Blogger Collab: Favorite Purple Eyeshadows

You asked for it so a bunch of us bloggers got together to do an eyeshadow collaboration! We've swatched our favorites and will be doing little posts on each color group. I, of course, choose purple.

Li-Ann did yellows: http://www.sparklecrackcentral.com/MMU/blog/entry/eyeshadow_swatch_project_yellows/

Robyn will be doing greens: http://eyelinerandspraypaint.blogspot.com

Kimmie will be doing blues: http://kimmiekarmalove.blogspot.com/

Jade will be doing greys/silvers/blacks: http://www.thejadecarver.blogspot.com/

Rachel will be doing reds and oranges: http://www.redlipstickblackliner.blogspot.com/

Definitely be sure to check their swatches out as well! Who knows, you may find a new favorite :)

Now... when I signed up to do purple, I thought it would be easy because it's my favorite color! Trying to photograph these was near impossible as purple is the hardest to show in a photo. I'm apologizing in advance for some of these being off in color. I also blurred some of them to help show any shimmer that contrasted against the base color. I will be laying them out like I did my favorite purple lipsticks. Let's go!

(You can click on the pics to get full sizes if you want to see more detail)












Make Up For Ever, #92: Of course this one comes first because it is probably THE purple in a makeup collector's stash. It's not exactly red based and not exactly blue based, just somewhere in between. It is matte but very easy to work with. I have already made a dent in mine, as you can see! ($19)














Urban Decay Deluxe, Ransom: I have this in the Deluxe Shadow Box but they sell it on it's own. This color is semi common in the purple world... it's a blue based shade with darker purple and pink shimmer. However, Urban Decay's insanely smooth formula wins out here... hence why it's on the list. ($18)






















WetnWild Sugar Plum Fairy Palette: This palette has some of the most gorgeous purples on the planet. The swatch on the left is a blurple, but when it starts blending out, turns a lovely shade of grey-purple. Really unique. The right swatch is an exact dupe of Mac Trax, which is a very heavily red based purple with loose gold shimmer. ($4.99, discontinued)














Sleek Bad Girl Palette, Underground: This is another one of those blue/purple/iridescent shimmer shades like UD Ransom, except this color is much deeper in base tone. It has the most perfect formula (very similar to UD's deluxe formula), plus these palettes are amazing value! Unfortunately, they are only readily available in the UK unless you pay for international shipping. (£6.49, about $10 USD)














Sleek Circus Palette, Pale Purple: This palette is before Sleek named their eyeshadows. Well, we've gotta have a light purple in here, right? This eyeshadow suffers from some pigmentation issues but I find that it works best over a white base. I've gotten some lovely eye looks from this. (£6.49, about $10 USD, discontinued)














LA Colors Wine and Roses Palette: This color is so full of depth! It looks very pale in the pan but once you swatch it, the blue undertone and gold shimmer comes out. It may sound like Mac Trax or the one I showed above, but it's not at all. The base tones are completely different. (Price varies, $1-$3.99)














WetnWild Single, Kitten: I'm realizing that some of these colors may look similar, sorry about that! This is a very pastel purple base with darker purple overtones. There is also some very subtle gold shimmer. Something about this makes it different from the LA Colors palette color. I can't explain it, just take my word for it! This is another color that I've gotten some pretty looks from. ($1.99)























Make Up Academy, #9: I think every UK beauty blogger has this eyeshadow, and rightfully so! AMAZING price and one of the prettiest purples I own. The color shift is insane (that's why I have 2 swatched shots... it looks different in both!) and it transfers onto the eye very well. If you don't have this and you're in the UK, go get it, like now. If you're not in the UK, I will be bringing back 10,000 of these when I visit there next to give to people :D (£1, about $1.35)














Barry M Dazzledust, Winterberry: I don't have an actual jar of this, it's a sample from Robyn so you get one picture :) Anyway, this almost didn't make it into the purple category but when I photographed it, I went "PURPLE SHIFT! It's eligible." Anyway, I wanted to feature it. Amazing color... sadly only available in the UK. I know, sorry! This is fantastic for those fall/winter looks with metallics... I like to pair it with golds and darker purples. (£4.59, about $6.20USD)











High Voltage Cosmetics, Born to Rock and Movie Star: Do me a favor and blow that picture up, because the small photo DOES NOT do these two justice. Born to Rock is a medium blue-purple with a stunning lighter blue shift. It is almost identical to Fyrinnae's Faerie Glamour, but I put this on here instead because Faerie Glamour and I broke up. That's right, we're not on speaking terms right now... anyway, Movie Star is in the same family as MUA #9 but softer, and it also has a lovely gold shimmer. ($1.00 - sample size, $4.50 - full size)













Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow, Purple Snap: I was going to save this as I just got it, but I had to include it. I had a really hard time photographing this and am still honestly not happy with the result. The deep, metallic purple shimmer in this is outrageous! It's such an amazing shade of purple... more red based than blue. I will do a full review on these later (I have another, and may be getting more :3) ($19, this shade exclusive to Sephora)

Well, that's it! What did you think? As usual, is there anything I NEED in my collection? Let me know!

New Fyrinnae stuffs! Swatches too.

I got a literal ton of Fyrinnae stuff from my parents for Christmas. I actually squealed audibly when I opened the package. I made a wishlist and gave it to them, not expecting to get EVERYTHING on the list... I forgot who I was dealing with and ended up with so much stuff. I figured I'd show it!

I swatched these with no base originally. The photos sat in my "unreviewed" folder for weeks and I decided to re-do them one night over Pixie Epoxy. Fyrinnae's colors are pretty on their own but something was off with my photos. Anyway, onto the swatches and FOTDs!

























Top Row: Meerkat, Snow Bunny, Parental Advisory
Bottom Row: Fujiro, Faerie Glamour, Blue Whale

Meerkat: I got this from seeing it on Robyn's blog (I think?) and the color is just stunning. It's a medium purple with multi (mostly gold) shimmer and lighter purple undertones.
Snow Bunny: This is a pale lilac with a heavy iridescent flash. Gorgeous, but a bit powdery and tends to get muddy while blending over Pixie Epoxy. I had some difficulty with it.
Parental Advisory: I see this color and just think BAM! It's an insanely bright true purple (shows blue here) with magenta sparkle. Fantastic.
Fujiro: This is a hard color to describe... it's a cornflower blue with pink shimmer... sort of...
Faerie Glamour: Similar to High Voltage's Born to Rock, it's a blurple that shifts between a medium lilacy purple and a light blue. Interesting, but I had some issues with this shade as well.
Blue Whale: These don't look as similar in real life, I promise. This is a medium blue with purple and pink shimmer. Applies very nicely.
















































Another pic of Meerkat, and a photo at a different angle of the bottom three colors (and a bit of Parental Advisory)

























Top Row: Polar Bear, Lucky Charmed, Boytoy
Bottom Row: Tyr, Leif, Sleepy Hollow

Polar Bear: OMG... this color is amazing. That is all. It's a really good highlight for greens and golds... the color shift is awesome!
Lucky Charmed: This is a bronzey, vintage gold with a green undertone and teal sparks. Yes, I said sparks because they're not quite sparkles... you try to photograph them and they're gone, then they're there again!
Boytoy: A deep emerald green with a ton of lighter green and dark green glitter. Heavy on the fallout but gorgeous, so it's worth it.
Tyr: Godddd, can we get a more perfect green? This has a slight olive tone but is so deep and sexy. Love it!
Leif: Grass green with yellow and red sparkles. Very metallic.
Sleepy Hollow: Can I even describe this? It's a VERY vibrant blue with a teal shift and loose sparkles. I find myself staring at it and seeing more in it each time I do. One of my favorites.

























Lucky Charmed and Boytoy posing for their close ups.

























Top Row: Snow Leopard and Daemon's Tail
Bottom Row: STFU and Mephisto

Snow Leopard: This and Daemon's Tail swatched poorly for some reason. Snow Leopard is a fantastic, nearly matte silvery taupe. I love it!
Daemon's Tail: Very complex burgundy with a load of other shimmers tossed in. Quite gorgeous... applies a little lighter than it swatches though, which is strange.
STFU: Ha! Love the name. Interesting burnt orange with loose orange sparkles. Surprisingly the fallout is pretty minimal with this, all things considered.
Mephisto: Man, what the hell IS this color? It shifts the second you think you know what it is... watch!















































Is it red? Is it purple? Is that a gold shift? omgwtf. It's such a COOL color. It's got a matte purple overtone that shifts to a metallic golden red in certain lights. Really unique and quite possibly the most awesome eyeshadow I own, haha.

I had no real issues with these colors. I think I was having an off day when I tried a look with Snow Bunny, Faerie Glamour, Sleepy Hollow and Parental Advisory though. Nothing was blending right... specifically, Faerie Glamour and Snow Bunny were blending into a murky greenish purple color. It was really unattractive! I haven't had the courage to mess with them since so if I manage to finish that look, I will post it!

I do have two other looks to show you... the first is Polar Bear, Snow Leopard, Lucky Charmed and Boytoy. On my cheeks I had one of the blushes I got (that I lost the swatch of, rawr!) called Seduce. It's a pale purple that I was expecting to make me corpse like, but instead gave me a beautiful glow! I guess that's why they're called glow blushes :). No idea what was on my lips though... it may have been Maybelline Pink Please with Mac Springbean over top?



















































































The other was one I really liked... it was Leif (on the lid), Tyr, Daemon's Tail and STFU (on the lower lash line). The blush was the other one I got, called Enchant. VERY intense color, but pretty. On the lips was Mac Flurry of Fun lipglass, I think (I really need to write this stuff down...). I was hoping Daemon's Tail would be a little darker but I still liked the look. Come to think of it, I think I used a bit of Evil Shades Wyvern to blend out the edges as well.





















































































That's all for me! Until next time...

Crown Brush's Response

This is where I need some help from you guys... I'll explain the situation and then I need some opinions on what I should do.

If you watched my Crown Brush review, you know that I wasn't happy with my products. At the time of the video (which was last weekend), I had emailed the company on two occasions and also called their customer service twice, leaving messages both times.

After making the video, I realized that they had never responded to any of my attempts, sans a response telling me to contact customer service via telephone. Thus, I sent the following email to them on January 26:

From: Wendy *******
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 8:09 AM
To: sales@crownbrush.com
Subject: Re: Order #7798 (2nd Email)

Since your customer service department apparently does not find my concerns all that urgent, if I do not hear from you by the end of the day today (5PM CST), I will be requesting a full refund from my credit card company. I am not happy with your product and despite numerous emails and phone calls, I have received no response.

Thank you,
Wendy ******

Well, that apparently lit a fire under their asses as I got a phone call WITHIN ONE HOUR from the company. I could not answer as I was at work (I don't answer my cell at work), and received an email a few minutes after they called.

From: Crown Brush
Subject: Re: Order #7798 (2nd Email)
To: "Wendy *******"
Date: Wednesday, January 26, 2011, 10:38 AM

Hello,

We apologize for the inconvenience. We tried calling this morning but were unsuccessful. Please call me or email me a time that I can call you to correct the issues you are having with you order.

Thank you,

Daniel

Seem nice, don't they? I immediately responded and said I would call them on my lunch break. I called at 12:10PM on January 26, and of course, no one picked up. I left my name, order number and not one, but two phone numbers where I could be reached.

The day went by with no response; January 27 went by with still no answer, and on January 28 I sent the following email:

From: Wendy *******
Subject: Re: Order #7798 (2nd Email)
To: sales@crownbrush.com
Date: Friday, January 28, 2011, 8:51 AM

Still have not received a return call from the message I left on Wednesday around 12PM EST. I even emailed you to tell you I would be calling. I will be filing the dispute.

Wendy ******

Yet again, within one hour, I had a phone call. This time I picked up and was asked if they were speaking to "Ali Cosmetics" or something. I said no, and waited. Finally, the customer service person said, "Oh, sorry, is this Wendy?"... Yeah. Real professional, guys. I then told them (again) that I couldn't talk on the phone at work. She offered to call me back at noon, my time. I said fine.

She called back and did something similar again when I picked up (asked for a different person, then got flustered and asked for me). We sat in silence for a good fifteen seconds before I finally said, "SO, I have a problem with your products." I went into pretty good detail about my issues and was met with a "Ummm... hold on..."

She barely covered the phone and chatted to a co-worker, then came back on and said they would resend two of the brushes.

...

Apparently they think that resending a brush that sheds like crazy and a scratchy blush brush is acceptable. To me, it's not. I simply said that, I said that I felt the brushes were poor quality. She put me on hold a good two or three more times, each time asking questions of someone, sounding like she had no idea what was going on. She got back on the line and told me I could send the brushes back *at my own expense* and once received, I would get a refund. It was not specified whether I would receive my shipping back. In an effort to be civil, I told her okay, and asked for the mailing address. Cue more hold time. Good god, she doesn't even know their mailing address? What the hell is up with this company? It was by far the most unprofessional phone call I have ever had. She never tried to discuss the brushes with me AT ALL, just offered a half-hearted refund.

Now my dilemma is whether or not I should send them back or just file the complaint with my bank and bin the brushes. I am concerned that my return will "not be received" even if I put delivery confirmation on it. I really don't feel like getting into a war with this company over whether or not they get my return. I also am pissed that I would have to foot the bill to ship their crappy products back to them. Basically, I am not happy. What would you guys suggest I do?

Thanks in advance, and as always, thanks for reading!

$10 Smokey Eyes and a Dupe of a Famous Lipstick

A while back, I showed the Stila Adventurous in Aspen palette in a haul post. I swatched it, and was admittedly a little uninspired by the swatches. I set it aside and said I would work on it later.

If you don't remember, here are the swatches:













































Pretty unassuming, right? Anyway, back to my story.

I had been using Fyrinnae all week, collecting photos to complete my review. Some looks came out awesome, and others not so much... after a day of fail, I wanted something fool proof.

As I started applying the shadow over primer, I realized how easy it was to create a smokey eye, so I ran with it! I used all of the eyeshadows except for the gold, the lip and cheek stain on both my lips and cheeks, and a lot of Urban Decay's Zero eyeliner. However, you could easily use the black wet and get a very intense smokey effect. I just wanted to slick on a ton of black eyeliner. It's therapy sometimes.






















































































Now, does anything look familiar to you? I applied the lip and cheek stain (called Rosy) to my cheeks and wasn't much impressed... then I did my lips and went WOAH, hold the train... I think we have a dupe here.

























In this photo, I am wearing none other than the holy grail of pink lipsticks, Mac Viva Glam Gaga. I don't have a side by side swatch because swatched they don't match at all really. On the lips however? Nearly identical. I think Gaga is ever so slightly more pastel, but that makes the Stila Rosy a lot more wearable.

Now, the problem is that Rosy is not part of their permanent line of Convertible Colors. So, you can only get it in this palette. BUT, the fact that you're getting 4 eyeshadows plus this for only $10 makes it a really awesome value. Moral of the story is: if you've been dying to get Gaga and either can't afford it or it's sold out where you live, get this if you can. The eyeshadows are quite pretty over primer (it's a different take on a smokey eye, slightly grey/purple tone) and the lip and cheek stain is just cute.

I hope you enjoyed, I love finding you guys inexpensive but versatile products!

Guest Blogging Today at Stay Beautiful!

While Robyn is off being a snow bunny somewhere cold, I've posted a photo tutorial on her blog for an easy pin up look! To check it out, click the pic below! (I know you want to look, you guys love photo tutorials...)

Capsule Book/Movie Reviews (a new series?)

I thought I'd do a mini mini series on books or movies I see, and do a basic overall review of them. I figured it would be a good way for someone looking for book recommendations to discover something new! I will do my best to keep the reviews short and spoiler free.

This first post will be longer than usual as I have to catch up... I think I'll post every few weeks and only do 1 or 2 of each (books and movies) so that you don't get so overwhelmed.

For the books, I read a lot of fantasy/paranormal type stuff so if you're not much into that... you probably won't be interested in my selections.

Recent Movies:
- TRON: Legacy: Not really recent but still something I've seen in the past month. If you haven't seen the original, don't bother going to see this one... you won't know what's going on. Overall, a good movie... no one can deny that it is visually stunning. Like Avatar, sit back and enjoy the pretties... don't expect a crazy deep storyline (even though it could be). They left it open for another movie so we'll see what happens.

- True Grit: I have a bit of a thing for westerns so I was really interested in this remake. It definitely did NOT disappoint! I thought Hailee Steinfeld did an amazing job as Mattie (I am impressed with her acting) and Jeff Bridges was just fantastic. It was weird seeing him in this so soon after Tron... they are two very different roles. I wouldn't recommend this for those not into westerns -- it's a bit on the slow side and you'll be bored if you aren't a fan. (if you want to try a good action western, check out 3:10 to Yuma)

- Despicable Me: This is out on DVD now but I'll include it anyway. This one fell under the radar but if you're a fan of Ice Age, Under the Hedge, that sort of kid/fun type movie, watch this one. Good storyline, cute characters and a nice moral tale at the end.

- The Black Swan: I saved this one for last because wow. Just wow. I don't even know what to say on this one. I saw it yesterday and my mind is still trying to figure out exactly what went on. This movie is VERY intense, definitely not for the faint-hearted. If you like a happy go lucky movie, this is not for you. I think my only criticism is that there was a bit of unnecessary sex in it. I think the director was going for shock value, and the scene itself would have still gotten its point across without staying on the topic for so long. Some of it was admittedly uncomfortable. Also, if you have problems with watching bodily gore, don't bother with this one. Quite disturbing but still an excellent movie.

Book Reviews:
- The Morganville Vampires Series (first book is "Glass Houses"): I don't even remember how I found this series, I think it was on some weird goth book review site? I'm up to Book 9 (haven't read it yet) and it's pretty good. I wouldn't call it an amazing, ground breaking series, but it's got something interesting that makes you want to keep reading. The basic premise of the story is vampires. I don't want to say much else because, well, spoilers. This 17 year old girl is in college early and starts living with two guys and a girl, obviously they become best friends. It goes from there. I wouldn't read this if you're wanting something deep, I just like them for quick reads... I'll usually spend an evening reading one. A downfall is that the writing is a bit juvenile and can get repetitive.

- "Devil's Kiss" by Sarwat Chadda: This is one that I did not finish. I couldn't get more than 35 pages in because the grammar was absolutely terrible. I am assuming the writer is foreign and the book was translated to English... moral of the story, it wasn't translated well. At all. I had no idea what the author was even saying. It was something to do with the Templars. That's all I understood.

- "Hush, Hush" by Becca Fitzpatrick: This is a paranormal romance about a girl who falls in love with a mysterious guy. Sound familiar? Yep, it is very Twilight-esque. I personally think this is more interesting, just because I can't stand Stephenie Meyer's writing style. The author takes a while to get a plot going but I was satisfied with it by the end of the book. The second book (Crescendo) just came out and I am in line for that at the library. We'll see how this series goes.

- The Immortals series by Alyson Noel (first book is "Evermore"): This is a series that I would urge you to stay far, far away from. This is a book that copies Twilight, only in a bad, bad way. The writing is juvenile, repetitive and the story has moved nowhere after five books. A couple of things have happened, but I am seriously only still reading because I have to finish the series. I know that the ending will suck. Long story short, the main character falls in love with an immortal. They drink weird red stuff. Her boyfriend used to be a slut and pissed off a guy who was in love with someone he slept with. Same guy comes back for revenge. Five books later and that's basically what's happened. Terrible. As an interesting side note, all of the positive reviews on Amazon are by professional reviews and share similar verbage... paid reviews, perhaps? Any from users are very negative.

- The Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr (first book is same title, "Wicked Lovely"): I really have enjoyed this one so far. This one is more faeries and magical people instead of vampires and werewolves. I've read the first 3 books, I'm in line for the 4th. The 1st follows a set of characters, the 2nd shifts to a different set (some are the same) and the 3rd goes back to the first set. Some people didn't like the shifting and didn't like the focus of the 2nd one, but I quite enjoyed it. The 3rd one lacked a little for me, honestly. I heard the 4th shifts to a new set so we will see how that goes. Again, a bit juvenile but I am reading young adult books here. These aren't deep reads.

- "The Iron King" and "The Iron Daughter" (2 books) by Julie Kagawa: I picked this up at random I think and absolutely loved it. It's again a faerie/magical creature story. I don't want to give spoilers but this one is definitely worth a look. I bought The Iron Daughter (2nd book) when it came out and haven't had a chance to read the entire thing (I stopped to read something else) but what I started reading was really good.

- The Nightworld series by L.J. Smith: Nothing new by any means, but this series was out long before Twilight and any of its clones. This is probably my favorite paranormal action/romance series that I've read. It's well-paced, well-written and has the elements of romance without being sappy or boring. There is a soul mate concept that is quite fascinating. The books are divided into 3 collections, with 3 stories contained in each one. Each story has a different main character (though some side characters overlap, and some side characters become main characters), but everyone comes together at the end. Very cool. Definitely recommended. Has vampires but also werewolves.

- The Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead (first book is same title, "Vampire Academy"): Wasn't a fan of this series. I barely got through the first book and found myself falling asleep while trying to read it. Too typical in terms of teen drama and just generally boring. I didn't have an urge to keep reading any of them. I know this one is relatively popular but I'd pick Twilight over this.

- "Nevermore" by Kelly Creagh: I saw this in the book store and picked it up from the library... this was another no-go for me. Over 500 pages long and within the first 250, NOTHING happened. I stopped reading it. Typical teen drama/romance with sad, lonely girl and hot, brooding guy. Boring. I don't mind a story like that but something has to be interesting about it, you know?

- "Dead Beautiful" by Yvonne Woon: This has been a favorite of mine in terms of recent reads. I REALLY enjoyed this book, I hope she either continues the series or writes a new one. This was about a girl whose parents die mysteriously, and she is sent to live with her grandfather that she barely knows. It goes from there. It starts out as a typical angsty teen novel but then blossoms into a really fascinating read on life after death and and some of Descartes' famous philosophy. It kept me interested. I read over 400 pages in 48 hours, if that tells you anything! The ending was a bit weak but that is why I am wondering if she will continue the series. VERY much recommended if you're into paranormal romance!

So what do you think of these types of posts? As I said, there would be much less book reviews as I would be caught up... I was thinking 2 of each type every couple of weeks? Let me know!

Clothing Haul (Forever 21, etc.) and my first edited video!

Yaaaay! My husband spliced together video clips so that I could show you what I've bought in terms of clothing recently. I'm so excited! I am getting closer to being able to do video tutorials!

So here's the video... not so great lighting and kinda crappy quality, but that is YouTube for you. Let me know what you think, what your favorites are, etc... I can also post pics of how I end up wearing the items too (for example, I'm wearing 2 of the pieces shown today!)

Crown Brush Review

Just the video for now... may post a couple of pics later on.



Let me know what you think!

Kat Von D Tattoo Chronicles Palette Volume 1 (Review, FOTDs)

I don't know how many of you have heard about this palette, but I've only seen one review and it was an endorsed one. I figured it was time for an honest and complete review. This will be a long one, so grab some coffee and let's play with makeup!

The original price of this palette was $55 and available only at Sephora and Sephora.com. The palette is limited edition (but still available on the website). The price was reduced in December to $39 and then I nabbed it for an additional 20% off at Sephora's year end clearance sale. That brought the total down to $31.20.

For said price, you get 12 eyeshadows, 1 pair of false lashes, 3 different colored eyeshadow primers, and a double ended rollerball of Kat Von D's Saint and Sinner perfumes.

First things first, the palette is gorgeous. It looks like a vintage hard cover book and you open it to find drawings and letters from Kat Von D herself. The thought that went into the design is cool as hell and the style of palette is interesting.





















































The size of the eyeshadows are 0.02oz. For reference, the Urban Decay Naked palette's shadows are 0.05oz, the average Mac eyeshadows in palettes (holiday sets, etc.) are 0.03oz, and Stila's 6 pan palettes usually have eyeshadows of 0.06oz. Thus, these are a bit smaller than usual. No big deal, you're still only paying $2.60 per eyeshadow at base value, that's excluding the primers, lashes and the perfume.

You'll feel an urge to dip into this palette immediately, and so I did and swatched everything for you:








































First off, the primers are on the top row. Left to right is Skin, Stellar and Smoky. In terms of the quality of these primers, they are quite thin yet sticky once they start to dry.

Skin is a bit nude in my opinion and could make darker skin tones look ashy... it dried relatively transparent on me but I could tell I had something there, so on darker skin I am not sure if it would work.
Stellar is a sparkling pinky primer. This one is the stickiest of the 3, and when you blend it out the color disappears into not much more than shimmer. I think Kat was going for her own version of Urban Decay's Sin primer, but this is less pigmented. I can't see myself using this a whole lot as it doesn't have much use. It's just something a little different from the average primer.
Smoky is a deep grey primer that leans a bit green in certain lights. This has a similar problem to Stellar in that it is not completely opaque. I think would work as a decent base for a smoky eye... it's sticky without being TOO sticky. I would recommend blending this out with a brush that you don't care much for as it does stain, including your fingers.

The primer containers hold 0.01oz, which is decent, but they are admittedly quite tiny. They have a doe-foot applicator and do have the issue of collecting product on the tip when you pull them out of the tubes. I can see this getting smeared all over the inside of the stopper, which would be a waste in the long run. I haven't tested them extensively but I was only brave enough to wear Stellar on it's own (I used the rest with TFSI, sorry, paranoid) and didn't experience any creasing after 4 hours. If something is going to crease on me, it will do it relatively quickly.

For the eyeshadows in that photo, left to right is Tijuana, Taxidermy, Hollywood and Peanut.

Tijuana is a near matte black with loose gold glitter. It's interesting that this actually shows when you swatch and use it as it's so chock full of it in the pan. Pretty shade, albeit a bit powdery.
Taxidermy is an AMAZING bronzey brown full of gold shimmer, it reminds me of molten chocolate. Absolutely gorgeous. Very soft texture... creepy name.
Hollywood is a bronzed gold with a bit of frost. This one, like Taxidermy, glides on and blends like a dream.
Peanut is a pale white gold, similar to the light gold in the e.l.f. "Day 2 Night" Quad or the WetnWild Night Elf palette. Again, blends beautifully.























Crappy swatch photo, sorry! I don't think my camera liked the durastic difference in color between the top and bottom rows so it was overexposing the top row.

Top row, left to right is Baudelaire, Heartkiller, Solitude, and Redemption.

Baudelaire is a bit of a standard sparkling silver, bit lighter than the usual silver, very prone to fall out.
Heartkiller is a satin baby pink with loose silver glitter. Little bit of a problematic shade.
Solitude is a blue based lilac, very silky and smooth.
Redemption is a matte cobalt blue leaning purple. The texture is quite hard and makes the payoff not so good.

Bottom row, left to right is Lemmy, Nite Owl, Poe Blue and Monastery.

Lemmy is a velvety lemon yellow, a little lighter than my swatch shows.
Nite Owl is a deep olive green. It appeared to be more of a dark emerald in the pan, but not so when used and swatched. Texture is a bit hard.
Poe Blue is a blackened blue with silver glittery. Very hard texture.
Monastery is a satin black with multicoloured, but mostly silver, glitter. Very smooth.

As you can tell, the eyeshadows vary greatly in payoff and texture. The most disappointing shade was Redemption. It's a beautiful color in the pan but it just isn't smooth enough to have good payoff. I wasn't a huge fan of Poe Blue either, it had a similar hardness and was difficult to make opaque. The other shades definitely make up for some of the duds... Taxidermy, Hollywood, Lemmy, to name a few. Some of the shades in the palette are incredibly buttery and easy to apply.

The value of the palette is pretty obvious here but I will admit that I wish more thought had been put into the selection of the colors. It's such a shame to put a beautiful yellow and black with a poorly pigmented green and blue.

Peanut was taken from her True Love palette, Solitude and Tijuana were from the Memento Mori palette. I appreciate that she reused some of the shades -- those 3 happen to be good ones in the palette. I just wish that she had included a green or blue from the Metal Orchaestra or Ludwig palettes, or even something resembling that texture.

Anyway, you lift up the part with the eyeshadows and falsies and find...

























Each end of the rollerball contains 0.17oz. For reference, my Stella McCartney rollerball is 0.33oz, so combining these two gets you about the same amount as most rollerballs... granted, my Stella was $20, but anyway. I won't go into too much about the perfumes as you guys are here for makeup, aren't you?

Saint has top notes of Mirabelle plum and juicy mandarin, mid notes of Tiare flower, caramel and jasmine, and bottom notes of vanilla, musk and sandalwood. When I smell it, I am immediately hit by the plum smell with some of the caramel underneath. The fragrance is quite sweet initially and dries down much more subtle, but something about it doesn't agree on me. I wore it and after a few hours, I was feeling weird about it... just didn't like it. It's more tolerable when worn after a while but initially, it has this old lady smell about it. Don't you love old lady smells?

Sinner has top notes of orange blossom, mandarin and plum (again?), mid notes of jasmine, white-flower bouquet and cinnamon, bottom notes of vetiver, patchouli and vanilla. I'm not really a fan of this one. The first whiff of it is insanely overpowering -- the plum absolutely kills the orange notes. Honestly, the first intake kills me and makes me not want to wear it. I don't like jasmine and I don't like patchouli so this one is a no go for me. The scent is just way too acidic.

The perfume is okay, I feel that her scents are a bit flat and boring. They say they have these complex notes and dimensions but when you're wearing them, you don't get that. They aren't high end so I don't expect anything, but multi layered perfumes have been common since the 90s. I wish this has been a lipstick and gloss instead.

Last thing, some quick looks I did with the palette, the purple and pink was a bit Twiggy-esque but wouldn't photograph AT ALL. (first is using 2nd row of eyeshadows, 2nd is using 1st row):





































































































Overall, great palette for the value. I'm not a fan of the perfumes, but someone else may be, it's just personal preference. I can live with the value being in the lashes, primers and eyeshadows. Kat Von D still needs to do a little work on her makeup line but she is coming along... and I look forward to what else she will put out there for us!