Anastasia Beverly Hills- Duo-chrome Single Eyeshadows Swatches

This is the second group of swatches from Anastasia Beverly Hills single eyeshadow line. Previously I swatched all the matte shades from the singles in the permanent line, you can see that post here. Today is the smallest group of swatches, the four duo-chrome shades.

L-R: Electro, Iridescent Purple, China Rose, Dragonfly

The four duo-chrome shades are Electro a light cool-pink with purple reflect, Iridescent Purple a medium to dark cool purple with a slightly lighter purple sheen, China Rose a gorgeous copper-pink with light orange reflect, and Dragonfly a blue teal with green-teal reflect. Of the four shades China Rose was the most pigmented and rich. Electro also had good pigmentation and both Iridescent Purple and Dragonfly needed to be built up more.

L-R: Dragonfly, Iridescent Purple, Electro, China Rose

Here are the four shades watched on my fingertips, to give  a better idea of the duo-chrome each shade has. 

Of the four I would highly recommend China Rose, it went on really well in the swatch and had such great pigmentation. None of the shades are ones that are truly unique in the cruelty-free market, (Urban Decay comes to mind. If anyone is interested I can do comparisons at some point) but all are nice shades.

Do you have any ABH eyeshadows? Any favourites?

Disclaimer: The widget link at the top is an affiliate link. I get a whole 5 cents if you click it. Mainly it's there so you can see the Dragonfly eyeshadow professionally photographed.

Kat Von D Shade Shifter Eyeshadow~ Swatches and First Impression

On the Road

One last of the First Impression posts for now! While I was at Sephora I also swatched the four Kat Von D Shade Shifter eyeshadow singles. This are duochrome shades and from my swatching I could tell they were really quite pigmented. Plus they were quite large- it would take dedicated use to ever run out of one of these!

The four shades are On the Road (reddened brown with green reflect), Love Letter (deep purple with red reflect), Stockholm (Cornflower blue with violet reflect), and Devotion (Copper with gold reflect). On the road was the most intense of the shades and Love Letter was the least obvious of the duochromes. I couldn't get Stockholm to show how lovely it was (my favourite of the shades) and Love Letter only showed up faintly in one of the photos. I do find Stockholm to be a creepy name when in comparison to the other shade names. Seriously put together they sound like a kidnapping attempt. *shudder* As a side note, the Sephora pictures are surprisingly accurate in their colour matching. Anyways Enjoy!

Devotion

Stockholm

Love Letter

Because of the slight fuzziness you can see a touch of the reflect at the top of the shades

Anyone have any Kat Von D eyeshadows? Do you like the brand?

Cargo Kentucky Eyeshadow Duo- Cruelty-Free Mac Vex Dupe

Hello everyone! Today I have my newest and happiest dupe find, Cargo duo in Kentucky. I was desperately looking for a duplicate of Mac's Vex in a cruelty-free formula (boo Mac for selling in China) and this duo was recommended to me. First of all I want to mention though that Cargo is discontinuing this shade and so it is only available for a limited time from them in their sale section. The good news is however that instead of $20 USD for the two colours shown above, the duo is only $10. Yay. You can check it out here!

Shade! You can see the slight pink tinge of the vex dupe in this photo.

Sun!

Above is the two shadows with Mac Vex on the left and Cargo Kentucky on the right. They are both shown over Milani eye primer (review in the works). The only real difference I've found between the two shades is that the Cargo alternative is slightly less pigmented.

The thing that I loved about Mac's Vex is that it essentially has three colours to it making it very complex and unique. In some lights it appears just silvery grey but in others it looks grey-green or pink. I find it super flattering on my eyes and yet still appropriate for any situation. I like it both as a highlight or as a lid colour and it pairs with most other eyeshadows. Seriously Vex is one of my top eye shadow shades and I was so disappointed when Mac went back to animal testing status.

Over Primer L-R: Mac Vex, Cargo Kentucky, Mac Sumptuous Olive, Cargo Kentucky, Mac Green Smoke

But wait! Not only is there a Vex option there is also a fairly close mix of Mac's Greensmoke shade too. It's a little warmer than Greensmoke but it's fairly close. Considering I find Greensmoke just a tad dark on me most of the time, this shade works great. At first I thought it was going to be closer to Sumptuous Olive but Sumptuous Olive ended up being more khaki-gold than I remembered.

L-R: Mac Greensmoke, Mac Sumptuous Olive, Cargo Kentucky, Mac Vex, Cargo Kentucky

Overall, for the price and match to Vex I love the Cargo duo. It is just a tad less pigmented but over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy or Darling Girl's Glitter Glue I think it will be just about perfect. I like that it's a pressed shade, it's cruelty-free and that it's cheaper than the Mac single and you get another shade too. It doesn't last quite as long as the Mac shade either but it is a huge leap better than the other Vex dupes out there in my humble opinion based on my research. If you want to check them out though Silk Naturals Nymph and Darling Girl's Provoke are both supposed to be dupes as well as Catrice's Dorian Grey shade. 

Overall, Cargo's Kentucky duo gets a 8.5/ 10. The only reason it lost any marks was for reduced pigmentation which also cut back wear time a bit. But it is about a 98% duplicate otherwise. It has all the complex tones of Vex.

Would I buy it again? Yes, I would. However, I think it's going to be pretty difficult to get a hold of once Cargo has sold it out on there site. Why Cargo why must you do this?

Has anyone else loved the Mac Vex shade and been on the hunt for an alternative? Do you have any Cargo duos?

Mac Vex Eyeshadow~ Review

Mac tends to be one of the most popular cosmetic brands out there. This is often because it has the feel and look of a higher end brand with slightly lower pricing with a fairly wide selection. I like some of Mac's products but not all of them. Their eyeshadows tend to vary quite a bit in quality and formula and some of them can be quite disappointing. Vex however is one example of when they do their eyeshadows right.

You can see how well loved my Vex shadow is here

Vex is a light grey with a slight green tint with a pink reflect. It's the perfect neutral in my opinion, not a natural shade but not bright. Vex is very flattering just as a wash all over the lid. The duochrome makes it appear that you've done way more work than you have. Vex makes a wonderful if slightly frosty highlight or tear-duct colour. I find just using Vex lightly as a highlight works best.

I find that Vex is great due to it's versatility. It really goes with just about any other colour. Red, blue, green, purple Vex tends to complement whatever it is paired with.

Shade

Sun

Vex is well pigmented and applies smoothly even if it looks like it won't in the pan. The shade is quite unique too, I've never seen anything that duplicates this shade. To me this is one of Mac's best shades, unique, well pigmented and no formula issues. It really is versatile, I think it's a shade that would work nicely for any skin tone.

Sprite Rating: 9.5/10 Though it can be ever so slightly frosty Vex is Holy Grail material for me!

Overall I like this shade. The only reason it lost a half point is because it can be a bit too frosty at times and Mac's prices are raised yearly.

Would I buy this again? Yes. In fact thus far this is the only Mac eyeshadow I would buy a second one of, I really love this shade.

High Voltage Cosmetics~ Review and Swatches

A couple months ago I had ordered a ton of samples from High Voltage Cosmetics, an indie company that has a high variety of eyeshadow colours as well as some lip products (which I didn't get samples of). Everything came nicely packaged in a bubble-wrapped envelope with the samples in little baggies with the names on little stickers. All the baggies were placed together in a larger baggie with gold stars on it which I thought was nice. There was also a small hand written thank-you as well. Unfortunately, I didn't receive all the samples I ordered and though I've e-mailed multiple times I've yet to get a response in return.

The best thing about High Voltage eyeshadows I think is the wonderful duochrome options. Truly unique and absolutely fabulous, there are options available for everyone! I ordered the entire Norse Mythology collection as well as some from the permanent lines too. I certainly have some favourites but some I was a bit disappointed in too. One thing I was kinda disappointed about was that one of my shadow samples was missing- part of the collection was the shadow Mani and Sol from the Norse Mythology Collection but I never recieved it. I did however recieve 2 Vali and 2 Uggdrasil for some reason. I received a couple other extra shadow samples in my order too but I would have liked the Mani and Sol alot I think.

Favourites- Vali (MOST FAVOURITE!), Stiletto Strut, Twilight Symphony, Vor, Baldr, Thorr, Radio Waves, Born to Rock (not shown- was mixed into the purple mix), Sif, Aasgard

Disappointments- Smoke and Mirrors (darker than I wanted- not as pigmented as I wanted), Snotra wasn't unique enough, Mead of Suttungr (kind of patchy- looks white instead of off-white on), Manhatten (too dark- not really different than alot of charcoals out there), Tyr (really looks rust like to me, too close to rust coloured for me to want to wear).

I did attempt to contact the owner of High Voltage cosmetics twice and never heard back from her. I had asked her a bunch of questions about her company and herself- even just getting a response saying they were happy I was reviewing their shadows but can't take the time to fill out my questions would have been appreciated. But I didn't have any issues with the service at all- cheap shipping, good sample prices, lots of variety and fairly quick shipping. The only downside was the one shadow missing.

I found the sample baggies a pain due to their finickiness and difficultly to not get the shadow everywhere using them though they were well labeled. The samples weren't large enough to even press a shadow pan a quarter of the way filled- the mixes were three or four shadows combined together and the shadow pans still weren't full- which was a shame as I was hoping to press them to use. When I use them out of the bags I get the powder all over my hands and the surface I'm working over. Also, the website could really benefit from a search bar! I found it hard to find certain shades a second time browsing the website.

All in all though I do like the company and I think there are some great options here. However unless you can handle eyeshadows from little baggies I don't recommend ordering any samples unless you're really unsure of a colour- just choose wisely based on online swatches and order the full size. Anyways here are my many swatches- Enjoy!

Top to Bottom: Green Mix, Purple Mix, Stiletto Strut, Acoustic, Smoke &; Mirrors

Top to Bottom: Green Mix, Purple Mix, Stiletto Strut, Acoustic, Smoke &; Mirrors

The Green Mix is Prince Charming, Odin and Einherjer samples mixed together; the Purple Mix is Ala Rock, Frozen Love and Born to Rock  samples all together.

Top to Bottom: Himinbjorg, Gefjon, Vali, Ragnarok, Thorr, Lofn, Vor, Snotra, Twilight Symphony, Baldr, Aasgard, Frigg

Top to Bottom: Himinbjorg, Gefjon, Vali, Ragnarok, Thorr

Top to Bottom: Thorr, Lofn, Vor, Snotra, Twilight Symphony

Top to Bottom: Snotra, Twilight Symphony, Baldr, Aasgard, Frigg

Top to Bottom: Mead of Suttungr, Freyja, Manhatten, Freyr, Weth, Reverb, Valhalla, Stargazer, Aandlang, Uggdrasil, Radio Waves, Loki, Tyr, Sif

Top to Bottom: Mead of Suttungr, Freyja, Manhatten, Freyr, Weth, Reverb

Top to Bottom: Freyr, Weth, Reverb, Valhalla, Stargazer, Aandlang, Uggdrasil

Top to Bottom: Uggdrasil, Radio Waves, Loki, Tyr, Sif

Lorac Multiplex Lipgloss~ Swatches and Review

These Multiplex 3D lipglosses by Lorac are some of my favourite glosses. I've got three of them though there are 6 in the main line (I think there is one other shade which is only available in a kit). The one pictured above is Cliche.

Top to Bottom: Untamed, Vivid, Cliche

This photo really lets you see what I love most about these glosses, the amazing 3D effect duochrome and depth! Cliche (the bottom swatch) is a hot pink with a heavy purple-blue reflect; Vivid is the prettiest warm pink with a lime-gold heavy reflect (way way prettier and more flattering than it sounds!) and Untamed is a stunning coral shade with major pink and orange shimmers. (This shimmer didn't show up well on camera however. Click the photos to see them larger for a better idea.)

All three of these make my lips look slightly larger due to the super shine and colour shift. I love the look of these on! So pretty!

Warmer light

Medium indoor lighting

Best view of Untamed's sparkle

Another awesome thing about these glosses is how incredible they smell! They smell like mangos and passionfruit and tropical paradise! Seriously, I've opened these up and held them out to friends and had them smell these lipglosses because they smell so incredible! The scent once on does fade however, if you aren't a fan of the scent. (Honestly though, I don't see how you could dislike it, unless maybe you don't like fruit.)

These are fairly non-sticky on, though your hair will stick in it if it happens to fly in your mouth. The disappointment for these however is in the wear and the price for me. I get maybe two-three hours of wear out of these, though the duochrome/3D effect usually only lasts one. Cliche however, for some reason stains my lips hot pink so even though the gloss may fade, the hot pink will stick around for quite awhile afterwards. Neither of the other shades I have stain.

L-R: Cliche, Untamed, Vivid

The tubes for the gloss are good quality, sealing well and able to take quite a beating (as is evidenced in the photo of mine above!) It's important to note though that the holographic silver band around the top and the lettering scratches and wears off really easily.

The applicator for these is one of my favourites. It's a small, dense lip brush that really applies the gloss well with excellent control. Just note though that in the new gloss the bristles (plastic) haven't been snapped apart yet, you'll need to bend the tip of the applicator a bit to loosen them up the first time you use it.

The Tubes! L-R: Cliche, Untamed, Vivid

My favourite shade has to be Vivid. Vivid is so unique and looks stunning on everyone without being too out there. Though the green may scare you off, it doesn't look green on, only gold, unless you're looking at the tube from about five inches away. 

These cost a cringe-worthy $22 USD for 0.17 oz of product. In Canada it's even more- $29 CND, making it with tax over $30 dollars, which is enough to make me faint when I add up the cost of the three I own (though I did buy two during a sale thank god!). On the plus side though, I've had my Vivid over a year now and it hasn't gone bad or off in anyway so they last quite well.

Overall I love these glosses and would recommend them to anybody, but they are most certainly an indulgence. They aren't really a wearing around the house gloss due to the price but they do look fantastic, plus there are multiple shades that'll suit all skintones. 

Sprite Rating- 7/10 Lost points due to poor lasting power, and price. The colours are amazing though!

Would I buy these again? Yes, I would (as you can see I have three!) but, as they're expensive I doubt I'll get too many more.