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?

Darling Girl Darling Deer Christmas~ Swatches and Review

I'm a bit late on this collection but I'm enjoying it! This is the Darling Girl Cosmetics Darling Deer Christmas collection! Some of the shadows and the liner are from the main collection but I'm including them anyways as they were a part of my order :D. I'm going to start with the lippies but I've got quite a few of the shadows too!

L-R: Kiss You Off Lip Balm in Cookies for Claus, Holo Gloss in Jolly Holly

L-R: Kiss You Off Lip Balm in Cookies for Claus, Holo Gloss in Jolly Holly

I'm ADORING the Kiss You Off Lip Balm in Cookies for Claus! Such an amazing Cranberry with gold reflect! Just amazing and festive!

The Holly Jolly Holo Gloss is also lovely. Slightly gritty due to the holographic glitter but a true red shade with gold and light green (but it looks gold on) glitter.

Midnight Train Aqua Liner

Aqua Liner in Midnight Train

Close-up of Midnight Train Aqua Liner

The colour of this liner is fantastic. Really beautiful and complex. Slate blue with magenta glitter. These aren't waterproof, but I believe Susan from Darling Girl is working to try and make them water resistant. I've not been able to try it on yet due to holiday madness but I hope to soon!

Loose Pixie Glitter in White Christmas

This glitter realllllly needs a glitter adhesive base. I tried it over two different primers and just had it ball up and fall off. It looks so pretty but as I left my Pixie Epoxy at school I'm not going to able to use it until January. If I remember I'll try to review it then.

Eyeshadow in Comet

Comet is a beautiful shade! However, I think this one would too benefit from a sticky base as just on primer it tends to go plum-red and loose the beautiful purple-green interplay. You'll be able to see what I mean in my swatch.

Dancer

My favourite from the collection is Dancer! A beautiful forest green with silver and red glitter! *Drool* So happy I got this one!

Blitzen

Blitzen is the most neutral shade I got from the collection. Gorgeous light peach-gold with a very faint pink reflect and gold shimmer. Something easily useable all year round!

T-B: Blitzen, Persuasion (GWP), Comet

Persuasion, the gift with purchase is a fantastic super shimmery light purple with gold shimmer. 

Comet if you look in the left part of the swatch you can slightly see the green reflect.

Rudolph

Rudolph is another really neat shade. Deer brown with lots of silver glitter, it also has a faint red reflect (like Rudolph's nose!). I love how unique this shade is.

Rudolph 

And finally the samples I recieved :D

Angel Face

Angel Face is a lovely matte purple (that looks grey in some lights) with light blue subtle shimmer.

Angel Face

Angel Face (Artificial Lighting)

Here you can see Angel Face as grey and if you click to enlarge you can see the blue shimmer.

T-B: Mustang eyeshadow, Purple Haze Blush

Mustang is a lovely neutral medium smokey brown eyeshadow. Purple Haze is a super pigmented magenta/berry blush with a slight sheen. 

Did you buy anything from Darling Girl Cosmetic's Darling Deer Christmas? Anything here that really pops to you? 

Note! Darling Girl Cosmetics is closed until the New Year, but the Christmas collection will still be available then!

 Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day!

Venomous Cosmetics Swatches- Fear and They All Believed in Dragons

These upcoming swatches are from my latest Venomous Cosmetics order. It includes a mismash of the Fear collection (from Halloween- no longer available), the Shifty collection (a lip poison subtle coloured collection up now), and the They All Believed in Dragons collection (also up now and really awesome!) I've also got a comparison swatch between a previous lip poison (Wicked Witch) from the Fairy Tale collection and the currently available Drowning lip poison. For reference here is which shades below belong to which collection.

Fear Collection: Paranormal loose eyeshadow, Nightmare loose eyeshadow, Apocalypse pressed eyeshadow, Claustrophobic pressed shadow, Curse of the Werewolf loose eyeshadow, and Drowning lip poison.

Shifty Collection: Venom lip poison

Once, They All Believed in Dragons...: Zu loose eyeshadow, Creature of the Night loose eyeshadow, Scales of Gold loose eyeshadow

Fairy Tale: Wicked Witch lip poison

L: Zu, T-B: Creature of the Night, Scales of Gold, Paranormal, Nightmare, Apocalypse

T-B: Creature of the Night, Scales of Gold, Paranormal, Nightmare

L: Zu, T-B: Paranormal, Nightmare, Apocalypse, Claustrophobic, Curse of the Werewolf

L: Zu, T-B: Apocalypse, Claustrophobic, Curse of the Werewolf, Venom Lip Poison, Drowning Lip Poison, Wicked Witch Lip Poison

L: Zu, T-B: Creature of the Night, Scales of Gold, Paranormal, Nightmare, Apocalypse, Claustrophobic, Curse of the Werewolf, Venom Lip Poison

Of these shades my favourites have to be Paranormal (it has the most amazing shimmer in real life and it's so pigmented!), Curse of the Werewolf (lovely rich bronze with gold shimmer), Apocalypse (which also has a neat sheen, it goes from periwinkle to light blue-based grey) and Venom which is gold shimmer in a clear base and pretty much goes with everything!

Note! There is a Venomous Cosmetics weekend sale going on with certain shades offered at $4. Worth taking a look. Have a good day!

Getting Started~ A Post for people just beginning to be interested in cosmetics

Hehe, random start picture because I felt like it. 

This post is for people who want to start wearing make-up but don't really have a clue where to start. I came up with the idea for this post as I've had multiple friends ask me for help on what to buy and what colours to wear etc. when it comes to make-up. So this post is a selection of items that I've recommended to friends and why. There is also some tips on simple application and looks that everyone can do.

First, before anything else, I recommend getting a good tinted moisturizer or foundation that is comfortable, with decent coverage and has an SPF rating. Evening out your skintone does wonders making a person look put together. One of my major issues is acne, so I'm always on the look out for a foundation that doesn't break me out. This problem is harder as I'm also highly sensitive to silicones so my choices are limited. However, many other bloggers have recommended Revlon's Colorstay foundation as a full coverage non-comedogenic foundation. Finding your foundation takes patience, so I recommend getting samples and trying it over the span of a couple days.























When looking at the vast amounts, colours, shades, textures and brands of eyeshadows available try to stick with the basics. I recommend buying a palette of shades that are cheap. I recommend Wet n' Wild, as it is in the lowest of the drugstore prices but still has really good quality eyeshadow, better than many higher priced brands. A palette is a great way to start as you can try a variety of colours and looks and truly see what types you like. You'll know by what colours you end up using the most. Try to choose a palette that has either a wide variety of colours or neutral shades like browns and greys (such as the above one). Brown and grey can be paired with pretty much anything else, and though many other people say they can't live without their black eyeshadow, I personally find it much too harsh most of the time. I very rarely use my black eyeshadows.

 Many times the effect that people are trying to create with eyeshadow is larger eyes. For a natural everyday look, big eyes is a great easy and pretty option. The best way to do this is by bringing light to the eye. Using light colours and shimmery shades will bounce the light around your socket making it look larger. I find that on a lazy day some undereye concealer a light shimmery peach shade and some mascara makes me look awake and pretty without a bunch of work. By placing a shimmer on the tear duct of your eye and a nude colour along your waterline (the rim between your bottom eyelashes and your eyeball) I can go from insomniac to bright-eyed and bushy tailed.

The simplest eye looks are usually done with two colours that are a few shades apart from one another. Take for example a matte skin-shade and a slightly darker brown. I spread the skin colour all over my lid and up to my browbone and blend in so it looks natural. Then taking the darker shade I lightly blend it in the outer part of my crease. Or if you want to use a shimmery shade you can put it all over the lid (not to the browbone, just the lid) and place a slightly darker shade again in the crease. This way you can easily get a nice neutral defined eye without much work.


My secret weapon is duochrome eyeshadows. With duochromes (eyeshadows that have one base colour and reflect a different colour depending on how the light hits it) it always looks like you've done waaaay more work than you actually have. This pretty much means you can skip the crease defining step. I love Mac Vex for this. It's a very light cool grey that subtly reflects pink. Because it's light and not super shimmery it's perfect for all over the lid and on the tear duct to bring light to the eye. Sometimes I even sweep it up to the browbone as a highlight/redness neutralizer in one.


As for lips, lipgloss is much easier to wear than lipstick or lipstain. For one they are mostly more moisturizing, but they also tend to be easier to apply as you don't need to be as precise. A sheer light pink, peach or clear gloss is something that can work with any look you've got and is something you can put on anywhere, just dab in the centre of your lips and smoosh around until you feel they're evenly coated. The gloss will provide a bit of colour and make your lips look bigger as it will reflect light, especially around the centre of your mouth which is always the part that is emphasized when trying to make lips look larger than they are. For drugstore I recommend Revlon Super Lustrous glosses as they smell nice, have decent pigmentation, feel nice and last a decent amount of time.

As for blush barely there is what you're aiming for. I personally love New York Color's Blushable Cream Stick blushes as they only require a dab to your cheek then are easily blended out to a very natural looking flush. They also start creamy but very quickly turn to powder once blended which means they don't feel greasy on (score!). I like the shades Plaza Pink and Big Apple Blush personally. One tip for applying blush is to make sure you aren't too close to your nose. Most people (me included) have red discolouration around your nose area (even with concealer) and if the blush is too close it looks like you've continued the blush along and around your nose. Instead use about a fingers width between your nose and where you start your blush and sweep upwards. There is a bunch of different ways and shapes to apply blush on your face with so experiment and see which way you prefer.


Lastly, though in my opinion most importantly is make-up brushes. You don't need a bunch but I truly prefer to use brushes for eyeshadow at the least as it makes blending and applying colour precisely to the crease much easier. Ecotools is my favourite budget friendly make-up brush brand and the little brush kits are a great buy for eyeshadow brushes. They're super soft and made from a type of plastic so they resist bacteria production and are cruelty-free.

So after all that, what do I recommend to start with?

• eyeshadow palette with a variety of shades
• foundation or tinted moisturizer
• eyeshadow brushes
• cream blush
• mascara
• lipgloss

If you have any questions (like always!) or comments about how helpful/useless this was please let me know. I want to know if posts like these are beneficial to you at all. Have a good friday, TGIF!