Monday, March 19, 2012

Help me find a dupe!

When Aromaleigh announced they were closing, and then shortly after that announced they were no longer shipping internationally, I was left with a couple of samples I would have liked to buy the full-sized version of.

Serenade I was actually able to mix my own dupe of, and Dulcinea I discovered was not actually as uncommon a colour as I'd thought.

Now the only sample I have left of that I'm loathe to hit 'pan' on is Champagne Toast (see it in action here and here). I haven't been able to find anybody swapping or selling this, and as it was a colour from an older collection, the 'new' Aromaleigh didn't have any left-over stock of it. So I'm hunting down dupes! I ordered three samples from Sassy Minerals (now sadly closed and amalgamated into the Lauress website, which I find ridiculous to navigate [the way they categorise their eyeshadows does my head in] plus the Sassy colours aren't available from them yet) to start off with. HOLY BRACKETS BATMAN. Sorry about that.

The official description for Champagne toast was "A nude pinkish fawn/champagne tone with bright aqua shimmer sparkles dancing in the light."

The three shades I got from Sassy were:
Gaining Ground "Pale rosy beige with flashes of green and pink shimmer "

Salt & Sand "Sandy beige with aqua and gold sparkle "

Pixie Sprinkles "Neutral peachy beige with copper, green and purple sparkles"
You can see from the jar shots that they're all fairly similar, but none of them look like real dupes for each other. Time for the swatch test! All done over PE since that's pretty much the only way I'd wear them.

This is Champagne Toast:
Eye-brightening, peachy-champagne, lovely sheen without being over the top. The aqua sparkles I sadly couldn't get to show up, but rest assured they are there.

Gaining Ground:

Pearly, pale pink. Slight green flash from certain angles.

Very different to Champagne Toast. NEXT!

Salt & Sand:
Peachy pink with a scattering of aqua sparkles. Promising!
But it doesn't quite have that champagne quality. Close though! I can definitely see myself reaching for this if I can't find a proper dupe. Let's go on to the last contender.

Pixie Sprinkles:
Rose gold with superfine pink and green glitters. Quite a bit more pink in real life, it kept wanting to blend into my skintone in these photos. It's the exact colour of rose gold, not nearly as yellow-toned as it is here. I tried lots of different settings and light sources and could not get it to photograph well!
A beautiful, flattering colour, but again, very different to Champagne Toast. This photo is a much better indication of its pinky-ness.

On the list as possible contenders:
Alyk's Twinkle from Persephone Minerals
Deco and Vapor from Silk Naturals
Taupiary, Tickled Pink and Vanilla Skies from Sobe Botanicals
Sexy in Suspenders from Geek Chic
Selene from Morgana Cryptoria

Any suggestions? Or better yet, if you have any of these shades, would you be able to swatch them for me?

9 comments:

  1. I hope you can find a dupe! I've never found a shade like it yet.

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  2. Maybe Pure Luxe Luster? http://spitpolish.blogspot.ca/2011/11/pure-luxe-kaleidoscopes.html

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    1. It looks lovely and I am tempted! However I've read a lot of accounts from bloggers I trust about the company's repackaging, so I won't be trying this one. Thanks for the suggestion though!

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    2. If they repack maybe see if anyone know what they've repacked that one from, ha ha! I hate it when this happens - normally if I run out of a colour I'm not too fussed, but everyone once in a while there is that special one! I panicked when everyone thought Fyrinnae was closing that I'd never be able to get any more Damn Paladins.

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    3. I have a full-size of that! ;)

      I really did not understand that. I can't imagine Fyrinnae ever closing, and I feel like if it ever DID have to happen, the guys would have A) given loads of warning and B) explained why. They're way too invested in the customer base to ever just suddenly close, IMO.

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  3. This has inspired me to do a post of all my 'champagne' colored shades, I have quite a few. Maybe something will be a close enough dupe!

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    1. Yay, I'll be keeping an eye out for that post!

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  4. Tick Tock Cosmetics - Dusk Till Dawn?
    http://ticktockcosmetics.storenvy.com/products/253260-dusk-til-dawn-sample-size

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    1. I like the look of that! Thanks for the suggestion :)

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