My Aromaleigh v.2 order & swatches (Ancient Magick & Brilliant Deductions)

I love it when I get packages in the mail; especially, when it's an order from Aromaleigh.  Aromaleigh v.2 recently released Ancient Magick (an Egyptian-inspired collection) and Brilliant Deductions (a Sherlock inspired eyeshadow mystery) and the colors and finishes were so enticing that I couldn't resist sampling some for myself.

Although I prefer to wear shades in the neutral family of colors, I occasionally venture out of my comfort zone (but usually not very far).  That makes is doubly nice when Aromaleigh surprises me with a few free samples of colors I normally wouldn't choose for myself.

My order arrived in a padded gold envelope and this was inside. . .everything wrapped in pretty tissue paper, velveteen ribbon and a logo sticker.

All of my individual samples were contained within one larger protective zipper baggie and the full sized powder has a sticker over the sifter to keep the Glamoured Vegan Correcting/Perfecting Finishing Powder (in Gypsophilia) from potentially escaping during shipping.

  Here's what I ordered. . .

 Hooray for unexpected freebies!

 At first glance, the four shadows below are some of my favorites from my order.

(Swatched over bare skin in natural light)

I love the variety these two new collections seem to offer.  Lots of different finishes and effects (metallics, frosts, duo finish, sparkles).  I can't wait to try them out on my eyes.  When I do, I'll post the resulting look here so be sure to check back.  Bye for now!

Meow Cosmetics Holiday 2012: Midnight Clear Look

I received some eyeshadow samples compliments of Meow Cosmetics to test and review.  Among them were several from the Holiday 2012 collection "Midnight Clear."  I picked the ones that I thought would be my favorites and put them together in a look.  I am very pleased with the results.

  

• Cloven Skies:  Warm bronzed russet with copper iridescence and a soft metallic  finish (more metallic than sparkly) (Meow's description perfectly describes this eyeshadow.  Beautiful, rich color.)

• Golden Hours:  Soft metallic brushed gold (Great description.  Gorgeous color! I patted it over Cloven Skies on my lid to add richness and shine in this look.)

• Peaceful Wings:  Buttery sand gold (My favorite.  It's a great highlighter for my skin tone.  Love!)

• Ancient Splendor:  Iridescent taupe with copper highlights (This one has a dark base that I wasn't expecting by the look of Meow's swatch making it more wearable for me as a liner rather than an eyeshadow.)

 My own hand swatches

Please come back and visit soon.

Aromaleigh v.2 Samples and Sylph Blush Review

I received my Aromaleigh v.2 sample order yesterday.  I got 9 of the Sylph blush colors (bouvardia, calla, celosia, gladiolus, paeonia, primrose, protea, sakura, and thistle), samples of all 3 Illuminata products (original, luxe, and eye), 1 Prelude treatment primer, 1 Gypsophila finishing powder (I tried this sample when the product was first introduced but couldn't remember if I loved it or not so I'm trying it again), 1 Gossamer foundation in 2y and 1 Gossamer foundation in 3w (for my teen).

First up are the blushes. . .

I haven't tried them all yet but I did attempt to swatch a few on my arm.  Blush color swatches aren't easy to photograph.  But the ones I included here are pretty close to real life.  You can rely on the color descriptions on the website because in my opinion, they are true to the samples I have tried.

Yesterday, I wore Protea.  I find that richer more vibrant colors look better on me that lighter ones.  I can apply them with a light hand and get a natural flush of color; whereas, lighter blushes tend to disappear on me or I have to layer them quite a bit to get any color payoff.  Today, I wore Celosia and loved it (sorry no pics - but soon).  It is a mid tone color that's not too peach and not too pink.  It also has a little more sheen to it than just matte.  I would call it a plush finish because its texture/finish reminds me of the Muse line of eyeshadows.

bouvardia: A medium neutral bronzed berry.
calla: A delightful coral peach.
celosia: A soft peachy pink buff.
gladiolus: A luscious pink mauve.
paeonia: An exquisite deep peony pink.
primrose: A gorgeous mauved pink with soft beige tones. 
protea: A perfect blend of pink, peach and scarlet.
sakura: A true candy pink.
thistle: A soft pinkish mauve with buff tones.

Me wearing Protea blush.  When applied sheerly, the depth and brightness is not intimidating.  I love this color!

Coming up:  Reviews of Aromaleigh v2 finishing powders and eyeshadows.

Please come back and visit soon.

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Meow Cosmetics "Pandora's Box" Swatches

  Hi Nesters!

I received my samples of Meow Cosmetics' Pandora's Box eye shadow collection today.  Here are my swatches.  I applied the eye shadow on my arm over a base of lotion.  Photos were taken in front of a sunny window and I used fill flash.  So many pretties here.  I'm going to post full sized swatches on Meow's facebook page if you'd like closeups of each color.

You can find these eye shadows here:  Meow Cosmetics

Meow Shattered Equinox: Look I

Hi Nesters!

Here's my first look (I did this on Friday) using Meow's Shattered Equinox collection. The two colors I chose for my look (Perverse and Tarnished) are rich, smooth and highly pigmented. I love them!

• Perverse (lid/crease): Muted golden berry plum

• Tarnished (outer v and slightly into crease): Bronzed umber with silver sparkle and gold iridescence

• Aromaleigh's Pink Negligee (inner corner): Silky pink with delicate taupe and violet undertones

In this look, Tarnished was used as an accent just to provide a little depth in the outer corner. However, I think it would do very well as the featured color in a smokey eye look. Maybe I'll try it tonight when Jason takes me out to dinner for my birthday.

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Aromaleigh's "Wonderstruck" review - Part I

Hi Nesters!

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I'm going to be reviewing Aromaleigh's "swan song" collections starting with Wonderstruck. Keep in mind, these are my impressions of what I see while viewing the eyeshadow swatched on the back of my lotioned hand (or arm in some cases).

Today, I tested out 10 eyeshadows. Each of them had sparkles (aka cosmetic grade glitter), but I want to note that the sparkles are very fine and delicate. Like beautiful pixie dust, not like school project glitter. In some cases, it was very difficult for me to decipher precisely what color the sparkles were but I gave it my best guess. What I do know for sure is that the sparkles are gor-geous! I found myself holding my hand up to the sunlit window, turning it this way and that way and thinking "Ooooh pretty sparkles." If a stranger were to see me doing this, I'd most certainly be thought of as a great candidate for the loony bin, but you fellow makeup lovers know exactly what I'm talking about and we are not cuckoo. We just appreciate pretty sparkly things. With that said...on with my descriptions!

• Melancholy Maiden - Nude/fawn/buff shimmer with multi-colored (aurora borealis?) sparkles.

• Spot of Tea - Neutral (not too cool, not too warm) beige shimmer with lavender sparkles.

• Wonder-ous - Warm cream shimmer with gold sparkles and slight yellow/green iridescence.

• But This is My Dream - Pinky/peach shimmer with golden iridescence and pink sparkles.

• Mimsy - Light warm peachy brown with plush/shimmer finish and multi-colored sparkles.

• Tattered & Grown - Midtone pewter shimmer with pink highlight and baby blue sparkles.

• Tunnel Vision - Quintessential midtone shimmery taupe (not too brown, not too gray) with lots of tiny multi-colored sparkles.

• Fiddlesticks - Midtone warm shimmery copper (but not orangey) with blue and pink sparkles.

• Opiate Advice - Greyed periwinkle with pink iridescent highlight and crystal sparkles.

• Just A-head - Mid/dark-tone charcoal shimmer with dusty lilac iridescent highlight and lots of pink, lavender, blue and crystal sparkles.
  
  
  
  
  
  *If you decide to order an eyeshadow based on my descriptions and yours ends up having gold sparkles instead of copper, for example, please don't write to Aromaleigh telling them you got the wrong product. These are just my own personal observations. Sampling and testing them out for yourself is always the best way to know for sure if you'll like a particular color. :)

  Edited to add: KittenMittens asked in the comments below if Wonder-ous was like Infernal Chaos from Aromaleigh's Victoria's Revenge collection. Here are photos comparing the two:
  
  Indoors w/ flash (blurry but it shows the sparkles a little bit)
  
  
  
  
  
  
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New mineral makeup collections from Aromaleigh and Meow!!!

Hi Nesters,

Two of my favorite mineral makeup companies have just announced new collections.

First up is Aromaleigh, which just unveiled the first of 3 farewell collections. Instead of selling off her remaining inventory of minerals, Kristen (owner and artisan of Aromaleigh Cosmetics) has decided to grace us with 3 eye shadows collections inspired by her son's love of Mythology, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, and Harry Potter. Here is the first of those collections...MYTHOS. The colors I'm most looking forward to trying are Chronos, Hestia, and Zeus.

MYTHOS (click on the photo to view hand swatches)

Meow Cosmetics' new collections for fall 2010 are Alien Abduction, Sunless Sea and Shattered Equinox. In addition, they've brought back for the Halloween holiday their Dance of Death, Frightening Foundations, Friday the 13th, and Halloween Zombies collections.

Here are the colors that grab my attention in the Alien Abduction collection: Abductee, Probe, and S.E.T.I.

My initial faves from this collection are: Um....all of them!

Colors I can't wait to try from Shattered Equinox: Tarnished, Dour, Turmoil, and Melancholy. This collection also has 5 blush colors. Click on the photo to see.

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About Face Cosmetics (aka The She Space) clearance on old backstock! (and swatches)

Hi Nesters!

Heather of Heatheresque and Eye Couture Cosmetics, and also the owner of the now defunct online cosmetics company About Face Cosmetics (aka The She Space), has posted some of her About Face backstock on her Eye Couture web site. Here's what Miss Heather says about it:

"Well, if you didn't think I was crazy before, then this email will surely put you over the edge....but a girl's got to do, what a girl's got to do in order to find homes for eye colors! LOL!! So, when you have a second.....either visit our message board or click on this link http://www.eyecouturecosmetics.com/aboutfaceclearance.html to learn about how you can get former About Face eye colors for just $1.50. Yes....I keep trying to get them into new homes, but the insanity never seems to end, so for those who didn't love the grab-bag idea, this is a last ditched effort....just for you! I hope that this finally gives you the opportunity to get what you might have missed out on.....and gives me a little peace of mind in knowing that ALL of the colors are finally gone! LOL!!!"

They are being sold in baggies that contain the same amount of product you would find in a 5 gram jar. And for only $1.50! Up on the site, is a photo chart of the colors she is offering right now (all her available neutrals) but there are no hand swatches or color descriptions. I went through my old stash of samples and found a few colors that I really liked but never bought full sizes of. I couldn't pass up this great offer so I placed an order for full sizes of these five colors today.

One of the lovely ladies on the Heatheresque forum posted a document containing color descriptions for many of the former About Face/TSS eye shadows to help everyone in their selection process. Although she didn't have descriptions for all of the colors I have. Fortunately, I had written them on my sample baggies.

Here are my hand swatches and descriptions:

Touched by Truth: Twinkling golden taupe




Ecstasy Unleashed: Nude corn yellow (from the Velvets collection)

Honey's a Heartbreaker: Softest cinnamon (from the Velvets collection)

Step to It: Cocoa smoke shimmer with a hint of pink

Ruled by Memories: Cocoa-berry plum

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Meow haul + Simple/Guilty Pleasures swatches

Hi Nesters!

Yesterday, I received an order I placed for 32 samples from Meow Cosmetics. I purchased them on July 29, using a free shipping coupon and they arrived just in time for me to order full sizes of my favorites using a 30% off birthday coupon, which expired yesterday at midnight. Receiving an order within four days of ordering it is very fast, especially taking into consideration that Meow is on the east coast and I'm on the west coast and one of those days the post office was closed.

Here are photos of what I received, including two free samples from the Lost Rainforest collection. In addition, I swatched my samples of the new Pleasures Collection for you.

The Pleasures Collection

Miscellaneous samples, including extras of two of my new favorites jambu fruit dove and kinkajou.

Morning Latte is my favorite color (I ordered a full size last night) in the Pleasures Collection. It's difficult to photograph (you can see it just looks like a light silvery taupe in the above photo), so I took additional photos to show the depth of the warm brown undertone. I'm in love with this color! Yesterday, I wore it on my lid/crease with bubble bath (my 2nd favorite--ordered a full size of this one last night too) as the highlight. I felt subtly sexy.

Sunrise isn't from the Pleasures Collection but it's one of my favorite neutrals so I swatched it to show you how pretty it is since the photo on the site doesn't do it justice. A full size of it wasn't in my budget this week but I really love it so I ordered 2 more samples of it.

My other favorites from the Pleasures Collection are: chocolate truffle, fried chicken, potato chips, chinese takeout and making love. I ordered 2 additional samples of each of these last night. I also ordered a sample of comfort food which I haven't tried yet but saw a swatch of it on someone's blog and it looked prettier than it did in the Meow photo.

If you've got photos on your blog of you wearing colors from the Pleasures Collection, please link to it in my comments section. I'd love to see them.

Robyn