Innocent + Twisted Alchemy October 2015 Subscription Swatches

Alright, I'm a wee bit late, but here are swatches of Innocent + Twisted Alchemy's October subscription box.  It was inspired by creepy stories that the owner read on /r/letsnotmeet.  After reading those stories, I was creeped out as well.  I+TA generally has some pretty nice shadows, but this month had a definite standout and it was a beautiful duochrome you'll see later.

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

Movie Fun

Movie Fun:  pink with blue sheen

Photo Bomb

Photo Bomb:  red orange with green duochrome.  This.  THIS is the standout I was talking about.  Just look at that amazing duochrome.  I used it in an eye look shown below and it was amazing.

Aromaleigh April 2015 Ephemera - Swatches and Review

Woooo, I've gotta say, I really do look forward to Aromaleigh's Ephemera box every single month.  Their packaging and presentation is always impeccable.  For the month of April, the inspiration comes from Floralia, and all of the shades are very light and springy.  We got two eyeshadows, two face products, and a cream eyeshadow from Glamour Doll Eyes.  

Information on this month's box

Pictures taken in daylight and swatched over Notoriously Morbid Shadow Bind (top/left half) and ELF Essential Primer (bottom/right half)

Locus of Desire

Locus of Desire:  shimmery warm pink with gold sheen

Notoriously Morbid March 2015 Vanishing Cabinet - Gods Be Good Swatches

Once again, I'm late with my post; what's new, eh?  Today I have swatches of Notoriously Morbid's March Vanishing Cabinet "Gods Be Good".  It's inspired by the popular book series "A Song of Ice and Fire" and corresponding TV show "Game of Thrones".  I've been watching GoT for awhile and while I'm not a huge, huge fan, it's still entertaining to watch.  This month includes five shadows, one face highlighter, and a sample shadow from another indie company!

Pictures taken in daylight and swatched over NM Shadow Bind (top/left half) and ELF Essential Primer (bottom/right half)

Lover's Sigh

Lover's Sigh:  lavender with pink sheen

Innocent + Twisted Alchemy February 2015 - Swatches and Review

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!  I hope you're having fun whether you're spending time with your partner, friends, or family :)  I'm home alone so I figured I might as well get my February subscription reviews out.  I have Innocent+Twisted Alchemy's Feb box for you guys and I actually really liked it!  It came in an adorable heart envelope with some lipstick tape.  For this month, we had three beautiful eyeshadows from I+T and several other indie samples.

Pictures taken in daylight and swatched over Notoriously Morbid Shadow Bind (top half) and ELF Essential Primer (bottom half)

Pearls Before Wine

Pearls Before Wine:  ballet slipper pink with gold shimmers.  This is a very pretty and very feminine color.  I didn't expect to like it because I don't usually go for pinks, but this changed my mind.  It's very subtle and glowy.

Innocent + Twisted Alchemy January 2015 - Swatches and Review

Welcome back, everyone!  I would also like to welcome back Innocent + Twisted Alchemy!  They took a few months off during the holiday season because Linda works retail and it's extra stressful for her during that time.  The holidays are over now, so January marks the return of the subscription boxes.  I'm excited to share that the samples have been switched to jars instead of clamshells!  As you all know, I absolutely HATE clamshells and they really put me off from re-using my I+T colors (which is a damn shame because her colors and texture are amazing).  Now that they're in jars, I know I'll be reaching for them more :D

Pictures taken under daylight bulb and swatched over ELF Glitter Primer (top half) and ELF Essential Primer (bottom half)

Majestic Life

Majestic Life:  buttery sandstone with blue sparkles

Rose Gold EOTD

If you guys weren't aware, I'm currently on a low-buy until I use all my indie eyeshadows at least once.  I press my indie samples into palettes, so they've been put into rotation.  I finally rotated into the Scaredy Cat palette containing their "Rose Gold" shadow!  I'm a huge fan of rose golds and can never resist getting one when a company releases them.  Since rose gold is a nice neutral, it made for a pretty subtle work-safe look.  Of course, I can usually wear what I want to work, but for more conservative environments, this look should work well too!

Eyes:

Scaredy Cat's Rose Gold - lid

Victorian Disco's Sin'Dorei - inner corner

Victorian Disco's Queen Beryl - outer v and crease

ELF's Liquid Eyeliner

I was pretty surprised at how soft Queen Beryl came out to be.  I may have added too much glycerin while pressing, so color payoff may have been dampened a bit.  It still went with this eye look nicely, so I didn't mind.

Another full-face picture

I really enjoyed this look, but then again it's a neutral eye and it's pretty hard to go wrong with neutrals.  This is why I usually like to experiment with brighter colors, sure it leaves more room for error, but when it's done right, I feel confident.  Neutral looks are a tried-and-true method for me, and I do them when I'm in a rush or feeling lazy and I need to rush out the door with someone I know will look good.  I really recommend Rose Gold and Sin'Dorei.  They're both really nice colors and the textures are silky and pigmented.

- Jolie ♥

Holiday EOTD with Sparkly Golds

Here's another super belated EOTD I did during the holidays.  As you can see, I'm wearing reindeer antlers that my boss gave me at work.  I decided to wear red and gold that day and wanted to attempt a sparkly gold eye.  Of course, I had to break out the sparkliest indie eyeshadows I had at the time.

I used Oslo's 'Equinox' on the lid and Shiro's famous 'Nic Cage Raking Leaves on a Brisk October Afternoon' in the outer v and crease.  Equinox and Nic Cage both have an almost obnoxious amount of glitter that I can't sport on regular days.  Because of Oslo's semi-loose formula, the glitter stuck on my lid throughout the whole day and was great.  Nic Cage, however, might have benefited more from a stickier base.  Without a sticky base, the sparkles almost blend away, but I was still left with a nice dark brown in the crease.

Here's to more belated EOTDs coming up!

- Jolie ♥

EOTD with Shiro's CotMs

I'll be uploading a series of EOTDs that I've done recently (but haven't had time to post).  I'm so sorry for the crap quality of this picture, it was taken by my phone's front camera.  If I have time later on, I may do an updated version of this look.

I used Shiro's Butts on my lid and Yzma's Essence of Llama in the outer v.  I blended them out a lot for a more subtle look for work.  As usual, my eyeliner is ELF's $1 Liquid Eyeliner.

Here is another full-faced photo; I quite liked how the light hit my face and made my contouring look pretty nice haha.

- Jolie ♥

Denver Broncos inspired EOTD

Whoever keeps up with American football knows that Denver Broncos prevailed and are heading to the Superbowl in a week!  I was super excited because I've been watching them the whole season and this is the first time I've actually invested my time into a team.  I'm a huge fan of Peyton Manning, so I've been urging him on during every game.

I did this look after their last win of the season which propelled them into the Superbowl.  This is considered a pretty subtle look (I've seen some crazy bright ones from fans!) because I wore this to work.

Daylight

Daylight

Flash

Flash

I used Notoriously Morbid's 'Snow White Queen' as an inner corner highlight and 'Tempest' all over the lid for an orange.  I then used Madison Street Beauty's 'Electric Periwinkle' in the outer V for blue.  Electric Periwinkle was such an intense color that I had to blend it out a lot, but I was pretty satisfied with my overall look.  I finished it up with a $1 liquid eyeliner from ELF and Jordana's $3 Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara.

I totally forgot to wear something orange or blue that day, but I was already sporting the love on my face :P  I can't wait for next week; OMAHA!

- Jolie ♥

FOTD with Oslo Cosmetics

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!  I hope you're all warm and comfy with your families :)  I've decided to post up some FOTDs/EOTDs separate from actual reviews.  I've been stuck in a makeup rut for awhile and wanted to delve into some colors again.

Face:

NYC Sunny Bronzer

Oslo Cosmetics 'Sextens' blush

Eyes:

ELF 144 Neutral Eyeshadow Palette - Matte gray shadow on eyebrows

Oslo 'Carinae' on inner corner

Oslo 'Tremor' on lid

Oslo 'Asterism' on crease

ELF 3-in-1 Mascara

Lips:

Oslo 'Odetta' lip slick

I love Oslo eyeshadows and I'm really happy to have other products to try out too.  The lip slicks are staining which is great if you don't want to keep reapplying throughout the day.  The eyeshadows stay on for 12+ hours because of the binder that's added.  If you haven't tried Oslo Cosmetics yet, then I strongly recommend their eyeshadows.  Thanks for reading and enjoy the holidays :)

- Jolie ♥