Swatch & Review: Femme Fatale Cosmetics Gravity Lapse (holo!)

Disclaimer: this product was sent to me for review. It has not affected my opinion in any way.

A triumphant bloggy return with a gorgeous lacquer from the new collection of holographic shades from Femme Fatale Cosmetics!

Swatches: Shiro Nestyr and Butts

These colours are not available any more, but Caitlin has done clear-outs of leftover Colour of the Month stock before, so I thought I'd swatch them anyway. FOR SCIENCE.

Review & swatches: Mckfresh #32 (Nidoran!)

Described as "purple shimmery creme base with white, pink, purple, green glitters of different sizes."
My take: shimmery lilac base with purple glitter squares, tiny aqua squares and hexes, tiny round coppery-pink glitter, and white glitter in several sizes and shapes.

Review & swatches: Mckfresh #41 (Zubat!)

Mckfresh Nail Attire is a new Australian indie polish company that I've had my eye on for a while. They started out with a Labrynth-inspired collection, but it was their limited edition Pokemon polishes that really caught my eye (pun intended).

Left to right, top to bottom: 001 - Bulbasaur, 004 - Charmander, 039 - Jigglypuff, 032 - Nidoran, 054 - Psyduck, 041 - Zubat.

Review and swatches: Zoya Harlow

This was gifted to me, which is excellent because I never would have bought it myself and I LOVE it! The Zoya matte velvet range come in a frosted version of their regular bottles.

Swatches: Mode Cosmetics Face Gone Purple

Don't ask me what's up with this name because I don't bloody know. I thought it was a weird typo when I saw it, but then I checked a few other bottles and they were all the same! What I do know is that when I saw this, I was reminded of Illamasqua's Velocity. I don't have it to compare them, but it's similar enough to squash my lemming for a polish that has been discontinued.

Review and swatches: Femme Fatale Cosmetics eyeshadows!

I have four eyeshadows and four blushes/illuminators from Femme Fatale Cosmetics to show you! This post will be eyeshadows only, I'll do a separate one with the blushes :)

*DISCLAIMER - these products have been provided for review. This has not influenced my opinion in any way.*

Review and swatches: Pretty Serious Colour Glosses

I reviewed two of the original glosses here and wasn't altogether in love with them, especially since they were so sheer. Well, Kaz reformulated them and added two more colourful glosses to the collection, and since cosmetics are currently discounted across the whole range, I decided to try them both!

NotD: Lodestone Skittles

I've been checking out a lot of nail blogs lately for inspiration, and decided to try a glitter gradient manicure - over skittles!

Max Factor Mini Nail Polish: Diva Violet

Eotd/Lotd: Berry Wine

Actually managing to get out of bed in time to do makeup for uni is quite an accomplishment these days. The fact I had time to photograph this look was an even bigger bonus!

Femme Fatale Cosmetics: Glittering Lodestone polish!

Sophie posted this on the Femme Fatale Cosmetics Facebook page a fortnight or so ago:

I wasn't 100% sure on all of them but I KNEW I wanted Glittering Lodestone, so as soon as they were available, I bought the 15ml version.

Detrivore Cosmetics! Lip products

I finally ordered from Detrivore Cosmetics! They were having a summer sale, so I decided to take advantage of that and try a few of their products. I got two Lip Glosses, one matte shadows and two highlighters. Distorria very kindly added two samples of her infamous matte eyeshadow shades to my order. This post will be about the lip glosses, and I will cover the eyeshadows seperately.

Yet more Mode swatches!

YOU GUYS YOU GUYS. Remember how I lost my favourite purple Mode Cosmetics polish during the move, and haven't been able to find a new bottle anywhere?

YAAAY!

Shiro swatches!

Intertubes! Eyeshadows! ALL OF THE THINGS.

This is a combination of several orders over the last few months.

Dance of Death is the first (?) colour of the month and by the time you are reading this, it will no longer be available. Sorry about that! If you like Shiro on Facebook you can suggest and vote for colours of the month and then maybe next time you won't miss out.

Beyond the Fence
I'm not a huge Hunger Games fan but I am a fan of green eyeshadow. This was a bit more olive than I was expecting - it's like a non-glittery version of Fyrinnae's Dressed To Kill eyeshadow. Which is one of my favourites, so I am glad I got this.

Majora's Mask
If you're like me and you own a ton of purple eyeshadows, GET THIS ANYWAY. It is loaded with gold sparkle and it's seriously gorgeous.

Enrichment Center
A free sample and it's a Portal colour. How did you know, Caitlin?! Soft, shiny sage green.

Forty Cakes is a creamy hot pink. Kind of barbie-ish. It is probably my version of MAC St Germain, since everyone raves about it, but every time I see it all I can think is "WAAAY too pale for me".

Team Buffy is a deep brown-plum red. I would say the photo is a bit less brown than it appears in person. I like building up the colour opacity a fair bit, but I imagine it can be worn sheer if you want something less vampy. Huuuur. It tends to settle into my lip lines if I'm not careful.

Nyan Cat is hot pink with gold shimmer that makes it almost coral. The shimmer is very present if you apply a good amount - it's borderline frosty, in fact. Here is Nyan Cat swatched next to Forty Cakes if you're worried about having too many pinks in your lip product wardrobe:

Swatches of older intertubes can be seen here.

Don't forget kids, be careful when using Intertubes because THEY STAIN!

Review: Australis Manic Panic

If you've been reading my blog for a while, or if you know me personally, it's no secret that I love purple. I have a purple diary, a purple water bottle, and a ton of purple make-up. During the move I lost my favourite bright purple Mode polish, and I haven't been able to find a replacement.

That is waaay blue-toned, silly camera!

Enter Australis Manic Panic, a bright, red-toned purple creme.The original Mode polish I had was blue-toned, in fact remarkably like that inaccurate bottle shot above. This lacquer is similarly bright, if not the right tone, and opaque in two coats, as opposed to the Mode's one. It hasn't entirely filled the hole left by my favourite purple, but it's a good stop-gap for now. It dries quite glossy too. Excuse the weird bump on my ring finger, I accidentally knocked it with my camera while the polish was still wet.

That's still not quite as red-toned as it is in person, but you all know how much cameras LOVE to work with purple, heh. It's a fun, bright colour and if you're a purple fan like me, how can you resist a cheap lacquer?

Review: Ozotic Pro 1010

Why don't these things have names?! Ugh. Anyway, I've only ever been able to find Ozotic Pro polishes in one place - a small chemist in Perth, and they always have a really small collection. So when I saw this smoky, metallic purple I grabbed it straight away.

That pink flash isn't visible in person, I was actually really surprised seeing it in photos. It's a cool and frosty colour so it has to be applied carefully to avoid brushstrokes. This is two coats.

The second picture is much more colour-accurate. I really like this polish.

FOTD: Purple Monday

I had quite a bit to do this morning, so I opted for something quick and simple, but still with some colour.

How can my eyebrows need attention ALREADY?!

Eyeliner: Aromaleigh eyeshadow in Odile, foiled
Mascara: Maybelline One by One Volum' Express in Satin Black

Lips are a bit more plummy and shimmery in person.

Face: Australis Fresh & Flawless pressed powder in Darkest Brown, Lost in Makeupland Finishing Powder for Oily Skin
Brows: Wet 'n Wild Eyebrow Pencil 3 and a brow powder I mixed myself

Blush close-up.

Lips: Silk Naturals Kisser Slicker in Infatuation
Blush: Sobe Botanicals Enchanted

IS MAH FACE

Note to self: less thick eyeliner won't transfer, duh.

Eccentric Cosmetics: review, swatches and give-away!

On the hunt for a good orange and purple lip colour, I finally decided to bite the bullet and order from Eccentric Cosmetics, another Australian indie MMU company that has been on Etsy for a while.

I placed an order for a Silken Lips lipstick, in the shade Orange U Glad. I received my order the following week with my product, a business card and two samples: an eyeshadow in (Wicked Mischief) and a clamshell containing their eyeshadow primer. Unfortunately the lip balm tube containing Orange U Glad wasn’t working properly and wouldn’t screw up at all! I contacted and she replied very quickly. I had offered to send back the product for an exchange, but she said she’d send me a new one and suggested that I microwave the defective tube and depot the lip product. 

The following week my new, working tube of Orange U Glad arrived, with another sample of Wicked Mischief and an addition sample in a clamshell of Killer Heels, which is the purple lipstick! So I’ll be swatching and reviewing everything except the primer today, since I want to do a wear test with that one. Also I give Anna a big thumbs up and a thank-you for her awesome customer service and generosity with samples.

First up: Orange U Glad. This is the replacement tube I was sent: 

The Silken Lips are quite an unusual texture - they're silky when you rub your lips together, but they have a high wax content which makes them sit a little heavy on the lips. They have lots of lip-nourishing goodness in them, and they feel like a really thick lip butter. The upside to the texture is that it's a nice protective layer on the lips and makes the colour quite opaque as well. The downside would be that you need to exfoliate your lips before using it, since you'll get a concentration of colour on any cracks or dry patches if you don't. Oranges always look kind of neutral on me, so I think I might try some gloss over the top to amp it up a bit. These have a satin finish, they're not glossy at all. 

This eyeshadow is a lovely smooth copper with a rosy sheen and golden sparkles. A really gorgeous, complex neutral with a kick. I wish I could have gotten the red-pink flash to show up a bit more - it's faintly visible in the bottom of the first swatch - it's almost a sunset on the beach colour. Quite smooth and the glitter particles stick nicely. Official description is "beautiful bronzy gold rubs down to a pinky base, filled with gold and orange sparks."

No foundation and lazy, day-old eye makeup!

Red-toned medium purple, though it looks quite blue-toned in that swatch. I love it. You can apply it sheerly for more of a 'wearable look', but I exfoliated my lips and then layered it on with a lip brush (that I totally forgot I even owned). The formula means it's not my HG purple lipstick, but it's definitely a lot closer to the colour that I want than all the too-dark or too-pink purples I've been disappointed by in the past.

I will definitely be placing another order with Eccentric Cosmetics in the future - at the time of writing this post, you can get 3 Silken Lips samples in clamshells for $6 AU. The other colours I'm keen on trying would be Vamped, a deep red, and The Future is Right, a stunning teal-blue colour. They also have 5 eyeshadow samples for $5, and eyeshadow primer samples in Nude or Black. I have the Nude and I will be doing a wear test soon.


Since I have an extra tube of Orange U Glad, I’m going to have a little give-away! All you have to do is make a comment using the word “GLAD” and your email address, and in ten days I’ll pick a random comment and send that tube (opened to check it was working, but otherwise untouched, I used my de-potted tube to swatch with) to the lucky commenter. 

Also, just for funsies:

 ^ sheered out, more colour-accurate, and 100% more duckface.