Hello Waffle Wu Xing and My Lips But... Swatches and Review

Alright, before you read any further, this is a warning that this post is going to be pretty massive.  It's SUPER picture heavy (100+ pics), so I'll try not to ramble as much as I usually do.  This is a swatch fest and review of Hello Waffle Cosmetics' recent Wu Xing collection and My Lips But... lipsticks.  I got the entire Wu Xing collection and all but two of the MLBs, but Christine (the owner) generously included the last two MLBs for me!  

Now Wu Xing is based off of Chinese elements and have beautiful label arts that match the theme.  There are five mini collections that include three eyeshadows, one face products, and one lipstick for a full face look.  I really love Asian culture and mythology, especially dragons, so I knew I needed at least one full size product from each mini collection because of how beautiful the label arts were.  Luckily, the products themselves were gorgeous, so the decision wasn't too hard.  There were also two Gift With Purchases (GWPs) available during that time, depending on how much your order was.  My huge order qualified for both, so that was great, and I also picked up a lipstick from one of the Visage overstocks as well.

I received my package almost a month back; it's taken me this long because I wanted to do full looks with each collection beforehand.  My swatches this time will be split up a little differently.  I'm swatching each full collection separately, complete with full face looks using the entire collection ONLY as well.  This will give you a good idea on how everything plays together.  

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

Metal

White Tiger

White Tiger:  pale lavender with silver sparkles

Metal

Metal:  matte dark gray

Contraction

Contraction:  gray with silver shimmers

Pretty Good Sparkling Berry Soap Review!

Hey everyone, I actually have something non cosmetics to review today!  Recently, I was contacted by indie bath and body company, Pretty Good, asking if I wanted to review their product.  Now I'm not too into bath and body since I don't have a bathtub, plus I basically stock up on drugstore soaps and lotions.  However, I've heard of Pretty Good around the internet and knew of their monthly subscription soap boxes.  I actually really like bar soap as opposed to body wash as I feel they lather better.

My package arrived pretty quickly after I agreed to trying their product and it contained a full sized bar of soap!  It's their Sparkling Berry Soap and the ingredients are listed in the picture label below:

Even before using the soap, the smell was delightful!  It has a delicious berry candy scent.  The soap has a hot pink translucent bottom and milky pink top with blue sparkles.  After using it for a few weeks, I find that it lathers easily, blue sparkles rub off onto the skin but wash off while rinsing, and my skin retained a slight berry scent after the shower.  

The soap currently retails for $5 on the site here.  The scent is so delicious and amazing that I can see myself purchasing this and perhaps trying out the other soaps from the shop.  I wish they made a corresponding lotion because I would buy that as well.  Now I have several other bar soaps I have to go through first, but Pretty Good is on my to-buy list once those are finished!

I also wanted to give a huge thanks to the Pretty Good team again for sending me this soap to try out.  I look forward to seeing new releases!

- Jolie ♥

Hello Waffle February 2016 Visage - Bluebeard Swatches

Guess what, everyone?  I finally got off the Hello Waffle Visage waitlist!  I don't remember when I got on it, but I definitely waited a few months.  It's $30/month and usually includes around three mini eyeshadows, a face product, and lip product.  $30 a month is a bit hefty but I'm trying to cut back on drinking so hopefully that saves me some money each month ;)  Anyway, this month's Visage is based off of the story of Bluebeard and is a particularly chilling tale.  The owner, Christine, includes a tidbit on the story, guides on how to wear the products, and a price list.  She also included the entire story on a separate piece of paper, albeit in very tiny print.

Bluebeard story

Awesome label art - key dipped in blood

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

Plates of Gold and Silver

Plates of Gold Silver:  beautiful pale gold

Richer and Finer

Richer and Finer:  shimmery nude pink

A Gentleman

A Gentleman:  moderately opaque deep blue with blue shimmers

The Closet

The Closet:  rosewood with silver and blue shimmers

Fairy Key

Fairy Key:  opaque matte berry lipstick.  This month's guest indie was Howl Cosmetics and they made an exclusive full sized lipstick just for the Visage!  I've always liked the fact that Howl lipsticks weren't as drying as other matte lipsticks, yet still stayed on throughout the day.  Although I don't wear berries too often, it does go great with the eyeshadows that Christine made.

EotD

This was an eye look created specifically with Christine's instructions on the note.  It has The Closet in the inner corner, outer corner, crease, and lower lashline, Richer and Finer on the lid and inner corner, Plates of Gold and Silver on top of Richer and Finer, and A Gentleman in the crease.  I love how effortless this halo eye turned out and I thank Christine for her wonderful instructions!

Plates of Go

- Jolie ♥

AFK Cosmetics Christmasushi Duo and Custom Balm Swatches!

Hey everyone, I have swatches of AFK Cosmetics' Christmasushi duo and my custom lip balm today!  The duo was actually released during last year's Black Friday I believe, along with the Mutants lip balms.  I ordered everything together, however, the duo was forgotten so the owner, Dena, said she can send it to me along with my finished lip balm.  The lip balm actually took awhile because I asked for an opaque rosy tan nude and it was hard to find the right consistency.  Dena worked very hard on it and I ended up really loving the texture!  I'll expand more on that in the swatches ;)

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

Christmasushi

Christmasushi eyeshadow:  nude with green and red sparkles

Christmasushi

Christmasushi lip gloss:  moderately opaque salmon with red and green shimmers

Custom balm

Custom balm:  frosty rosy brown nude.  The formula is very creamy and opaque, however, the color is a bit too light for me unless paired with a smoky eye.  It's really, really hard to get the perfect nude without swatching first, but I do like that I can make this color work.  I hope Dena starts dabbling into lipsticks because her opaque lip balms are as opaque as some lipsticks!  We were entertaining the idea about creating a nude lip line, and honestly, I'd love that.  AFK lip balms are my favorite lip balm formulas because they're so comfortable and moisturizing on my lips.  I have really high hopes for any new lip products they release!

Christmasushi eyeshadow, Christmasushi lip gloss, Custom balm

- Jolie ♥

Notoriously Morbid January 2016 CotM Mystic Matte Evil Woman Swatches

I have a very short swatch post of Notoriously Morbid's January CotM today!  It's another limited edition Mystic Matte lipstick and comes in new packaging!  The packaging is quite a bit thicker and the applicator is longer as well.  Since the Mystic Matte formula is quite watery, I was wondering if the larger applicator would make it messy.  It did not.  I wiped off the excess product before application and found no problems.  I believe they've increased the price from $9 to $12 as well because the new packaging holds more product.

Pictures taken under LED bulb

Evil Woman

Evil Woman:  metallic burgundy.  Since NM has another burgundy-ish Mystic Matte in their line, I decided to compare the two.  The other one is part of their metallic Ancient Mystic Matte collection called Hatshepsut.  I only swatched both on my hand very quickly and didn't take any pictures (sorry!).  Evil Woman leans more red than Hatshepsut and has no visible sparkles.  Hatshepsut is more black based and purple, whereas Evil Woman is more red and purple.  I hope this helps for those who are wondering if they should get both!

- Jolie ♥

Innocent + Twisted Alchemy Release the Clow Swatches

Here's a collection I'm really excited to share with you!  Innocent + Twisted Alchemy recently released a Cardcaptor Sakura inspired collection and of course, I bought the entire thing.  I'm a huge, huge fan of CLAMP's works.  I was definitely more Cardcaptor than Sailor Moon :P  The owner, Linda, and I had a few conversations raving about CLAMP and their various works throughout the years.  I'm still a little upset about how long X's hiatus has been and how xxxHolic ended, but whatever, still love their stuff.

Anyway, the full size collection comes in an adorable tin with adorable artwork.  There are six eyeshadows, one blush, and one lip slick.  The set actually sold out really quickly, but Linda contacted me when it was back up so I could purchase ASAP.  She included a full size eyeshadow from the SAW collection as well!

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

S.U.R.V.I.V.E.

S.U.R.V.I.V.E.:  gray with slight red sheen and silver shimmers.  This was my free eyeshadow and was super generous.  However, the jar is pretty leaky and shadow ends up in the threads even after cleaning.  

Moon Castles

Moon Castles:  shimmery white with blue sheen.  This is gorgeous and inspired by Sakura's first crush, Yukito.  When the shade was released, I thought it was inspired by Yue instead (which is pretty much the same anyway...)

Cherry Blossom Magic

Cherry Blossom Magic:  pink with gold sparkles and green shimmers.  This is inspired by the titular character, Sakura.