7 Indie Holy Grail Favourite Beauty Products

In no particular order here are some of my most used and loved indie cosmetic products.

1. Kiss My Sass Cosmetics: Tarnished Halo Eyeshadow
At the moment it looks like they only have the darker version Fireside Glow in stock but I have had no problem contacting the owner of Kiss My Sass Cosmetics in the past to ask for when it would be up in the shop again.

Tarnished Halo watched over primer

I have to say Tarnished Halo is one of my all time favourites. I love how romantic it looks on the eye. Soft, slightly smokey, pale matte grey with an intense copper sheen, this shade goes with a ton of different looks day or night. It has I would say medium coverage but only because it can be built up even more with a second layer for a really intense look. The full size, which will likely last me forever is priced at $6.00 USD. As with all non-matte loose shadows I do recommend a sticky base over your primer, which brings me to my next favourite.

2. Fyrinnae: Pixie Epoxy Eyeshadow Base
This is my all time favourite base when I use loose shadows or I really want to make my eyeshadows look more intense or foiled. It's not recommended for straight matte shades however, so keep that in mind. Pixie Epoxy is a slightly tacky gel of which you only require the smallest amount. A tiny dab for the whole eye-lid is all that is needed. I then like to use my finger and spread out the product before I apply my eyeshadow like normal or through a patting motion depending on how I want the end result to look. I love that this lasts all day, doesn't feel tacky for very long and has a shelf-life of 24-36 months. Plus it's not too expensive either at $6.50 USD for the full size.

3. Notoriously Morbid: Changeling Top Coat (Siren and Leshy)
Changeling Top Coat is such a neat lip product. It's a sheer liquid lipstick that is designed to add a duochrome-like sheen to whatever base lip colour you have on your lips.

Left Siren, Right Leshy

Available in a variety of shades I love my two in Siren (a light blue) and Leshy (a light green). They go on easily and lightly on the lips and dry down completely matte for a long-lasting look. They make so many more lip looks possible! They're only $10.00 USD for two shades.

4. Sugarpill Cosmetics: Loose Eyeshadows in Lumi and Goldilux
At $14.00 USD each these are the most pricey of my list but they are stunning. Both vegan, and in cute fairly large jars these loose shadows are worth the price.

Left Goldilux, Right Lumi

Lumi is a stunning white-blue with turquoise iridescent overlay and turquoise sparks. Very otherworldly. Goldilux on the other-hand is big time glam. The most sparkly, shiny, metallic, intense true gold shade I've tried. Only the smallest amount can amp up an eyeshadow look.

5. Scaredy Cat Cosmetics: Loose Mineral Eyeshadows in Hedgerow, Arctic Royale and customized
This little known brand has some true gems, plus their artwork is adorable!

L-R: Hedgerow, Arctic Royale, Custom with Draconia base, Custom with Cirrina base

Arctic Royale is a gorgeous silvered purple shade. Hedgerow is my favourite, it's a duo-chrome light purple/ turquoise, so ethereal. All of their shades retail for only $5.00 USD too. In addition you can do a customized shade in that you can take any of their shades and add a opaque or translucent glitter to it, which is such an awesome way to spunk up any shade that strikes your fancy. The only thing about the custom shades to keep in mind is that you'll need a sticky base for them. The customized shades are only $5.50 USD.

6. Haus of Gloi: Perfume Oil in Depravity
I love the long lasting scent that these perfume oils have. I personally like to dab some in my elbows and on the ends of my hair (as my skin tends to breakout in most areas due to fractioned coconut oil which is what is used as the base in these). You can also use these in a warmer for a room. They cost $12 USD for 5ml which lasts a decent amount of time as you need so little. Depravity is my favourite, they describe the scent best as: Pure corruption: clove, nutmeg lurk amongst the sweetest offerings of coconut, on a bed of rich golden amber, laden with dustings of sandalwood and spilled wine.

7. Limnit Lipsticks: in Olly Olly Oxen Free
These lipsticks are great. Long-lasting, comfortable mattes with great pigmentation, and they only cost $12.95 USD.

Olly Olly Oxen Free swatch

Olly Olly Oxen free is a deep ox-blood shade with a slightly purple undertone (which I prefer to the brown tones some oxblood shades have). I also like the clear portion of the packaging so you can see the actual shade through the tube. Plus, if you don't like this shade they have 22 more.

So these are my current top 7 indie favourites. I personally love indie companies, they seem to be more innovative and focus on having really great formulas. If there are any indie products out there you love or want to know more about let me know which ones, I'd love to test out some more and report here for you!

Disclaimer: All these products were purchased by me.

Morgana's Crypt~ Spring 2013 Swatches

L-R: Graeae, Orchid, Hera, Leucothea, Aphrodite

Way back in May Morgana's Crypt (formerly Morgana Cryptoria) came out with a bunch of new lip products. As I love the lipstick formula of this brand I had to make an order and so I cashed in all my easter codes from the easter egg hunt the owner had. I've now finally gotten around to posting (I know I'm really far behind!)

There are a couple different formula's I've tried and I shall attempt to explain the difference between the formulas. First there is the Lip Balm, a highly pigmented but slightly moisturizing lipstick. It doesn't feel much like a balm to me as there is good staying power with these. All of these are one shade with no shimmer or reflect to them.

The Lip Tints are similar to the balms in packaging but go on much sheerer. They also have a moisturizing component to them. These very much do let your natural lip colour come through and are actually quite unique. I found the Orchid shade to be quite interesting on.

The lip gel gloss is non-sticky highly moisturizing and very cushy. I love the new lip gloss formula from this brand- much much better than the previous glosses they released. I did notice a touch of feathering with my very dark shade though and needed a clear lip liner. Also because it is so pigmented I found I needed to be careful when I put it on as you can easily tell if I didn't line it up exactly with my lip line due to how dark the shade I purchased is.

There is also the slimline lipstick which is slightly more moisturizing than the regular lipsticks but less so then the balms. Also highly pigmented and with a shimmer.

And finally the lipsticks which are semi-matte. They have high pigmentation and contain shimmer. They last a long time on, don't budge unless you work at it and don't dry out your lips to the point of pain. They are slightly dry but not too badly.

These are the shades I purchased

L-R: Leucothea, Hera, Aphrodite, Graeae

Hera- A balm shade. A bright almost matte robin's egg/sky blue with a slight blue sheen.
Leucothea- Balm shade. A true rose shade with a touch of berry to it. Lovely almost matte colour. One of my favourites from my order.
Graeae- A balm shade. Appears almost blackened brown in the tube but applies a lovely vampy plum. I ended up liking this one a lot more than I thought I would.
Aphrodite- A balm shade. A mix between bubble-gum pink and baby pink. Very bold and single coloured. I didn't like this one, not due to formula but due to how it looked on me- I was hoping for something more natural and this definitely is not.

Blurry to show sparkle. Bottom swatch sheered out, top two layered for intensity

Necronomicon- Gel-Gloss formula. A very dark purple with violet and blue sparkle. Such a stunning colour but very gothic too. No way you are going to be unnoticed in this, but the formula is so comfortable I'm not sure I'd mind.

L-R: Passionfruit, Dragonscale, Rose Champagne

Passionfruit- Slimline Lipstick shade. Very bright fuchsia with a blue/purple reflect.

L-R: Rose Champagne, Dragonscale

Rose Champagne- From the regular vegan lipstick line, however I think this shade was limited edition. A brown-rose with silver shimmer.
Dragonscale- One of the Vegan Lipsticks. This is actually a shade that I asked Melissa from Morgana's Crypt to make for me. It's a bit pinker than I wanted but I wanted a neutralish berry shade with noticeable green shimmer to it. Unique but still out in public appropriate! You can see the green shimmer much more in real life but it doesn't look strange on the lips at all as the shimmer is so fine.

Orchid Tint full sunlight, Left two layers, right one layer

Orchid- One of the lip tints. Another super dark shade in the tube (dark purple) but ends up a medium-dark purple with slight grey/mauve undertones once on. Very unique but not too out of this world. Liked this one more than I thought I would when I saw the colour in the tube.

L-R: Prospective Specter, Masquerade Ball

Masquerade Ball- Lipstick shade. Dark green with blue undertones and blueish shimmer.
Prospective Specter- Lipstick shade. Mint green with silver shimmer.

I also purchased 3 of her cream shadows. I love the colours of these however the formula leaves much to be desired, even with the free powder primer included with these. They just don't set. They're very creamy and blendable but they never stop moving. To get these to work you'd need to do a heck of a lot of prep sadly. You also wouldn't want to travel with them as I fear if they were warmed up at all they would melt.

L-R: Layered, one swipe, layered, one swipe, layered, one swipe

And down below you can see after I rubbed these five minutes later seeing if I could give them time to set.

This was with the powder primer and only one rub. Smear city.

Now finally here are some lip swatches. I wasn't able to swatch all the colours as I've developed an allergy to one of Morgana's ingredients. This is in no way the company's fault my sensitivity has just greatly increased and I'm also no longer able to handle sunflower seeds or sesame seeds. It's because of this allergy that I can't properly review these beyond my initial impressions unfortunately.

Aphrodite neutral lighting

Dragonscale- couldn't capture the green shimmer but it is there!

Passionflower warm light

Passionflower cool light

Orchid lip tint cool light

Orchid tint warm light

Graeae

Aphrodite cool lighting

Necronamcon lip-gel gloss

Whew! That's everything! How about everyone else, have ordered from Morgana's Crypt? Which shades are drawing your attention?

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.