Innocent + Twisted Alchemy - Subscription November '13

Hey guys! Today I have my first subscription parcel from Innocent + Twisted Alchemy to share with you. I was so excited when Linda launched her subscription service, I've known it was coming for a while and I'm so happy its finally here :) The subscription is available in two options:

Samples: 

- 3 deluxe sized samples that are exclusive ONLY to the subscriptions.
- 20% off coupon code
- BONUS! Surprise items

Full Sizes:

- 3 full sized products that are exclusive ONLY to the subscriptions. 

- 25% off coupon code

- BONUS! Surprise items

I've gone with the sample option for now, but I'm hoping to upgrade to the full size after Christmas :) Here is what I received in the first package:

Look at her gorgeous drawings!! That is amazing presentation. She has included a sheet that lists all the ingredients of the shadows, a note about this months box, and websites for all of the other companies she has provided samples of. Those clamshells... so cute... look at the little faces... *dies*

The Innocent + Twisted Alchemy Shades:

Chastity Hymn: "a warm taupe that has green and gold shimmer and blue sparkles"

Broken Silence: "Smoky Purple that has a golden sheen and purple and green sparkles"

Purity Harvest: "Neutral orange that has a golden sheen and green and blue shimmers"

Look at them! I don't even think I can pick a fave! I do have a soft spot for Purity Harvest though, I wore it today and its so pretttty - I love getting surprise shades, because I get things I wouldn't normally pick for myself and they end up as favorites :) Linda has stated that she made a bit extra of these three shades, and will be releasing the remainder to her shop, so if you get in quickly you might be able to snap some up! I almost feel sad that they're not permanent shades... but I do feel special to have them so I'll get over it :P

The Bonus:

The bonus items I received were sanple bags from 5 other indie makeup companies. I just want to say... I think its so awesome in so many ways that Linda did this for us. First of all, the fact that she is using her own subscription service to promote other indie companies just shows how much she cares about the indie community in general. Also, I'm loving the chance to try a bunch of different companies in surprise shades! This must have a lot of time to organise, and I really appreciate it. 

My Pretty Zombie:
My Pretty Zombie is already one of my fave indie brands, my top shade of course being Violet Bites which was named after my daughter (read the story here). I received a sample of blush in the shade 'MDMA' - I hear about this blush all the time, its got a bit of a following in the indie world :)
MDMA: "rosy pink with a gold afterglow"

Notoriously Morbid:
Ok, if you read my blog regularly then you know I'm already a huge fan of this company. Again, I have had a sample of this shade before and swatched it already so I'm going to re-use that swatch here. Notoriously Morbid is a fantastic company with a superb formula, great color range, fast TAT, and all around excellent customer service. I am just about at the point of owning every color they produce, I love them that much.
Belle's Bounty: "A dark metallic gold with gold sparkles."

Kiss My Sass:

Another brand I really like - Linda has good taste! I also currently subscribe to Kiss My Sass's monthly subscription also, and I find that her products to be consistently of a high quality and she comes up with some gorgeous shades!

Aurora: " lilac with an intense turquoise shimmer that shifts to blue & violet in different lighting"

Oslo Cosmetics:
I was excited when I saw this - it is a brand I've been wanting to try for a while, and since I haven't reviewed them before I took a few extra pics.
Orphicus: "Dark, shimmery deep forest green."

The description is spot on and the color is rich and pigmented. The only issue I had is with application. Oslo shadows are semi-loose - their base contains oil, which is why they have a different kind of texture and tend to clump into little balls or flakes. I found that I really had to press my brush into the flakes to pick up product, and then kind of squish them onto my skin to break them up and apply them evenly. The only other semi loose shadows I have are Fyrinnae, which I find are slightly softer and easier to pick up and distribute on the skin. However, this review is only based on this shade - I haven't tried any others so this is just my initial impressions. I'm still interested in giving a few more a go, especially given the end result.

Black Rose Minerals:
My previous two posts were on this company so you've probably figured out I'm quite a fan, I love the formula and they have an enormous range of colors. I was excited to see this particular shade, as its been on my wishlist for a while!
Fearless: " rich lavender that shimmers away with aqua sparkles"

Phew! If you've made it this far, here is your reward: Linda has told me that she'll be running a Tragic Tuesday sale this year (she doesn't do Black Friday sales because she works a lot over that weekend). The sale will be 40% off for one day beginning Dec 3rd @ 1am and ending Dec 4th @ 1am PST. I have begun compiling my list... lol, I'm grateful for a bit of notice so I can save!

I am so excited about this subscription! I can't wait to see what next month brings :) If you would like to subscribe, click here. Innocent + Twisted Alchemy store can be found here, and you can follow on Facebook for news and specials here.

Thanks for reading! :) xx

My Pretty Zombie 'Violet Bites' (aka my custom shade!)

I am incredibly excited about this post because I get to tell you all the story about the custom eyeshadow that Andrea from My Pretty Zombie made for me! *Warning* If you're squeamish you probably want to skip the bit about how it got its name lol.

This is the message I sent to poor Andrea:

"Hi, I was looking at your Grandma Cleavage eyeshadow while breastfeeding my 1.5 year old, thinking "I'm totally going to end up with grandma cleavage if I end up feeding her much longer" and started thinking it would be awesome to have an eyeshadow (being the addict that I am) that kind of celebrated the time we've had bonding like this, because I am thinking of stopping soon. Her name is Violet so I was thinking kind of a purple instead of blue but with the same golden shift that Grandma Cleavage has. Oh and it should be called 'Violet Bites', cos she does ... and it hurts. lol."

Because she is an awesome person, instead of running a mile she wrote back:

"Lolol!!!! I love everything about this! Let me see what I can come up with <3
Andrea"

Later that day (!) she sent me this preview:

And so, Violet Bites was born! And I love it! Its 9,000 x more amazing than I could have imagined. Andrea did a fantastic job and just to top things off she has decided to add this to her shop for others to enjoy too! 

Violet Bites is a gorgeous dusty purple with gold shimmer/sheen - it really needs to be seen in person to appreciate fully, its gorgeous!

What do you guys think? Gonna pick it up? I think I need backups!!! Andrea has said that it will be available in her shop soon so keep an eye out for it if you want to snag a jar :) *EDIT* Violet Bites is now available in My Pretty Zombie's shiny new store! :D

Shes beautiful... but sooo. many. teeth. :P

Thanks for viewing my post, hope you're having a great day :)

Makeup Monstrosity Link Love!

Linda shares her August subscription box from Kiss My Sass! 

Indie Know tried out My Pretty Zombie blushes and posted swatches! 

 Estelle shares her Notoriously Morbid haul with us! 

 Linda shares her thoughts about Impulse Cosmetics! 

 Check out part 1 of 2 of Shiro's Randomly Generated Collection! 

 A couple of new indie companies that sell pressed eyeshadows have popped up! Oslo Cosmetics and Rhapsody Cosmetics!

My Pretty Zombie - Swatches & Review

I have been eyeing up My Pretty Zombie on etsy for a while, so when I saw that she was running her annual sale of 33% off I decided it was a good excuse to pick up some samples!

I placed an order for 6 eyeshadow samples and 5 blush samples. This is what came in the mail:

A cute kitty card filled with powdered awesome! There was a bit of leakage from one of the blushes, but meh.. it happens, not enough to bother me :) I ordered 6 shades of eyeshadow and a sample set of 5 blushes (I received 6!).
I have to admit, I worried about what would happen if this got opened by customs lol - little bags of powder labelled with diseases and drug names.. fortunately it didn't get inspected :D

Now... the swatches!!! Unfortunately I don't really think my pics did these shades justice, but hopefully you get an idea of how amazing they are!  Swatched over Pixie Epoxy in natural light and the descriptions are taken from My Pretty Zombie's store.

First up: the eyeshadows:

Gangrenous: "starts as a dark lavender and switches to a glossy green depending on the light and the angle"
This shade went straight into my top 5 eyeshadows - I had decided before I even finished one eye that I needed a full size. The duochrome effect is gorgeous and purple and green is always a winning combo for me.

Anthrax: "Purple to Green with a gold to red shift"

Grr, my picture of this is not great, I couldn't seem to pick up the green - its much more obvious in person, I love it.

Hoof and Mouth: :Blue to purple with a pink and silver shift"
I found the shift in this shade to be less obvious than the one in Anthrax, however its still a gorgeous shade.

Grandma Cleavage: " a cornflower crayon blue with a gold shift...tacky yet fascinating"
Lol.. love the description. I think this shade is really pretty, the gold makes it really unique.

Rabies: "Minty green with a purple shift"

Another one that frustrated me when I tried to capture its complexity! You can't really see the purple shift in my pic, but its there - I promise!! This was my second fave after Gangrenous.

mNg #3: "Bubblegum Pink with a blueish purple shift"

I don't normally gravitate towards pink... but I admit I really like this one. The blue in it makes it wearable for me.

Next, the blushes...

PCP: "peach with gold glitter"
I have to admit, I haven't been brave enough to try this one yet, I really don't know if I could pull off orange blush.... I like the idea of giving it a try though.
THC: "lavender with a sticky green shift"
Again with the purple and green, it goes without saying that I love this one - its my favourite blush of the bunch!

Benzodiazepine: "a red, red, red blush"
Woah... this blush.. its so RED. I am super pale so I'd have to be feeling brave to try it... I wish I could pull it off though!
LSD: "a muted gray plum with a groovy red to gold shift"
Such a unique shade for a blush - looking forward to giving this one a go.
6-Mam: "plum with violet shimmer"
I like this one a lot, definitely won't have trouble using up the sample.

MDMA: "rosy pink with a gold afterglow"
This blush is pretty well known in the indie world, and for good reason - its gorgeous. I nearly ordered the full size of this but it occurred to me that it might be quite similar to Femme Fatale's 'Fire Bloom' blush. Heres the comparison:

Pretty similar right? In my opinion you don't need both. If I had to pick a favourite it woould be MDMA, its slightly more pigmented and has a bit more shimmer - but its really close. 

Overall, definitely a great first experience with My Pretty Zombie. I received my order in about 2 weeks (to NZ) and that was during a sale. I've already placed another order which includes full sizes of Gangrenous, Rabies, Anthrax and THC - the thought of running out of any of them is devastating! :P  Would love some suggestions on which other shades to try. :)

Thanks for reading my post, hope you enjoyed it! xx