Haus of Gloi Summer Release Haul

Oh summer, the time of year when bath and body companies release their delicious lines of products for the world to enjoy. Haus of Gloi was one release I was eagerly looking forward to, and so once it came online I tried to snatch up as much as I could (and needed, I suppose). I have never purchased any of their summer scents before, so I picked a few that sounded good and went from there. Overall, I was definitely as pleased as I always am with their quick shipping and amazing products. They truly rarely disappoint.

First off, Haus of Gloi makes some of my favourite lip balms, so when I saw the scents they were offering in their Summer line I immediately snatched up three. I picked Pineapple and Fennel, Peach Milk, and Mango Cream. All three are the lovely formula I have grown to love and all three met my expectations. Their scents weren't as prominent initially but as I've used them I can smell the pineapple, peach, and mango a lot more. Still it's not as heavy as some other brands, and for that I'm grateful. It's just enough that it doesn't over power any other scents on me. I don't really seem to catch the fennel, milk, or cream as much as the fruit scents, so if any of those sounded off putting I wouldn't worry.

I also grabbed one of the Whipped Soaps since I'd heard so much about them, and the fact that they wouldn't be available until after Summer was enough to sway me. I didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised at how luxurious it feels! It's on the firmer side, but still fluffy, and would make an excellent shaving cream. I've used it a few times as a body wash and it lathers up nicely and smells absolutely divine. Definitely another win for me.

As for the scents, I purchased three samples and then received Cozy Sweater as my free sample. My thoughts on the perfumes are below:

Zazz: Tart cranberry, pink grapefruit, sparkling champagne all shook up with crushed ginger root.

Smells exactly like Canada Dry Cranberry Ginger Ale. I don't really get a grapefruit note but I can definitely smell the 'bubbles' of the champagne. Love it. I'm so glad I got this as a Whipped Soap because it's definitely my type of fruity, bubbly scent.

Wear time seemed to be around four hours before I started to lose it. My skin seems to do this with any scent that doesn't have a heavy base like musk/amber.

The Briar Path: Sun drenched trail leading to a day dream of ripe berries and woods rose, rich forest loam, ozone, dark amber and cream.

I'm not sure what note it is but I immediately get 'antique store musk' off the bat. It slowly dries to a sort of old lady potpourri smell and I don't enjoy it. I tried to let this one sit longer but I had to wash it off. Not my style.

Komodo: Mangosteen, Tahitian vanilla bean, dragons blood resin and faded tropical blooms.

I wasn't sure what to think with my first cold sniff of this one, since I got some sort of strong green scent immediately. My nose isn't well-tuned so I'm guessing it may have been the mangosteen. After applying and letting it dry however the vanilla and tropical blooms seem to come out and I get this wonderful sort of sweet scent. It honestly reminds me of some sort of sour candy I remember eating when I was younger that I can't exactly place. Love it.

Wear time seems to be six or so hours. The greeny scent lingers the longest but isn't as strong as it was on the cold sniff.

Cozy Sweater: Pale skin musk, faded perfume, Egyptian amber, softly burning nag champa incense and a fine aged vanilla.

I had heard wonderful things about Cozy Sweater so I was excited to see it as my free sample. Musky vanilla is my absolute favourite thing ever and so even though my husband wasn't a huge fan I definitely am. I'm not really sure what nag champa incense smells like but it's definitely not the patchouli sort of scent I dislike. This is definitely a nice, soft sort of perfume.

Wear time seems to be quite good, around six or seven hours. I think it's either the musk or incense that seems to hang around the most on my skin especially.

So some winners and some not so much, but at least now I'm prepared for restocks and future years. I would definitely recommend Haus of Gloi to anyone looking for high quality indie body products, and you can find them here.

Swatch My Eye Shadow Part 3: Notoriously Morbid

Who knew I could actually make it through and swatch all the eyeshadows I have? I sure didn't! So here's the last installation. Notoriously Morbid is another one of my favourite indie companies, simply because her duochromes are insanely beautiful. I am a sucker for them, it's true. She often has a 'Free Day Friday' promotion which includes free shipping, free eye shadow minis, or sometimes a free lip balm. Definitely add them on Facebook to keep up to date with whatever it is she's offering.

This isn't my whole NM collection, since I swatched a few shadows in a previous post here, but it's everything I haven't shown before. Gorgeous stuff ahead!

From Left: Hearts of Black Lace, Garmonbozia, Witch with a Wand, Look Upon Me

Hearts of Black Lace: A blackened burgundy. Definitely needs primer to get the gorgeous red undertone.
Garmonbozia: A corn yellow with a chestnut undertone and a frigid blue shift. Couldn't get the shift to show in photos for the life of me but it's GORGEOUS and one of my favourite shadows.
Witch with a Wand: A gorgeously perfect cotton candy pink.
Look Upon Me: A metallic dusty mauve with slight blue shift.

From Left: Hallow's Eve, Shadow of Things, Bram, Walks in the Moonlight

Hallow's Eve: A black base with gold and copper shimmer and slight red shift. 

Shadow of Things: A dark, metallic green with aqua sparkles.

Bram: A darkened silver with slight blue shift.

Walks in the Moonlight: A dark grey-purple with shifts of green and a touch of pink.

Look at those duochromes, so pretty! You can find Notoriously Morbid here and be sure to follow them on Facebook to get information on all their Friday deals.

Victorian Disco Sale Haul

Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to order more eye shadow until I posted my last bit of my collection swatches. To be fair I did order this before I instituted that no-buy, so I swear I didn't break down and purchase something. More on that bit later though.

Victorian Disco is an indie eye shadow company that has many collections based off of various nerdy fandoms. There's a Sailor Moon collection, a Studio Ghibli collection, as well as eye shadows making fun of Twilight and other such things. Their colour offerings are plentiful and if you can have the patience required for their occasionally long TAT it's worth the wait. I took the plunge at the beginning of April when they had their flash sale, and for the most part I wasn't disappointed.

I ordered minis and samples in jars of Keeper of the Forest, Jedi Council, Aura, Bella's Range of Emotions, Artist's Cottage, and Bus Stop. The free samples I received were Sailor Mars and Sailor Pluto. I was over zealous and pressed Sailor Pluto, Artist's Cottage, and Bus Stop before this review.

From Left: Aura, Jedi Council, Keeper of the Forest

From Top: Aura, Jedi Council, Keeper of the Forest

Aura is a lovely pale pink with a slight lavender shimmer. It was hard to get it to show up properly but it would be the perfect highlight shade. Similar to Shiro's Master of Whispers, but definitely more pink.

Jedi Council is a light grey with a white shimmer and silver sparkles.

Keeper of the Forest is a matte gunmetal grey. At first look I thought it and Jedi Council were close in colour but KotF leans more blue. It is definitely the perfect 'Totoro grey'.

From Left: Bella's Range of Emotions, Bus Stop, Artist's Cottage

I couldn't for the life of me get the duochromes of Bus Stop and Artist's Cottage to show up in the arm swatches (you can kind of see the green but barely) so I included the finger swatches below.

From Left: Artist's Cottage, Bus Stop, Bella's Range of Emotions

Bella's Range of Emotions is a deep brown matte. I was so happy to find an indie neutral brown since so many of my mattes lean more red.

Bus Stop is a deep brown base with a gold duochrome.

Artist's Cottage is a brown base with a green duochrome. It is absolutely gorgeous and part of me worries pressing it took away some of it's beauty. I may have to reorder it.

From Left: Sailor Mars, Sailor Pluto

Sailor Mars is a black base with a gorgeous red shift. I'm not huge on dark shades but this one is gorgeous.

Sailor Pluto is a emerald green base with violet sparks. Also gorgeous. Best samples ever. Both hugely improve with the use of a primer, as you can see at the bottom.

So overall Victorian Disco impressed me. Their shadows are gorgeous and pigmented, though some of the mattes I found slightly difficult to apply compared to some other companies. The only downside to my order was that it took over a month to get to me, past the TAT of 4 weeks. I ordered April 8th and got the package May 24th. It looks like her TAT has improved though so I'm willing to gamble and make another order when the time comes. Especially since some of her duochromes are absolutely gorgeous.

You can find Victorian Disco Cosmetics here.

Little Sparrow Lip Jellies and Blush Haul

The benefit to constantly reading other blogs and forums that discuss indie brands is that I hear about so many different companies. Some specialise in eye shadow, others have a little bit of everything, and usually if I hear enough about a certain company I figure I have to try it. Little Sparrow Cosmetics is just one of those companies, and praise for their lip jellies can be heard far and wide. After continuing to browse through their Etsy store and stare at all the pretty colors, I caved and just had to purchase a few of their minis to see what the talk was all about. I threw in a lip balm in Root Beer Float because why not, and their Desert Rose blush looked like the amazing neutral I was looking for so I grabbed that too. I ordered on May 9th, received my package on the 27th and of course immediately tore it open. I also received two blush samples which I can't find in their store, so I'm assuming these are still to be released. Exciting!

Oh to the swatches!

From Left: Desert Rose, DR Blended, Ecstasy, Ecstasy Blended,
Dolly Pink, Dolly Pink Blended

Desert Rose is a gorgeous tan blush with a golden shimmer and pink undertones. I've been looking for an indie dupe of tarte's clay blush in Exposed, and though this isn't it I still love it. It would work beautifully as a bronzer as well for my pale skin so having a two-in-one product isn't anything to complain about.

Ecstasy is a lovely rose gold blush with a slight gold shimmer. I'd say it's similar to Shiro's 1 Up blush but with a bit less actual sparkles and would be perfect for summer. I may have to keep an eye out for it to come into stock because I definitely love it.

Dolly Pink is, well, pink! The way it looked in the sample bag scared me at first, but it applied a bit more sheer than expected. Still, it's not quite my colour but I'm sure those that love a bright pop of blush on their cheeks would love this.

On to the magical lip jellies. The lip balm is uncoloured so I didn't bother swatching that, but it applies just as beautifully as the jellies. It isn't waxy at all and may rival Haus of Gloi for my favourite lip balm ever.

From Left: Oh My Papaya, Cherry Pop, Plum Brandy

Oh My Papaya is a gorgeous coral, Cherry Pop is a nice deep pink, and Plum Brandy the perfect medium plum. All can be applied sheer or built to medium coverage like in these swatches. I've been wearing Plum Brandy all afternoon and my lips still feel moisturized and not at all sticky. Definitely a win for me! I did noticed that Plum Brandy was a close dupe to Shiro's plum lip tint, so I swatched them side by side for comparison.

From Left: Shiro's A Girl and A Cat, Little Sparrow's Plum Brandy

A Girl and A Cat is definitely more purple, while Plum Brandy leans slightly more magenta. Plum Brandy was easier to build up compared to Shiro's lip tint, and I think I liked the colour pay off slightly better. Both are great products, but I think I prefer Little Sparrow's jellies just a tiny bit more.

Below are the swatches on my lips of all the lip jellies, all only with one or two swipes.

Bare Lips

Oh My Papaya

Cherry Pop

Plum Brandy

Overall a successful haul! Their blushes are highly pigmented and their lip jellies are just so comfortable, so I can definitely see myself purchasing from them again. You can find Little Sparrow Cosmetics here on Etsy, though her shop is currently on vacation while she preps some new products to sell in the coming weeks.

Swatch My Eye Shadow Part 2: Shiro Cosmetics

Ah, Shiro. Yet another popular and highly praised brand that is completely worthy of it's mass following. Caitlin's eyeshadows are based on various nerdy fandoms and there's sure to be something that tickles your fancy. Whether it's the gorgeous Hobbit and Game of Thrones collection, or the playful Pokemon and Minecraft collections, Shiro has almost every colour of the spectrum accounted for. I don't own as many of her shadows as I wish I did, but one of these days I'll get around to updating my collection. You can find Shiro here.

All swatches have a swipe of UDPP at the top and bare skin on the bottom.

From left: Kaepora Gaebora, Hodor, Master of Whispers, I Tried

From left: Kaepora Gaebora, Hodor, Master of Whispers, I Tried

Kaepora Gaebora: Shimmery taupe over a light brown base.

Hodor: Medium near-matte taupe.

Master of Whispers: Soft golden shimmer shining through pale lilac.
I Tried: A gorgeous, glittery rose-gold.

From left: Mother of Dragons, King Under the Mountain,
Climbing Chaos, Epona

From left: Mother of Dragons, King Under the Mountain,
Climbing Chaos, Epona

Mother of Dragons: Silvered royal purple over a blood-red base.

King Under the Mountain: Rich brown-grey, filled with silver and sky-blue sparkles.

Climbing Chaos: Rich velvety brown with a warm metallic copper-bronze shine.

Epona: Soft velvety brown with a misty cream overlay.

From left: War of Five Armies, Badger, Yzma's Essence of Llama

From left: War of Five Armies, Badger, Yzma's Essence of Llama

War of Five Armies: Near-matte, the darkened red-brown.
Badger: Shimmery blackened chocolate with gold sparks.
Yzma's Essence of Llama: Dark plum purple with coppery gold duochrome.

Swatch My Eye Shadow Part 1: Aromaleigh

A few weeks ago I promised myself that I had to swatch my current collection of indie eyeshadows before I bought anymore since I was starting to see doubles pop up unexpectedly. Nothing is worse to me then to buy a new colour from a company and notice you already have one almost exactly the same from someone else, so this is my attempt to stop this. Also to try and not spend money on things I don't need, but we'll see how well that goes.

First up is Aromaleigh. They were my first indie company that I purchased from since they have some really good sales through out the week, and I found it easier to bite the bullet on 50 cent samples than $1.00 samples. Every Monday they have 50% off a collection, while every Thursday you can find 25% off various collections. Not bad at all. They have a crazy amount of colours in mattes, lustres, glitters, etc. so you're guaranteed to find something you like. You can find them here online.

I've tried to organize these according to collection though the first swatches aren't since I only had two from one and another from a separate collection. Everything else is sorted properly.

On to the swatches! All are swatched with UDPP on top and bare skin underneath.

(From L-R: Password Protected, So Changeable, Ma'at)

Password Protected and So Changeable are from the Brilliant Deductions collection, while Ma'at is from the Ancient Magick collection.

(From L-R: Password Protected, So Changeable, Ma'at)

Password Protected: A light mauve with copper shimmer and gold sparks.
So Changeable: A nice light brown with gold shimmer.
Ma'at: A soft brown with rose gold glitter.

(From L-R: Island of Misfit Toys, Azimuth, Crocus in the Snow,
Skeleton Key, Et Tu Brute?, Gaslight Tears)

All of these shadows are from the Monthly Special Edition Shades. These are limited edition but seem to hang around until their supplies run out so many are still available if you want to snatch them up.

(From L-R: Island of Misfit Toys, Azimuth, Crocus in the Snow,
Skeleton Key, Et Tu Brute?, Gaslight Tears)

Island of Misfit Toys: A soft nude without noticeable glitter. A good highlight colour.

Azimuth: A soft taupe with a green/blue shift in certain lights. 

Crocus in the Snow: A silvery grey with violet sparks.

Skeleton Key: A grey with gold shimmer and tons of blue and violet sparks. Very glittery.

Et Tu Brute?: Bright purple with slight red shift and red sparks. Definitely need to use primer.

Gaslight Tears: A grey-violet with silver and gold sparks. Very glittery.

You can really see the glitter in Skeleton Key and Gaslight Tears
in this photo. So pretty!

(From L-R: Clotilda, Honoria, Boudicca, Lagertha, Aethelflaed)

And finally the Ignis Antiquita collection. I think if I had to pick a favourite collection it would be close between this one and the Hannibal collection. Gorgeous pigmented colours in a wide spectrum that I find hard to resist to buy. I would definitely recommend them. Plus, who doesn't like eye shadow based off amazing historical ladies?

(From L-R: Clotilda, Honoria, Boudicca, Lagertha, Aethelflaed)

Clotilda: A muted grey with slight lavender shift.
Honoria: A soft lavender with a gorgeous silver shimmer.
Boudicca: A rusted red with slight magenta shift, only noticeable in certain lights.
Lagertha: A fiery copper-orange with a slight gold shimmer.
Aethelflaed: A cool deep green with silver shimmer.

And that's that. There's so many more collections I want to try after my no-buy is over, especially the Hannibal collection, but I still have two more companies I need to highlight before I do so. Shiro and Notoriously Morbid are the others in the queue, so keep an eye out for those posts in due time.

Shiro Anniversary Haul

Like many other people I was eagerly anticipating Shiro's anniversary sale.  I've loved her eyeshadows since I swatched my very first one, and this sale was just the reason I needed to try some of her other products. Especially since I have a self-imposed eye shadow no-buy until I get my act together and swatch all of my other eyeshadows.

So blushes and lip products it was! She also threw in a free full sized The Fourth Be With You for purchasing more that $15 during the sale, a free eyeshadow sample in Extermination and a free blush sample in Apocalyptic (which I almost ordered anyways!). First, the two shadows.

The Fourth Be With You and Extermination

The Fourth Be With You is definitely bright! I'm not usually one to gravitate to loud colours like this, so I'm still unsure if I'm going to keep it or not. It's super pigmented though, and a gorgeous lime green if that's something you're into. There is a light shimmer but nothing too flashy.

Extermination is from the Fullmetal Collection, a collection I actually haven't considered before. I had quite a few shadows for other companies that looked similar enough so I hadn't bothered ordering samples. Extermination is very pretty, full of sparkles and a nice workable tan brown. Definitely my sort of colour.

Blushes were something I always avoided when it came in indie products since I was concerned about them being loose instead of pressed. I couldn't say no during the sale though, so I purchased full sizes of Shiro's 1 Up and Potion as well as Detrivore's Concubine. Apocalyptic was a free sample, but is also by Detrivore. Application wasn't as tricky as I expected, so I'm pretty indie blushes are going to be my new obsession.

1 Up, Potion, Concubine, Apocalyptic

1 Up is a beautiful coral pink with a light shimmer. It's the perfect summer colour for my pale complexion and will probably work well with a variety of looks.

Potion is a gorgeous light berry with shimmer. It's a little bright compared to the other colours I own, but if I'm light handed with it I think it could work great.

Concubine is a matte purpley beige, a colour I almost didn't get. Purple blushes do seem to be gaining popularity, so I'm interested to see how this one plays out on my face.

Apocalyptic is an excellent matte brick red. I didn't purchase a full size of this since I already own a similar tone in a NARS blush, but now I'm wishing I had. It's super pigmented too, which is always a plus.

The only blush I've actually used so far is 1 Up and I can't believe it's lasting power. I put it on before yoga and errands and it managed to last all day during 80 degree weather. Definitely a plus.

On to the lip products! I heard great things about Shiro's Intertubes, but I of course forgot to purchase them during the sale. Instead I got two of the new tinted balms in A Girl and A Cat and With Eyes Unclouded. I'd also heard fantastic things about her glosses and decided to gamble on a custom colour. I love the idea that you can pick any lip safe eyeshadows or blushes to make into the perfect lip colour, so after humming and hawing for a while I decided on Detrivore's Apocalyptic blush.

Apocalyptic Gloss, With Eyes Unclouded, A Girl and A Cat

Bare lips for comparison

A Girl and A Cat

With Eyes Unclouded

Custom gloss in Apocalyptic

A Girl and A Cat appears a lot darker in the tube, which is what initially put me off of ordering it. After seeing a few swatches of the gorgeous sheer berry it becomes though I caved and went for it. Definitely adds a nice colour to my lips without being too unnatural. The formula is smooth a moisturizing, a definite plus.

With Eyes Unclouded turned out to be the perfect 'my lips but better' colour even though I anticipated it to be a slightly darker red. It adds just enough colour to appear to still be natural, so I think this is a keeper for sure.

The Apocalyptic custom gloss was everything I had hoped for. I'm not a fan of super bright lips or lip products with a large amount of shimmery glitter, so I had a hard time picking out a colour since Shiro has very little matte shades. I asked about using Detrivore pigments instead and Caitlin reassured me she could use those for glosses as well. Apocalyptic is the perfect matte red I've always wanted, and it even leaves a slight stain on my lips. I only did a quick swipe in the above pictures but it could easily be built up, especially since I only got the gloss in moderate opacity.

The custom gloss formula blew me away. I've always hated lip glosses since I always thought the name was synonymous with sticky, gross lips. I tried different recommendations from different people but could never find something that worked for me. Shiro's formula however is exactly what I've always wanted. It's not sticky and actually feels moisturizing on my lips unlike other products that just sit on top and slide around and make a mess. These glosses are definitely going to be my go to, and I can't wait to try out more colours. My only word of caution is that the formula does have a slightly odd scent, so I recommend getting a flavour put in to counteract it. I went with Champagne and it's a perfect light, fruity sort of scent.

Apocalyptic gloss next to Apocalyptic blush

Over all it was an excellent purchase. I was able to try out Shiro and Detrivore's offerings that weren't eye shadow and I was impressed with everything I got. The custom gloss exceeded expectations and the blush seems to withstand whatever I throw at it. Shiro's products are definitely top notch, so I will always recommend it to those just starting out in the indie makeup scene.

You can find Shiro Cosmetics here and Detrivore here.