A little while ago
Morgana Cryptoria was having a sale and so I made an order wanting to try out some of her new products. Recently she's released a bunch of things including a blush, a halloween eye-themed shadow collection (for halloween, I was a bit late to the party on that one), gel lipsticks and lip glosses. I made a small selection and here are the items!
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| T: Creepy Peepers eyeshadow, B: Gravely Blush |
First up is the blush, Gravely. Gravely is a silver/grey highlight or blush with a hint of taupe/violet to it. Very pretty, reflective and pigmented but I've yet to be able to find a way to apply this without A) getting the powder everywhere (the jar is too small to get my brush in and to tap off on) and B) looking very strange/metallic/dead. I think best it will work as a neat eyeshadow or a highlight well blended on the cheekbone as it's quite shimmery. The powder itself seems silky though so that's nice. As I've yet to really been happy with how it's looked, I can't tell you lasting power yet.
Creepy Peepers is a dark charcoal shade with a bunch of silver and dark green shimmer. Very unique and you only need the smallest amount to make a statement to your look as it is so dark! Much more shimmery in real life than in the picture.
Next are the three lipglosses I ordered.
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| L-R: Fallen Leaves, Mystical, Sexy Spellcaster |
The three small glosses came in a little trio for $17 USD. You get to pick your scent with these and I chose chocolate. However, the chocolate scent is very artifical and fake to me, and very overpowering so I'm kinda bummed I didn't choose something else. These came in tubes with doe foot applicators however the trio deal isn't on anymore, just where you can buy pots of gloss or full size lipgloss tubes.
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| L-R: Fallen Leaves, Mystical, Sexy Spellcaster |
The three shades I chose are Fallen Leaves: a warm brown with gold and green duochrome; Mystical: a very dark plum with amazing blue shimmer in it; and Sexy Spellcaster: a blue-based violet with light blue shimmer.
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| L-R: Mystique, Sexy Spellcaster |
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| L-R: Autumn Leaves, Mystique |
My favourite has to be Fallen Leaves, it is the most flattering on my skintone, well pigmented and it is really unique. The green doesn't show up too often on the lips so don't let that scare you away. It also looks quite brown in my photos but I assure you it's not that brown on either! The first swatch photo where it's more of a brick red-brown is the most accurate.
Mystical I do like but it's reallllllly dark. Like almost black-plum when you put a full coat of the gloss on. Instead I use only a tiny bit and sheer it out and you still get a hint of colour along with the awesome blue shimmer.
My biggest disappointment from this order has to be Sexy Spellcaster. The colour itself is beautiful, but my tube came partially leaked and the shade itself has the pigment separating from the oil. I've tried to mix it up and the oil just gets everywhere not mixing well at all. It's pretty much unusable and due to leaking issues I don't like putting it on the wood vanity with my other cosmetics in case it damages the wood because the leaking seems to be a reoccurring issue. :(
When I contacted Morgana Cryptoria about the separation issue she said some shades are just like that, and to mix it back up. You may want to inquire about which shades do this before you order as personally I find it a pain to even attempt this. It may be easier for glosses in the pots though.
In general, the glosses are well pigmented and last a little above average in wear time, at most around 2 & 1/2 hours on me. Once the colour fades a bit with Mystical the shimmer stands out more which I like- kind of like the gloss morphs over time but is still on. The gloss itself feels slightly oily but not overly so by any means.
I also found the doe foot applicators surprisingly difficult to twist back on for these glosses- I needed two hands and had to push down and twist quite a bit to get the threads to line up and catch so the wands wouldn't forcefully pop back up again.
Overall, I like two of the shades I got, but would be wary about ordering any more. Leaking and mixing isn't something I want to deal with when it comes to lipgloss, despite the fact that there are some fantastic colours available.
Sprite Rating: 4/10- I had to take off points for overkill scent, leaking, and gloss separation. Though the colours are lovely and I'll use the two that don't separate I just can't give them a higher score.
Would I Buy the lip glosses again?: No.
And finally I purchased one of the new gel lipsticks.
These $6 USD lipsticks come in a balm twist up tube. Morgana Cryptoria is still releasing some shades but this one is Persephone, the most neutral of the first shades released. Persephone is what I'd classify as a peach-gold. It's a peach shade in the tube but on the lips it really amps up the gold reflect in this colour and comes alive.
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| Persephone, heavily swatched dim light |
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| Persephone, heavily swatched bright light |
The texture of these glosses is less like a gel and more like a mousse! You need very little on your lips as it tends to clump up a bit if it's too thick (as seen above in photos). It feels somewhere between a whipped lipstick and a balm which is really cool and has good pigmentation.
I have an awful tendency of pursing my lips which upsets the long-wear setting these are supposed to do according to Morgana Cryptoria but even with doing that they last about the same as most of my say Mac lipsticks do.
This is a great shade for toning down your lips without becoming devoid of colour as it's subtle but still really pretty. Word of warning though, make sure your lips are non-flaky as this accentuates flakes like crazy.
The tube itself doesn't really work all that well though, the twisting mechanism only works going up. I think it has to do with how soft the product is. I often apply too much because of the super soft texture and need to use my finger to deal with clumping. Also you need to be careful only to wind it up a slight bit as you cannot push the product down from the top it will just squish and not go back in the tube. Plus the sticker with the ingredients didn't stick to the tube very well even when I had first got it.
Overall, I like the texture of the gel lipsticks. The feel and super duochrome are lovely though the packaging needs a bit of work.
Sprite Rating: 6.5/10- points were lost due to tube/mechanism issues and the fact you really do need to be careful in how you apply it otherwise it will clump and not look good. Great effect once it's on (and if you don't smoosh your lips!). Good lasting power for the type/texture of the product though.
Would I buy it again? If I see another shade I like the looks of I would probably purchase it. The formula is so unique that the extra work is worth it.
