Innocent + Twisted Alchemy July 2017 Subscription Swatches and Review

Welcome back, everyone!  I have swatches of Innocent + Twisted Alchemy's July subscription.  The theme for this month is American Horror Story: Asylum, which explains the creepy label art.  The mini subscription box is $10/month for US subscribers and usually includes a full sized product and a deluxe product.  This month, we received two full sized and one deluxe sized eyeshadows and a sample lipstick.  I+TA's current TAT is 10 - 14 business days, though the subscription ships on a different schedule.  The subscription will also be ending after September to prepare for shop closure.

Pictures taken under LED bulb and swatched over ELF Glitter Primer (top/left half) and ELF Essential Primer (bottom/right half)

Crazed Seraphim

Crazed Seraphim:  satin pale pink with pink and gold sparkles.  I love the formula for this one, it was smooth, almost creamy and gave off a beautiful glow in the inner corner.  

Exposed

Exposed:  rose with blue and gold sparkles and red shimmers

Bloody Face

Bloody Face:  aubergine with pink and gold sparkles.  Let me preface this by saying that I've been a fan of Innocent + Twisted Alchemy for years and have always enjoyed their eyeshadow formula; however, this particular shadow was disappointing.  While it looks beautiful in the swatch picture over ELF Glitter Primer (sticky base), it performed poorly on my eyelids over regular non-sticky primer.  I had used it in an eye look in my outer corner to deepen my look.  The shadow barely adhered to my lids and blended away resulting in a patchy final look.  

I had used the other shadows from this box on my lids and inner corner (with amazing results) and finishing up with Bloody Face almost ruined the entire look altogether.  I ended up using a dark shade from another brand to save it.  I may have gotten a bad batch as I've used other dark I+TA shades over non-sticky primers with no issue.  Since it seems to perform well over a sticky base, I'll have to remember to use it over a sticky base from now on.

Bare lips

Haunted Siren

Haunted Siren on face

Haunted Siren:  creamy and pigmented pink red lipstick with gold sparkles and red shimmers.  Apparently, this is a new formula I+TA is trying out and I really liked it.  I've always liked creamy/bullet lipsticks more than liquid lipsticks because of the comfort level.  I thought Haunted Siren was extremely beautiful and had a great formula.  It wasn't too creamy to the point of smearing, but it was very comfortable.  The pigmentation was amazing as well and the sparkles showed up well on the lips.  I'm not sure if it will be offered in a different packaging or different shades since the shop is closing soon, but I would love to buy this in a full size.

Crazed Seraphim, Exposed, Bloody Face, Haunted Siren

Overall, I had very mixed feelings about this month's sub.  I absolutely loved the color theme and lipstick.  I love the look that resulted in all of the contents of this box (seen above in the lipstick swatch picture).  However, aside from Bloody Face's odd formula, my two full sized jars were also very leaky and messy.  It doesn't show in the product pictures because I had spent a lot of time cleaning both of them up so they wouldn't ruin my lightbox backdrop.  

I find this to be the case with a few of I+TA's full sized jars.  The shadows tend to leak onto the threads and rim of the jar and cause an awful mess when opened.  I despise using sifters, but I would highly recommend sifters for the full sized jars.  I have no problems with the deluxe jars, so I generally purchase deluxe sizes from I+TA.  Regardless, I still look forward to my remaining subscriptions and will definitely miss the shop when it closes.

- Jolie ♥