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.

Notoriously Morbid Shadow Bind - Review and Comparisons

I have some exciting news, everyone!  Notoriously Morbid released their version of a glitter adhesive this morning.  It's called "Shadow Bind" and is supposed to make glittery/sparkly eyeshadows adhere to your lids better, instead of having a bunch of fallout on your face.  Shadow Bind is not a primer, so you will need to prime your lids with regular primer beforehand.  I was sent a tester sample a few months ago and I have been using it this whole time.  The site advises you to primer your lids, apply a bit of Shadow Bind to your lids and wait 15-20 seconds to dry.  However, I find that I don't really have to wait that long, I end up dabbing it on my lids, smoothing it over and then applying my shadows immediately.  It also has a watery texture, as opposed to fan favorite's Pixie Epoxy by Fyrinnae.  Pixie Epoxy (PE) is said to have a very steep learning curve as you have to wait for the appropriate amount of time to try and it tends to be hard to blend afterward.  

As soon as I received this product, I got straight to work with tests and comparisons.  I've put it through several different tests, so there will be a lot of pictures!  For all the swatches I'll be showing, I applied a layer of ELF Essential Primer (non-sticky) and then applied NM's Shadow Bind on the top half - everything is shot under a daylight bulb.

Dark Matter Makeup - First Impressions and Swatches

I know it seems like I'm trying to rush these posts out, but I swear I'm not!  I just can't wait any longer to share swatches of a company I recently discovered.  This company is called Dark Matter Makeup, and for now, their only storefront is Etsy.  They introduced themselves in another indie makeup subreddit I frequent called /r/IndieIslandofMisfits.  They only sell eyeshadow right now, but everything is astronomy themed which I absolutely love.  There are no swatches of the products yet, so I bought the whole catalog to swatch for you guys!

Initially, there were two separate listings for every product, which made it extremely confusing for me to see how many individual eyeshadows they had.  I messaged the owner, Dom, and asked how many eyeshadows there were and how much it would be to buy one of each sample.  She responded very quickly and said there were 18 so far, and she can put up a special listing just for me.  The price she gave was $17 for 18 eyeshadow samples and $2 for shipping.  After I paid, she gave it to the mailman that afternoon and it was on the way over!  For some reason, shipping took awhile, I'm not sure if it was some odd route they take or if it was because of Blizzard Juno, but it took a lot longer to get to me.  Tracking was stalled for a few days, so I was left waiting in anticipation.

I finally received it a couple of days ago and got to swatching.  The eyeshadow samples come in cute little test tubes that are about half the length of my pointer finger.  The cap is extremely secure and there's no risk of making a mess because it's half full.  Dom had listed the shadows in grams, and when converted to teaspoons, she said it should be 1/2 tsp.  However, other reviewers compared it with Shiro's samples which are 1/8 tsp (albeit super generous), and said Dark Matter's samples had less.  

Anyway, my samples came in a cute moon and stars bag that's fitting with the shop's theme.  Dom included a business card and thank you card in a small wax envelope.  There's an ingredient listing on the back of the business card as well.  

I've bored you guys enough with my ramblings.  Onto the swatches!  Just a fair warning though - I did buy the whole catalog, so this post is very picture heavy!  You have been warned.

Pictures taken in daylight and swatched over ELF Glitter Primer (top half) and ELF Essential Primer (bottom half) - click to enlarge

TMTYL

TMTYL:  satin chartreuse.  This shade is a bit sheer and took a bit of layering to reach full opacity.

Shiro Cosmetics CoTMs and Lip Gloss - Swatches and Review

I'm so ashamed of how long this review actually took me to post.  I made a Black Friday order from Shiro and got my package less than two weeks later, so it's been awhile.  They were having a small sale, which made me want to pick up their CotMs at the moment.  I also decided to give a shot at ordering a custom lip gloss dupe for the famous Chanel Rouge Allure Laque in 'Dragon'.  It looks extremely different in different swatches, but the general consensus is a bright, holiday red with gold microshimmer.  I'll describe my experience further below.

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

Something Sweet as Pain

Something Sweet as Pain:  light blurple with blue sheen.  This was my free sample and I was glad to see it was a color I didn't have yet.

AFK Cosmetics January 2015 CotM Swatch

I have a short swatch post for you guys today!  I finally got the January Color of the Month from AFK Cosmetics because it was inspired by the recently released Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby games.  I got Alpha Sapphire the day it was released and have loved it ever since.  Kyogre is also one of my favorite legendary Pokemon, so it was no contest.  The CotM is inspired by both of the games and features a mishmash of the primary colors of both legendary mascots (red and blue).  Dena also included a free sample with my order, so I will be swatching that as well.

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

Potato Girl

Potato Girl:  potato brown with copper shimmers.  This is a color inspired by Attack on Titan character Sasha Braun.  Our first introduction to her character is her boldly eating a potato while being lectured.  This is a perfect color for potato skin.

Alpha and Omega

Alpha and Omega:  shimmery sapphire blue with red and blue sparkles.  I love this color SO much!  I don't wear blues often, but I think I might be able to pull it off (and I must try for the sake of Kyogre!).  I hope Dena makes a sister shade called Omega and Alpha that's a red shadow with blue sparkles!  Or maybe one for ALL the legendaries in the game...

Potato Girl and Alpha and Omega

Alpha and Omega is only available until the end of January, so please pick one up right now!

- Jolie ♥

Notoriously Morbid January 2015 Vanishing Cabinet - Truly Outrageous! Swatches and Review

Today I have swatches and a review of Notoriously Morbid's January 2015 Vanishing Cabinet for you guys!  I'm working really hard to get these subscription boxes out before their month ends, so I have about three posts I have to write up in two days :x  Anyway, this month's box looks super fun because it's inspired by an 80's cartoon show called Jem and the Holograms.  I'm a 90's baby, so I missed it, but I absolutely love 80's music and how colorful everything was.  The cool thing about this whole VC is that everything seems to be duochrome or have some sort of sparkles or sheen!  The sparkles might not show up as well in my swatches, but trust me, they are there.

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

Enticing Elba

Enticing Elba:  beautiful cornflower blue with copper sheen.  This is a free sample to next month's VC and I'm so curious about the theme!  Texture-wise, if you notice any patchiness, that was totally my fault.  I didn't wait for the glitter glue to completely dry before applying the shade, oops.

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