Checking Out GLORYHAWK

Hey, everyone! I took a short hiatus lately, but now I'm back! Ashley over at GLORYHAWK sent me some press samples to share with you guys. These shades are all currently available with the exception of Thalio, which was discontinued in June.

GLORYHAWK is pretty new to the indie scene, as it just opened in late April. I love the aesthetic of her shop, and she's quick to reply to messages. Her lipsticks are all cruelty free as well, which is always a plus!

These products were press samples, and all opinions are my own. Quoted descriptions are taken directly off the GLORYHAWK Etsy shop, which can be found here. Swatches are applied with my fingers.

I was sent ten clamshell samples with handwritten labels. Clamshell samples are normally priced at $1.50, and full sized lipsticks in bullets range from $8-9. The clamshells were very sturdy and were filled completely, which is super generous! Ashley offers two scent options for her lipsticks: unscented and apple. I didn't get to pick my scents, so I ended up with a mix of both. The apple scent is yummy but pretty strong after application.

Unfortunately, I had major issues with the formula of the lipsticks. They were very waxy and I couldn't pick up any color with a lip brush. I opened up all of the clamshells and laid them under a window to warm them for about ten minutes. Even after that, I still couldn't use a lip brush and opted to use my fingers. Still, I had to rub the lipsticks with my fingers for a good twenty seconds for them to soften enough to pick up any pigment. The swatches on Ashley's site are very pigmented, and I couldn't replicate them for the life of me. Some lipsticks were more pigmented than others, but overall they ranged from very sheer to moderately opaque. I packed on as much color as I could for these swatches, but again, they're nowhere near the site pictures.

Delphine: "a subtle nude that gives your lips a gold-tinged shimmer"

Faunne: "a fresh candy-pink"

Zinda: "a bright pinky-coral"

Inasis: "an apricot color with subtle shimmer"

Gisele: "a fresh pink"

Alisandra: "an orangey red with a coppery/rust foil effect"

Lux: "a brilliant pink color"

Inanna: "a cool-toned red"

Thalio: "a fuschia color with violet undertones"

Kseniya: "a mauve/plum color"

Well, that wraps up my post! Overall, I'm pretty underwhelmed by these lipsticks. They're not nearly as pigmented as shown in the GLORYHAWK shop, and require a lot of effort to even soften. I've been hopping aboard the tinted balm trend lately, and these produce that effect, but that's not how they're supposed to apply and I just don't have the patience to work with this formula. I won't be purchasing from GLORYHAWK.

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!

Swatches and Review of Aromaleigh's March 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. :)

This is horribly belated, but I love this box so much that I'd rather review late than never! My lovely fiance, Charles, gifted me the Aromaleigh Ephemera Box subscription for Valentine's Day. Nothing says love like a little box of makeup treasures every month! This was the first box I received, and it's inspired by Norse Mythology. Most know their Norse Mythology from watching movies about vikings, or your interest grew when you saw that Chris Hemsworth was set to play Thor. Personally, I know my Norse legends from playing The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. I have no shame in this, and I will wave my Stormcloak banner high until the day I die. If you side with the Imperials, there's a little red X button at the top right of your screen. Go ahead and click that. I kid (only a little).

Anyway, let's dive into the contents of the March Emphemera Box!

This box included one full-sized blush, three full-sized shadows, two shadow sample baggies (which I poured into jars as usual), and a sample of a Kiss My Sass lip gloss. There were also two Swedish Fish candies, but those were long gone by the time I took pictures. Extras of this box will be made available on Aromaleigh's site in May.

All shadow swatches are taken over, from left to right, bare skin, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Blush swatches are applied over bare skin, with a heavy swatch on top and a blended out swatch on the bottom. Lip product swatches are taken over exfoliated and moisturized lips. The skin around my lips is blurred to hide imperfections, but otherwise, no editing is done. Product descriptions are taken directly off the product description sheet found in the March Ephemera Box, off a post on Aromaleigh's blog, the Aromaleigh website itself, and Kiss My Sass's website. If you have any questions as to where I pulled individual descriptions from, please don't hesitate to ask.

L-R, T-B: Valkyrie, Ragnarok, Valhalla, Yggdrasil

Next Month's Hint, Carina, Kiss My Sass Sheer Lip Glaze in Daydreams

Valkyrie: "an easy-wear, soft warm rose shade". Inspired by the choosers of the slain, who hovered over battlefields, decided warrior's fates, and showed the fallen the way to Valhalla or Folkvangr. Don't make a Valkyrie angry, or it's a spear to the leg and a swift trip to Folkvangr for you.

Kristen dubbed this a "Your cheeks but better" shade, and she couldn't be more right. When I blend Valkyrie out, it gives me a delicate rosy flush. This blush is also incredibly pigmented, so this full size might just last me a lifetime. Valkyrie was my first indie blush, and I couldn't have been happier.

Ragnarok: "a deep, reddish brown with gold/green interference shimmer". Inspired by the Norse end of days. A prophecy depicted the falling of the Gods, the destruction of the earth, and the renewal of mankind after a great flood.

I didn't pick up any of the green shimmer. For me, this shadow is a deep, warm brown that almost has a metallic bronze finish over Pixie Epoxy. Over bare skin and primer, this is a flat brown. I can't complain about a brown shadow, though, because the three Norse themed shadows in this collection mesh together so well.

Valhalla: "a soft pale weathered gold with strong blue interference sparkle". Valhalla is the "hall of the slain", a beautiful hall in Asgard, where Odin welcomes his chosen fallen warriors with open arms and a bountiful buffet that never ends. (I'm going to be a little nerdy again. Skyrim's chosen Nords are sent to the Hall of Valor in Sovngarde when they perish, and I always think about how you get to travel there when I use this shadow. All of that food, mmm.)

Kristen's description is spot-on. This isn't a normal gold, or an antique gold. This is a soft pastel, with plenty of sparkle. It's ethereal and more than fit to represent Valhalla.

Yggdrasil: "a midtone heathered green with copper interference shimmer". Yggdrasil is a great yew tree that's central to Norse mythology and considered very holy. Its branches extend into the havens, and its roots extend into distant lands. Within Yggdrasil, majestic creatures dwell, and every day the Gods go to the great tree to assemble.

Before I started this post, I looked up pictures of the European Yew tree, which is the agreed species of tree that Yggdrasil was. This color is perfect. Yews are conifers, and the color of the foilage reminds me of the trees you find on Christmas Tree Farms. That subtely paled forest green is wonderfully replicated here. I did find that Yggdrasil performed the worst over bare skin, as it lost most of its dimension. Still, it's a gorgeous green.

Next Month's Hint (name not yet revealed): "a beautiful mauve shade with green/chartreuse interference shimmer"

Sneaky, sneaky Kristen, making us all guess the theme of the April Ephemera box! I didn't even attempt to. Later on, Kristen revealed the next box is inspired by the Ancient Roman festival of Floralia, a celebration of Flora, the goddess of flowers, vegetation and fertility. Floralia was a real party, complete with nude dancing prostitutes, the release of fertile hares and goats, and pelting each other with legumes. (I especially like the legume part.) Anyway, this is a muted, dusty mauve with green and yellow sparks. It applies beautifully over bare skin, primer, and adhesive. I have a feeling I'm going to love April's Ephemera Box.

Carina: "a rich violet with a strong teal duochrome shift"

This was originally a sneak peek of Aromaleigh's newest collection when the boxes were sent out. The Galactic Collection, Mission One has now been released, and Mission Two is set to blast off (hehe) in May. Carina is a major standout in Mission One with a strong duochrome that, of course, my camera just couldn't capture well. The teal shift is bright and has that glowing-from-within effect. If you can only snag one shadow from the Galactic Collection, grab Carina. The rest of Mission One is gorgeous, and the label art is amazing. Each shadow is inspired by NASA's beautiful pictures of places far away from our little planet Earth. Here's a look at the label art for Mission One:

(Carina is top center.)

Kiss My Sass Sheer Lip Glaze in Daydreams: "a sheer pale pink glow"

This has a faint pink shift in the package, but my lips unfortunately are that exact shade of pink. For me, personally, this may as well be a clear gloss. The minty smell is strong and the tingling sensation from the peppermint oil lasts a long time, so if you're not a fan of either of those things, steer clear of this gloss. Despite all that, I loved the consistency and texture of Daydreams. It's light and moisturizing. Not sticky at all. I'm definitely going to try out some of their more pigmented glosses in the future. The formula is great; this color in particular just didn't work well for my lips.

Well, this wraps up my crazy late post about Aromaleigh's March Ephemera Box! My next steps for Bellibone Beauty are to give the site a little makeover, as well as work on incorporating looks and videos into my reviews. I made a quick test video of my swatches tonight, so let me know what you like or don't like. Feedback is going to be critical for me while I try to get my blog at full potential. Thanks, everyone!