty, and tended to disappear the moment I started blending the edges - easily fixed by patting more on top but it's something to keep in mind. I also found the duochrome didn't want to stick around along my upper lashline, as you can see in the eye look below. This could be due to my heavy lids but I couldn't say for sure. I did get a dusting of blue fallout from this one, so best to do your eyes before your base if you're concerned. 

Swatches are, from left to right, applied over: bare skin, Urban Decay Primer Potion, UDPP + Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, all taken in partial sun. The angled swatch at top center is the Pixie Epoxy swatch in direct sunlight. 

Purchase Link

I did a comparison between The Largest Moon and a couple of Femme Fatale shades from a recent collection:

From lower left to upper right these are Femme Fatale Silver Apple, Shiro The Largest Moon of Still Not a Planet, and Femme Fatale Witch Country. Each shade is swatched over UDPP and then UDPP + Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. As you can probably tell, Witch Country has the strongest duochrome by far. 

Finally, here are a couple eye looks to show the shadows in action. I started both with UDPP and a base shadow in my skin tone.

I used Still Not a Planet on the lid and the following crease shades applied in this order: Femme Fatale Crystalline Scale, Detrivore blush in Vow, Femme Fatale Impsy, DreamWorld Hermetica Arthur's Shield. I added Detrivore Lobotomy for an inner corner highlight.

This look has The Largest Moon on the lid and lower lashline, My Pretty Zombie Ojo de Gato and Detrivore Catacombs through the crease, and My Pretty Zombie Unicorn Pee in the inner corner. 

These will disappear off the site on September 1, so make sure to snag 'em soon if you're interested!

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Perfume Review! Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Blithe Hollow

Purchased

Fall is in the air! Our weather went straight from unbearably hot to cool, gray, and windy in the last week, and it got me in the mood to check out a perfume tester I've had for a while but never worn--Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's Blithe Hollow, from the ParaNorman collection, a scent meant to smell like a dark forest and cool winds.

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: "Dead leaves and cold, moist breezes set at the edge of a forest of maple, pine, cedar, and cypress."

I liked this perfume at first sniff, as it smelled like a green, fresh, piney scent with a heavy dose of sweet white florals. As I smelled it up close, though, and as it developed on my skin, the sweetness started to get more overpowering.

Over a woodsy, conifer-laden base, the scent develops a sort of cloying aquatic soapiness with a honeyed sweetness that brings rotting leaf mulch to mind. There's the dry dustiness of a dirt note in there, but the sweet note combines with it to make me feel a little ill overall. The longer it wears on the skin, the more it smells like a straight honey accord.

If I smell just whiffs of the perfume from a distance, it's really nice, and it definitely brings cool, shady autumn forests to mind either way--the description feels pretty accurate to me--it's evocative of dead leaves and evergreens for sure. But up close, the sweet rotting leaf accord makes my stomach feel kind of funny. I would prefer my autumn forest scents to smell smokier and more dry--less like sweet honey, and more like dirt and oakmoss.

It is very long-lasting, but it's the honeyish note that sticks around for ages--all the other elements eventually fade away until there's just a sweetness that lingers close to the skin.

If you are looking for a sweet but earthy perfume, a scent of forests, honey, and dirt, you might want to give Blithe Hollow a try. For me, personally, it's a pass, but it's so close to being good to me, I can see how it would work well on someone whose tastes are just slightly different.

For other reviews of Blithe Hollow 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! Aromaleigh Mineral Cosmetics' Blushes in Ambrosia, Candy, Nectar, and Scarlet!

Press Samples

Note: Aromaleigh's Clearance Site will be closing at the end of this month (August 31st) so if you like any of these or any other collections posted there, get them soon!

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From the website: A light pinky-peach shade with a hint of shimmer.

Ingredients: Mica (CI 77019), Serecite, Titanium dioxide ( CI 77891), Silica, Boron Nitride, Mica (CI 77019), Magnesium Myristate, , Iron oxides (CI77491, CI 77492, CI 77499) May contain Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Ultra-marines. (CI 77007)

Personal Comments: A brown-peach shade that works well as a neutral blush. The least shimmer of the four here. Applied over bare skin. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: a true pink with sheer iridescence that will embrace cheeks with a touch of sweetness!

Ingredients: Mica (CI 77019), Serecite, Titanium dioxide ( CI 77891), Silica, Boron Nitride, Mica (CI 77019), Magnesium Myristate, , Iron oxides (CI77491, CI 77492, CI 77499) May contain Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Ultra-marines. (CI 77007)

Personal Comments: A baby pink shade with added shimmer. Applied over bare skin. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: a peachy-pink with slight iridescence that will ripen cheeks to a healthy glow!

Ingredients: Mica (CI 77019), Serecite, Titanium dioxide ( CI 77891), Silica, Boron Nitride, Mica (CI 77019), Magnesium Myristate, , Iron oxides (CI77491, CI 77492, CI 77499) May contain Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Ultra-marines. (CI 77007)

Personal Comments: A soft peach that has a bit of a brown lean when blended in. The shimmer is pretty subtle on the face. Applied over bare skin. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

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From the website: A deep, rich warm-toned red with subtle shimmer.

Ingredients: Mica (CI 77019), Serecite, Titanium dioxide ( CI 77891), Silica, Boron Nitride, Mica (CI 77019), Magnesium Myristate, , Iron oxides (CI77491, CI 77492, CI 77499) May contain Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Ultra-marines. (CI 77007)

Personal Comments: Scarlet is definitely right. This is a very bold red. Apply with a light hand. Applied over bare skin. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

Jessye Gets Bubbly! Summer Scents from Future Primitive!

Purchased

Future Primitive 
Summer Scent Review 2015

It seems only just yesterday we were discovering Future Primitive and their General Catalogue with a smattering of Spring, and here we are with our first seasonal release! So let’s look at all these fabulous, summery smells!

Note: Future Primitive is currently on vacation so orders won't be shipping until after August 30th, the same date that they're releasing their Autumn scents!

Cold Pillow 

A cool, cotton pillow filled with cotswold lavender buds, scented geranium leaves & Indian vetiver grass. The perfect place to rest your head on a hot summers afternoon. 

I personally didn’t buy anything in this scent, but hopefully AG or Kristin can fill you in.

Kristin adds: I picked this one up in scrub form. Cold Pillow is a darker relation to Sylph of the general catalog. Where Sylph is sugar and sweet and almost a candied lavender, Cold Pillow is a bit muskier and even the lavender note seems to take on a heavier appeal. The lavender is definitely there but it takes more of a back seat to the other notes to make a really well-blended combination of a heavier sweetness.

Dusty Dogwood 

Inside Dusty Dogwood’s flour mill & bakery, gooseberry & elderflower puddings are the order of the day with lashings of toasted coconut cream!

I was lucky enough to get to steal this out of Kristin and AG’s order as a bar soap sample. This is a fantastic soap to have in the kitchen; the scent melds really well with the food smells. Mr. J says that this makes an amazing Autumn scent for him and refuses to believe it’s a summer scent. I wish I could pick out the scents and explain them to you, but they blend really well for me into this fantastic scent that I really enjoy.

Kristin adds:  Unfortunately, this one wasn't one of my favorites. I was pretty surprised since I usually lean towards the gourmand scents. To me, Dusty Dogwood has almost a sour scent to it. I'm not sure what the cause is - I suspect the gooseberry - sticks out to my nose and takes the scrub in a weird direction. I can't pick out the coconut at all but I do recognize the sweet elderflower. The sweetness of the elderflower contrasts with the gooseberry and to my nose, not a great combination.

Indian Temple Attar

Aromatic mahogany rose petals dipped in patchouli & mysore sandalwood oil with a layer of rich vanilla & labdanum absolute.

I only have bar soap as a reference for you on this, and as soap, it fell really flat. Really flat. I even cut into the soap to check. It smells like slightly floral clay. I’m hoping that this was just because this particular bar did something weird and everyone else got a great scented product because it’s a beautiful scent list that I would love to smell.

The Warror was the perfect LEGO bazooka.

The Warrior

A salty, wooden warship misted with sea-spray. The scent of tarred rope, crates of Israeli figs, citrus fruits & rich spices warmed by the sun & the rarest frankincense & amber resins wrapped in sail cloth.

I bought this as a scrub and then as a whipped soap, and they react the same way. While they’re dry, they smell like a lovely, rounded, masculine cologne. Then it gets wet, and it smells strongly of figs and citrus fruits with touches of masculinity, which is a little weird. But it you put nose up to it and smell it again, it smells like “idealized tar,” in the way that you would think “idealized leather.” It’s sticky and masculine and oh so yummy. I love it dry, I love it up close while wet. I am ambivalent about it in the middle range. Mr. J loves it though and has gone through half the scrub already. This scrub was the first label I have lost on any indie bottle, so it’s decorating my shower wall right now.

Railroad Markets

Freshly cut limes & sugar rocks imported from the West Indies, mangoes from India & coconuts from Fiji - all available this Friday from your local railroad markets!

This is another one we only tried in bar soap form. AG very sweetly cut me a generous sample off her bar for me to try. I killed it in less than a week. I loved it. It’s a collection of fruits put together in a new light to inspire a new take on fruity, summer freshness. I will definitely be buying more of this next summer if it makes a comeback. I loved it.

Kristin adds: I also got a cut off of AG's bar and it smells like a sweet fruit punch. Not quite as sweet as Hawaiian Punch but still reminiscent.

Strawberry Patch: The whipped soap is pink!

Strawberry Patch

Fresh, plump heritage strawberries, double cream and a dribble of cocoa absolute.

My first note on this one is “foam at the mouth noises.” It smells like the strawberry hard candy in the strawberry wrapper with the jelly center. It’s exactly like strawberries in cream pie drizzled in chocolate without the pie crust. Strawberries and cream with just a touch of hardened chocolate. Probably while you’re reading this, I’m making strawberries and cream pie. Future Prim definitely inspires food urges in me. I’ve been using this exclusively as shampoo with Clotted Peach Cream as my conditioner. My shower smells like strawberries and peaches, and it is phenomenal. I am loving every minute of it.

Wild Grass & Quince Jam

Wild prairie grass, sweet earth, a balmy summer breeze, warm sunshine and the aroma of quince fruits gently ripening in the orchards.

This is a great, simple scent. It smells almost spicy. I knew what quince was in theory but had no idea in practicality. Quince is a relative of the apple and pear. With a brief Google search, I found that it is sometimes described as smelling like pineapple. I can understand where the idea comes from. There is a tang to this soap that very obviously doesn’t come from the grass smell, so it must come from the quince, right? And it does seem to be the case. This is a great vegetal smell that I’m really enjoying.

Kristin adds: The description on this one is perfect. I have it in a scrub and it has a strong grassy note that's kind of like a fresh mowed lawn. But right on top if it, there's an additional sweet note that I can only believe must be quince - whatever that is - but I have a hard time believing that there's a fruit that exists that smells so sweet. Perhaps it's the sugar in the scrub that I'm smelling but the sweet note does remind me of sugar.

We made a castle.

Final Thoughts

There’s so little to say- this is another amazing round of scents from a company that I’m really enjoying. Have you tried Future Prim, summer scents or no? Let us know in the comments and what you thought of them. We’d love to hear from you!

Bonus! 
AG Reviews Future Prim's Bubbling Sugar Scrub in Clotted Peach!

On a scale from 1 to super scrubby, Future Prim's Bubbling Sugar Scrub is about a 3 - not especially scrubby. Fortunately, what it lacks in scrubbing power in makes up in moisture.

I find scrubs often contain surfactants and can end up being somewhat drying, but with this one, I leave the shower feeling like I have a super thin layer of oil on my skin where I used the scrub - a very good thing given how dry my skin is! The layer of oil absorbs quickly and my skin feels pretty happy afterward, though not quite moisturized enough to forego my usual post-shower dose of lotion.

All that said, I definitely prefer Haus of Gloi's Emulsifying Scrub, since it gives me tons of moisture while also making me feel like I've scrubbed away all my itchy dead skin.

The scent is my favorite thing about this product - Jessye Bubbles very kindly passed on her mini in Clotted Peaches, and it's a fantastic juicy peach scent. It reminds me a lot of a Body Shop perfume in Fuzzy Peach that was in my household as a kid. I got a burst of scent while using it, then got little whiffs of it for the rest of the shower. So lovely!

Company Overview! An Honest Look at Maple Holistics

Press Sample

Despite the rather Canadian-sounding name, Maple Holistics appears to be a US-based company specializing in holistic/homeopathic bath and body products including both skincare and haircare. I should get a few things out of the way right away with this review.

First of all, I am coming into this review with a cynical eye and a ton of prejudices. We were contacted out of the blue to review these products--we did not reach out to Maple Holistics ourselves, nor had I heard any word-of-mouth about them. The query felt sort of spammy to me (especially given their free-product-for-"honest"-Amazon-reviews policy), and we discussed it amongst ourselves, but decided it did seem to be a real company and worth a try. As I was the only member of the team within the US willing to risk my hair/skin on reviewing these products, it fell on me to write this overview... but I just have to say up front that there are a lot of things I dislike about the branding and general approach they take. More about that in a bit.

Secondly, I'm not sure how much this company counts as "indie," as some people's definition of "indie" seems to only include those products manufactured in-house by a company rather than contracted out; now, I know some companies I think of squarely as "indie" and that we've covered here in the past, like Meow Cosmetics, do have at least certain products that they're open about having contract-manufactured. I don't think this is necessarily bad, as I think you're likely to get good, professionally formulated products this way, but I wanted to get this out in the open for people who care about it, as the products I received for review do state "manufactured for Maple Holistics" on the packaging, making me suspect they're third-party-produced. I don't know this for a fact, but I have strong suspicions about it. They themselves have never claimed to be "indie," as far as I know, but since we are an indie-focused blog, I did want to mention that.

Anyway. The company states "Est. 2001" but they don't really have anything in the way of backstory on their site. Their "About Us" page is incredibly vague, but here is their mission statement: "Maple Holistics has one goal in mind: to provide a natural, holistic range of premium products which can enhance hygiene, health and daily living." No information about the owners or founders or feel-good origin story narratives. 

Let me rant for a moment about my aforementioned prejudices. I am probably exactly the wrong person to be reviewing this company; I really, really hate the use of the buzzwords "holistic" and "homeopathic," which, to me, are shibboleths for a particular fear-based, anti-scientific worldview gaining alarming popularity, with homeopathic remedies at one end of that spectrum and measles-spreading, child-endangering anti-vaxxers at the other. [My personal opinions do not represent the general opinions of the Indie Know blog or the individual opinions of any of the other bloggers, by the way. I don't know how they feel about all this.] I'm not opposed to herbal remedies (although I don't believe they are inherently better just by being "natural") and I think that in a broader sense, a holistic worldview is generally beneficial, but homeopathy is pure quackery and I bristle at these words in the context of selling these products, as I think they are completely meaningless here and used only to market to gullible souls with a vague fear of "chemicals." Or, if they are not meaningless, does that mean that, in accordance with basic homeopathic principles, the active ingredients in this serum are diluted to the point that there are no actual vitamin C molecules in my vitamin C serum? I wouldn't be happy with that result either. I'd like the products I'm paying for to contain detectable amounts of the active ingredients, thank you.

Anyway, I thought I'd ignore all that and take a good, honest look at these products without any of their marketing in mind. 

Packaging: 

Everything is very nicely packaged, with what seems to be waterproof vinyl labeling, safety seals, and professional-looking graphic design (a few typos, though). My package came securely packed, in a cardboard box with bubble wrap baggies enclosing the individual products and plastic air pillows filling up any empty space. 

Selection: 

Maple Holistics' website is divided into three sections:

• Bath and Body--bubble bath and bath salts. Each of these is available in either eucalyptus or lavender scent.
• Hair Care--shampoo, conditioner, and styling gel. I received the Argan Oil shampoo and conditioner to test out. There are also "winter blend" shampoos and conditioners, and dandruff, clarifying, and hydrating shampoos, and a silk amino acid-based conditioner. 
• Skin Care--oils and serums (beard oil and vitamin C serum), scrubs (a pumice-based foot scrub), and treatments and masks (eye cream, mud mask, and clay mask). I received the vitamin C serum and clay mask to test out.

I also received a lip balm, which is not something that seems to be for sale on their site. Overall, I appreciated that the product selection seems to be fairly limited and well-edited.  

Samples: 

Samples are not available, but Maple Holistics does have a money back guarantee (I'm unclear on whether you'd have to pay for return shipping).

Quality: 

I have not tried all these products for a long period of time, so I can't really speak to how well they work on an ongoing basis just yet--I may pick them up again in Random Product Reviews in the future.

First impressions, though: everything seemed nicely packaged, clean and nicely labeled, with safety seals.

The vitamin C serum was not discolored or smelly, but it was VERY sticky and I could feel it sitting there in a sticky and slightly itchy film on my face for hours after application, which could be a dealbreaker for some. I thought the ingredients looked good--it includes vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate), vitamin E, ferulic acid, hyaluronic acid, and aloe vera. I ended up using powdered mineral makeup over the top every day I used this serum, to "set" the stickiness. I can't speak to its long-term effectiveness, concentration, or pH level; I didn't notice any irritation or breakouts after using it for a few days.

The argan shampoo and conditioner smelled decent and were serviceable. My hair felt clean and shiny afterwards, but these didn't change my life or anything. There was nothing remarkable about them for me, but then again, my hair isn't high-maintenance--someone with dry or curly hair might be better suited to speak to their effectiveness. They are sulfate-free, which is nice since my hair is color-treated and sulfate-free shampoo makes the dye last longer.

The clay mask left my skin feeling very smooth afterwards, but a little dry. I think that's to be expected with a clay mask. I would like to try it mixed with apple cider vinegar next time to improve its pH, but I followed the package directions this time and mixed it with water using the little scoop that came with it (it made the perfect amount of clay mask to cover my face with a thick layer).

I haven't tried the lip balm yet, since it's not a product for sale on the site.

Overall, I think the quality is fine, as far as I can tell, but none of these products made me get really excited. The serum's stickiness was the biggest quality issue I noticed, but for the reasonable price, that might be acceptable. 

Cost:

The prices for Maple Holistics' products are reasonable, with some items being a better deal than others. The Ancient Clay Facial Mask is $15.99 for 8 oz, while the comparable Aztec Secret clay mask is about $8 for 1 lb. However, the Vitamin C Facial Serum is only $11.77 for 1 oz, while similar serums available on Amazon tend to run around $25. There is also a 10% volume discount for buying 2 or more of a given item. 

Customer Service: 

I haven't had to contact customer service, but Maple Holistics seems good with communication and responsive, and they have a customer service phone number along with email addresses, a contact form, and hours of operation listed on their contact page. 

TAT: 

I cannot speak to the turnaround time, since I received free press samples. 

Shipping: 

I couldn't find a breakdown of shipping costs and methods; from some experimentation with their shopping cart software, it seems to be a flat rate of $2.50 per item until you reach $25 not counting shipping, at which point you can get free shipping. I think they only ship to the United States. My package was sent via US Priority Mail.

Personal Thoughts:

This company gets a solid "Eh, they're OK" from me quality-wise. I didn't find any of the products terribly exciting or worthy of particular recommendation, but the price is right for some of them and there is certainly no shortage of other bloggers raving about their free press samples elsewhere on the web.

I'm not vegan and don't shop cruelty-free, but I believe Maple Holistics' products purport to be both. Let me say, though, that I would take their supposed vegan status with a grain of salt and email the company about any products you're considering on that basis, though--the "vegan" argan shampoo lists "natural (vanilla/honey) fragrance" in the ingredients on the packaging (it's unknown to me whether this fragrance is derived from real honey) and "honey" as part of the formula on the website, and of course the Silk18 conditioner lists this in its description: "Eighteen naturally-derived (literally extracted during the silkworms [sic] process of creating silk) silk amino acids prompts an assortment of hair and scalp benefits." I haven't pored carefully through the other listings (the full ingredients lists are almost impossible to read with the mouseover zoom feature), but I feel pretty safe saying they're neither well-informed nor particularly serious about this whole cruelty-free/vegan thing.

So, yeah. I will use up the products they sent me, and I don't really have any problem with their quality, but I don't like feeling like I'm getting hustled, and between the woo-woo "holistic" and "homeopathic" talk and the supposedly "vegan" products containing silk and possibly honey, plus the carpetbombing of blogs and consumers with review requests in exchange for free product (which is commonplace, but leads to an oversaturation of false positive reviews) I feel like this company is mildly dishonest, and I probably won't shop from them in the future. I live in a capitalist society and I buy a ton of shit, I really don't have a problem with companies using savvy marketing strategies to sell their products, but you know what? There are plenty of other good-smelling fish in the bath and body product sea that aren't misusing exciting buzzwords like "vegan" and "homeopathic" that I can send my money to instead.

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Swatch Post! Glamour Doll Eyes : Heartless, Typical Girl, and Unicorn!

Purchased

Note: Only three swatches today! These are the last of my Glamour Doll Eyes eyeshadows!
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From the website: Matte bright pink (semi red) with a slight purple sheen and a holographic sparkle. 

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Kaolin, Red #40 Lake, Carmine, Iron Oxide, Magnesium Myristate, Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide, Talc, Zinc Stearate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Synthetic Fluorophylogopite, Silica. May Contain: Magnesium Violet, Carmine, Bismuth Oxychloride, Blue #1, Yellow #5.

Vegan?: No.

Approved For: eyes, lips, face & nails. 

Personal Comments: From the Matte Squared Collection. I wouldn't really call this a pink at all. It's definitely a bold red with a hint of purple and a satin finish. I also wouldn't classify this as a matte. My Pretty Zombie's Benzodiazepine is matte and cooler. Shiro's Heart Piece and Scaredy Cat's Kid You Not are bolder. 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: Typical Girl is a light purple with some pink hues.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Carmine, Iron Oxide.

Vegan?: No.

Approved For: eyes, face & nails. 

Personal Comments: A cool toned grey-ed purple  Definitely use a primer or sticky base with this shade. ITA's Crinkled Satin and Notoriously Morbid's No One Was Saved are similar. 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: Unicorn is a light pink with silver/white sparkle. 

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Manganese Violet (Pigment Violet 16), Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Carmine, Ferric Ferrocyanide.

Vegan?: No.

Approved For: eyes, face & nails. 

Personal Comments: A pale pink leaning purple with a silver highlight. Darling Girl's Persuasion is similar with more shimmer. Darling Girl's My Little Pony has a similar base with more of a green highlight. Shiro's Din's Fire is more pink with a similar highlight. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link



Perfume Review! Darling Clandestine's /r/Hug of Death

Purchased

The affectionate /r/Hug of Death...just let Reddit love you, darnit!

Reddit is a popular content aggregation site where people convene in "subreddit" sections relating to common interests. Some of these sub sections can become quite large, and as it usually is the case with a mob, they can wield an awful lot of influence. It's not uncommon for a smaller, less-trafficked site on the internet to suddenly garner Reddit's interest and become "hugged to death" by the influx in traffic.

Evonne of Darling Clandestine created a self-fulfilled prophecy with her 2015 Valentine's Day collection, naming one of the new scents /r/Hug of Death... what did she expect?! The collection sold out almost instantly (under fifteen minutes) and people were ravenous for more. While the traffic didn't take down Etsy, it did wipe out her shop inventory in record time. (Luckily, for all disappointed parties, a later batch was put up for preorder.) Was the mad dash worth it?!

Swatch Post! Femme Fatale Cosmetics : Shooting Stars, The Dark One, The Girl Who Cried Monster, and Masquerade!

Purchased

From the website: It is a soft wisteria violet tinged with pink, and is highlighted by a heavy duochrome finish. 

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

Non Vegan

Not lip safe

Personal Comments: A pink-purple shade with a blue highlight. Scaredy Cat's Ring-A-Ling is brighter. Femme Fatale's Levitate is similar with less of a 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 black based shade with a soft violet shine, and lavender and purple sparkles.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide (77861), Iron Oxide (77499), Synthetic Fluorophlogopite, Silica, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Magnesium Stearate, Carnauba Wax, Methicone.

Vegan

Eye safe, Lip safe

Personal Comments: Part of the Worldbreaker Collection. This is a dark purple with a purple highlight. Darling Girl's The Count is a bit more purple and with pink shimmer. Fyrinnae's Shinigami is similar. 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 rich teal-blue base with strong, bright green shimmer.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxide (77499), Ultramarines, Tin Oxide (77861), Silica, ferric ammonium ferrocyanide, (glycidoxphenol) propane/ bisaminomethylnorbornane copolymer, Magnesium Stearate, Carnauba Wax.

Vegan

Not lip safe

Personal Comments: Part of the You Choose the Scare Collection. If you like this one, better grab it sooner rather than later. From the website: "Admittedly the ingredients use for this shade are no longer available, so eventually the time will come that The Girl Who Cried Monster will be retired." It's a blue-purple shade with a very strong green highlight. The highlight is very similar to Death Partners. Femme Fatale's The Nightmare is deeper. 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:  In the jar it looks like a  soft, silvery grey with very subtle pink shimmer, yet when applied the base comes out more purple/blue and the pink shift is also more noticeable. 

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide (77861), Black #2, (glycidoxphenol) propane / bisaminomethyl-norbornane copolymer, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Magnesium Stearate, Carnauba Wax.

Vegan

Not lip safe

Personal Comments: Part of the Handful of Treats Collection. The Masquerade is a grey-ed pink shade with a strong pink highlight. Shiro's Master of Whispers is less grey with a similar finish Darling Girl's Delusional has a stronger finish. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link



Random Product Review! Herbanluxe Mascara

Purchased

Does true indie mascara really exist?

Indie vegan mascara. Three words that hold so much hype and potential. Maybe you have sensitive eyes that struggle with the mascara brands you've purchased at the store. Maybe you can't find enough vegan alternatives. Maybe you feel really passionate about supporting independent business. Does a mythical cosmetic unicorn like this really exist!?

Company Overview! Nerdy Bubbles from Digital Soaps!

Nothing to Disclose

I came across Digital Soaps at Geek Girl Con last year in Seattle. It's one of the smaller nerdy conventions in the area (at least compared to the big dogs of PAX and Sakura-Con) but I'm pretty okay with less bodies being smashed together - also one of the booths was handing out macarons.

At such a small convention, I was surprised to see some of the bigger Etsy vendors - theGorgonist who did the Hobbit art for the Shiro collection for instance - but it was a pretty nice spread across the indie world. I couldn't resist when I spotted these Pokemon themed soaps.

Packaging: 

Soaps all came individually shrink-wrapped and some products (like the Soapemon below) came in specific packaging.

Selection: 

I'll be honest. I bought the Pokeball soap because the guy told me that there was a Pokemon inside. Yep. I have to assume that there are at least 151 different options but you don't get to decide which one you get. If you're a completionist, this might be a problem for you.

Rapidash!

They have soaps in game cartridge type across the standard gaming brands as well as in controller form - these are sized comparatively to the real things and make for really large soaps. Round soaps come in Pokeball, Dragon Ball, and the dog from Adventure Time shape. And for a very high price point, you can get a Pokeball with a sterling silver Mew or Mewtoo.

Unlike many other indie shops, Digital Soaps offers only one scent option for each soap design. I imagine that this makes inventory much easier but at the same time, if you don't like soda scented things, none of the Soapemon cartridges will work for you.

Oddly, not all of the listings say what the scent is. Like this one - it lists fragrance and color under the ingredients but not what the fragrance is.

They also have soda-themed (both scented and bottled in soda bottles) shampoos, bath gels, and conditioners. I think this concept is really neat but I haven't tried any of them so have no idea how well they function. And bacon soap.

Samples: 

None.

Quality: 

I get the feeling that these soaps are marketed more for the physical appeal than anything else. The soaps are nice but they aren't anything particularly amazing, especially for the price point (which I'll cover more in the section below). That said, the amount of detail that goes into the soaps' physical appearance makes them excellent gifts for nerdy people. They all look incredibly realistic (with the exception of the bacon soap).

However, due to their size, they do last for a very long time.

Cost:

On the more expensive side though most of the soaps are definitely larger than average.

Customer Service: 

The guy that I talked to was nice. We chatted a bit about his product spread and he was very gracious when I handed him money.

TAT: 

According to their Policies page, items are made to order. They list their TAT as up to 10 business days. I don't have any experience with this since I picked up my stuff at the convention.

Shipping: 

Same as above.

Personal Thoughts:

Cute and nifty but I think I'm kind of on the spoiled side when it comes to soaps. I want the whole package. Soaps that look cool but are also amazing on the hands. They don't have to promise me plastic surgery or anything but I guess I like a product with a little more substance? But with that said, I know a few people who these would make perfect stocking stuffers for and they'll make great gateways to the indie soap world /evil laughter.

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