Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

7

Evil Shades Cosmetics

 

 I really cannot remember when I purchased from Evil Shades Cosmetics. I tried checking my email for the  order confirmations but unfortunately wasn't able to locate it. In any case, I purchased 2 blogger packs consisting of 8 eye shadow samples, 4 blush samples, 3 lipstick samples, 3 lip gloss samples, 1 sample of eye primer and 1 sample of a spectrum pot. I also purchased 1 full size Hardcore Lips lip gloss and 1 full size Deviant Lipstick.

Lip gloss sample pots. Aren't they adorable?
I can't really comment on TAT since I honestly don't remember anything about it but I'm pretty sure it was within her stated TAT of 8-10 business days which is reasonable and fairly standard for a lot of Indie MMUCs. I really love the branding with the cute little goth girl theme which is carried throughout her product labeling. All of the samples are packaged in clamshells with the exception of the lip glosses which are packaged in tiny little pots.

The eyeshadows themselves are really lovely. They apply very smoothly with minimal fallout and great pigmentation. I don't know why it took me so long to purchase from Evil Shades because the eye shadows are absolutely gorgeous! You have to see it in real life to really appreciate it!


Reondite - Shimmery Tiffany blue with purple sparks.
Toxic Lotus - Hot pink with pink sparks.
Victorian Night - Light shimmery lavender with iridescent green sparks. This was a bit more sheer than the other shades but it's still a very pretty color.
Drakon - Gorgeous smokey plum with gold sparks. I think this one is my favorite of all the shades I received! I'm definitely going to have to get a full sized of this one when funds allow.


Glooming - Matte black base filled with blue and green sparks. Much more beautiful in person than it is in pictures. It's very sparkley!
Zombie - Dark low sheen brick red. Not really a color I would wear but still very nice. It actually has a bit of a metallic shine to it that isn't picked up in pictures.
Mordant - Plummy taupe with red sparks.
Seraphic - Gorgeous peachy coral with a slight gold sheen. This reminds me of a shade from BFTE called Sweet N' Spicy.

This next set of swatches consists of the blush samples I received. In all the pictures, I swatched the blushes heavily on the left and sheered out on the right. Enjoy the swatches!


Bronze Skies - Coppery rose with hints of gold and pink sparks. I don't think I can wear this color as a blush as I can't even wear this color as an eye shadow. It's still very pretty though.


Atomic - Bright neon orange with blue sparks. I've never tried wearing orange blush so this will be a good one to experiment with.


Ceylon - Gorgeous peachy pink with gold sparks. This very much reminds me of the cult favorite NARS Orgasm.


Brazen - Matte bright pink/red. This is an extremely potent color so a tiny bit goes a long way. This would give a lovely red flush if used correctly.


Deviant Lipsticks are packaged in black slimline tubes with full labels featuring the logo, product name and ingredients list. I felt that the formula of the lipsticks were slightly different for each color. It took a little more effort for me to get Fearless and Bane to become opaque. Overall they are quite creamy and very pigmented.

Fearless - Matte hot pink. This is probably the hottest pink lipstick I've seen. It's a bit less pigmented than Devilista but not by much.
Devilista - Matte creamy red. I really loved the formula for this one. Really soft and creamy and overall LUSH! ;)
Caged Gypsy - Matte burnt orange. This one was waay different than the color I thought it would be. The description was a deep rose base with glowing pink shimmer and to me this was more of a burnt orange color. I'm almost wondering if I got a mislabeled sample.
Bane - Sheer lilac with a hint of blue shift. I bought this in a full size and I love it! My husband loves when I wear the pinky/purple shades on my lips so I knew this would work well for me.


Hardcore Lips are packaged in adorable clear test tubes with silver caps and doe foot applicators. I'm not sure if the packaging on these have changed though because I remember seeing something about potential packaging changes on their FB page but I'm not 100% certain what happened with that. These are also labeled in the same fashion as the Deviant lipsticks. I'm definitely more of a lip gloss than a lipstick girl and I <3 how these ones feel, super creamy and pigmented with not a hint of stickiness.

Robot Love - Clear base filled silver and holographic glitter. It's supposed to smell like cupcakes but it didn't smell the way I expected. It smells like a fake sugary cupcake.
Deception - Perfect nude with a hint of gold shimmer.
Feline's Kyss - Soft pink with blue shimmer.
Not Your Barbie - Intense hot pink.

Now last but not least are the Evil Shades primers/bases. It's unusual for an indie company to offer such a wide range of primers/bases and this is one of the things that makes them really unique. Currently they offer 3 shades of primer; Noir (black), Naked (nude) and Opal (white).  They also offer Spectrum Pots, which would basically be the equivalent of NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils. The Spectrum Pots are offered in 12 different colors which is amazing! I received samples of the Noir eye primer and Padawan Spectrum Pot.


Noir - Rich black. I love how creamy this primer is! I prefer creamy primers over those that are more solid because you don't have to tug on the delicate skin of your eyelids when applying. I think I'm definitely going to have to try out their primers once my TFSI and UDPP run out.
Padawan - Very pale nude with silver sparks. I must admit I had a little trouble applying this in the beginning. I think my problem was I was applying it too thickly which caused it to pill up on my skin which made it very hard to apply. With this I feel that the thinner the layer you apply, the better it is. I do feel it could be a bit less "hard" and a tad more creamy. I've got my eye on a few of the different color bases (especially the hot pink!) and will have to order some when I have more money.

If you have extra money are not sure what to do with it I definitely recommend picking up a few shadows or blushes from Evil Shades. You won't be disappointed with the quality of the products. Have you tried Evil Shades? What are you favorite products?

5 out of 5 Glittery Bubbles


**All products were purchased by me with my own money. I was not compensated in any way, shape or form for this review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion of this company.
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Thursday, November 3, 2011

0

Callio Fragrance

I heard about Callio Fragrance because of a charity auction they participated in and placed them on my "to buy" list for later. I ended up winning a sample set of fragrances from Callio Fragrance as part of a 100 likes giveaway and I just received them today!


My packaged was shipped to me in a yellow bubble mailer. I was quite surprised by how well packaged the samples were when I received them. They were packaged in a small white pillow box wrapped with purple ribbon and a large Callio Fragrance sticker. The pillow box was wrapped in purple tissue paper as well as more bubble wrap. You'll never have to be afraid of anything breaking with packaging like this! =)


I received 6 sample vials of their perfume; Belle, Kiele, Adele, Tessa, Summer and Melee. The following are the scent descriptions from her Etsy shop followed by my own scent descriptions. Please keep in mind that everyone has a different sense of smell and my own descriptions may not be the same as how you might describe them. =)


Belle is a delicate powdery scent with a touch of peony and soft musk.

  • This is definitely a powdery scent. I can pick out the peony and soft musk but not at the beginning. At the first sniff it almost smells like alcohol. This is the one scent of the bunch that I didn't like.

Adele is a blend of soft rose, juicy just picked blackberries, dark Bourbon Vanilla, sweet Tahitian vanilla beans and musk. Adele is our most popular scent!

  • To me the strongest note is the juicy blackberries followed by the soft rose. The vanilla and musk hide slightly underneath the stronger notes and come forward a bit more once the perfume has dried down a bit. This reminds me of Bath and Body Works Black Raspberry Vanilla

Kiele is the ultimate in sultry scents; lavish gardenia, jasmine, and tuberose blend together to create this enticing fragrance.

  • This one is a very green floral scent. I can smell all 3 flower notes quite clearly in this scent. It's definitely a very lush scent but if you're not a floral fan then you should steer clear.

Tessa is the perfect almond biscotti blend; almond paste, vanilla bean, lemon and a touch of sandalwood combine to create this delicious scent.

  • On my initial sniff of this I fell in love! Sweet almond and vanilla with a hint of lemon and a sandalwood base. YUM! Definitely a sweet foodie scent!

Summer is a blend of succulent peaches, sweet cantaloupe, soft freesia, a touch of sandalwood and musk.

  • On my initial sniff it immediately reminded me of Exotic home fragrance oil from The Body Shop. Sweet peaches and cantaloupe with a small hint of floral and a nice musk/sandalwood base. This really is the perfect summery scent!

Melee is a trip to a tropical island; exotic coconut, lemongrass, lush white flowers, vanilla bean and sensous sandalwood.

  • The coconut and white flowers are the strongest notes I could smell. The lemongrass is a bit overpowered by the coconut and white flowers but I could still pick it out. The sandalwood was a barely there hint underneath everything else. This is a bit heavier of a scent then I usually like but it's still lovely. =)

I'm really not sure how long wearing these are yet since I just received them but so far they seem to wear pretty well. These are not very complex scents like Wiggle Perfume or anything so if you're not into simpler scents these may not be for you. I personally think they're quite pretty and I definitely want to get full sizes of Tessa and Summer in the future! Have you tried Callio Fragrance?

4.5 out of 5 Glittery Bubbles

**These products were sent to me as a prize. This does not in any way affect my opinion of the products. I was not compensated in any way, shape or form for this review. All opinions are my own.
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Saturday, October 15, 2011

4

Innocent + Twisted Alchemy

I can't remember how I heard about this company Innocent + Twisted Alchemy (I+T). I think I may have randomly stumbled upon it on Etsy one day and then googled reviews on it. They are a very new company and so far have 12 beautiful eye shadows. I was interested in trying the eyeshadows but put it off because there were a lot of other companies I wanted to purchase from. Linda, the owner of I+T contacted me and asked if I would be willing to write a review for her. I jumped at the chance since I was definitely interested in the company. Linda allowed me to choose the colors I wanted for 1 full size, 2 clamshells and 2 baggies that she was going to send me.


Once I had let her know what colors I wanted it took her 2 days to send the package out to me and then another 2 days for mento receive the package. I believe her normal TAT is between 5-8 business days which is about average for many small MMUCs. My package was sent to me in a small yellow bubble mailer sealed with pretty pink tape. Inside was a cute cellophane bag with pink and red hearts printed on it that contained the products and was also sealed with pink tape.



Inside the cellophane were the shadows I was sent along with an invoice, a photo with the logo and website address, ingredients list for each shadow and another sheet of paper containing the store's policies and FAQs. The art on all the info sheets were created by the owner which is awesome! She also designed the logo but had someone else draw it. 


Her full sizes are 5gr jars without sifters and filled to the brim which she sells for $6.00 and her sample sizes are the clamshells which are also filled to the brim and are currently sold for $2.00. At this time she doesn't sell sample baggies in her Etsy shop and at this time are only used to send out free samples with purchases. Her prices are quite reasonable and on par with many other MMUCs especially for the amount of product you are receiving.

Full to the brim 5gr jar
Full to the brim clamshell

Linda has taken great care in the labeling of her products. The sample baggies were completely labeled with the logo, ingredient list and whether or not the pigment was lip safe. The clamshells have a small sticker with the logo on the top and the name of the pigment and whether or not it is lip safe on the bottom. The 5gr jars have a gorgeous sparkley logo sticker on the top and the name of the pigment and whether or not it is lip safe on the bottom.



I love the beautiful sparkley label on the full sizes!
Now on to the eye shadows themselves. All of them are beautifully pigmented and very silky smooth with minimal fallout. The colors are also quite unique and I don't think I have anything else like them in my collection.


Melodies in June - Really gorgeous medium blue/green with a gold shift and orange sparks. I'm am so glad I got this as my full size!
I <3 When Angels Cry - Pearly baby pink with blue and green iridescent sparks. This is a stunning color and I definitely want a full size of this.
Twisted - Dark violet with green iridescent sparks
Poisoned Tears - Pearly baby blue with red and green sparks. This is a fairly unusual blue and is quite lovely.
Consumed by Agony - Dark gray (almost black) with a gold shift and green and gold sparks.

I would definitely love to purchase more from Linda in the future and would highly recommend that you do so as well! Her selection is small but gorgeous and very well made. I love the attention to even the most minute details. The branding and all the little extra touches are just so gorgeous! Have you heard or tried I+T? Which shadows would you like to try?

5 out of 5 Glittery Bubbles

**Eye shadows in this review were sent to me for consideration by Linda, the owner of Innocent + Twisted Alchemy. This does not in any way affect my review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion of this company and their eye shadows
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Friday, September 30, 2011

Simply Sweet Skin


I had been hearing a lot about Simply Sweet Skin from many of my friends in the makeup and blogging world and decided I wanted to give them a try as well. I finally ended up ordering during her labor day weekend sale when Catina was offering 20% off her new fall products as well as a free matching lip butter with the purchase of a lip scrub. I placed my order on Sept 4 received it on Sept 16. Her stated TAT is 3-10 business days so my order fell well within her stated TAT which of course is always good and always appreciated. =)

My order was shipped to me in a large flat rate bubble mailer. Inside everything was wrapped in green tissue and filled with purple glitter and confetti. I could have done without all the glitter as it was rather messy and ended up everywhere. I really liked that all of my products were shrink wrapped and well sealed so I knew that nothing had been tampered with during shipping.


I had heard really great things about the Sweet Lemon Body Polish so I added it to my order at the last minute. I wasn't really a huge fan of the scent. I had expected a more fruity and bright authentic lemon scent and this to me smelled more like a fake sort of lemon slushie scent. I paid $7.75 for a 4 oz. jar which is a bit on the higher side.

Lemon Body Polish Texture
The texture reminds me of  damp sand on the edge of the beach, a very soft feel with gentle exfoliation. I really love how soft my skin feels after using this! I almost feel like I don't have to use any moisturizer after I rinse off which is awesome! This is something I could see myself ordering all the time. =)


I ordered the Whipped Body Frosting in Toasted Almond Torte. It definitely smells very much like a baked almond dessert. =) It kind of reminds me of the smell of the cupcake dolls I had when I was younger. For some reason, when I opened this right after receiving it in the mail it was very firm, almost hard. Not sure why this was since the weather here has been quite warm but after about an hour or so it softened up to a nice light texture.

Body Frosting texture
My initial impressions upon application was that the frosting was VERY greasy. It almost looks like you put straight up vegetable oil on your skin. It does melt into your skin after about 10-20 seconds or so and leaves your skin lightly scented and super soft! One thing I learned very quickly is that you only really need to use a tiny bit as it goes a loooong way. I ordered the 2 oz. size for $5.25. It might seem pricey for the amount of product you're getting but it actually isn't that bad since even the 2 oz jar is going to last forever because you don't need to use as much of it as you would with a regular lotion.


I think of all the scents I ordered this one is my favorite. Sweet Tooth smells like cherry candy with a hint of almonds...yummy! It leaves a light scent on your skin that dissipates fairly quickly. I paid $6.00 for a 4 oz jar which is about average for this type of product.

Whipped Soap texture
I found this whipped creme soap to be very similar to Anderson Soap Co's Whipped Soap in a Jar. It had a nice soft texture and wasn't hard like some of the other whipped soaps I've tried. It works up to a decent lather, not super bubbley or anything but not completely devoid of bubbles either. It feels almost like a lotion with lather. It's very smooth when applying with no chunks or anything which is really nice. This is probably one of the better whipped soaps I've tried. =)


I absolutely love Creme de Menthe and this did not let me down! It smells like a very sweet and creamy mint! <3 It also tastes fabulous! =P I paid $4.25 for this 10mL jar which is on the pricier side to me since I normally pay $2.99 for a 15mL jar from Brazen Cosmetics. At the present they are listed for $5.00 in the Artfire store.


Texture wise, I generally prefer my lip scrubs to be slightly drier than this one was. It is similar to my favorite lip scrubs from Brazen Cosmetics but a little more oily. The Brazen lip scrubs are fairly dry and the oils in it are kept to a good ratio where none of the oils really leak out of the product. With this one the oils leak out a bit into the jar threads and outside of the jar so the packaging ends up feeling a bit oily. I did like the size of the sugar particles in this scrub. Some companies make it with sugar that's too small so it doesn't exfoliate enough or too large where it feels like little pebbles on your lips but this one is just right. =)


This is my freebie matching lip butter and this is normally $3.50 which is about average for this type of product. It is the same Creme de Menthe flavor as the lip scrub and I love how it makes my lips feel fresh and slightly tingly because of the mint. Texture wise it glides on easily and smoothly and leaves behind a hint of shine which is perfect. I don't like it when lip balms leave you with super shiny gloss lips because if I wanted it to be a gloss I would have bought a gloss. I think my favorite lip balms right now are this one and my Darling Girl Cosmetics lip balm.

Overall I enjoyed the products I purchased from this company. The branding is adorable! In the future I would like to see waterproof labels especially on the soaps and scrubs. Catina has a wide range of bath and body products and definitely has something for everyone. I have my eye on a few more things and will probably be ordering again sometime in the near future. Have you tried Simply Sweet Skin? Tell me what you think!

4.5 out of 5 Glittery Bubbles

**All products were purchased by me with my own money. I was not compensated in any way, shape or form for this review. All opinions are my own.
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Friday, September 23, 2011

4

Madd Style Cosmetics

Cute little packaging!
This isn't the first order I've placed with Madd Style Cosmetics (MSC) but I didn't review the first order because I didn't have time to compile everything. I found MSC originally when they were on Etsy but they have now moved to Artfire as so many other MMUC's have done and are doing. Ordering is very straightforward using the ArtFire interface. I placed my order on Sept. 6 and received my package on Sept 19.  I received a shipping notification on Sept 15 so her TAT was 6 business days which falls within her stated 5-8 business days TAT.


My order arrived in a plain manilla envelope (not a bubble mailer) and inside was the cute little zebra print bag with the small heart sticker. Inside the bag was the above ziploc bag with my order and a small square card with the MSC logo and website on the front and a list of eye shadow ingredients on the back.


Ingredients List
The 10 samples I ordered
I ordered 2 packs of samples for $4.00 and my total with shipping was $10.25. Each pack consists of 5 samples so the pricing is very reasonable and less than what most other MMUC's charge.  Her samples are very generous, each clamshell is almost completely full.

Close-up of sample label


Frankenstein - Bright teal green with holographic glitter
Gunslinger Girl - Slightly darkened grape purple with silver glitter
She Bop - Hot pink with pink glitter
Pisces - Iridescent mint green with gold duochrome. This was from my first MSC order but I hadn't swatched it before so I threw it in here.



Seaglasm - Frosty sea green with silver shimmer
Glitter & Doom - Gorgeous blue-based deep purple with green and purple glitter. This is another that was also from my first MSC order that hadn't been swatched.
Bam! Rock! - Metallic red-ish pink
Chatter Box - Jungle green/blue with strong pink duochrome


Tron - Medium teal with silver sparkle
Graffiti Jungle - Dark jungle green rainbow shimmer
Illuminati - Light lavender with an iridescent green sheen
Double Rainbow - Gorgeous deep black with a rainbow of sparkles. This is a dupe for Archetype Cosmetics' Oil Slick only better since this is a deeper black. Definitely my FAVE of this lot!! Sooo much more gorgeous in person.

The shadows are smooth and very blendable. Some of the more glittery shades such as Double Rainbow, and Glitter & Doom I would definitely recommend using with a sticky base like Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy or DGC's Glitter Glue to really bring out the glitter help prevent fallout. All of Mo's products are vegan which honestly isn't important to me but I know there are quite a few people out there that will appreciate this.

Mo does not offer samples on a regular basis which is a shame since I know a lot of people like to try samples before buying full sizes. I understand that samples are normally time consuming to fill but it would be nice if she did offer them on a more regular basis. If you want to know when she will be offering her samples your best bet would be to like her FB page as she always posts on there when she is offering her sample packs. Check out MSC when you get the chance and tell me what you think!

5 out of 5 Glittery Bubbles

**All products were purchased by me with my own money. I was not compensated in any way, shape or form for this review. All opinions are my own.
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

4

StellaStarish Cosmetics

Love the hand-stamped box!
StellaStarish Cosmetics is a fairly new company but the owner is no newbie to the MMU world. Stella has had her YouTube channel and Facebook page for quite awhile and has recently realized her dream of having her own cosmetic line!


I placed my order on August 17 and received it on August 22 so the TAT was a freaking fabulous 3 business days! Stella I don't know how you can handle being a mommy to 3 boys, run your own business and have a TAT like that but you go girl! I absolutely LOVE the attention to detail that Stella puts in to her packages. My package was mailed to me in a plain manila envelope and inside the envelope was this beautiful hand stamped box containing my goodies as well as a PayPal invoice. I ordered her Take TEN (which is choose 10 pigments for $40) and 2 additional pigments for $4.50 each. I did not receive any free samples but instead I actually received a full 5g jar of Scorpio for free!

List of ingredients and the adorable star charm bracelet!
Cute quote and website information
All my pretty piggies!
Super cute individual custom labels
All of the eye shadow jars are labeled on the top and the bottom with printed paper labels. The labels on top have the logo and the labels on the bottom have custom labels for each shade. I would eventually like to see the labels laminated as the paper is easily smudged when it gets wet or dirty (I accidentally got one of mine wet with a makeup removing towelette). Now for the part everyone likes best...the swatches! I swatched all of these shadows over Hi-Fi Cosmetics High Impact Shadow Fix because I knew these would be pretty glittery.



Pegasus - Light bubble gum pink with holographic glitter. I love how pretty this pink is and perfectly suited to it's name.

Lila's Light Year - Bright white with every color imaginable glitter! I can see iridescent, holographic, blue, red and pink glitter. I'm pretty sure there's more colors of glitter than that in it though because Stella said there's 10 different glitters in it!

Gemini - Really gorgeous shimmery purple with aqua glitter. I am a big fan of purples and this one is awesome!

Aquarius - Almost-matte aquamarine with holographic glitter. I'm liking this almost-matte piggie and think it'd make an awesome lid color.


Sagittarius - Medium red-based shimmery purple

Mercury - Silvery gunmetal grey. This is going to make a killer smokey eye!

Leo - Sheer golden yellow. Awesome as a highlight.

Charlie's Comet -  Very pretty brick red with a hint of aqua shimmer.


Venus - Medium bubble gum pink with a gold shift. Pink lovers this one is for you!

Rocket - Deep black with red and purple sparkle. If this were a matte color, MAC's Carbon would be jealous! This is about as black as you can get and Carbon looks grey-ish compared to it.

Pavo - Ultraviolet blue with a gold shift. Quite the unique color as I don't have anything else like it in my collection.

Savannah's Storm - Silvery grey/lilac shimmer. Another of those that lives up to it's name as it reminds me of one of the colors of the sky during a storm.


Scorpio - Bright orange-based red with gold glitter.

Her website is fairly simple and easy to navigate and she uses a PayPal shopping cart which I assume most people are generally familiar with using. Stella has very good customer service and is always on her Facebook answering questions and what not. Overall shopping with StellaStarish Cosmetics was great and I'll definitely be back for more!

So now that you've read my review, go check StellaStarish Cosmetics out! Starting this Friday August 26 5pm EST through Saturday August 27 5pm EST Stella is having a sale on her Take TEN! deal. Instead of the usual 10 eye shadows for $40 she's making it a Take TWELVE! and dropping the price to $35 with free shipping!! Seriously this is an amazing deal so go take advantage of it if you can this weekend!

5 out of 5 Glittery Bubbles


**All products were purchased by me with my own money. I was not compensated in any way, 
shape or form for this review. All opinions are my own.
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