Darling Girl Cosmetics Mini Haul

Hi everyone! 

Today I have a little haul from one of my absolute favorite indie companies, Darling Girl Cosmetics. I actually discovered Darling Girl the same way I have discovered so many other indie companies - through samples in Glamour Doll Eyes' OTM subscription! 

I placed my first order with Darling Girl back in November to get a few of The Walking Dead themed shadows and some things for a Secret Santa Exchange. Ever since then, I have been obsessively checking out the website and Facebook group and making a list of things that I MUST HAVE. Susan, the owner of Darling Girl, is kind of a product wizard. There are so many different types of things available to purchase and she's always dreaming up more! I mean, you want blush? There are six different kinds. 

The best part, for me, is that she doesn't do a lot of limited edition stuff. So, even if something isn't available right now, it will probably be back (except for the Momentary Marvels section, I believe)! Every week, Susan creates a new eye shadow shade as a GWP and any order over $10 will receive it. All orders also include samples and stickers!

So, what did I order? BEHOLD!

I know. You're thinking, "Allison, what in the world is in those gorgeous gold tubes?"

Let's talk about those first. 

Those, my friends are Pucker Paints!

From the Darling Girl website: 

Pucker Paints are light weight liquid lipstick that glide on silky smooth and dry down to a matte finish. Unlike a lot of matte lip products these will not leave you running for the lip balm moments after applying.

From left to right: Dodgy, Oh My Glob, & Love Sick. 

Descriptions per the Darling Girl website:

Dodgy - Bright coral pink.

Oh My Glob - Medium magenta.

Love Sick - Light orchid.

The only description I disagree with a little bit is Oh My Glob. I guess when I think magenta, I think more pink. But this is definitely purple. I love it, regardless. 

Next up, we have the 'Happy Slapsgiving' Kiss-her Tinted Lip Balm. Yes, that is absolutely a How I Met Your Mother reference. This was originally made as a limited edition shade for Black Friday, but it can still be purchased in the Momentary Marvels section of the site. It's the most gorgeous berry shade. A little sheer, but completely buildable. 

Swatch time!

Left to right: Dodgy, Oh My Glob, Love Sick, & Happy Slapsgiving.

SWOON. I can't even decide which one I want to wear first! The Pucker Paints are surprisingly opaque in one swipe and dry pretty quickly! As mentioned, Happy Slapsgiving is a little sheer, but buildable. 

Next up, blushes! There are several different kinds of blush available, but I decided to try the Soft Focus Blush this time. I have so many sparkly blushes and these are supposed to be a matte/satin mix. Something different!

I ordered mini sizes of Paradise Pink & Yes, Virginia!

Descriptions per the Darling Girl website:

Paradise Pink - peachy pink

Yes, Virginia! - Light pale lavender 

Ok. These are insanely pigmented and so smooth to apply! The swatches below are just one swipe. 

Left to right: Paradise Pink, Yes, Virginia!

Next up, all the eye things!

Pennsatucky glitter, Grand Pabbie eye shadow & Exquisite eye shadow. 

Here's Grand Pabbie & Exquisite. 

Grand Pabbie was the January Color of the Month. Apparently he's a character on the show Once Upon A Time. I have never seen it, but think he's pretty cute anyway. And the color is absolutely magnificent! It's described as a 'metallic khaki green with silver iridescence.' 

Exquisite was the GWP during the week I ordered. It's a really great shimmery medium nude & I think it would work well with pretty much any look.

Oh, Pennsatucky. This is the glitter from the Darling Girl is the New Black Collection. 

Description from the Darling Girl website:

Pennsatucky is the Holy Trinity of glitter blends—the gleaming silver of angel wings, the icy blue of the purest crystal meth, and the soft pink of a gummy, toothless smirk. 

I have never seen Orange is the New Black either (don't hurt me - it's in my queue!), but I think just about anyone would be a fan of this glitter. It's so beautiful!

Next round of swatches!

Left to right: Grand Pabbie, Exquisite, & Pennsatucky. 

Over Glamour Doll Eyes Glitter Glue.

(Excuse the Pennsatucky swatch! I didn't realize so much would come out of the jar at once!)

Last, but not least, I'm leaving you with a little sneak peek of blog posts to come! 

This was the last item in my order - Liquid Stardust in Santa's Sneaky Sleigh. It's lovely and I can't wait to tell you all about it, but I have a sort of extensive post planned for this so we'll talk about it later!

Have you ordered from Darling Girl before, or are you planning to now? What are you favorite products and shades? Any absolutely-must-have items? 

Hello Waffle Visage February 2015

Posts two days in a row?! I know, I'm pretty impressed myself. The most beautiful purple envelope sealed with cat printed washi tape arrived in my mailbox this morning & I knew I just HAD to post about it immediately.

Visage is the monthly subscription box created by Hello Waffle Cosmetics. Visage is the French word for 'face' and each month's box contains products for your eyes, lips, and face. Basically, you get a whole look, which is awesome for people like me who can never figure out what colors work well together! Products vary in size and type from month to month, but I've been subscribed since November and I have always found that the boxes have a good value. The price is $25 per month (shipping included) and, if spaces are available, subscriptions open up on the 29th of each month on her website. Boxes start shipping the 5th of each month. Christine, the owner, lives in Canada but I find that packages from her generally get to me fairly quickly!

If you miss out on snagging a subscription, Christine lists any extra products on the 15th of every month. Sometimes the date changes depending on what she's working on, but she always updates customers on her Facebook page.

Are any of you completely obsessed with packaging like I am? I swear half the time I buy things just based on how pretty they look. Well, if you are, you will appreciate the hell out of the Visage packaging.

LOOK AT THIS!
Swoon. It's just gorgeous. The packaging also usually kind of hints at the theme. Roses..huh...

Everything all wrapped up and sealed with the adorable Hello Waffle logo (Waffle is Christine's incredibly handsome cat...I should have mentioned that!). 

Next, you will always find two inserts. The first is an explanation of the theme, the contents, and the prices. 

And then you fill find a story! This month's theme is 'Little Briar Rose,' one of Grimm's Fairytales. Now the rose on the packaging makes more sense, eh?

Then, you'll find a card that has the month's artwork on it. I like to collect these & stick them in my vanity mirror. They're just so beautifully done! Per the Hello Waffle website, all label artwork is done by Hannah from Graphitist Portraiture and Illustration.

And now we're to the contents. Pretty sweet deal for only $25, right? This month we have three mini eye shadows, a full sized blush from Blackbird Cosmetics, a full sized lip gloss, and a full sized perfume from Sixteen92. 

First let's take a look at this month's eye shadows. I'm already such a huge fan of all of these shades and I know they're going to work so well together!

'Fifteen'
Shimmery mauve-rose with purple sparks.

'Thorn Hedge'

Shimmery dark grey with pink and purple sparks. 

'100 Year Sleep'

Deep eggplant purple with pink and purple sparks. 

There are so many things from Blackbird Cosmetics that I've been dying to try, and blush is pretty high up on my list. Incredibly happy that there's a full size in here! This particular shade was made just for the Visage.

'Little Briar Rose'
Muted light pink with subtle gold sheen. Satin finish. 

 It looks a little brown in the jar, but wait until you see it swatched! This is absolute perfection for us pale ladies.

Next, a full sized Hello Waffle lip gloss called 'Wise Woman.'
Brick strawberry with a subtle but evil blue glow. Moderately opaque. 

Also insanely excited about this. I grabbed some of Hello Waffle's glosses back in November and I am so hooked. I'm normally not a gloss person at all, but these aren't even remotely sticky and they have this really great vanilla scent - kind of like cake! Also, they're more like a liquid lipstick than a gloss, in my opinion.

The second 'extra' in this month's box is from Sixteen92. Again, this product was created just for the Visage. It's a full sized perfume called 'Thalia.'
Vanilla, soft musk, moss, fern, and stone. 

On a cold sniff, I'm not a huge fan of this, but it might grow on me! I can't get past the 'musk' aspect of it, but I do generally enjoy earthy scents.

Swatch time, ya'll! Don't be blinded by my paleness. And don't mind the goosebumps; that's just how things are here in the Frozen Tundra!

Top to bottom: Fifteen, Thorn Hedge, 100 Year Sleep, Little Briar Rose, & Wise Woman.

I keep saying I'm going to cancel this month because it's my most expensive subscription, but how could I ever? It's just such a well rounded box and I honestly feel like Christine picks these colors JUST FOR ME sometimes (I know she doesn't). 

Are you a Visage subscriber, or are you going to try to pick one up for March? Any particular theme or colors you'd like to see? I'm not a huge fan of holiday themes but I'd actually love to see some greens and golds for St. Patrick's Day!

EDIT:

Ok, I did a face. I couldn't help it! It's all so pretty!

So here's the lip gloss on my lips. I think you could probably build the color up to be a little darker, but since the eye shadows are kind of smokey/dark, I wanted to keep the lips somewhat light:

And here's my eyes! Fifteen on the whole inner lid, Thorn Hedge on the outer lid, & 100 Year Sleep on the lower lid and far outer corner. 

And my whole face so you can see ze blush. It's so light, but adds just a tiny bit of color. Absolutely love it!

Aromaleigh Ephemera February 2015

Hello, world!

Wow, it's been a while, huh?

Life has just been so crazy & I think I was getting a little burned out doing spoiler post for Ipsy and whatnot. It's just not that exciting for me anymore & kind of made blogging a chore. But, I miss writing and interacting with the blogging community so I'm back! I've gotten super into indies lately, so expect lots of posts about new collections and subscriptions.

Anyway, the first subscription that arrived on my doorstep for February was Aromaleigh Ephemera. Aromaleigh's subscription is fairly new - the first box was January of this year. It's $15 per month (plus shipping) and the box always contains a nice variety of themed mini sized products plus an extra product from another indie brand. Kristen, the owner of Aromaleigh, is currently using a lottery system for fans to win a subscription. You can enter via Rafflecopter on the main Aromaleigh Facebook page.

February's theme was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of my all time favorite movies. I was a little worried that the colors were going to be too bright for me, since there are so many vibrant shades featured in the film, but you will see that they all look very wearable!

First, a quick look at the packaging. I think these look so classy! January and February have both come packaged like this - a simple cardboard box with a theme sticker and a bow. It's obvious that Kristen puts a lot of thought into all the little details of this subscription, including her packaging. Definitely not something that is just thrown together!

When you open the box, you will find a pamphlet explaining that month's theme and describing each product. So far both of the themes have been movies I am familiar with, but these inserts are definitely going to come in handy for the month's where I have NO idea what's being referenced. 

I've never been big into calculating the monetary value of my subscriptions because for me it depends more on what I will or will not use, but if you are it's all broken down for you along with the descriptions! As you can see, the value of this box is well over the $15 charge for the subscription.

Here's a quick look at the contents of the box. Admittedly inhaled that chocolate heart the moment I saw it, so this is the only evidence of it's existence. 

Now let's take a closer look at the products. First up we have a blush called 'Blessed are the Forgetful.' 

The vivid warm red of Clementine's hair when she and Joel are happily in love, with a soft coppery glow of emotional states yet to come. 

The first of the three eye shadows is called 'Meet Me in Montauk.'

The green of Clementine's hair when she first meets Joel in Montauk, with a mattering of hopeful blue sparkle. 

Next we have 'Remember Me.' 

The coral/orange of Clementine's hair as her love affair with Joel falters, accented by the golden amber glow of dying memories.

The last of the three eye shadows is called 'Do I Know You?'

Enduring the aftermath of the breakup and memory erasure, Clementine's hair is blue. This shadow is a wintry blue with a lovely copper/rose duochrome shimmer. Finally, she meets Joel again on the train and says, "Do I know you?"

Some of those shades look a little intimidating in the jars, so let's see what they look like swatched, shall we?

Left to right: Remember Me, Meet Me in Montauk, Do I Know You?, & Blessed Are The Forgetful.

All swatches over Glamour Doll Eyes Glitter Glue.

Remember Me isn't nearly as orange as it looks in the jar. It's more of a coral and it could be fairly sheer if applied lightly. Blessed Are The Forgetful will definitely have to be applied with a light hand when used as a blush, but if it's too intimidating for you it would make a beautiful lip or eye color!

Those products alone make for an awesome month, but, of course, there are extras!

The month's main extra is from Alchemia Apothecary. This is a brand I've had my eye on for a while, so I was thrilled to finally get to try one of their perfumes!

There were two scents sent out with Ephemera, both from the Valentine's Day Collection. The one I received is 'Violet Me' and the other one is called 'Love Drops.' 'Violet Me' is a very fruity scent with just a hint of bakery sweetness - right up my alley!

Violet Me: Fruity blue African violets mingle with the tart aroma of fresh red apples and dewy green willow leaves. Sweet juicy plums meld in incredible harmony to lighten the heavenly trail of fresh baked sugar cookies.

Love Drops: Pink lotus and hawthorn roses burst with the brightness of Mandarin oranges and fresh green bamboo. Transparent hints of amber work to ground this blend. 

You can purchase these and other scents for yourself at Alchemia Apothecary's website.

Kristen was also kind enough to include two sample bags of eye shadow this month. Origami Unicorn is a sneak peek from her upcoming Blade Runner Collection & Ragnarök is a sneak peek at next month's Ephemera theme.

What do you all think? Will you be entering the raffle to try to win yourself a subscription? If you're already subscribed, are you sticking around?

I keep waffling back and forth on cancelling. I loved January and February but I just have so much eye shadow and this is one of my pricier subscriptions. I think I'll wait for another sneak peek and decide then!

If you're waiting for a subscription, definitely make sure you check out the rest of Aromaleigh's products on her website! The Feast of Lupercal collection looks absolutely beautiful & it's only available until March 1st.