Let's Check Out Two Different Shiro Alpaca Picnic Glosses!

Hey there, party people! Today's my birthday, and what better way to celebrate than to write a blog post? (No, seriously, I'm a dork and I'm really enjoying this.)

I made a custom gloss purchase from Shiro last month, and something went awry. I ordered a custom Alpaca Picnic gloss in moderate opacity, and I was sent one that was sheer (something something sheer-o joke). I emailed Caitlin with a few swatch pictures to show what was up, and she quickly replied with an apology and a few solutions to pick from. I decided to reorder another gloss in moderate opacity, because I love Animal Crossing, so I gotta slather this all over my lips. Well.. I was sent a gloss that's opaque, but when life gives you an insane metallic gloss, sometimes you just learn to rock it. I know if I emailed Caitlin again, she would be just as awesome as she was the first time and offer me a refund, store credit, or a new gloss.. but lately, I've been working on stepping out of my comfort zone, so moderate schmoderate! Plus, having an Alpaca Picnic gloss of every opacity would be a little crazy.

Since I have the lovely opportunity to showcase both sheer and opaque opacities, why not? So today I did swatches of both to show the differences. The sheer gloss was purchased in full by me, and the opaque gloss was sent as a replacement, free of charge, from Shiro. All opinions are my own, and all swatches are taken over moisturized and exfoliated lips.

Alright, here's the packing for both! I noticed the top of the sheer gloss is black and the opaque gloss is a metallic-y brown. Not sure if that means anything. Normally custom glosses come with a handwritten label, but since I'm such an Animal Crossing fan, I requested the Alpaca Picnic label art to replace the usual label. The sheer gloss looks fairly thin in the tube, and appears a little darker than the opaque gloss. Shown on the doefoot applicators, the opaque gloss is darker, far more metallic, and has the consistency of a liquid lipstick. Product sticks to the wand, whereas with the sheer gloss, the product slides right off.

For the arm swatches, I scraped any excess product off the doefoot before swatching the top row. For the bottom row, I slathered it on to give a better idea of how the gloss could be built up if desired.

Alright, let's start with the sheer! I think it's easy to see why I emailed Caitlin. It doesn't really add much color at all. It may as well be a clear gloss with a bit of pink glitter. I don't think the metallic nature of this shadow lends well to a sheer gloss.

The opaque gloss is ALL UP IN YOUR FACE with its brightness, and I love it. It's a Barbie hot pink with a strong metallic sheen. It's a liquid lipstick consistency, and I noticed that it had a tendency to ball up a bit around the edges. It's easy to fix, but I didn't see it until I was editing my pictures. Whoops! It was impossible to capture with my camera, but it looks like molten pink metal. It's fabulous, but I wouldn't recommend it if you're wanting something for every day wear. This is a gloss for those days where you don't give a friggity frack what anyone thinks. You do you, babe. You do you.

Welp, that wraps up my post! I'm not sure what I'd do next, but I'm thinking I might do an eye look tutorial. I've been working on my blending and I'm feeling really confident in my skillz lately. Stay tuned!

A Sneak Peek of Ten Three Lab's Upcoming AHS: Coven Collection

Hey, guys! I am so, so excited to share this with you. I bought a few goodies off Cara's destash, and inside my package she included a small sample of an upcoming perfume. I asked her if I could blog about it, and she sent me info about the entire collection to share with my readers!

The new collection, launching April 1st (no lie), is inspired by the incredible third season of American Horror Story, which centers around a small coven of near-extinct witches. I'm going to keep this post spoiler-free, so if you've yet to watch the Coven season, you're safe to read this! The New Salem Collection will consist of five perfumes, two Saucebox Sheens, and two eyeshadows. The April CotM shadow will also be inspired by Coven.

All photos are taken by Cara from Ten Three Labs. All information was sent to me with permission to post about it publicly.

Palate Cleanser, New Salem, Fell, Resurgence, Mulligetawny Soup

Palate Cleanser- "an assortment of melons, white peach sangria, yuzu, cucumber and lime"

New Salem- (Cara's favorite) "cacao absolute, labdanum absolute, burnt earth, spiced apples"

Fell- "moss, kelp, water lillies and sugar cookies"

Resurgence- "vetiver, Spanish moss, wet dirt, and honeysuckle"

Mulligetawny Soup- (Cara dubbed this her weirdest scent ever, but it works) "black pepper, rice, almond milk, coconut, apple, lemon, curry and cardamom"

I was lucky enough to be sent a sample of Resurgence, a perfume inspired by my boo, Misty Day.

(seriously, look at how gorgeous she is)

In Coven, Misty Day has the power of Resurgence, meaning she can bring back the dead (though magic always comes with a price). Misty's a hippie at heart and possibly the biggest fan of Stevie Nicks ever, and I couldn't think of a better perfume to represent her.

On cold sniff, this perfume smells of wet, overturned earth and a hint of sweet honeysuckle. My fiance took a cold sniff as well, and he said it smells like an "old, forgotten house". I've been wearing the perfume for the past few days, and upon initial application, it smells dominantly like moss and grass. After about half an hour, the moss and grass faded a touch and I started to smell the dirt and honeysuckle. The perfume wasn't very far-throwing, which I was okay with. For more "unique" scents, I try to keep them more to myself. I don't think the majority of people like smelling wet dirt and grass on a person. Resurgence lasted a good five to six hours before I wanted to reapply. I really like this perfume, and I'm pumped up to try the other four!

Wednesday and Sopresa

Cara's Saucebox Sheen gloss formula debuted in her last subscription box, and these will be the first to be available to everyone. Wednesday is a "black with red sheen", and Sopresa is a "plain old red". These look super opaque, and I'm really interested to see lip swatches of Wednesday. Usually darker colored glosses have issues with streakiness, but this picture doesn't show any! The color is definitely not accurate in these photos, and I'll swap out this photo for something that gives the colors more justice if possible.

Last but not least, the two permanent shadows of the collection! There aren't any available pictures yet, but I'll add them if any are posted before the release. Both shadows are matte.

Liiiiiiiiiiiies- "a dirtied beige"

Dog- "a deep brown"

Cara also teased that her April CotM will be connected to the New Salem Collection, but she's keeping it a secret for now! Overall, I'm ecstatic about this collection. I'm a huge fan of Coven, and his collection does it the justice it deserves. Awesome work, Cara!

The New Salem Collection launches on April 1st.