Checking Out Mad Lab Cosmetics!

I never see any love for Catherine's indie company, Mad Lab Cosmetics, so I thought I'd place an order myself and share my haul with you! I talked to Catherine a bit through Etsy, and she's super sweet. I purchased a full size Blogger Pack, and poured my sample baggies into my handy 3 gram jars.

My initial review was one of disappointment, and after posting this review, a lot of lovely ladies on IMAM told me there were better ways for me to apply my duochromes for swatches. So I did some fancy reswatches, and my opinion of this company has done a 180. These are really great shadows, and I'm so sorry that my poor application led to a misleading review. For those who want to know the magic ways of applying duochromes: Use a flat, dense-bristled brush, and pat the shadows on. If you're going to take pictures, take them from an angle!

L-R, T-B: Astral Radiance, Random Acts of Makeup, Blush Gold, Pink Opal

Labradorite, Sea Witch, Rhodium

All swatches are taken over, from left to right, bare skin, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. All quoted descriptions are taken directly off the Mad Lab shop page on Etsy, which can be found here!

Astral Radiance: "a light dusty rose with a matte finish and an overlay of purple and blue iridescence"

Such a gorgeous shift! A semi-matte dusty rose base with a subtle blue/purple highlight.

Random Acts of Makeup: "an ultra-rich rosy-bronze taupe that shifts purple under certain lights, all topped with a shimmery finish"

I love this color. An opaque rosy taupe with a little bit of bronze and a little bit of purple. Depends on the lighting. A shimmery finish.

Blush Gold: "a delicate peach with a gold shift"

A soft, feminine peach that shifts into a bold, metallic gold.

Pink Opal: "a translucent whisper pinky-cream that transforms into a bright purple fire with green sparkle"

A pink-toned cream color with silver sparks. Not picking up the purple or green, myself.

Labradorite: "an ethereal shot of teal iridescence over a pitch black base; matte with shimmer over bare skin, blossoms into shimmering duochrome over a sticky base or when applied wet"

Holy glowing duochrome, Batman! Bright turquoise over a pure black, and a beautiful glowing effect over Pixie Epoxy.

Sea Witch: "a pitch-black with a haunting purple glow"

Over bare skin and primer, the black base is very much there. However, over Pixie Epoxy, the whole shadow turns purple. Very much worthy of the Sea Witch herself!

Rhodium: "a blindingly pure white, with a shimmering metallic finish"

The shadow has a chalky consistency, and Catherine informed me it's because this shadow has a matte base. Even so, the other matte-based shadows I swatched didn't have this issue. This is a super pigmented and bright white, and the metallic finish is very subtle.

Welp, that wraps up my review of Mad Lab! I feel so embarrassed about my initial review, which really put Mad Lab in a bad light in terms of product quality. After trying a new application technique, I'm very impressed with these shadows. It's crazy what a different brush can do!

My next review will tackle ColourPop's notorious lip products. Stay tuned!

Checking Out Aromaleigh's April Ephemera Box

Disclaimer: I am currently in the process of reswatching duochromes and photographing them differently to give my readers a more accurate depiction of the shifts. Please be patient while I go through the process of updating my past reviews. :)

Hey, guys! Today I'm going to show you guys what the lovely Kristen included in her April Ephemera Box. The March box was fabulous and inspired by Norse mythology, and I loved this box even more. The inspiration was Floralia, an Ancient Roman holiday that celebrated Flora, the Goddess of Spring, flowers, and youthful pleasures. This was such a great choice for a Spring box. I've only been really into makeup since Autumn of last year, so my collection is all deep oranges, dark purples, browns, and nudes. I'm excited to bring some peaches, greens, and other pastels into the mix for Spring!

As per usual, blush and highlighter swatches are done under bare skin and buffed out slightly. Shadow swatches are done over, from left to right, bare skin, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy (this excludes the cream shadow I reviewed, which is over bare skin only). All quoted descriptions are taken off the little informative paper included in the Ephemera Box.

L-R, T-B: Vernal Roses, Realm of Flora, Locus of Desire, Metamorphose
La Plus Heureuse, Minthe, GDE Floralia

This box included a blush, a multipurpose highlighter, four powder shadows, and a cream shadow from the indie guest, Glamour Doll Eyes. As I said earlier in my post, this box was inspired by Floralia, and here's what Kristen wrote about the festival:

"The Queen of Spring was a beautiful and serene Goddess. She was married to Zephyrus, the west wind. Flora is the twin sister to Faunus, the god of wild creatures. She was originally called Sabine, and was known as Chloris to the Greeks. Offerings of milk and honey were made on this day and the surrounding five days, which comprised the Florifertum and Ludi Florales. The city would have been decorated in flowers, and the people would wear floral wreaths or flowers in their hair. Day and night there were games, pantomimes, and theatre with people of all classes in their brightest clothes. The color names are inspirations from reading Ovid's 'Fasti', a long-form poem with described the origin of many Roman festivals. Numerous painting, such as Tiepolo's Triumph of Flora and Poussin's Realm of Flora, are inspired by Ovid's work."

Vernal Roses (blush): "a muted, mostly matte mauved rose with delicate copper shimmer"

This.. was incredibly sheer. I put up the white flag and took this picture after five heavy applications. If you're looking for an indie blush that isn't intimidating with its pigmentation, this is for you, and it'll be available on Aromaleigh's site in two months with the other extras from this box. However, this was really disappointing to me. The blush from the March box was beautifully pigmented, so this was a bit of an unpleasant surprise.

Realm of Flora (multipurpose highlighter): "a pale creamy peach with a violet highlight"

This was also very, very sheer. It also didn't help that it just about matched my skintone perfectly. It did have a good amount of sparkle to it though, so I'll use this for subtle highlights on my cheeks and on the inner corner of my eyes.

Locus of Desire: "a soft coral peach frost with golden shimmer"

Okay, now we're getting somewhere! Spring has inspired me to dive into the world of peach shadows, and I love Locus of Desire. It's very delicate over bare skin and primer, and really amps up over Pixie Epoxy. I'll combine this with pinks and golds for simple eye looks.

Metamorphose: "a midtone mauve with buff tones, and green/chartreuse interference highlights"

This was included in last month's box as a hint, and I'm so happy to have a full size of it. It's pretty consistently pigmented over bare skin, primer, and glitter glue, so I know I'll get a lot of use out of it. It'll pair beautifully with Locus of Desire.

La Plus Heureuse: official description unavailable; I would call it a dusty grey-purple with subtle silver sparks.

This is the hint for next month's box, and my guess is that it will be inspired by Anne Boleyn! I think this was an interesting shadow to include in this box, considering how similar it is to Metamorphose.

Minthe: official description unavailable; I would call it a muted semi-matte mint/sea foam green.

This shadow is such a beautiful color in the jar, but it applies very sheer, even over Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken after three heavy applications.

Floralia (cream shadow): official description unavailable. I would call it an orange-toned pink with baby blue shimmer.

The paper included with the Ephemera box says this shadow is available for purchase in full-size on the Glamour Doll Eyes site, but I'm not able to find it. This is my first experience with a cream shadow, so I don't have much insight as to whether or not this is a "good" cream product. I do know the color is vibrant and the shift is beautiful. I'll have to teach myself how to apply this properly. This is also my first product from GDE, and now I'm having to restrain myself from placing an order! Low-buys are hard!

Well, that wraps up my review of this month's box! Overall, it was alright. I really liked 3/7 of the products, but the others have problems with sheerness/are too similar to another product in the box. I was really excited for this box, and I felt it had a lot of potential. I'm still subscribed to the Ephemeras, and I'm hoping May's box is more consistent in terms of product quality.

Checking Out Dark Matter's Stardust Shadows and Gravity Primer

Disclaimer: I am currently in the process of reswatching duochromes and photographing them differently to give my readers a more accurate depiction of the shifts. Please be patient while I go through the process of updating my past reviews. :)

Hey, guys! I took a bit of a break last week after a bout of writers' block, but now I'm back! Today I'm going to swatch and review four Stardust shadows from Dark Matter, as well as put their new(ish) Gravity primer to the test. Dark Matter opened in 2012, and came to light in IMAM last year. This is my first order from Dark Matter, but I'd been eyeing the company for a while. From a collection honoring badass female contributors to the world of science, to adorable star shaped swatches, I've been impressed.

When Dom released the Gravity Eyeshadow Primer, I finally bit the bullet and placed my order. My purchase was for three eyeshadow samples, and came with an additional shadow sample and a clamshell sample of the Gravity Primer. Keep in mind non-GWP shadow samples come in "test tubes". Such a cute name, and the tubes hold true to the science theme of Dark Matter, but they're very skinny and my brush couldn't fit in them. For my review today, I poured a tiny bit onto a business card and used them from there. When my shipment of jars arrives, I'll be depotting these. Sometimes theming needs to take a backseat to practicality.

L-R: Aries, Virgo, Aquarius, Betelgeuse, Gravity Eyeshadow Primer

Because I'm reviewing Dark Matter's Gravity Primer, my swatches are going to be a little different. From left to right and top to bottom, shadows will be swatched over bare skin, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, and Dark Matter's Gravity Eyeshadow Primer. As usual, all quoted descriptions are taken off Dark Matter's Etsy shop page, which you can check out here!

The elusive Gravity Primer in its natural habitat..

Let's start off with my first impression of Gravity, Dark Matter's primer. Gravity was advertised as part primer, part glitter glue. I'd say this is definitely a bit of both. It's a milky white both in the clamshell and on my skin, and stays tacky on your skin after applying. The consistency feels somewhere between Pixie Epoxy and e.l.f. Glitter Glue. I've yet to give this a test run, but I'll report back when I do! So far I feel like I haven't quite mastered the application yet. Onto the shadows!

Aries: "a light metallic gold with gold sparks"

This was a pale metallic dandelion yellow with gold sparks. It didn't hold up too well over bare skin, but looked nice over my primers. I think it performed the best over Pixie Epoxy, but I also think I went too heavy on the Gravity primer. A little goes a looong way, and I didn't realize it.

Virgo: "a light pink that has a golden duochrome"

This shadow leaned lilac on bare skin and UDPP, but was true to description over Pixie Epoxy and Gravity. This is a really delicate shade, and I'll be pairing it with brighter pinks and rose golds for Spring.

Aquarius: "a duochrome that shifts from a dark, yet pure blue to a metallic gold"

I was really impressed with the pigmentation over bare skin here. I wouldn't consider this to be a duochrome, however. Over primers, the shadow definitely transforms, but the color doesn't shift depending on the angle you look at it or the light hitting it. For me, the blue doesn't change to a metallic gold, but rather an antiqued green-gold. It isn't very true to the description, but I still like it.

Betelgeuse: "a chocolate burgundy base under an extreme flash of gold glittering highlight"

This actually ended up being my favorite of the bunch! This is a shadow that has the "glowing from within effect" that I love so much. The antique gold really pops over the dark base. I think the glowing effect is lost a bit over Gravity Primer.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with my order. The Stardusts are very pigmented over bare skin, and they look so beautiful over Pixie Epoxy and Gravity. I can't wait to try Aquarius and Betelgeuse as liners! Gravity is a great option for those who don't want to pick between a primer or a glitter glue. But since it's a bit of both, don't expect it to make your shadows pop like Pixie Epoxy does. In terms of learning how to apply it, I'd say it has the same learning curve as Pixie Epoxy. I also think that because of its color, it might not look quite right on someone with darker skin that me. I'm glad I was sent a sample of Gravity, but since I already have a primer and glitter glue I love, I likely won't be purchasing a full size unless it performs wonderfully on my oil slick eyelids.

Well, that wraps up my review! I'd definitely recommend Dark Matter to any indie lover. Dom definitely didn't disappoint, and I'm excited to see what she comes up with next!

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The Great Battle of Shadow Over Primer!

I saw a lot of discussion today on IMAM about how shadows should perform decently on bare skin and over regular primer, but some don't. I thought it'd be interesting to see how the brands I own fare over bare skin, UDPP, and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, and how much I'm paying for each shadow. Five hours and six episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion later, I present to you: The Great Battle of Shadow Over Primer! Don't critique the name, man. It's four in the morning and I'm a little loopy from being tired. Just roll with it.

Swatches are taken, from left to right, over bare skin, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Dollar amounts are in USD, and by teaspoon unless the brand measures product by gram. There won't be much commentary in this post, because the pictures pretty much say it all.

So the cheapest shadow by tsp is Brija Cosmetics, and the most expensive by tsp is Daily Lovelies. I thought that was interesting because I prefer Brija over Daily Lovelies any day. A lot of these shadows were pretty sheer over bare skin, regardless of price. Corvus shadows totally dominated over bare skin. Noel's always been pretty proud of the way her shadows look over bare skin, and she has every right to be. It's also interesting to note that her shadows are one of the cheapest of the bunch.

Well, I hope this was informative for you guys! I definitely got a kick out of swatching all these, and it'll lead to smarter purchases in the future. My next post will either be a tutorial on how to use Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy or how to apply pigmented blushes.. or maybe I'll combine both into one post! Stay tuned!

Drooling a Bit Over Fyrinnae's Shadows and Blushes

Disclaimer: I am currently in the process of reswatching duochromes and photographing them differently to give my readers a more accurate depiction of the shifts. Please be patient while I go through the process of updating my past reviews. :)

Part two of many from my /r/CatsandCosmetics exchange extravaganza, this post centers around Fyrinnae. I received four shadows and three blushes, and I'm excited to share my thoughts with you guys! My camera was not having it with jar photos today, so some look better than others. I know my swatches are far more important, and those turned out fine. so I gave my camera a scolding and pressed on.

L-R, T-B: Rapunzel Had Extensions, Envy Me, Feisty Fennec Fox, Mephisto

Enchant, Greek Goddess, Charm

As usual, shadow swatches are taken over bare skin on the left and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy on the right. Blush swatches are blended out over bare skin. All quoted product descriptions are taken directly from Fyrinnae's website, which can be found here.

Rapunzel Had Extensions: "pale pink with a stunning brilliant light gold highlight"

Fyrinnae's all-time top selling shade, and for a reason. A pink-orange in the jar, this shadow applies a light gold over bare skin and Pixie Epoxy. The semi-loose formula of their shadow works so beautifully with their Pixie Epoxy; they really are a match made in heaven. This is just such a light and gorgeous shadow. I understand the hype now, and I'm kicking myself for not already having this shadow in my collection.

Envy Me: "soft tan-taupe with a green highlight"

I can absolutely vouch for the formula of this shadow, and the shadow description is spot on, but I'm not finding myself too in love with this color. I feel the green and taupe don't go well together, and it resulted in a shadow that looks a little muddy to me. If you like the color, absolutely snatch it up when you can.

Feisty Fennec Fox: "cool gray-taupe finished with a pale gold satiny highlight"

I've been on the prowl for a grey shadow that doesn't turn into a metallic silver over a primer, because I feel a lot of them do that. This is the shadow I've been looking for! The gold highlight was oh so subtle, and just enough to keep the shadow looking interesting. Without that highlight, this shadow probably would've fallen flat for me. Also, for some reason I found the way it looked in-jar absolutely adorable. Like little, cute makeup pebbles. Does anyone else think it's cute somehow? Am I crazy?

Mephisto: "a dark royal blue with a vibrant metallic red sheen"

This shadow is.. interesting. It applied very patchy, and I had to use quite a bit of product to fill in the spaces that looked sparse. I wasn't getting the right color out of it, and when I checked Fyrinnae's page, it suggested to add even more shadow to get that proper red sheen rather than the copper I was getting. That seemed a little high maintenance. By the time I went to add even more shadow, my Epoxy was dry and I decided to leave it be. Unless you're fine with packing on a lot of shadow (and possibly using two layers of primer) to get the color you see on Fyrinnae's page, this is what you get. I'll post a swatch of it after adding multiple layers if anyone's interested, but I felt it was important to show what one layer of the shadow looked like. It's a pretty shadow, but it's too high maintenance for me. This is my first time feeling frustrated with a shadow.

Enchant: "vibrant peach with a very slight touch of pink shimmer"

Fyrinnae's most popular blush since 2006, and I have to say, I'm surprised. This is a fabulous bright peach, but you would think their most popular blush would be a tad more wearable. With Enchant, and all the Fyrinnae blushes I'll be reviewing, I have to stress that these will look best on darker skin, unless you're a bit of a daredevil like me and are willing to brave the outside world with bright-ass cheeks. If you're wanting your cheeks to look less pigmented than my swatches, you need to start out with the teensiest amount imaginable. Use a stipple brush, or any brush with stiffer bristles, and pat the product on your cheeks with a light hand. Don't do anything except pat with that brush, and don't worry if it looks patchy or silly. Then take a blush brush and blend it like crazy. If it still looks a bit patchy, or if you'd like more pigmentation, repeat those steps over again. Also, for the love of Pete, do NOT dip your brush directly into the jar. That will result in pumpkin cheeks and perhaps an overturned piece of furniture. Tap some blush onto a flat surface, like the bottom of the lid, before you do anything. Don't expect to be an expert at applying these right off the bat, because you won't be. There's a learning curve for sure, but indie blushes are amazing and the struggle is worth it. #blushstruggles

Greek Goddess: "vibrant pink with a very slight pink shimmer"

Out of these three blushes, I would say this one is the tamest of them all. It still takes a light hand to apply, but it blends out to be a very pretty rosy pink rather than the pinkish coral you see in the jar. Fyrinnae states that it doesn't contain titanium dioxide or whiteners, so it's ideal for blending on darker skin. Really, I think this blush would look fabulous on a variety of skin tones.

Charm: "vibrant cool pink with the slightest touch of shimmer"

I'm not going to lie, this blush intimidated the crap out of me when I opened the jar. This is Barbie pink, and I never thought it could work. But Fyrinnae continues to surprise and impress, because this blends out to be a wearable cool pink. Honestly, I didn't think any of these three blushes could ever look okay on me. I'm excited to incorporate all three into my everyday looks!

That wraps up my post for today! I'm thinking about perhaps doing a tutorial for my next post. Some of the discussion today on IMAM has made me want to branch out and do more than just swatches and reviews, as helpful as they can be. If you have any ideas for future posts here, please let me know in the comments!