In other news...some High Voltage Cosmetics swatches!

 The vote was unanimous! You guys wanted to see High Voltage Cosmetics swatches, and I gladly obliged! I swatched a plethora of purples and blues, over E.L.F. eye primer, and here they are in all their glory.

L-R: Saga, The High Life, Lofn, Turn up the Volume, Bad seed, Nocturnal Desire, Born to Rock, Freyr, Zero

L-R: Bootleg, Ultimate Sin, Toxic Seduction

Saga over a black base.

L-R: Radio Star, Sweet Temptation, Little Miss Perfect, Head Banger, Rhythm and Blues, Phantom Midnight, Radio city, Twilight Saga.

As usual Jasmine cannot make a shadow that I don't like. She's like, a makeup magician. Some sort of wizardry must go on, because she has some of the coolest multi-dimensional pigments I've had the opportunity to set eyes on. What I love most about her shades is how complex a lot of them are. Did you see how Saga completely transformed over a black base? DID YOU SEE? I will try and get more swatches done soon. I still have reds, pinks, browns, greens, oranges, and yellows from High Voltage!

We have a winner!

Congratulations Monica! Lucky #13 ;) The winner will have 48 hours to contact me. If the winner does not contact me in 48 hours, we will redraw :)

Thank you ALL for the blog and FB love, and I will be doing more contests/giveaways in the future. I appreciate everyone who took the time to enter <3

FOTD feat. Shiro Cosmetics and High Voltage Cosmetics

I was fixin to do some zombie-inspired makeup (see: GLAM GLITTER ZOMBIE) today, because that is how I have felt this week. Like a zombie. Wandering around aimlessly, lethargic, without a purpose, really not getting anything done, and randomly eating people (okay, not the last part). I only imagine this is what it would feel like to be a zombie, if zombies had feelings, and I don't think they do, but you get the idea I hope. A more accurate description for my week would be "I feel like shit" but honestly no one wants to see a poop look, and if you do, keep it to yourself. Now, I say WAS going to do zombie-inspired, because when I was about to put on my face today, my honey came home with presents and wanted to go to dinner.

Um, YAY! So, for one, I didn't particularly feel like scaring the waitress with my zombie makeup, and for two it made me feel super cheery, so I decided to just grab a handful of happy colors from Shiro and make it werrrrk *snap snap*

On my eyes I used Porygon, Clefairy, Emancipation Grid, Moosh, Conservation of Momentum, and Puzzle Cube from Shiro. On my lips I have my favorite lippie, Jesse's Girl from High Voltage, the lip candy that got me addicted to nude lip colors!

This is definitely not my favorite look I have done. I would go as far as saying it's "all jacked up" (which, I believe, is the technical term). But, if you look from far away, and kinda squint, it looks a bit pretty, and that works for me because people don't need to be all up in mah face anyways.

As far as the products, Shiro and High Voltage are 2 of my favoritest companies. Honestly, the only reason I haven't done reviews & swatches on them is because I have 75 shadows from Shiro, and probably more from High Voltage, which is a little daunting. I will do it though, I will.

And even though I am un-zombified for the day (see how I brought that full circle? Yeah ya do) I really loved my idea for zombie-inspired makeup, so I think I will try and do that soon. Maybe tomorrow. No promises, though.

50 FB Fans Giveaway!

It's time! You guys kick ass, I can't believe I am past 50 fans so quickly on Facebook! The giveaway rules are super simple. To be eligable, you must do 4 things:

1. LIKE my Facebook page.
2. FOLLOW my blog.
3. REPOST about this giveaway on your Facebook page, linking my page of course!
4. COMMENT on this blog post confirming you have done the above 3 things, and the name you like me on FB as! Oh, and your e-mail so I have a way to contact the winner! The winner will have 48 hours to e-mail me back their address, or I will re-"draw" another winner (all via random.org).

That's it! Easy right? Giveaway will be closed 1 week from now, so get your entry in before next Saturday, July 30, 11:59 p.m. Everyone gets ONE entry for doing the above 4 things. This giveaway IS open internationally (Yay!). There is more prize info on the Shadows*N*Stitches Facebook page, but long story short it includes products from Glamour Doll Eyes, Shiro Cosmetics, High Voltage Cosmetics, and a couple little extras I picked up at the store today ;)

Ready, set, go!

Geek Chic Cosmetics review, swatches, pigments in action!

Okay, this is not going to be a long, fancy review. I feel like crap tonight, but I really wanted to get this review up because I have been promising it. So, I placed a sample order from Geek Chic Cosmetics recently when they had their 1st anniversary sale. I ordered 16 samples for $12, and the shipping was only $1, so I spent $13 total. My samples came in baggies, but I read they are now being packed in clamshells. Anywho, I potted mine. Alright, here are the pics (see: the good stuff!)

My samples all potted.

Look at all that product for a sample! <3 it!

L-R: Ebon Blade, Blood bond, Ambassador, Blood wine

 In this photo only, I tried using e.l.f. cream eyeliner in Ivory as a base for the top half of the swatch. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Made everything super shimmery. That's about it, as you can see. The bottom half of the swatches, and all the rest of my swatches, are swatched over UDPP. 

L-R: Portal Orange, Sleeping Bucket, Drood, Cerberus

L-R: Inevitable Betrayal, Ugghhh...Brains, Continuum, Tricks of the Trade

L-R: Twilight Princess, Shammy, Naked Wedding, Mana Battery

Drood, Naked Wedding, Mana Battery

 Long story short: Beautiful colors, very pigmented, love the themes and the website, and very affordable pricing ($4.99 for a 5 gram jar, $1.25 for a sample size). I ordered on 6/29, they shipped on 7/7, and I think that is pretty damn good, considering I ordered before the holiday weekend and during a badass sale. The amount of product you get for a sample size is very generous. My favorite colors are Ebon Blade, Twilight Princess, and Naked Wedding. I would totally order from GCC again.

Sundara Cosmetics: Review, Swatches, and a couple eye looks!

Another review already. Yeah, I mean business. Srsbsns. So I took advantage of Sundara Cosmetics' 4th of July sale and purchased a 10-pack of samples. Sundara can be purchased through their Etsy shop HERE or from their website HERE. I had been wanting to try them, as it looked like they had some great bright matte colors available, and I do not own a lot of matte colors. My 10-pack of samples cost me $5.75 shipped and got here very quickly! I read that Sundara is discontinuing samples shortly, but that's okay (although I love samples because it helps me decide what I want full sizes of) because their 3-gram jars and 5-gram jars are very reasonably priced. The samples are sent in baggies, but of course I potted mine in jars:

L-R: Bindi, Saffron, Turmeric, Hasti, Amla

L-R: Mint Mojito, Siahi, Raja, Brinjal, Lotus

 The little labels fit perfect on the back of my pots :)

Sundara does something I LOVE LOVE LOVE when a company does, which is prints on each label whether a color is lip safe or not lip safe. Again, LOVE this.

I did a swatch of each, over UDPP of course:

L-R: Bindi, Saffron, Turmeric, Hasti, Amla

L-R: Mint Mojito, Siahi, Raja, Brinjal, Lotus

So, I love these mattes. I have always been a little scared of mattes, but these were super smooth and easy to blend. They didn't feel chalky at all, and they were all quite pigmented. I did have one exception to the OMG I NEED THESE IN MY LIFE attitude, and that was Raja (as you can probably see from my swatch). I don't know what it was, but I had the hardest time getting it to...what's the word...adhere to? stick to? stay on?...my skin. I am thinking maybe using an epoxy or even a white creamy base would have alleviated the problem, and I will have to revisit this color, because it is really a gorgeous royal blue, and I do want this color on mah face. I think these would pop even more over a white base. Anywho, even just over a primer these look amazing, I love the rainbow of colors I chose, and I definitely want full sizes of Hasti, Amla, Siahi, and Mint Mojito. Here is what I did with them today:

Bindi, Saffron, Turmeric

Mint Mojito, Hasti, Siahi

Sorry for the crummy pictures, but you get the idea.

VERDICT: I totally plan on ordering from Sundara Cosmetics again. The colors I used were very easy to work with and I felt like I had a rainbow on my face. They were soft, smooth, blended easily, and were very pigmented. They are very reasonably priced ($3 for a 3-gram jar, $5 for a 5-gram jar), and I love that they offer the 2 different sizes.

Concrete Minerals Review+Swatches+EOTD

A few months ago I was the lucky winner of a giveaway from The Raven and the Rose, and a part of my prize was 3 eyeshadow samples from Concrete Minerals! I didn't want to overwhelm myself with my first swatch&review post, so I chose a brand I only had a few shades from so I could get a feel for what I was doing. Here are the pots I received:

And the innards (I removed the sifters):

L2R: Lolita, Temptress, Smut

These samples have a TON of product in them! Here are some swatches: 

L2R: Lolita, Temptress, Smut. Swatched over UDPP

Descriptions (Taken from Concrete Minerals site): 

Lolita: Shimmery taupe w/pink undertones

Temptress: Dark teal w/gold sparkle

Smut: Dark silver w/pink-purple undertones

WOW. Just looking at the shadows in their pots, I did not expect to like them as much as I ended up liking them. I would not have chosen Lolita or Smut based on their site descriptions alone, esp. Lolita. I would have been all "eww, neutral." But seriously, I am glad I got them. They have so much more beauty and depth than mere descriptions or even swatches can capture, and I will totally use them all! These are truly gorgeous shades, they apply super smoothly, and they blend effortlessly. Here is a quick eye I did using all 3 colors: 

Smut on lid, Lolita blended outward, Temptress foiled and used as a liner

 

 

My overall thoughts: I totally plan on buying from Concrete Minerals. If I am sent 3 random shades and love each one, imagine how awesome it is going to be when I choose the shades >.< My favorite of the 3 is definitely Smut. It is wonderfully unique. I do wish CM offered samples or smaller sizes of shadows, but the size they offer for the price ($7 for 10 gram pot) is actually quite a deal, as you get a TON of product!

Hello Blogging World

Well it's happened - I have finally gone through with at least one thing I said I would do (eventually)...started my first beauty blog! Well lets get started, ya? 

A little bit about me (very little, I'll try not to bore you). I am a 25-year-old mother to a perfect little boy who is turning 5 next month. I live with my fiance, son, ferret, kitty, and puppy, and we all live in perfect harmony...most of the time ;) I love makeup, body art, music, and gaming. One of my many dreams has been to make a living doing fashion design and creating beautiful makeup, but for now I am a lowly medical transcriptionist with a teeny makeup obsession...OBSESSION! Okay, we are done with this part. Let's move on.

What you will find in my blog: Indie and big-name makeup reviews, swatches, makeup looks, and the occasional randomness that has nothing to do with makeup (so sue me)(wait don't sue me kthanx).

What you will NOT find in my blog: LIES or gratuitous nudity (you're welcome). Anything else I claim as fair game. 

Well if you made it this far, I salute you. I will be posting a quick review of Concrete Minerals w/swatches and possibly an EOTD later today, so check back!