My small army of Concrete Minerals

Okay, so it's more like a squad. Since I'm on a swatching binge, I decided to swatch all of my Concrete Minerals eyeshadows, with the exception of my Arkham Collection, because something about showing off a limited edition set that can't be obtained any longer just seems cruel.

Swatched over ELF primer and NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk

L-R
Row 1 (TOP): Rocked, Mad Hatter, Wicked, Juvenile
Row 2: Sabotage, Napalm, Brat, Hustle
Row 3: Arsenic, Souljourner, Harlequin, Vegas
Row 4: Infinity, Temptress, Smut, Swamped
Row 5: Lolita

ROCKED

MAD HATTER

WICKED

JUVENILE

SABOTAGE

NAPALM

HUSTLE

BRAT

ARSENIC

SOULJOURNER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HARLEQUIN

VEGAS

INFINITY

TEMPTRESS

SMUT

SWAMPED

LOLITA

I know I've said it before, but I'll repeat myself. I love Concrete Minerals. It's one of those companies where I'll probably end up owning everything they make eventually, because it is just that damn good. There is one thing that initially bugged me about Concrete, and I still kind of wish they would offer something like this, and that is the fact that they don't offer a smaller jar option. Not necessarily a "sample," although I DO love samples, but even a 5- or 3-gram option.

Currently, shadows are $7 for a 10-gram jar, and there is always a "color of the week" for the discounted price of $5. You can also buy the colors in certain sets for a little discount. Plus they offer a lot of discount codes (I've gotten one with every order). Overall, I guess can't complain TOO much at only being offered 1 large size, because that is actually a crazy-affordable product-to-price ratio, and even more so if you use a promotion/buy a set.

Someday I will make a top 10 list of my favorite companies, and Concrete will be in there. Not today. But just so ya know. <3

Linnaeus Cosmetics and my expectations being exceeded.

3 posts in one week, I'm on fire! Honestly, I'm just so behind in my reviews and I felt like getting super-sparkly this weekend :D

So, back in late July, Linnaeus Cosmetics had a 30% off sale, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to pick up a few shades for review, and a good time to get Kitsch, which for some reason just struck my fancy when I first stumbled upon Linnaeus. The problem was, Kitsch was the ONLY color that struck my fancy, but I did pick up a 5 sample pack and just kind of chose some colors at random. I didn't really put much thought into it, honestly. Yes, the pigments from Linnaeus did look very pretty and sparkly, yes I loved the animal correlation with each color, and yeah they were priced  reasonably, but for some reason I couldn't find any color that really excited me. I couldn't really place why, maybe I just felt I already had so many colors in my collection and I didn't see anything I felt I needed or didn't have. Well, I thought stupid.

Happy Linnaeus Surprise #1: I ordered on 7/26 and my order shipped on 7/29. I don't remember what the posted TAT was when I ordered, but I'm pretty sure it was longer than that. So, it shipped quick. Yay!

Happy Linnaeus Surprise #2: When I got my order in the mail, the care taken in packaging was fantastic. What I thought was the coolest thing, though, was something I haven't ever encountered before:

Look at that handwritten note! Sure, most of my orders come with a little blurb handwritten from the owner, and it's always appreciated, but receiving something like this just makes you feel like they really care, no?

Happy Linnaeus Surprise #3: I ended up LOVING the product. The colors, the ease of application, and the incredible pigmentation. When I first opened the package, I was afraid of the bags the sample pigments came in. More specifically, they were the largest bag I've seen a sample come in to date. I sat there going, "Ugh, it's going to be a BITCH to get as much product as possible into a jar." I was pleasantly surprised when I potted these that virtually no pigment even tried to stick in the bag and it was no trouble at all getting all the product from the bag into the jar. Silly me! Just a note, Linnaeus samples are 1/4 tsp which I feel is quite generous. Here is my humble Linnaeus collection:

 

I purchased a 5 pack, 1 was thrown in for free, and to my surprise I ALREADY OWNED a full size of Skittering (water damage on label from me, it didn't come like that) from when I won a giveaway quite a while ago. DERP. 

Sample of Kitsch that I potted to show generous sample size.

L-R: Kitsch, Twiggy, Show Off, Vex, Skittering, Lanky, Alacritous <3 Swatches were done over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy.

 

Look using Vex, Skittering, and Kitsch. 

I really underestimated how much I would like Linnaeus Cosmetics. The colors are just gorgeous, the customer service and attention to detail stellar, and the product formula to-die-for. I would absolutely order from this company again, and I plan to.