Saturday, June 28, 2014

FOTD : 6.27.14

I didn't post this look yesterday so that I wasn't spamming you guys with too much on one day. However, I wanted to show you a look I did using some indies that I've acquired recently! (excuse my hair in these pictures, I didn't have time to snap any pictures after I dried my hair...)





Face
Eyes
Lips
  • Hello Waffle Lip Balm in Ginger Kitties - Christine is reformulating her lip products, so they are currently unavailable!
Hope you guys are having a great weekend!

(post contains affiliate links)

Friday, June 27, 2014

Scaredy Cat Cosmetics : Overview, Swatches, and more

Hello everyone! I know, it's been a bit since my last post, but I'm back. Over the past few weeks, I've been getting really interested in indie brands of cosmetics and places a whole bunch of orders to try some things out. If you've been a reader since last year, then you may remember that I've already dabbled in the indie realm when I placed a large order of Shiro Cosmetics samples. I don't know what sparked my interest in indies again, but I'm so glad that it happened! 

I've already received products from three companies and I have four more orders on their way (one of which is from Shiro :D). One of the best things about the indie community is that the store owners realize that their customers may want to sample a product before buying a full size, so most companies offer sample or trial sizes of their products. For the majority of my orders, I only ordered sample sizes or did a "blogger pack" so that I was able to inform you guys about the products. 


First up on the chopping block is Scaredy Cat Cosmetics which is actually based out of Kansas City (and I am too), so I got my order incredibly quickly. That is actually something to note about indie makeup; most of the companies are owned by people who work another job; this means that you might have to wait a few weeks for an order. Regardless, Scaredy Cat is literally about 15 minutes from my house, so it was like next day shipping on my order. I ordered a ten pack of the trial vials and got the colors below.


There was a slight problem with my first order due to a printer mishap, so Kelly, the owner, sent me the correct items with some extra vials!


In the indie industry, you see a lot of product measurements; things like a sample being an eighth of a teaspoon or a mini jar having a fourth, etc, etc. Scaredy Cat's trial vials don't have any exact measurements, but they are filled to the brim with product and considering that they're a buck a piece, it's pretty generous. The vials, while amazingly cute, do prove to be a bit inconvenient since you can't get a brush in them. This is perfectly fine by me since I do plan on pressing these into solid shadows, but for those of you who prefer loose will need to get a bigger mouthed container to transfer these into.

The shadows are all gorgeous, but vary a bit in their opacity. I applied these all over a matte Maybelline Color Tattoo (I can never remember the name of it) but will continue to experiment with bases for these. As I'm diving deeper into this crazy world of indie makeup and the beautiful sparkly shades that are created, I have begun to realize that I need to buy a full size Pixie Epoxy from Fyrinnae or something similar from E.L.F.

All of the following swatches are done over the Maybelline Color Tattoo.

Natural Light
L to R: Phoenix Tears, Rose Gold, Amanita, Sanguine

Natural Light
L to R: Nouveau, Dee's Nuts, Phoenix Tears

Flash
L to R: Dee's Nuts, Phoenix Tears, Rose Gold, Amanita, Sanguine

Flash
L to R: Nouveau, Dee's Nuts, Phoenix Tears, Rose Gold

Direct Sun
L to R: Phoenix Tears, Rose Gold, Amanita, Sanguine 

Direct Sun
L to R: Nouveau, Dee's Nuts, Phoenix Tears, Rose Gold

Flash
L to R: Hera, Smooze, Sakura, Bear Necessities

Flash
L to R: Bacchus, Nevermore, Keltoi

Natural Light
L to R: Hera, Smooze, Sakura

Natural Light:
L to R: Bear Necessities, Bacchus, Nevermore, Keltoi

Direct Sun
L to R: Bear Necessities, Bacchus, Nevermore, Keltoi

Direct Sun
L to R: Hera, Smooze, Sakura

The colors that needed the most help getting up to a full pigmentation were Hera and Smooze, everything else got fairly opaque very easily. I think that Hera would really benefit from a stickier base like Pixie Epoxy or Darling Girl's Glitter Glue. My favorite shades out of the all of them are Bacchus, Rose Gold, Phoenix Tears, and Sakura but don't let that fool you into thinking that I don't like the rest; I've got a pretty big hard on for all of the shades.

And there you have it. I have used these shadows on my eyes which is also what swayed my "favorites" :) If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Don't call it a comeback : LA Haul

I told you guys that I would be back and here I am. After my month and a half sabbatical (that's just what we're going to call it since it sounds better than the word "break"... and I was doing lots of makeup research i.e. playing with makeup), I'm back and ready to go again. I am going to slow down on the frequency of posting and I'm hoping to get more tutorials up rather than product reviews. As I mentioned in my previous post, buying all of that makeup was costing a lot and I ended up with a collection so big that there's literally no way that I can use it all. Saying that, this post is going to seem quite contradictory, but this was my last big makeup haul and it was a doozy. Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride.


Unless you have never read my blog before, then you know that I went to Los Angeles at the end of April for a completely makeup based trip. My friend and I literally planned an entire trip around going to the Hakuhodo show room and a Burberry counter (there are something like 12 Burberry counters in the entire US and, surprise, surprise, Kansas City does not have one of them). This is simply a haul post; no swatches, no reviews, just showing you what I purchased. I do plan on getting swatches up of everything that I purchased, but for the time being, this is pure, unadulterated product goodness. Enjoy!

Burberry

Lip Glow in #25 - Lavender

Lip Cover Lipstick in #30 - Primrose Hill Pink

Lip Cover Lipstick in #30 - Primrose Hill Pink


Sheer Eyeshadows in #09 - Rosewood and #21 - Midnight Brown


Light Glow Blush in #02 - Cameo


Sample of Lip Velvet in #306 - Pink Amber

Size comparison of a full size lipstick and sample

Illamasqua



Eye Shadows in Heroine and Preen


Powder Blusher in Lover


Eye Shadow Palette in Empower (this was a mistake and was actually my friend's; I bought Compliment and they got mixed up at checkout!)

Eye Shadow Palette in Netural

Skin Base Foundation in Shade 3.5


Hakuhodo


H603

H603

J5533

J5533

J5533

J004G

J004G

J004G

J004G

J5523

J5523

J5523

J5523

B509

B509

B509

B509

B5521

B5521

B5521

B5521

And there you have it! For the record, I have been using my Hakuhodo brushes pretty much every day and I can safely say that these brushes are worth every penny. If you have any desire to up your brush game, you should definitely check out the Hakuhodo site and invest in some nice things (shipping is $9, so make sure that your order makes it worth it).

If you have questions or comments on any of these products, please feel free to let me know and I will answer them all! Feels good to be back :)

xx,

Bisousdarling