Aromaleigh v.2 swatches and review

I caved, I did! I was ordering some samples of the clearance v1 shades, and some v2 samples slipped into my cart as well. I was curious to see if the new shades were as good and had that sparkle factor of the original products.

All have been swatched over Pixie Epoxy.

giacinta

"rich, deep teal frost with green highlight shimmer"
Amazing, amazing teal shade. It has just enough sparkle not to be too satiny, and it's so versatile. If you want it to be more blue, use a patting motion. Want it to be greener? Buff it a little. I used it in a look with the colour sort of curving around the outer corner of my eye - it ended up looking like two different shades because I patted more colour on the upper lid and blended it out on the lower lid. I have ordered a full-size of this because it's exactly the teal I was looking for.

hellebore

"lush cool green frost with pink sparks"
When they said 'cool green' I wasn't expecting something so... faded? Pastel? The pink sparkles are visible and add an interesting dimension to the colour. It's pretty, it's just not something I can see myself reaching for a lot.

fraxinelle

"soft pinked buff with a green iridescence and blue sparks"
I was expecting this to have one of those plush bases with a bit of contrasting shimmer, but the base of this colour is SO blingy, I can only just make out the green/blue sparkles! A seriously shiny neutral. I think this would be great with a dark, equally glittery crease for a night out. Or, y'know, running errands.

elisabetta

"midtone buff with hints of rose and a smokey undertone"
Shimmery, rosy brass colour. Almost has a mauve sheen in some lights. Very steampunk, I like it!

can-can

"coral, in a plush luster fine sheen finish with softly shimmering rose highlight sparkles" 
I have no idea why it's SO orange in my photos. Soft, yet bright pinky coral with mostly golden glitter. Really pretty, really bright shade!

knickers

"pinked champagne luster sheen frost with delicate highlights of golden green" 
I keep giggling when I look at this shade. And I'll probably giggle every day I wear it. YES, I AM TWELVE, OKAY. Because this is over PE the gold/greenish highlights are very prominent. I'm sure it would look more pink over primer or bare skin.

ma cherie 

 
"sheer plush luster in a midtoned cocoa rosy buff, highlighted with fine shimmers of green and blue"
Brown-taupe with green and blue shimmer. Very pretty indeed. Neutral but with a dash of sparkle and colour.

vittoria 

"lush jade green with bright sparks of blue"
I don't know if I'd call this 'jade' green, but it's certainly a lush, rich, velvety colour. Would make a great crease or liner colour.


My final verdict? These are every bit as good as the old Aromaleigh shades, though they are still a long way from having the range v1 had. I would love to see some more brights and unusual shades, like the Rocks! and like some of the amazing Christmas shades with their super contrasting glitter. I can only hope they'll keep building their catalogue with more Moulin Rouge and less Bloom type shades. There are enough soft, neutral mattes on the market in my opinion. I'm so glad the Bete Noire shades are back - though, oddly, the difference in my collection since Aromaleigh v1 closed means the shades I originally wanted (Chantal, Amarante and Darcelle) I have too many similar shades to justify buying, and I now find other shades (Lisette and Bette) appealing.

Have you ordered from Aromaleigh v2 yet?

Femme Fatale Cosmetics: mini jars!

Femme Fatale Cosmetics announced their new mini jars a few weeks ago, and I decided that was the perfect excuse to place another order! I ordered 5 mini jars and a sample of the Christmas LE shade Merrymaker. My order came with a business card and two extra samples. Merrymaker is in the old sample bags and the two freebies were in the new size, so here's a comparison for you:

I don't keep my samples in bags for very long, so I can't tell you if these are exactly the same size as Shiro's new sample baggies, but I think they're pretty close.

Mini jars!

Aren't they adorable?! The only criticism I have of these is that the label on the bottom is paper, so if it gets wet I'd imagine it would smudge. I'll just have to be careful with them. Onto the swatches! Patted over Pixie Epoxy.

Poison

"vivid chartreuse green eye shadow with a scattering of golden shimmer"
Hominah hominah, how gorgeous is this?! It's the perfect chartreuse without being too yellow or puke-green, excuse my French. The gold shimmer is very finely milled and gives the shadow a lovely glow. I think I need a nail polish this colour...

Dreamstate

 

"Egyptian blue with dazzling blue sparks and colour-shifting shimmer which alternates between purple and blue depending on the angle of the light"

In the jar this reminded me a little bit of Fyrinnae Glitterboi. It's quite different once applied. If you haven't yet ordered from FFC I would definitely say get this shadow. It's ridiculously gorgeous - brilliant aqua shimmer on a deep blue base with a tiny glint of violet every now and again. This swatch absolutely does not do it justice - the aqua shimmer is very bright and eye-catching.

Dispersion

"deep mulberry with bold teal blue shimmer"
Wooooow. I would probably call this plum with aqua shimmer, but other than that, it's a sultry, intense new version of all those purple and blue duochromes out there.

Crusader

"vivid saffron yellow eye shadow complimented by a scattering of gold and copper sparkles"

This is almost too golden to be a true yellow for me. It's smooth and pretty, but these kinds of shades don't show up very well on my skin. 

Rampage 

"vivid copper red shimmer over a burnt umber base"
A very steampunk-esque shade. I did a dry, blended-out swatch next to the PE one to show that it can be worn a little less metallic.

Merrymaker

(Christmas Limited Edition)

"A vibrant mix of greens and golds, shimmering with golden copper sparkles"
(This is a sample decanted into a jar, which is why it looks 'empty' compared to the others!)
Pretty and sparkly! Shimmery grass green base with gold and copper glitter.

I also got some samples of her illuminators/blush, which I will have to swatch later on. Sophie has also started doing NAIL POLISH!!! I cannot wait to get my hands on the new glitter ones. WANT.

New stuff!

Yesterday was a bit interesting - I got three comment notification emails, and then when I went to check them on the blog... nothing. All of them seem to have gotten through now, just wanted to let you know I haven't started moderating comments or wildly deleting things. Hopefully everything will be running smoothly again now!

On a more exciting note, my auntie came over yesterday and helped me with my paperwork intervention. Two giant rubbish bags later and not only do I have a filing system, but all my old notebooks, cards and letters are neatly stored away! A trip to the grandmother's shed later, and I got a new (secondhand) dressing table! For free! Well, technically it's a computer desk, but it now houses all my hair, makeup and jewelry bits.

My lovely auntie, besides being organiser and seamstress extraordinaire, is a collector of vintage clothing, shoes and knicknacks. She and I are similar in size and height, so she passes things that don't quite fit, or that aren't her taste, onto me fairly often. When she came over yesterday she brought this AMAZING vintage wool suit and said she'd been trying to get rid of it for a year. It was a little too small for her and fit me perfectly so I got to keep it :) it'll be good for work because of the length and shape of the skirt, but I'll probably be wearing the jacket casually with jeans as well - it's so warm and cute! All the original buttons and everything.

Original buttons!

The whole suit is like that - black with hundreds of tiny red polka dots arranged in perfect, even lines. I'll post some more pictures later, I'm about to skedaddle off to write-in #2, which will (fingers crossed) be very enjoyable and productive.

More reviews coming soon!