Review: Evil Shades Blushes (Swatches + Photos)

Finally, my last installment of my Evil Shades review. I actually never buy blushes, as I am freckle-faced! However, when I saw these shades, I knew I just had to have them. All of these listed are sample sizes.

Here they are:

Skön - "berry/plum with strong pink shift (skön is Swedish for beautiful)"

Kona - "shimmering light neutral pink highlight (Hawaiian for lady pronounced cone-uh)"

Atomic - "hot orange cooled down with a blue shift"

And here are some swatches:

Skön

Kona

Atomic

Actually, I have never owned a face highlight shade either, so I am really loving Kona as well as Skön. I haven't found an occasion to wear Skön yet, but I really believe it's gorgeous! I will have to do a look with it soon. As for Atomic, it's VERY pigmented, as you can see, so it may take a bit more to blend out. 

I love these blushes! I will most definitely be ordering more samples again soon! <3

Coastal Scents Mica Swatches (x5)

I know I haven't been swatching my Coastal Scents micas like I should be, but to be honest I totally forgot about them. I have about a ton of them in their little sample baggies, and one of these days I will get to swatching them all.

For now, I leave you with just five. I picked these five because they are all on my "buy next time I order from Coastal Scents" list. :)

Australian Amber, Emerald Isle, China Jade, Tibetian Ochre, Blackstar Red

I hope this helps in your mica-buying adventures! Let me know what you think! <3

Review: Evil Shades Eyeshadows (Swatches + Photos)

And now, the real reason I wanted to try Evil Shades: the eyeshadows. There are so many to choose from on the site, I really had a hard time choosing five. If I could have my way, I'd have them all. :D

Here we go!

Reondite - "medium aqua with pink shimmer"

Panic - "pink-toned coral with shimmer"

Nightshade - "bright red-based purple/fuchsia (as close to neon as can be made with eye-safe products)"

Mad People - "tangerine orange"

Heartless Queen - "true red with pink undertones and shimmer"

Swatches, you say? Well, here you go. All shadows were applied over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy. 

Heartless Queen, Reondite, Mad People, Nightshade, Panic

Beautiful, unique colors. I was shocked that I don't have any true red eyeshadows. I'm not sure where or when I would use it, but I suppose it's a color one should have on hand. :) The only disagreement I have is that Nightshade doesn't lean anywhere near neon on me, but that's only why my eyes see. I still love this color!

Overall, I love these and I love these colors and this brand. As I said before when I reviewed the lip products, I can't wait to buy more!

August 2012 Birchbox! (Photos)

It's that time of month again! I hadn't even realized it, but I was super excited when I got that cute orange package from my mail lady today!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with how Birchbox works, here it goes. For a $10 monthly (or $110 annually) subscription fee, you get a pretty good assortment of samples (and sometimes full sizes!). Not bad at all.

Anyway, here is what I received for this month:

Here's what I received this month:
- Schick Hydro Silk Razor
- Whish Shave Crave Shaving Cream
- Viva La Juicy La Fleur perfume
- Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream

I really like this box! Actually, I ha just bought a new razor from my job, which was supposed to be a knockoff of Venus, and I hate it! So I am so glad the razor came in. Secondly, I LOVE Viva La Juicy La Fleur! It's such a wonderfully feminine scent. Even though it would set me back a whole $70, I definitely think this fragrance is worth it. I don't fall in love too easily with fragrances, by the way. :P As for the other two products, I haven't tried them yet. The Whish shaving cream smells pretty good though!

For those of you interested in signing up with Birchbox, here is my referral link! Show me some love, why don't ya? :)

eBay Purchase: 28 Warm Neutral Palette

I am a sucker for eBay, guys. I admit it. I have been getting into eyeshadow palettes from China lately, as I refuse to pay full price for a palette by Coastal Scents or any other retailer when I can usually get the same exact palette from eBay for at least half price.

Here's a shocker: I don't own a single "neutral" palette. When I use makeup, especially when I go out, I reach for bright or metallic colors more than anything. I realize I probably should tone it down a bit while I am at work so I look a bit more professional. Hence my neutral palette purchase!

Here are some pictures of it:

As you can see just by the color layout, this is the same neutral palette that Coastal Scents sells here. As of today, the regular list price for this palette at Coastal Scents is $18.95, but it's on sale for $11.37. Not a bad deal, right? Well, I bought this palette for $7.56! I like to call that a steal, especially since the palette is pretty darn good. It could use a bit better pigmentation, but so worth the money at this price!

Check out the swatches of a few of the shades:

Mind you, it takes awhile to arrive as it comes all the way from China, but actually this came quite quickly in my book. I ordered it on June 22nd, and it arrived on August 8th. I know some indie brands that take longer to just ship the product.

Anyway, here is the link to the seller and the product for anyone interested!

Seller: hittime_hk
Product: Pro 28 Color Neutral Warm Eyeshadow Palette Eye Shadow

Enjoy!

Review: Evil Shades Lipstick and Hardcore Lips (Swatches + Photos)

My Evil Shades package arrived today! I was so excited when I saw the return address! :P

I actually got quite a bit in this order, so I will have to do this review in pieces. Bare with me, people. I have never done a review on lip products, much less done lip swatches! I imagine I'll get better at it with time, but here goes nothing. :)

I ordered two samples of each of Evil Shades' Hardcore Lips and Lipstick: Miscreant, Scream, Devious Virtue and Stormy.

Here is how they look in their packaging (I LOVE the packaging):

The first shade I dove into was from the Hardcore Lips line (which is basically really pigmented lip glosses), Miscreant. I've been really loving bold lip colors lately, so I figured this was right up my alley. Here are some pictures: 

Next, I tried Scream, which was also from Hardcore Lips. I don't think my pictures captured this well, but I felt like this one actually glowed on my lips! It's quite beautiful! 

 Next was a shade I probably wouldn't have gone for normally, since it's a darkish nude color, but I actually rather like it. It's a lipstick shade called "Devious Virtue" and was inspired by beauty blogger Nymphette. I have been following her for some time now, and I absolutely love her!

Finally was "Stormy." Stormy is a lipstick, but it's rather tricky. I thought she was the least pigmented of all four, but I still love it! I think purplish shades are my favorite to wear. Might be the green eyes.

Overall, I really like these. Even as I type this, I am wearing Stormy, and I am really loving how it feels on my lips! I would definitely recommend checking these out, but I realize these bold colors aren't for everyone. Personally, I love them! I can't wait to order more so I can try them all! 

So that is all! How did I do on the lip swatches? LOL. Not bad, I hope!

August 2012 Julep Mystery Box!!

Can you imagine my excitement when I read in my email last week that Julep's Mystery Boxes for August were up for sale?! I bought one as soon as I got home!

For those of you unfamiliar with Julep's Maven program, you pay a monthly subscription fee of $19.99 per month for "over $40 worth of product." You will get an email after the amount is deducted from your bank account and before the items ship. The email will have what your box will contain, based on the beauty profile you took when you signed up (for reference, my style is "Classic with a Twist"). If you don't like your selection, you can go to the Julep website and change it to another style. For the Mystery Boxes, you pay another $19.99 for $60-$200 worth of product. It is completely separate from your monthly subscription.

Now that's out the way, here is what I received!

I love all of these colors! My favorite finish by Julep is their cream finishes, and Jessica really takes the cake. It is almost fully opaque in just one coat! I love it.

I think I made out pretty well on this box. Each of the polishes regularly retail for $14 each, so this box was worth $70. Not bad!

I can't wait until next month's box! My Julep stash just keeps on growing. :)

Etsy Spotlight: Madison Street Beauty (photos + swatches)

It's been a few weeks since I've ordered any cosmetics from Etsy. One business that keeps popping up on my searches was Madison Street Beauty. Why not give them a try, I thought.

I am actually very glad I did. I actually really love every color I received.

See what I purchased:

And, of course, the swatches you came here for! :)

Blackberry, Enchanted Forest, Antique Rose, Butterscotch, Pumpkin, Azure, Nude Shimmer, and Bare Coral. All shadows were swatched over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy.

I love them! All of them! To me, the most unique shades were Blackberry (I don't own any shade like this), Antique Rose, Butterscotch and Azure. Love, love, love! 

I scooped these up while MSB was having their anniversary sale (60% off) and these samples were only $1 each! Talk about an awesome deal! 

I was very satisfied with this purchase. I can't wait to order from them again! <3



P.S. I actually have a few shipments that should be arriving soon for you guys to look forward to:
- Makeup Fairyz on Etsy (I keep hearing about them on Facebook and decided to give them a try)
- Julep August Mystery Box
- Evil Shades Cosmetics
- an eBay purchase for a 28 Warm Neutral Palette (the same one that Coastal Scents sells on their website--only cheaper!)

UPDATE: Subscription Cancellations

I have once and for all decided to cancel my subscriptions to MyGlam and Beauty Army. It wasn't that I was particularly dissatisfied with the products I received, but right now money is a bit tight (hours being cut at work) and I would like to focus more on indie makeup brands swatches.

The subscriptions I am still paying for are Julep Maven (even for $19.99 per month, I don't think I could ever get rid of this one LOL), Birchbox (my first ever subscription box) and GLOSSYBOX. I may re-subscribe once I get some of my finances together--i.e. once my makeup starts selling. Stay tuned!

At least swatching and photographing eyeshadows and other makeup products (but mostly eyeshadows) gives me an excuse to expand my collection. I do sometimes find myself having to explain myself to my fiance every once in awhile. :P

Here are some of the eyeshadow palettes I own as of now. The two like palettes on the right are Sleek palettes (a drugstore brand based in England) -- the one at the top is the Acid Palette and the bottom is the Ultra Mattes V1 Brights palette. I just received the Ultra Mattes V2 Darks palette, so eventually I will have swatches of all of these.

As for indie mineral powder eyeshadow, I'm not really running short of that, either. In the middle is Fyrinnbae, the very top in Shiro, and the colorful ones at the left are PiNK Culture Cosmetics (my company!).

So yeah. Stay tuned for more brands and swatches!! <3

Julep Maven July 2012 Subscription Box -- Boho Glam

So I didn't really like what was offered to me for my "regular" subscription, Classic with a Twist. This summer, "my" color has really been mint greens, so when I saw the two metallic polishes offered this month through the Boho Glam profile, I had to have them! This month marked the Julep Maven program's one year anniversary, so everything came in a cute little tote bag. Also in my box was some polish remover. Right on time, too! :)

And now for the goodies!

Inside of the box.

As always, I love both polishes. I love knowing what I am getting, too. One quick note: The polish remover, once it is dry, smells awesome! Very, very floral. I love it! 

Here's to another month of Julep! I love this company!

If you want to sign up, please use my referral link! It would be much appreciated!! <3