A-England Flash Sale- 30% off!

I know I've sucked at updating this month, but I would like to point out I just finished a 17 page paper, and I've only got 2 weeks left, so hopefully things will pick up then. So I'm sorry but real life rules unfortunately. Anyways, here is an awesome deal from a-england! 30% off with the code tristam. I know I'll most certainly be picking up at least one polish!
If you're curious to see some awesome shades from a-england you can see my swatches of Dragon, Ascalon, and Saint George all of which are amazing!

Happy Shopping (and have a good weekend!)

Cult Nails Divas and Drama and Update

Firstly, I apologize for completely disappearing for half a month. All of a sudden real life decided to invade my little blog world and trash it. I've been majorly stressed, had health issues and a plethora of assignments, exams and papers on top of it all. And the end is all the way until mid-april when I finally finish my last semester of my degree. So posts for the next month will be slow to non-existent. I've got some stuff lined up for you though, I just need the time (when sleep doesn't take precedence) to post. Here are some sneak peeks:

• Orly Pixie Dust polish
• A flakie alternative green mani for st.patrick's day (which will likely be late- sorry!)
• Darling Girl paint pot review
• Revlon lip butter review
• other things not yet determined but will be colourful

But because I'm sure this is the real reason you came to this post the two polish deals going on at the moment!

Cult Nails Divas and Drama Collection is live, and you can buy Captivate too. When you buy the collection you basically get one polish for free as it's only $30 USD. There shipping is very reasonable too- by far one of my favourite polish brands. Plus they have international shipping.

L-R (above): Scandalous, Enticing, Manipulative and Seduction (flakie!)

To read more about the colour descriptions and swatches of the collection check out Maria's blog- she's the one that makes all the colours!

Hope everyone is doing well, till next time!

A-England Dragon~ Review & Swatch

Here is the last of my A-England The Legend collection order. You can see Ascalon and Saint George the other two as well. This is Dragon, a fantastic medium grass green with gold holographic and a very slight copper/gold duochrome. It very much is a dragon colour, the gold in it reminiscent of sunlight and fire. 

Most of time for this shade the gold doesn't show up which is sad and it is actually very close to Nubar Reclaim if that is a colour you already own. Dragon is about a half-shade darker than Reclaim though Reclaim lacks the very slight copper sheen that Dragon sometimes shows. If you have one I don't think you need the other, though both are lovely.

I found this one pretty good to work with and like Ascalon needed 2-3 coats to cover. I did have some early tip wear but other than that it seems to be lasting fairly well on. 

 The holo part of this polish doesn't really show up unless in direct sunlight and it was super difficult to capture the copper flash in this (though I think the picture above does a pretty good job). I was kind of hoping for a bit more as the bottle shows the effect much better than the nail.

Close-up of the thumb nail in sunlight 

 Overall, Dragon is a lovely shade that really suits the theme of this collection. It was slightly difficult to work with in that it was a little thick and it chipped sooner than the other two shades I tried. I was also hoping for a bit more duochrome and holographicness but it does have an awesome combination of colours.

Sprite Rating: 8/10, I was hoping for just a little more out of this polish in most ways so I had to lower the score a bit.

Would I buy this again? Yes, I would but I'd have to get through my bottles of this and Nubar reclaim first!

Make Up For Ever Aqua Liner in Black Diamond~ Swatch & Review

 Normally, I'm not a big fan of either liquid liners or black liners and yet this Make Up For Ever Aqua Liner is both black and a liquid liner product. Most surprising is that I actually really love it as it's neither traditional liquid nor traditional black.

The shade is Diamond Black, number 14, and it's a black with a bucket-load of multi-colour super fine shimmer in it. 

The formula on this is a little strange too. It's an almost runny liquid that needs to be shaken very well before use. If it isn't shaken enough it goes on really sheer and sad looking. It also needs to be applied to one eye and then re-dipped before the next, even if it seems to have enough product on the wand. The thing about it though is after it dries (which it does fairly quickly thank goodness as it transfers really easy when wet) it stays put really really well. It's fairly easy to apply a thin line with the felt tip applicator though it takes a little bit of practice as the felt is quite stiff.

Though my shots are a bit blurry, I wanted you to be able to see the fantastic shimmer throughout these and blurry makes the colours show up the best. 

 Removal is very easy, all you need is hot water. This is great because I use blinc mascara which removes with hot water too so I can get both at once. It comes off similarily as well as it comes off in bits, here's a pic of it half-off to give you a better an idea of what I mean.

 What I was really worried about when purchasing this was wether the liner would actually show the shimmer when on my eye. If I wasn't getting the sparkly effect I wasn't going to keep this. Luckily it has a wonderful golden sheen when it's on. It looks nice and dark still but no matter what angle you look at it there is always a lovely gold flash. Here is some pictures of it on the eye.

Finally, the packaging itself. Honestly, for the amount of money this liner costs they give you hardly any product at all. The handle itself is larger than the vial of liner which bothers me and feels like they're ripping me off. It does make it easy to hold though I suppose. I do like how they show the colour of the liner on the end of the cap however.

 The price of this liner is a cringe-worthy $26 CND, and only 0.058 oz. It is definitely an indulgence item, but I do love the uniqueness and versatility of this shade.

MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Liner

If you click above, the picture will take you to the Sephora page where it's for sale and the official description of the make Up For Ever Aqua Liner.

Overall, this is a good product for the most part. The colour is unique and still highly wearable with pretty much every make-up look. However, it is very expensive (with tax about $30 CND) and you don't get very much at all.

Sprite Rating: 7/10, because it's a lovely product but they really are ripping us off for the price of it.

Would I buy it again? As an indulgence every once in a while? Yes. As an everyday staple, no. It's just too expensive for everyday use although it is a beautiful shade. So eventually I may buy it again as it is a unique shade, but I won't get some of the shades that are common on the market like the plain dark black or plain dark brown.

Scaredy Cat Cosmetics~ Review and Swatches

A little while ago Scaredy Cat Cosmetics (a company I had been interested in trying for a couple of months) was having a 20% off sale so I snagged an order. I originally fell in love with their awesome artwork and had actually discovered them when they released a pressed eyeshadow palette- the first indie company I know of to do so. Looking through the etsy site the colours are really unique and the packaging is adorable so I got a sample set of five shades (your choice) for $5 USD and two full size shades also $5 USD each. Shipping was really inexpensive too!

Hedgerow

Hedgerow

Hedgerow

I absolutely adore the little triangle jars for the full size shadows. The artwork is just so cute and fun, and I like you can still see the colour of the shadow inside. There were a couple bubbles in the stickers which made me sad but the designs are well done. The first time to open the little jars is a bit difficult, they are well sealed. I found if you start twisting in the opposite direction and then the correct direction they open up better. Also the shaker/sifter top is a bit strange, be careful if you try to pry it out as it's very well in there and the jars are full right to the top with pigment so you need to have a firm grip on the entire thing to prevent spillage.

Arctic Royal

Arctic Royal

Arctic Royal

L-R: Metamorphosis, Phoenix Tears, Fomhar, Foo Foo, Nevermore

Metamorphosis, Phoenix Tears, Fomhar, Foo Foo, Nevermore

The little sample vials are super cute too with quite a bit of product to them. They have rubber stoppers that cap them off. I find that the stoppers are the easiest thing to work off of because the top of the vials aren't very wide so you can't get a brush in them. I'll likely press the samples into pans so they're easier to use.

T-B: Hedgerow, Arctic Royal, Metamorphosis, Phoenix Tears, Fomhar, Foo Foo, Nevermore

The shades I purchased are:

Hedgerow: A duochrome light purple/blue shade with a cute hedgehog design. 

Arctic Royal: A light greyed periwinkle shade with Narwhals swimming around.

Metamorphosis: Very light metallic pink with slight violet reflect and butterfly artwork.

Phoenix Tears: Coral pink-orange shade with an almost pink-gold reflect. Really beautiful (and unlike anything else I own!) Like the name has a fire and phoenix motif.

Fomhar: A spice inspired shade this is a lovely medium orange-brown, perfect for fall. The little dragon on the jar is so freakin' adorable I almost got the full size just for his picture. 

Foo Foo: My favourite of the samples I picked up, Foo Foo is a subtle yet distinctive light yellow with slight green duochrome. It also has a cute rabbit and flower design.

Nevermore: Blue-black base with light blue shimmer. I like how the Scaredy cat description likens the shade to a star filled sky. Shown off with ravens and hearts.

T-B: Phoenix Tears, Fomhar, Foo Foo, Nevermore

T-B: Metamorphosis, Phoenix Tears, Fomhar, Foo Foo

T-B: Hedgerow, Arctic Royal, Metamorphosis, Phoenix Tears

T-B: Metamorphosis, Phoenix Tears, Fomhar, Foo Foo

T-B: Phoenix Tears, Fomhar, Foo Foo, Nevermore

I do like how on the site she had three pictures for each shadow one of the pigment spilling out of the jar, one of the jar from all three sides, and one used as an eyeshadow on an eyelid. It really allows you to get an idea of what the shade looks like. That said, I wish the main pages showed just one type of those photos so it's easier to navigate (i.e. only the jar design or only the pigment shot so they are all the same type of image). I'd also like the names to be on the main pages instead of some names and some descriptions of the shades just so everything is easier to find. 

I do like how clearly the vegan shades are stated from the non-vegan shades and how now you can order all the vegan shades as samples separately.

L-R: Phoenix Tears, Metamorphosis, Arctic Royal, Hedgerow

L-R: Foo Foo, Fomhar, Phoenix Tears, Metamorphosis

L-R: Nevermore, Foo Foo, Fomhar

The shadow swatches are all done over Darling Girl's glitter glue so they're a bit more opaque than with just a primer base. They're very nicely pigmented on their own though and the variety and uniqueness of the shades is wonderful. I love how each shade has so much thought put into it, you can really feel the dedication I think in each one.
The eyeshadows go on smoothly and wear well. Foo Foo makes a stunning highlight, especially for spring as it goes on semi-opaque as does metamorphosis and Hedgerow.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend checking Scaredy Cat Cosmetics out. The shades are fantastic, the packaging adorable and the prices are low. I also think there are shades for everyone available from neutrals to bolds.

Sprite Rating: 8.5/10 Lost a little bit for slightly difficult to use packaging, but otherwise an excellent product. And the designs are to die for adorable.

Would I buy them again? Yes, I totally would. In fact I'm highly considering a full size of Foo Foo and their pressed palette Family Jewels looks phenomenal.