Gushing Over Corvus Cosmetics' Berenice Shadow and Upcoming Grimm-Inspired Collection

I'm baaaaack! *lightning flash* Yesterday I received Corvus Cosmetic's CotM for February, Berenice, along with a sample of Bite My Shiny Metal @$&! Today I'm going to be doing swatches and reviews of both!

As usual, swatches are done over bare skin on the left and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy on the right. All quoted product descriptions are taken directly off the Corvus Cosmetics shop site.

Berenice: "a matte dark brown-red with a slight sparkle"

First off, for those unfamiliar with Edgar Allen Poe's short story, Berenice, check it out here. It's creepy as hell, but what Poe tale isn't? TL;DR: This shadow is inspired by bloody teeth, and it works. A mostly matte burgundy with a hint of silver sparkle, this definitely screams.. bloody teeth? Note that this swatch is done over bare skin and Pixie Epoxy, but Berenice might fare better over a regular primer versus a glitter primer as it's primarily a matte.

Bite My Shiny Metal @$&!: "shiny antique silver with a slight brown base"

This was my free sample with purchase, and I'm so glad I got to check out this shadow! BMSMA has an amazing silver sheen to it, but my camera was just not having it. Bender would be proud, though.

Berenice is still available for purchase despite being the CotM for February, but Bite My Shiny Metal @$& is not. Noel's The Year 3000 Collection had to be discontinued due to a pesky copyright claim, but most shades are returning soon! Her new Grimm-inspired collection, Kinder-und Hausmarchen, makes its debut March 9th at midnight EST. Here's a run-down of the Futurama-inspired shadows that will return, reinvented, as a part of the new collection:

Goodbye, Hans (Orange Joe), The Better to Eat You With (Bite My Shiny Metal @$&!), Let Down Your Hair (Smizmar), He Was No Frog (Good News Everyone)

Death at His Feet (Fine Jamaican Bacon), The Thirteenth Gift (Why Not Zoidberg), Golden Slipper (Champaggin)

(These photos were taken by Noel as product swatches for the initial release of the Year 3000 Collection.)

I think Noel did a stunning job at repurposing these shadows. Kinder-und Hausmarchen will also include eight unique, never before seen shadows.. except for Barely a Bite, Gingerbread Haus, and Bluebeard, which were teased earlier today:

Alright, this wraps up my post for tonight! I will definitely be eagerly refreshing the page at midnight on March 9th to snag up what I'm anticipating to be a stellar collection!

You can check out the Corvus Cosmetics shop here! What Year 3000 shadows are you most excited to see making a return?

Swatches and Reviews of AFK Cosmetics' Inconceivable Collection

When I was but a wee lamb, my mom introduced me to The Princess Bride. My mind was BLOWN. I originally grew up on Disney films, and I was not used to independent badass princesses like the lovely Buttercup. Also Westley was gorgeous. I mean, c'mon. Who doesn't love a sword-wielding, RoUS-slaying blonde? Me snagging some samples from AFK's Princess Bride inspired collection was a given. Here are my swatches and reviews!

As always, all photos are taken by myself and all quoted product descriptions are taken directly off AFK Cosmetics' site. Shadow swatches are done over bare skin on the left and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy on the right. Lip swatches are done over moisturized, exfoliated lips.

As You Wish: "an orange-y apricot with a golden sheen"

This color pairs so beautifully with my pink shadows for a neutral look with a bit of pop. And it makes me think of Westley.. have I mentioned I love him a bit?

I'm Not a Witch, I'm Your Wife!: "an olive tone with a very bright blue/green shimmer"

For me, the shimmer wasn't bright, but it was definitely there. From indirect to direct light, this shadow shifts from a musty olive to something much more complex.

Have Fun Stormin' The Castle!: "a dark stoney grey with a light silver shimmer"

This shadow is almost a grey-blue. This picture doesn't really do its sparkle justice. Check out this shadow in its out-of-focus glory below to get a better idea of the sparkle.

Mawwage: "a shimmery pink based cream face highlighter"

Mawwage is wat bwings us togevva....todaaii. *ahem* Even though this is meant to be used as a face highlighter, I swatched it over Pixie Epoxy anyway, as I think it would look great as a sparkly inner corner highlight. The consistency of this powder is very fine and has a bit of a bouncy feeling to it. It reminds me of Make Up For Ever's HD finishing powder.

I've heard great things about Dena's tinted lip balms, and I hate to leave bad reviews, but I was pretty disappointed with both. If anyone can tell me how to get my swatches to look like the ones of AFK's site, please let me know. I couldn't get anything close. Read on, if you have the heart.

Is This a Kissing Book?: "a very soft pink/peach semi sheer tinted lip balm with a lovely gentle rose scent"

This balm was very, very moist. It almost felt like a gloss after applying, and applying wasn't easy. The rose scent wasn't enjoyable, and smelled almost identical to a Lime Crime Velvetine. Despite major consistency issues, I'll slap on this gloss-balm-thing every once in a while, but probably only because it's so sheer and it's easy to disguise it's consistency.

Mostly Dead: "a deep blue based red, reminiscent of dried blood"

This little balm was a bit of a trainwreck (read: trainwreck). The cap was so tight on the tube that opening it required Hulk-like strength and a lot of patience. Unfortunately, I had to grip so tight on the tube to wrestle the cap off that I ended up cracking the balm. My picture was taken right after the damage was done. Luckily (?) the balm is so liquidy that it mended itself after a few swipes on my hand. It's self-healing ability was it's only good quality, however. This balm is trying so hard to be moisturizing and pigmented, and I sympathize with the little guy, but it's a streaky mess. I applied it to my lips straight from the tube, then tried again with a lip brush.. and there's no taming this beast. The swatch on the AFK website looks beautiful, and this was the item from my order that I was most pumped about. I guess I'll have to agree to disagree with those whose rave about this balm formula..

Alright that wraps up my review of my little Inconceivable Collection haul! Some products thrilled me, some products were a total flop, but I'd still recommend AFK to any indie lover. I think I just had some bad indie luck this time around. You can check out the Inconceivable Collection here.

Hello Waffle Swatches and Reviews

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, everybody! Right around the time I finished up my last Hello Waffle post, my next order arrived. C'est la vie. So, here's my second round of Hello Waffle swatches and reviews!

All pictures are taken by me, and all quoted descriptions are taken directly from the Hello Waffle site. As per usual, swatches are bare skin on the left and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy on the right.

Mendelssohn: "light pink with golden sheen"

The description pretty much says it all! A pretty flush peach with a subtle gold shimmer.

Yup!: "matte light mocha"

This matte mocha hails from Christine's Archer inspired collection, which consists of all mattes. As with all indies matte I buy, it seems, this applies fairly patchy. Any advice on applying mattes?

Bae (formerly Fresh Lacquer, discontinued): "dark stormy copper with silver sparkle"

I know this isn't based on Baelfire from Once Upon a Time, but every time I put this shadow on I find myself gazing dreamily into the distance.. until I think about his father. I'm not picking up too much copper here. For me, it's a stormy grey with a cool silver shift.

"Uh, Duh!": "matte burgundy red"

Another matte from the Archer-inspired Duchess Collection, this is a burgundy that screams "grunge", and that is NOT a bad thing. This applied a little patchy, but not nearly as patchy as Yup! This shadow tends to clump up in the jar, similar to Fyrinnae's shadows, but that's normal as far as I can tell. Give the clumps a little tap with your brush, and they'll fall away.

Ethereal Voice: "warm purple with noticeable golden shimmer"

This is definitely one of Hello Waffle's tried and true purples. A warm, almost smokey purple with a golden sheen, this pairs well with so many of Christine's other gorgeous purples. A must-have for purple junkies! How many times can I use the word "purple" in one review? Purple, purple, purple.

Well, this wraps up my second Hello Waffle swatch and review post! It certainly won't be the last, especially with the Kitty Kingdom restock creeping up on us. You can check out Hello Waffle's adorable website here.