AFK Cosmetics The Adam Collection Swatches

I'm excited, yet also saddened to bring you swatches of AFK Cosmetics' The Adam collection.  Due to the owner's declining health, AFK was forced to close down and it's unsure whether or not it's only a temporary hiatus or a permanent closing.  I truly wish Dena (the owner) well and hope she'll be healthy enough to someday reopen the company.  AFK is one of my favorite indie companies because of the amazing products and wonderful customer service.  

The Adam collection was inspired by Bioshock and consisted of eight eyeshadows, three highlighters, three blushes, and three tinted lip balms.  I enjoy the formula for all of their eyeshadows, face products, and especially their tinted lip balms.  My order was shipped past the initial turnaround time, so Dena upgraded one of my eyeshadow samples to a full sized jar and gave some extra free samples as well.

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

Angels Don't Wait for Slow Pokes!

Angels Don't Wait for Slow Pokes!:  champagne with gold shimmers

The Wild Bunny

The Wild Bunny:  warm pink copper with gold sparkles and red shimmers

Get 'em Mr. B

Get 'em Mr. B:  milk chocolate with olive sheen and gold sparkles

Hello Waffle Cosmetics October 2016 Visage - Tim Burton Swatches

Happy October, everyone!  Today, I have swatches of Hello Waffle's October 2016 Visage box!  Their current TAT is 10-15 business days, though the Visages operate under their own schedule.  October's box is inspired by various films from Tim Burton.  This month includes two full sized eyeshadows, one mini contour powder, a full sized perfume from Sixteen92, and a full sized lip balm from AFK Cosmetics.

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

Simply Meant to Be

Simply Meant to Be:  plum base with copper sparkles and green shimmers

Because I am Different

Because I am Different:  darkened red with gold sparkles and red shimmers

How to Get Away with Cosplay at Work

No, don't freak out yet!  I'm not suggesting to go to your corporate job decked out in full Harley Quinn costume and makeup, but there are small things you can do to incorporate your fandom into your daily life.  The wonderful team at Loot Crate is looking to find out how fans like you and me sneak a bit of geekiness into our daily lives.  Loot Crate offers several subscription boxes tailored to geeks everywhere and have recently launched their Loot Wear box.  Subscribing to Loot Wear will give you socks, underwear, or shirts every month, all of them based off of some sort of fandom or genre.

Since I am a beauty blogger, I'll be focusing more on showcasing interests through makeup.  My collection comprises mainly of makeup from independent companies.  Independent/indie companies are small business, usually run by one or two people either from their own home, or a rented space.  I find the quality of certain indie companies to be much higher than mainstream brands at a fraction of the cost.  One thing to know about me is that I work at a veterinary clinic, and our company has no dress code, so I can get away with wearing colorful makeup looks on most days.  If your job has a stricter dress code, fear not, indie companies make neutral colors as well for barely-there makeup looks.

There are several companies that offer geek themed makeup and I'll be introducing some of my favorites, including some makeup looks I've done using their products.

Geek Chic Cosmetics

First up is Geek Chic Cosmetics, which has a wide array of eyes, lips, and face products.  Some of their collection inspirations include Doctor Who (shown above), Lord of the Rings, Supernatural, and Sailor Moon.

'Everyday Dweller' eyeshadow all over the lid

Innocent + Twisted Alchemy

Next, we have Innocent + Twisted Alchemy, which also offer eyes, lips, and face products.  They used to have a monthly subscription box that would be inspired after various anime, TV series, movies, and video games.  Some of my favorite themes are shown above, and were inspired by Final Fantasy, Alien, and Predator.  Although their subscription box will be discontinued soon, the shop will continue to create collections based off of various themes.  

'Cold & Dirty' eyeshadow all over lid

Notoriously Morbid

'Logic Boy' and 'Scotland the Brave' eyeshadows

Last but not least is Notoriously Morbid, which, as you guessed, offer eyes, lips, and face products as well.  Notoriously Morbid is one of my very favorite indie companies because of their high quality products as well as great customer service.  They have a whole line of matte shadows dedicated to Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as another collection based off of Supernatural.  The company is well known for their line of matte liquid lipsticks called Mystic Mattes as well.  NM also makes a great sticky eyeshadow base called Shadow Bind.  If you haven't noticed yet, most indie eyeshadows come loose instead of pressed.  With the more sparkly shades, it may result in fallout when you try to apply them.  Using a sticky base before patting on high sparkle shades will minimize that as well as keep the sparkles on your eyelids longer.  (Disclaimer: I am now an official promoter for the company, but had been a longtime fan for over a year beforehand.)

Special Mentions!

 AFK Cosmetics

There are so many more brands I wanted to include, but some have either closed down or have discontinued their geeky makeup collections.  AFK Cosmetics is one of the shop that's temporarily closed due to the owner's health issues.  This would have been the quintessential geeky makeup brand to recommend because their collections were inspired by various cartoons, games, and movies.  The two eyeshadows you see above were from their limited edition Valentines collection based off of famous nerdy couples.  Some of my favorite collections from them were inspired by Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Pokemon Gyms, and the aforementioned Valentines set.  Hopefully, the owner will feel better after taking some time off and reopen the shop!

'Hey There Smoothskin', 'Thunder', 'Marsh', and '104th Trainees Squad' eyeshadows on lid

Hello Waffle Cosmetics

Hello Waffle Cosmetics is a Canadian indie brand that offer eyes, lips, and face products.  They released a collection based off of Fringe, one of my favorite TV series ever.  It was a beautiful collection of eyeshadows and had gorgeous label art that referenced the series extremely well.  Unfortunately, that collection has been long discontinued and that's the only reason this company is in the 'Special Mentions' list.  They do have other collections based off of fairy tales, literature, and Greek gods.  

If you've made it this far, I commend you!  I honestly could've rambled on and on about various indie brands, but tried to limit myself to a very select few.  There are dozens of indie brands out there that create geeky collections, so it's really down to personal preference.  Doing colorful eye looks is how I express myself in my daily life as well as show the love for my favorite franchises.  The very few looks I showed in the post today were a bit more colorful, but as I mentioned before, shops offer neutral colors as well (especially Geek Chic Cosmetics' Supernatural collection).  Just remember, there are no limitations to showing off your fandom!  You can either insert it into your life with geeky makeup, clothing, or even just small accessories.  You're bound to find someone somewhere that created something to suit your needs!

- Jolie ♥

AFK Cosmetics August 2016 CotM Duo and Pokemon Go Highlighters Swatches

I'm really excited to finally show swatches of AFK Cosmetics' August CotMs and their new pressed highlighters!  The highlighters are inspired by Pokemon Go's three teams and were released before the CotMs.  Anyone who ordered the highlighters were asked to put their favorite team in the order notes and the winning team would be the inspiration for the CotM.  It was no surprise that Team Mystic won (by one vote, actually) and AFK created not one, but two eyeshadows inspired by the team leader, Blanche!  AFK's TAT is currently 7-20 business days and I received my order within the TAT.

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

Blanche

Blanche:  ivory with gold sparkles.  This color seems to be inspired by her ivory hair.

Evolution

Evolution:  pink tan with blue sparkles.  This shade is inspired by her skin color.  It actually almost blends into my skin, so I might use it as a blending shade for eye looks.

Instinct

Instinct:  gorgeous warm golden highlight with red sheen; swatched heavily over bare skin.  Even though Team Instinct is arguable the least popular team, I really love this highlighter!  The warm gold works well with my skin tone and the red sheen is absolutely gorgeous.

Mystic

Mystic:  blue highlight with silver sparkles; swatched heavily over bare skin.  Team Mystic is my team and the highlighter is as icy as Blanche's heart.  Just kidding, I just know Blanche/Team Mystic value scientific knowledge and reasoning over passion.

Valor

Valor:  pink highlight with gold sparkles; swatched heavily over bare skin.  Team Valor is seen as the rival to Team Mystic.  Some people take it seriously, but most of the Valors I run into just have a friendly rivalry with us.  It makes for very fun conversations with random strangers.

Blanche, Evolution, Instinct, Mystic, Valor

If you couldn't tell already, I love the highlighters!  I've worn all three of them on separate days and they're so easy to apply and blend into the skin seamlessly.  I was already a huge fan of AFK's loose highlighters, but these take the cake.  The Blanche CotM duo also encapsulates her very well.  I think AFK did a great job on these Pokemon products and I would love to see more in the future!

- Jolie ♥

AFK Cosmetics Christmas in July 2016 Advent Calendar - Women of Studio Ghibli Swatches

I'm finally getting over my summer laziness and catching up on some overdue blog posts.  Today, I have swatches of AFK Cosmetics' Christmas in July 2015 Advent Calendar.  AFK Cosmetics usually releases two advent calendars per year. one in July and another in December.  This time around, the theme is Women of Studio Ghibli.  I'm a huge fan of Studio Ghibli, I actually like the creatures of Ghibli more than the actual human characters.  AFK's TAT is currently 7-20 business days, though the advent calendars operate on a different schedule.  The calendars come in two sizes, sample and full size.  I normally get the sample set because I never use up products, but this time I splurge on the full size because of the theme!

Sofie sticker

San sticker

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

Satsuki

Satsuki:  pale yellow with red shimmers.  This was an exclusive shadow created by Shiro Cosmetics inspired by the older sister from My Neighbor Totoro.

Mei

Mei:  warm pink with silver sparkles.  This is the other exclusive shadow created by Shiro Cosmetics inspired by the younger sister from My Neighbor Totoro.

Lusheeta

Lusheeta:  amazing peach with strong green duochrome.  This was an exclusive shadow created by Innocent + Twisted Alchemy inspired by Sheeta from Laputa: Castle in the Sky.  This shadow is absolutely beautiful and the duochrome is so much stronger than what my swatch picture shows.  However, the jar was very messy; eyeshadow had leaked all over the insides and it took awhile for me to clean up.

AFK Cosmetics Hittin' the Gym and Geek Pride Collections Swatches!

AFK recently combined two of my biggest loves - makeup and Pokemon.  They released a multi product collection based off of the Pokemon gyms in the Kanto region.  It features five eyeshadows, one highlighter, and two tinted lip balms with custom label art.  It was released on Geek Pride Day so a trio of eyeshadows were also created for the occasion.  They were offered as Gifts with Purchase depending on how large the order was.  I didn't realize I was eligible for two free shadows instead of one so the owner threw in another free full sized eyeshadow!  

AFK's TAT is currently 7-20 business days; I find that it's heavily padded and my order actually shipped out the next business day!  Unfortunately, it was also Memorial Day weekend and USPS decided to take a few extra days to bounce back and I ended up receiving my package a bit later.  I also decided to change up my swatching order a bit this time.  I usually swatch colors from lightest to darkest, but since this theme sort of has an order...I'm swatching in the order of the gyms you're supposed to defeat in the games!

Disclaimer: All products were purchased by me unless otherwise stated.

Pokemon themed snowman drawing, thank you, Dena! ♥

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

Boulder

Boulder:  charcoal with silver sparkles.  Ah, the first gym you encounter in the games, and supposedly the easiest.  I have to shamefully admit that I had a really hard time beating Brock because of my starter type and had to restart my game several times.  

Cascade

Cascade:  aquamarine with green and red sparkles.  I know it seems more sky blue in the swatch photo, but it's a hair greener.  This jar actually came without a bottom label.  I messaged the owner about it last night and I'm still waiting for a response.  (I asked if she can either send it out or include it in my next order.)