LaurEss: Review & Swatches

It was quite a sad day when one of my staple indie companies Sassy Minerals announced that they would be closing and merging with an unknown-to-me company called LaurEss. The migration was supposed to take place pretty swiftly, but it was about a month until the Sassy products were actually available from the LaurEss website.

Sassy was one of my favourite companies because not only did they sell a variety of great products (eyeshadows, blush, face powder and foundation) but because they sold samples in JARS and orders always came so darn fast, even though they're in the U.S and I'm in Australia.

When the Sassy shades finally came up on the LaurEss website, I was really disappointed to see that they were no longer offering eyeshadow samples, just blush and face product samples. Having ordered a lot of Sassy eyeshadows, I did have a few shades I was interested in purchasing a full size of. After a lot of deliberation I decided to order one of my favourite shades from them, a matte grey called Thunderstruck. The eyeshadows are $5.25 US.

The order arrived in a fairly timely fashion. Sassy pack the shadows in a mesh bag and then an organza one over that. LaurEss just went with the organza - possibly because my order was so small. It did include a sample of a blush/highlighter.

The sample packaging was the same jar as the Sassy samples used, with the same type of sticker and font. However, I find LaurEss's product categories and listings to be a bit confusing. I didn't know what exactly they'd sent me until I looked it up on the website, and even then, I only realised it was a blush-type product because of the pricing and the fact you could purchase a sample.

 The full-size shadow packaging is very different as well. The jar is a lot nicer-looking, but unlike the old Sassy jars, does not have the ingredients list anywhere.

I have several Sassy blushes, so I was definitely interested to try out Effervescent. But what I was most interested in was comparing my Sassy sample of Thunderstruck to the LaurEss full-sized jar... once I could get it open. Unfortunately, the full-sized jars come with those paper sifter stickers that have no pull-tab. That was the case on all of the old full-sized Sassy products as well. I opted to remove the sifter altogether.

LaurEss on the left, Sassy on the right. Swatched dry on bare skin.

The Sassy version looks a little bit lighter to my eye, though they show up almost identically in the pictures. They seem to have the same texture as well.

Verdict? I will probably be ordering a few full-sizes from LaurEss, but I think that the lack of samples will work against them being able to pull in a lot of new fans/customers.

Did your order from Sassy before they closed? Have/will you order from LaurEss in the future?

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?

Miw and purple Eotd

I apologise in advance for this one, I had a horrible time trying to get any good OR accurate pictures! This is another t-shirt inspired look.

Miw (Meow Cosmetics) on inner/middle of lid.
Fierce (Sassy Minerals) on outer corner with Caitlin's Purple Poof (Aromaleigh v1.0 patted on top. Waterline done with black liner, then swept a thin line of Miw on inner lower lashline. Outer lower lashline done same as outer lid. Highlight Tako (Sugarpill), no mascara but I did my brows and face.

My nails are done really simply at the moment. It's ironic, I can use any polish or combo of polishes that I like, it's now finding TIME to do my nails that's the problem! If only I could polish in my sleep...

Sassy Minerals: review

This company doesn't get enough attention, I'll say that right out! Firstly, samples. In jars. For $0.75 US. Seventy-five cents US, which some days is actually less than $1AU. And you actually get a bit more (to my eye, I haven't weighed them or anything) than other companies who do $1 samples in bags.

S

Schmooze.
For bagged samples, there are loads of wholesale companies and even ebay sellers you can get jars from if, like me, you're not keen on bags. Jars take up more space, it's true, but I find them so much easier to work with.

Sassy's eyeshadows are divided up into 4 categories. The main ones are Shimmer (so everything sparkly goes here), Liner (deeper/darker shades) and Silk Luster, which are Sassy's very unique mattes. I'm not a matte girl, I'll say that right out. I did order a couple of these Lusters just to try, and they're so smooth and not chalky at all and I actually really like them. The last category, Deja Vu, are colours that are dupes of different brands. If you're looking for specific dupes or replacements, go here. The Deja Vu shadows are viewable in the other categories.

To date I have placed three Sassy orders, and I've gotten 2-3 free, full-sized samples with each order. I don't have all of the shadows that I bought because I gave some to a friend, but I have swatched all of the ones I still have, plus 3 blushes. All shadows are swatched over Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk, and I dabbed a bit of PE on top of that for the shimmers. Everything's listed in order from left to right.

Silk Lusters: 
Refresh (faded-denim blue)
Mojito (pale minty green) - this colour did strike me as being similar to Concrete Mineral's Detox, but as you can see, Detox [swatched underneath] is a bit lighter, brighter and of course it has a light dusting of silver sparkles.
Mystify (lilac) - can look a bit pinkish in some lights. Very pretty, delicate shade.
Pucker Up (yellow) - almost the pastel version of Aromaleigh's HiFi Matte in Atomic [swatched underneath].

Shimmers:
Starstruck (dark blue-grey with silvery glitter)
Cocktail Party (metallic greyish lavender)

Neverending (deep, shimmery blue-purple-grey)

Ruby Slippers (metallic red with a hint of gold shimmer) [there's a bit of False Pretences that wandered up and tried to say hi to Ruby, sorry!]

 

Always a Bridesmaid (lilac with gold shimmer)
Jinx (heather grey with a strong aqua shimmer )
Fake It (rosy peach with gold sparkle)

Fake It (again)
False Pretenses (vivid, shimmery spearmint green)
Radiate (pastel-yellow shimmer)

Atomic (orange shimmer, looks  really gold here but it's actually orange)
Schmooze (light pink with an unexpected blue gleam )
Crown Jewels (smoky grey with flashes of green and gold)
Apparition (soft grey with mauve shimmer highlight)

Liners:
My Mantra (shimmery chocolate brown)
Shatter (dark grey with glitter)
Shocking (shimmery electric blue-violet)

Thunderstruck (soft matte grey)

Secretive (deep matte navy, almost black)

Foundation and blush samples:
Cool, Neutral, Warm and Olive Tan. I still haven't found my match, I think I might need to order a few of their Medium shades.

Silk Luster blushes:
Curiosity, Sweet Memories and Charming. Now, I did swatch these blushes, but I could not get them to turn out accurately no matter what lighting, angles and settings I used! Basically, all I achieved from swatching them was to note that I should give Charming a go soon, and that Sweet Memories would probably blend right into my skin colour because it's such a peachy pink. The colour descriptions are pretty accurate on the Sassy website, both Curiosity and Charming are a close match to my natural cheek flush colour.

Their shipping is cheap, and boy is it FAST! My second order took nine days from payment to arrival. That's international. It usually takes at least a fortnight for me to get anything from the U.S.


Silk Lusters
As aforementioned, I'm not super into mattes. Sassy's version of them are smooth, vibrant and silky. If you're a matte-lover, or were previously on the fence like me, I'd give theirs a go. Thunderstruck makes an amazing liner on days where you don't feel like full-on black. Pucker Up was quite pale, and didn't show up well on me. I think the only Silk Luster I'd want a full-size of would be Thunderstruck, but again, that's just because I wouldn't wear mattes.

Shimmers
Sassy's shimmers are unique, complex, layered and sparkly without being 'glitterbombs'! Yes, there is a bit of  fallout upon application, but really, what loose and glittery eyeshadow have you come accross that doens't get a bit messy? (No really, is there one, 'cause that'd be cool). They're pretty long-lasting, and can be built up from a gentle wash (light swipe with a dry brush) to brighter/deeper intensity (Pixie Epoxy is the best way to showcase these shadows). Some of them are really complex, almost duochrome, having a grey or muted base colour with coloured shimmer: Jinx, Apparition, and False Pretenses are a good example. Some have coloured glitter - Crown Jewels (one of my faves), Starstruck and Ruby Slippers.



Eyeliners
Sassy's liner shades can of course be used as shadows. This category contains particularly dark and intense shades. Secretive, My Mantra and Shocking are very deep and pigmented shades.

Foundation
I have no idea what 'undertones' I have, so I tried to cover all my bases with my sampling. It was really thoughtful of the gals at Sassy to include the one Tan sample shade I was missing! I'm still trying to figure out my match, so I can't say too much about the foundation at this point. It feels quite smooth and soft, has pretty good coverage, and is not too cakey or chalky though. Again, these samples are $0.75 so it really won't hurt too much to see for yourself!

Blush
Apart from a free Lushblush sample from Meow, I'd never ventured into blush before. My cheeks are naturally quite pink and I don't like to highlight that too much. However, since venturing into heavier-coverage face products, a little bit of colour helps keep you fresh-looking. I picked the three very 'natural' pinks which seemed like they'd be closest to my natural colour, and in Silk Luster finish (I liked the colour of the Meow blush I got but found the shimmer really off-putting). I just blend a miniscule amount in, because these blushes are just as pigmented as the eyeshadows. Sassy offer bronzers too, but I haven't tried any.

CONCLUSION!
I'll make no bones about it - I think Sassy is awesome. They have fast delivery, cheap shipping, cheap SAMPLES IN JARS, and amazing colours in a variety of finishes, varying complexity, and so many colours. Ruby Slippers is a really beautiful, metallic, wearable red. I love Jinx, Apparition and False Pretenses - they can go on as a wash of sheer, shining colour or can be PE'd for a glimmery, intense look. The descriptions and pictures on their website are pretty darn accurate as well.

I've seen many swatches of the infamous Archetype eyeshadows, the complexity and the glitter, and read the mournful tales of three, four, five, six months and beyond that people waited for them. To those poor souls, I say this: go to Sassy, spend an extra 50c US per product and consider that a small token for their seamless customer service and a far more user-friendly website. I give Sassy:

Hehehe!

You can find the Sassy Minerals website here. They also have a blog and Facebook fan page.