Random Product Review! Shiro's CotM for October 2015!

Purchased

Hey everyone! As always I'm very excited to show you the Shiro Color of the Month for October 2015! This one is called 3spoopy5me and features a picture of The Count on the label so you really can't go wrong. Let's check it out!

From the website: October’s CotM might look like a somewhat unassuming deep greeny-teal in the jar, but put it on over primer and suddenly it’s copper? I’m crepped out you guys.

Color suggestion by Kayla W.!

Ingredients: mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, ultramarines, chromium oxide, ferric ferrocyanide, magnesium myristrate, bronze powder, silicon dioxide, methicone. Not lip-safe.

Personal Comments: I'm sad to report these photos aren't fully representative of the eyeshadow - I took then during a quick peek of sun on an otherwise very gray day so the swatches look kind of washed out and don't really show the copper shift. I took the top row of photos in my lightbox so they show the copper off a little better. All that aside, this is a beautiful shadow. I believe the copper glitter is the same one that was used in the brand's Five Years, Stuck On My Eyes anniversary shade.

When I used this on my eyes over Urban Decay Primer Potion and a base shadow, most of the copper glitter wound up on my cheeks. I believe the Shiro team swatches over Too Faced Shadow Insurance (and obviously don't swatch over a base shadow), so that could explain the different results they mention in the website description. As I said above my photo really doesn't show it, but the copper glitter comes out beautifully over a sticky base and catches the light really nicely. The copper was a little patchy when swatching it (as you can see above) but I didn't have any issues with this when using it on my eyes. Aside from the copper fallout this shadow performed right in line with most of my Shiro shades - I had to do a few rounds of blending and reapplying to get the blend and pigmentation you see below, but that's pretty standard, I think!

Swatches are, from left to right: swiped over bare skin, patted over UDPP, patted over UDPP + Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy; this photo was taken in natural (but very gray) light. Top center swatch is the UDPP + FPE swatch taken in my lightbox to catch the glow of the copper shift. Both jar shots were done in my lightbox. I edited the label photo by increasing the contrast to help make it more true to life.

Purchase Link

I did a simple eye look to test out the shadow:

I started with UDPP, a base shadow in my skin tone, and Detrivore blush in Beloved through my crease, then applied Detrivore Gourd over the inner half of my lid and 3spoopy5me over the outer half. I applied 3spoopy5me over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy on the lower lashline to bring out the copper shift. I also put NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk on my lower waterline and patted Gourd over it. I finished the look with tightline and mascara.

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Several EotDs from different indie brands!

Purchased, Press Samples, Freebies

Hey everyone! I'm waiting on some good swatching weather (gotta work on that new Shiro Harry Potter collection!!) as well as an order from a new-to-me indie brand, so for now I'm going to show you a few eye looks I haven't shared here yet. Please note I did all these looks over UDPP and a base shadow in my skin tone, and wrapped them up with mascara, tightline, and sometimes brow pencil.

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Disclosure: All products purchased except Monster Blood, which was a freebie with my paid Femme Fatale order.

Shadows: Little Sparrow Toasted Marshmallow, Detrivore Grave Digger (pre-Shiro distribution), Embalm (post-Shiro distribution), Femme Fatale Monster Blood, Femme Fatale Silver Apple (over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy)

Comments: Halo eyes forever! I really need to spend more time with my Little Sparrow mattes because I remember Toasted Marshmallow performing nicely. The Femme Fatale shadows are as gorgeous as expected, though it takes a sticky base for the blue shift on Silver Apple to really stand out.

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Disclosure: I received the loose Blackbird Cosmetics shadows as press samples. I purchased all other products.

Shadows: Blackbird Thirteen, Dim Tradition, Fire Pledge, Atlas (all loose shadows), Shiro Curaga

Comments: I followed this YouTube tutorial from my hooded eye idol and all around fabulous artist, Rebecca Shores. I've talked about Blackbird's beautiful mattes at length and I still really enjoy them. Doing this look reminded me I need to place an order for (more) pressed Blackbird shadows, and I am so overdue to try their recently released blush collection!

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Disclosure: Enchant-Mint was a freebie with my paid order. I purchased all other products.

Shadows: Femme Fatale Grave Moss (this is the main lid color), Shiro Sepulchre by the Sea, Femme Fatale Enchant-Mint, Shiro The Last Unicorn highlight, Detrivore blushes in Lilith and Concubine

Comments: Oh my gosh, if you have brown eyes I can't encourage you enough to pick up Grave Moss as soon as possible. I was obsessed with how nice it made my eye color look. I didn't see much of the pink sparkles in Enchant-Mint over just primer; I suspect they'll need a sticky base to really show up. I used The Last Unicorn as my inner corner highlight, and I think I'll be primarily using it this way because it set off the cool-toned look really nicely. Sepulchre by the Sea is gorgeous but had quite a bit of fallout - this is another one that's on its best behavior over a sticky base, as you'll see in the next look.

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Disclosure: I purchased all products in this look except The Nightmare, which was a gift.

Shadows: Shiro Sepulchre by the Sea (over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy), Femme Fatale The Nightmare (also over FPE), Shiro Yzma's Essence of Llama, Shiro Ziggy, DreamWorld Black Flamed Candle

Comments: There we go, this is Sepulchre by the Sea at its best. You may be able to see here that it's got a ton of tiny green and purple sparks which give it a ton of dimension over the Pixie Epoxy, but unfortunately it loses most of that over just primer. Black Flamed Candle is a really beautiful color with a lovely shiny finish but it had a little less impact than I wanted over just primer (it's in my inner corner here). I'll have to play with it more before coming to any conclusions but this may be another one that performs best over a sticky base.

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I caught about five seconds of sun today, so keep an eye out for a post on Shiro's October Color of the Month tomorrow!

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Perfume Review! Last Exit for the Lost from Sixteen92

Purchased

If this is what being lost smells like, please don't find me.

As I continue to carve through my most recent order from Sixteen92, I continue to be impressed with the complexity of some of the blends I've sampled. It has been over a year since the company first launched on Etsy, and it has come so far! After my last review of Paper Moon from Sixteen92 though, I was feeling a bit discouraged because the longevity was such an issue on my skin. Would the next sample be better? Next up: Last Exit for the Lost.

Swatch posts are on break this week!

Hi all!

We're taking a short break from swatch posts this week while we wait for some sun! Hope to see you next week!

Jessye Gets Bubbly! Comparing Future Primitive's New Products to the Old Ones!

Purchased

Future Primitive Soap
New Product Release: 

With the weather getting colder, companies are veering more towards oilier products- got to keep our precious skin loved after abuse from those cold winds. Our first foray this year into those products more geared towards cold weather is Future Primitive, who released a selection of new products rich in shea butter and Vitamin E and other oils to keep your skin as slick and smooth as fresh snow. So, let’s compare these products to their old counterparts and see how they match up. Two products enter, one product leaves!

Vanishing Bath Powder vs. Olfactory Bathing Grains

From the website: 

FuturePrim vanishing bath powders are the ultimate luxury bathtime indulgence! They are a cross between a bath tea & a bath milk. 

Each little teabag is packed full of therapeutic ingredients, which will help to soothe your weary soul. With a combination of Epsom salt & Himalayan pink salt aches & pains will ease, whilst coconut milk, honey and/or fruit powders & kaolin clay will help to nourish & soften the skin, whilst the scents will envelop you in a haze of intrigue & mystery.  

In addition too all of this goodness we also add a sprinkle of bubbling powder, some herbs & flowers to create a little bit of extra magick!

When I originally reviewed the bath grains, I discussed the excitement of some bubbles and that it was lovely, if a little softly scented, and a tad drying on my face.

I’ve only tried one other bath tea, compliments of Fortune Cookie Soap’s Wonderland collection. I had about the same feeling in use with Future Prim's version as I did with the Wonderland one. I am not nearly patient enough to sit and wait while my bath cools so the tea bag can steep. I definitely got in the bath and squeeze that bag until the only thing left was herbs and bits. Much like my last foray into bath teas, I found it pretty subtly scented, but the scent got more prevalent as I agitated the water.

There is no clear winner here- the Bathing Grains are less work, but the tea allowed the bits to stay in the bag and it was oily enough to not hurt my skin when hit.

Kristin adds: This product is pretty nifty. It's essentially just a bag full of powder and herbs and when wet, the powder dissolves leaving the herbs behind. I tried it in Gingermilk and though I love this scent, I was kind of disappointed with the bath tea version of it. I found the scent to be very faint once in the water and it lost a lot of the milky complexity; it seemed almost more like I'd just tossed a few slices of ginger into the water and let it seep. I will admit though, I didn't try the Jessye water agitation method she mentioned above. I'm more of a lie and relax kind of bather.

Kristin: I probably wouldn't describe it as bubbly but it was a little fizzy in the beginning when everything was first dissolving but those went away pretty quickly. I did notice that the bath turned just a bit yellow-ish after a bit of time and it did resemble a weak tea.

Kristin: I haven't tried any other bath teas so I have no idea how this compares but I didn't find the Vanishing Bath Powder to have a significant moisturizing quality. To me, the bath actually just felt like water as opposed to water plus product. I haven't tried any other bath teas though and I usually take the bath bomb route for my baths so it may be that I'm just used to a large difference in how the bath feels.

Shea Butter Scrub vs. Bubbling Sugar Buff

From the website: 

FuturePrim Shea Butter Scrub is a luxury confection for your body.  

Loaded with 3 types of sugar and organic refined shea butter it is designed to slough off dead skin cells, whilst leaving behind a veil of silky moisture.  

In addition to the shea butter we add a good glug of sunflower oil, which is known to be rich in Vitamin E. Here at FuturePrim we are huge fans of Vitamin E and find that it refines the skin, leaving it feeling softer and smoother with weightless moisture. It's a powerhouse for skin! Combined with the shea butter you will notice how your skin feels incredibly smooth, soft & renewed after just one use, and if you're a lazy cat (like me) you can skip the body moisturiser if you wish!

I compared Future Prim's Bubbling Sugar Buff to Haus of Gloi’s Bubbling Scrub when I reviewed it. The easy way out would be to claim this is FuturePrim’s version of HoG's Emulsifying Scrub, but it isn’t. Compared to HoG's Emulsifying Scrub, the sugar in the new Shea Butter Scrub is much finer than I remember. It looks and feels almost like sand. If you don’t need to exfoliate, DON’T USE THIS! I can totally sneak some Bubbling Buff exfoliation if I just want to smell the scent, but the Shea Butter Scrub is much sharper and could actually hurt if you use it when you don’t need it- it felt like it scraped my calves raw when I used it the first time.

Here’s the flipside: this is definitely an oilier scrub. It left a nice oil layer on my legs that was thick enough that I shaved them without issue or shaving soap. AG, Kristin and I were talking about shaving soap, and AG suggested shaving with scrub. I was not a fan of doing this with the Bubbling Buff, but it worked great here. I just rinsed off the extra sugar and then use the oily leftover to protect my skin. By the time I was finished shaving, I was left with no excess oil on my legs. And even if I hadn’t shaved, the oil would have actually absorbed within a few minutes.

I feel like the Shea Butter Scrub actually won this battle for me, which I cannot even believe I’m saying since I’m such a staunch supporter of the Bubbling Scrubs. But it absorbed well, and worked great for shaving. I’ll have to be careful of over-exfoliation, but otherwise, I was really happy with it.

Kristin adds: I actually had a bit of a different experience with my Shea Butter Scrub in Gingermilk. I I thought it was exfoliating but not as exfoliating as my Haus of Gloi Emusifying Scrubs. For me, I think it's because the Future Prim scrub is definitely much oilier than the HoG scrub - on this point, Jessye and I definitely agree - and being more oily, wasn't as scrubby.

Kristin: I'm not entirely sure about this but the differences in our experiences might be because the different scents are a little different in the jar. The picture above is of the scrub in Stone the Crows which has dried petals pressed into the top. My Gingermilk looked very similar to Jessye's Incantation from just a jar perspective but may have had slight differences.

Kristin: This Shea Butter Scrub is probably one of the most moisturizing scrubs I've ever used. It felt like I could even use it outside of a shower and just wipe off the bits to have just a nice moisturizing layer. I felt so soft after using it.

Whipped Body Butter vs. Body Whip

From the website: 

FuturePrim Whipped Body Butter is an anhydrous mix of refined organic shea butter, organic raw coconut oil and botanically infused oils.

We gently whip the shea butter so it stands in peaks (much like meringue does), then we drizzle in some infused grapeseed & sunflower oils and whip again to enhance the fluffiness. The end result is skin perfection in a jar. The botanicals we use to infuse our oils can sometimes be stand alone herbs or flowers or sometimes we may do a blend. In this particular batch we have used Rose petals, Patchouli leaf, Calendula & Chamomile, which will help towards keeping your skin protected throughout the winter season. 

To stop the product feeling overly greasy we add a spoonful of modified tapioca starch, which also helps to keep the product silky smooth. We also add a little bit of natural Vitamin E, which helps to not only give the product a longer shelf life but is also known to help keep the skin looking and feeling refreshed. If we had to pick a favourite raw ingredient then Vitamin E is it! It is known to help smooth out wrinkles, improve skins elasticity whilst also working to improve circulation. It's amazing and we love it.

When I bought the Body Whip, I bought it on a whim, but loved it quite a bit. And then forgot about it. Pulling it back out for this review reminded me that I love it. It still has a great consistency, though the scent has begun to fade. It’s thick and heavy but absorbs well.

I’m having some issues with the Whipped Body Butter, though. It feels like you break a small chunk out of the pot and then you rub that on your skin, but the moment it touches your skin, the consistency switches to oil and you have way too much product that you are now chasing around your skin and begging it to absorb. After I took pictures of these products, I decided to wait 3 days from shaving my legs to moisturize them with this, so that I knew my legs would be nice and dry and would give me a better idea of this product than it running around my nicely moisturized hands. My hands got quite dry in that time as well. Now that my skin is dry, it is soaking this up.  And quickly. I didn’t see either the rubbing off problem or the moisturizing my chair problem with this lotion. It could be how dry I let my legs get, but I also noticed it absorbing pretty well in my hands when it needed this much moisture.

This is definitely a winter lotion. It’s just too heavy for lighter seasons, but I am going to love the shit out of it while I can. So, the Body Whip wins the war, but the Whipped Body Butter will be winning this battle.

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Did you get your hands on any of FuturePrim’s winter products? Let us know what you think of them in the comments. And make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, follow us on Pinterest, and/or follow us on BlogLovin to get all of our updates!

Swatch Post! Femme Fatale Cosmetics : Monster Blood, Secret Shiny, The Wayward Prince, and Wizards Only, Fools!

Purchased

From the website: A vibrant grassy green with subtle aqua and pink sparkles.

Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Blue #1 Al Lake, Yellow #5 Al Lake, Yellow 5, Iron Oxide (77499, 77491), Tin Oxide (77861), Silica, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Synthetic Fluorophlogopite, Magnesium Stearate, Carnauba Wax, Palmitic Acid. Contains preservatives.

Vegan. Not Lip safe.

Personal Comments: Sadly a LE shade released as part of the 2014 You Choose the Scare Collection.  This eyeshadow is currently  not available for sale but keep an eye out for it in swaps. It's a green eyeshadow with a blue lean and a satin finish. Fyrinnae's Ethereal Eire is more green. Hello Waffle's Moonlit Grin is darker. Scaredy Cat's Draconia is similar.Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Unavailable

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From the website: a soft and sheer violet purple with golden shimmer.

Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide (77861), Manganese Violet (Pigment Violet 16), Ultramarines (Pigment Blue 29), Magnesium Stearate, Carnauba Wax.

Vegan

Not lip safe

Personal Comments: A pale pink with a strong 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: A mauve-rose base with strong bronze-gold overlay

Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide (77861), Bronze Powder, Silica, Iron Oxide (77491), Manganese Violet, Magnesium Stearate, Carnauba Wax.

Vegan & lip safe.

Personal Comments: Formerly the January 2015 Color of the Month but due to high demand was added to the general catalog. This shade is much more red than I had expected from pictures. It's a muted red with a strong dark 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: A rich purple-brown base with warm-toned sparks and shimmer.

Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Ultramarines (Pigment Blue 29, Pigment Violet 16), Iron Oxide (77499, 77491), Tin Oxide (77861), Carmine, Carnauba Wax.

Non vegan, not lip safe. 

Personal Comments: From the Post-Apocalyptic Collection. A deep purple with a added red shimmer and a gold highlight. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

Perfume Review: Smelly Yeti Jeeves!

Purchased

Back to the Hellmouth for this week's perfume review--Jeeves (the product page is called kiss-the-librarian!) from Smelly Yeti.

Price: $15 for a 7.4 mL bottle of perfume oil with glass applicator wand, featuring the art you see at the top of the post.
Samples: You can buy a set of 5 samples (pick your own) for $15. The samples come in cute, squat 1.3 mL amber glass mini bottles. They do not have an applicator wand or polyseal or reducer cap.
Description from the website: ""I've been, uh, indexing the Watcher diaries covering the last couple of centuries. You would be amazed at how numbingly pompous and long-winded some of these Watchers were.'"

When there's something strange in the neighborhood...go to the library. A cup of tea, the dusty smell of leatherclad demonology books, a woody medieval weapons cabinet, and the unmistakable smell of LEARNING. Unisex."

Leather, wood, tea, and paper? Yes, please!

This smells like a mixture of smoke and green and black tea when applied. There's something oddly savory about the scent, reminding me of bacon--I think that's the leather note, with the smokiness amplifying the bacon-y impression.

There are various types of leather accords out there, with some leaning more sharply realistic (to my nose) and others leaning more smoky and abstract--BPAL's The Black Rider falls into the former category, and this into the latter, along with Chanel's Cuir de Russie, whose leather note I didn't much care for, honestly.

As it dries down on my skin, the tea scent seems to intensify. The tea smells great, if sort of fruity. The scent reminds me a bit of Conjure Oils' Earl Black, though less sweet. A woodsy note, oak maybe, starts making itself known once the scent dries down. Maybe a touch of paper, but I don't get that at as a particularly strong presence.

I don't like this all that much when it's wet because of that savory impression, but it's quite nice on the drydown! The smoky tea combo reminds me of Lapsang Souchong, and I think it would be a good unisex perfume.

For other reviews of Jeeves, you can also check out Beauty on a Beer Budget, Sultry Suburbia, More Tea, Wesley?, or Scents and Sea Spray.

Note: this scent is vegan. Ingredients: Rice Bran Oil, Jojoba Oil, Fragrance Oil, Essential Oil

Swatch Post! Hello Waffle Cosmetics : Ethereal Voice, Lust, Schubert, and Tchaikovsky!

Purchased

From the website: warm purple with noticeable golden shimmer

Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxide, Carmine, Kaolin Clay, Magnesium Stearate, Zinc Stearate

This eyeshadow is NOT vegan

Personal Comments: From the Persinette Collection. Formerly known as "Floating Lanterns." This shade is a muted purple with strong pink tones and a golden 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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From the website: Dark berry with purple and blue shifts

Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxide, Carmine, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Carnauba Wax, Lauroyl Lysine, Kaolin Clay, Magnesium Stearate, Zinc Stearate

Lip safe, NOT Vegan Friendly

Personal Comments: From the Ouroboros Collection. A deep red shade with a soft purple 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: Muted blurple duochrome but darker, leaning almost brown

Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide, Boron Nitride, Nylon-12, Magnesium Myristrate, Carnauba Wax, Lauroyl Lysine, Magnesium Stearate, Boron Nitride, Nylon-12, Kaolin, Zinc Stearate, Isododecane, Cyclomethicone, Dimethicone, Isopropyl Myristate

Lip Safe, Vegan Friendly.

Personal Comments: From the Musicians Collection. A really pretty taupe-y shade with a blue lean to it and a silver 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: Vibrant gold with red, silver, and blue sparks

Ingredients: Mica, Copper, Zinc (Metal Powder), Silicon Dioxide, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide, Iron Oxide, Carmine, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Silica, Synthetic Fluorophylogopite, Boron Nitride, Nylon-12, Magnesium Myristrate, Carnauba Wax, Lauroyl Lysine, Magnesium Stearate, Boron Nitride, Nylon-12, Kaolin, Zinc Stearate, Isododecane, Cyclomethicone, Dimethicone, Isopropyl Myristate

Lip Safe, NOT Vegan Friendly.

Personal Comments: From the Musicians Collection. A bright yellow gold with a satin finish. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.

Purchase Link

Random Product Review! innocent+twisted alchemy Haunting Refrain

Purchased

Today I'd like to share with you a couple of eyeshadows from innocent+twisted alchemy's Haunting Refrain collection. I always recommend innocent+twisted alchemy when it comes to indie eyeshadows, since I love their pigmented and smooth formula, and it's been awhile since I've done a post using their products so I decided to review these eyeshadows.   

Linda, the owner of innocent+twisted alchemy, created the Haunting Refrain collection in an attempt to replicate Laura Mercier's highly coveted African Violet eyeshadow. I can't find any reference to the process on innocent+twisted alchemy's website or Facebook page but I remember reading about it on Etherealize Me (check out Jolie's swatches of the entire collection here!)  

Purple and gold together is one of my all-time favourite colour combinations, and one of my go-to looks for special occasions is a shimmery gold on the eyelid, with a matte purple blended into the crease. So of course a purple eyeshadow + gold sparkles is a winner in my book! 

innocent+twisted alchemy Seducing Cantabile and Alluring Descent (L-R) swatched over Urban Decay Primer Potion, photographed in sunlight.

I picked up sample clamshells of Seducing Cantabile and Alluring Descent. Seducing Cantabile is described as "a rose with purple undertones that shifts from red to gold," and Alluring Descent is described as "a pinky mauve that has a strong golden duochrome and golden sparkles."

If you're wondering if you need both of these eyeshadows, in my opinion, probably not. I think they're similar enough to warrant purchasing only one. As you can see in the photos below, the gold is much more pronounced in Alluring Descent, due to the golden glitter particles. So if you're after something  a little more subtle, I'd go for Seducing Cantabile, but if you love your shimmer and sparkles, I'd go for Alluring Descent.

innocent+twisted alchemy Seducing Cantabile and Alluring Descent (L-R) swatched over Urban Decay Primer Potion, photographed in sunlight.

Have you got any eyeshadows from the Haunting Refrain collection? Let me know if you do and what you think in the comments below!

Company Overview: Smelly Yeti Perfumery!

Nothing to Disclose

Hello everyone! For today's Company Overview, I'm going to talk about Smelly Yeti Perfumery--I've reviewed a few of their perfumes before, but I thought an overview would be helpful! They are new on the indie scene, having opened just over a year ago, in October 2014, and quickly gained traction via word of mouth on Reddit and blogs. They occupy a similar niche to brands like ZOMG Smells and Shiro, i.e. nerd/fandom beauty, and all their products are vegan. 

Packaging: 

The packaging is ADORABLE. Major props. My order arrived wrapped in striped black-and-white paper, with the samples tucked into a jewelry box sealed with measuring tape-print tape and a branded sticker. There was Zotz candy, dinosaur temporary tattoos, and a plastic dinosaur toy tucked inside as well. The samples, instead of the functional little glass tubes that most perfume samples come packaged in, are in squat amber glass screw-top bottles (no applicator or reducer cap) with a yeti sticker on top and the perfume name on the side. There was a hand-drawn yeti on my receipt.

Just look at how fun this is!

Selection:

There are five collections listed in Smelly Yeti's catalog right now, for a total of 48 scents: The Red Herring Collection (Clue), The Garden of Earthly Delights (Hieronymus Bosch), Cinema Scents (movies and TV shows), The Hellmouth Collection (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and General Catalog. There are also Smell of the Month perfumes available now.

The majority of their products are perfumes, but the company also recently celebrated its first anniversary, and introduced lip products (in collaboration with Kae Q) and jewelry (under the Jeweled Jackalope label). There are also stickers, pipettes, a jelly soap, and a yeti available for purchase. The yeti is currently on sale! Please buy it.

You can see a list of all the scents here. I REALLY appreciate being able to read through a huge list instead of having to click through to individual pages for the scent descriptions!

Samples: 

Samples are usually available for 5 for $15 (1.3 mL bottles) for scents other than Smell of the Month limited editions, but they are currently unavailable until 2016 due to the increased overhead of managing them. All orders come with a free sample.

Quality: 

Much as I adore Smelly Yeti's branding and packaging, the perfumes aren't necessarily my favorites. You can read my reviews of the ones I've tried so far under the Smelly Yeti tag on this blog. I think they're good, but I haven't found anything amazing so far--everything I've tried tends to have a sort of soapy undertone and not smell as strong as I'd like. However, I figure I'll keep slowly exploring the catalog because all my experiences so far have been pretty positive. 

Cost:

Prices are competitive, with samples being 5 for $15 as mentioned above, and full-sized 7.4 mL bottles with wandcap applicators priced at $15 as well. The earrings are $12.50-$15. Lip Things are $7 for 0.15 oz of product.

Customer Service: 

I didn't experience any problems with my order, but the owner, Abby, is active on social media and seems friendly and responsive; I received a same-day response when I inquired about blogger discounts/samples (which they aren't providing.) Contact information in the form of an email address is on their About Us page, along with links to all their social media platforms.

TAT: 

There is a TAT page with details: currently 3-4 weeks. The turnaround time was faster than this when I ordered--the order shipped the day after I placed it, even though there was a sale running at the time. 

Shipping: 

When I made a sample cart with one bottle of perfume, I had two options available--standard shipping within the US for $3.00 (I presume via USPS first class) or standard shipping with delivery confirmation for $6. Increasing the amount in the order led to Priority Mail ($7.50) or free shipping options becoming available--shipping is free after $100. The priority mail cutoff is at 1 pound--I don't know how many bottles or sample packs that translates to.

Smelly Yeti ships internationally. Their pricing tiers and policies for shipping are hard to find on the main site, but are listed in this blog post:
Canada: $7.50 for standard shipping, $20 for priority.
The rest of the world: $11 for standard shipping, $20 for priority.
Free worldwide shipping for orders of $150 and up.

Personal Thoughts:

I love Smelly Yeti's humor, themes, and packaging, and although I haven't found any perfumes of theirs yet that I'm madly in love with, I do like what I've tried and plan to continue exploring their catalog to see if I find anything amazing. I already have some regrets about not ordering last month's Smell of the Month (Leaves from the Vine, a jasmine tea concoction) but this is because I am stupid and tend to spend all my fun money on perfumes when I already have way too many. Past me made what was probably the right choice, present me is now feeling like she missed out, bah!

When sample packs are back, here's what I'm thinking for my next order (descriptions here): Cub Scout (vanilla), Mongrel (damp, grassy earth, fallen oak trees, mossy underbrush, dark oud), Mustard (Woody osmanthus, leather, rum, fossilized amber and golden musk), The Slayer (Blood orange, tangerine, Meyer lemon, and lime with a creamsicle sweetness), and Veronica (blood orange marshmallow). And maybe some Lips of Spike lipstick, because vampy blood red lipstick is awesome. And maybe a yeti, because if I'm just window shopping, why not.

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Collection Spotlight! Shiro's Super Effective Collection! (3 of 3)

Purchased

Hey everyone! We're back with the final three shades from the Super Effective collection by Shiro Cosmetics. I haven't had entirely positive reviews for some of the shades, but I'm happy to say we're ending on a high note with three solid performers. Thanks again to Kristin for doing the beautiful swatch photos! Let's jump right in.

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From the website: Whenever my elementary school friend would claim that Digimon would win against Pokemon, I’d just tell him “Nuh-uh! Ditto can turn into any Digimon ever so Pokemon are like Pokemon and Digimon COMBINED! That means Pokemon are better!” And I was right.

Medium soft pink with a satin finish. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide.

Personal Comments: I was actually pretty impressed by this shade! Even over just silicone primer, Ditto takes on a really beautiful, almost pearlized finish. I used this shade in the inner corner of the eye look below, and you'll see the pearly effect is readily apparent. It needed a couple layers to totally build up but otherwise performed and blended with no problems.

Purchase Link
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From the website: The rules of Pokemon are often pretty unreasonable. For instance:
“Hey! Hey you! I see you! Let’s battle!”
“Nah man, look, I only have one Pokemon left and it’s poisoned. I gotta get to the center.”
“NOPE, I SAW YOU SO YOU HAVE TO. IT’S THE RULES”

Bubbly bright shimmery pink. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide.

Personal Comments: On my eyes, this shadow looked to have more of a satin finish than a full on shimmer, at least over just silicone primer. It needed two or three layers to hit full opacity on my eye and needed a little more added after blending, but nothing dealbreaking. It blended really well.

Purchase Link
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From the website: A color worthy of trainer Red, the champion of Kanto and acknowledged strongest trainer in the world… Until Gold came along.

Poster paint red with a slight pink cast. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, red #40, silica.

Personal Comments: This is definitely not the brightest, most opaque, or most intense red you'll find from Shiro's line, but it performs just fine. I can see this being a good option for someone who wants to experiment with a bit of red in their eye looks but doesn't want to go full vampire! This one in particular wanted to blend away to nothing, but after two or three rounds of packing it on my outer corner and blending out the edges I had a level of pigmentation I was happy with.

Purchase Link
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I did an eye look using the three shades above:

I started with Urban Decay Primer Potion and a base shadow in my skin tone, then just sort of whacked the three colors on around my eye. I mixed Champion with water and applied it with a fine liner brush to get the red line along my lower lashline. Ditto is very apparent in the inner corner, with that beautiful pearly finish. Eye Contact is on the inner part of my eyelid and Champion is on the outer third or so, and the rest is mostly the two pinks blended around my eye. I finished with tightline and mascara.

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That's it for the Super Effective Collection! Have a great week everyone!

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Perfume Review! Paper Moon from Sixteen92

Purchased

Summer is surely at an end for good, but some fragrances need a last hurrah!

The end of summer brings feelings of melancholy. I look forward to pumpkins, sweaters, cornstalks...but something about summer's close feels like saying goodbye to a friend, eating dinner on a Sunday evening knowing you have to go back to work or school the following day, reaching the end of a great book... you get the picture.

I was behind this year with my summer perfumes due to a self-imposed no-buy, and when I discovered that not only did Sixteen92 have a number of summer fragrances still in stock, but the one I was most curious about, Paper Moon, had become a general catalog scent, I was so excited to try it out! A little Indian Summer in October can't hurt, right?

Collection Spotlight! Shiro's Super Effective Collection! (2 of 3)

Purchased

Hey everyone! Here's part two of our review of the Super Effective collection from Shiro Cosmetics! We looked at part one here and we'll have one final post in a couple days. Thanks so much to Kristin for taking these beautiful swatch photos!

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From the website: “This is my grandson… What was his name again?
…
Oh! I remember now! Yes, his name was BUTTS!”

Pale, shimmery lavender. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide.

Personal Comments: Smell Ya Later is very pretty and would work nicely as a single color wash across the lid. I noted two minor issues: it needed a couple layers to prevent it from looking sheer over primer, and it tended to blend out to nothing when blending the edges. Both issues were easily solved by packing more product on.

Purchase Link
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From the website: Land of the full restores and soft resets. My much younger self once defeated Lance the Dragon Trainer by resetting over and over until his Hyper Beam missed…

Shimmering medium indigo with golden sparks. Not lip-safe.

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, copper powder, silicon dioxide, ferric ferrocyanide.

Personal Comments: I hate to say it, but Elite Four was troublesome for me. I tried packing several layers on my outer v and couldn't get enough pigmentation to make it stand out from Smell Ya Later. I will say it looked better along my lower lashline, where it was sticking directly to the primer (I only used a base shadow on my upper lid).

I tested Elite Four alone over just primer and a base shadow in my skin tone, and found it to be fairly sheer with quite a bit of fallout. It looked great over a glitter base, but this wouldn't be my top pick unless you're willing to apply it directly over a base with some sort of grip to it.

Purchase Link
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From the website: A very good reason to feel silly: the sudden realization that the Pokemon you have just attacked possesses a dual-typing which cuts your intended result in half. Whoops.

Dark purple-black with gold glitter. Not lip-safe.

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, calcium aluminum borosilicate, silica, ferric ferrocyanide.

Personal Comments: I used this shade in my outer corner, and it looked and performed like a smokey gray with moderate pigmentation. I honestly didn't realize it was supposed to appear purple until I sat down to write this review. I have a few Shiro shadows where a dark "top" color has been put over a deep charcoal base, and I find they're good for deepening my outer corner, but if I really want to bring out the "top" color in the shadow I need to put it over a sticky base.

Purchase Link
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From the website: So irresistible that the simple fact of possessing it is enough to get one mugged by Team Galactic. MMMMM SWEET HONEY.

Shimmery golden champagne with a light peach/copper tint. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, copper powder.

Personal Comments: No complaints about this one! It had nice pigmentation and sheen over just silicone primer and I didn't have any issues blending it out.

Purchase Link
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From the website: Hundreds of adorable little tickly bubbles are coming to MESS YOU UP

Bright, clear, shimmery blue. Not lip-safe.

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, ferric ferrocyanide.

Personal Comments: Bubblebeam took a bit of building to get the pigmentation you see in the eye look below, and I'm not convinced I got it fully opaque, but it was still very bright and had a ton of impact over just silicone primer.

Purchase Link
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From the website: The most excellent evolution in all of Pokemon. Best not be hatin’ on Magikarp’s Splash, because when he grows up he will murder you all.

Vivid opaque blue with subtle white shimmer. Not lip-safe.

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, ultramarine blue.

Personal Comments: I've been lusting after Chaos from the Urban Decay Electric Palette, and you know what? I think this might be a good substitute. It builds up to a beautiful opaque blue. This looked and performed more or less like a matte to me, and I didn't see any white shimmer on the eyes, but I'm not fussed because it's lovely as-is. I didn't have any blending issues.

Purchase Link
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I did a couple of eye looks using the shades above. For both looks I started with a layer of Urban Decay Primer Potion plus a base shadow in my skin tone. I finished both up with mascara, tightline, a nude pencil in my waterline, and an undereye concealer.

For this look, I started by patting Smell Ya Later all over the upper lid, inner corner, and most of the lower lashline. Then I patted Elite Four into my outer v and along the outer third or so of my lower lashline. Finally I used a pencil brush to apply Not Very Effective more precisely into my outer v.

For this look, I used Sweet Honey, Bubblebeam, and Evolve from my inner corner to my outer corner and in the same order along my lower lashline. The outer corner looks a little sloppy because my eye wouldn't stop watering, so I had trouble getting Evolve to stick properly.

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Keep an eye out for part 3 with the last three shadows in a couple of days!

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