Notoriously Morbid 'A Dark Christmas Dream' Swatches!

Ok! So I win the worst blogger of 2014 award so far! :P I completely underestimated how busy these 3 kids were going to keep me. Last year my 1 year old slept most of the time, my 3 year old didn't talk (constantly!) and my 5 year old .. well he's about the same, although he does fight with that 3 year old a bit more! But enough excuses :P

I promised I was going to show you swatches of the Notoriously Morbid Christmas collection 'A Dark Christmas Dream' and they've just been sitting here waiting. Fortunately Carrie has told me that she is going to be making the collection permanent so you can still grab these (and you will want to!). I purchased a full size set during the Black Friday sale.

The following swatches are over Pixie Epoxy and the descriptions are borrowed from Notoriously Morbid's website.

Ebenezer, I Release You: 'Perfect victorian pink shade with a violet duochrome.'

No Warmth Could Warm: 'Ice cold blue with a slight violet shift.'

Look Upon Me: 'Appears like a dusty mauve in the jar, this color, when applied or blended,changes to a metallic purple with a blue duochrome.'

Shadow of Things: 'Appears as a charcoal gray with aqua green sparkles in jar and on bare skin, this color, when applied over primer changes to a dark metallic teal green.'

(Left to Right: Ebenezer, I Releaes You, No Warmth Could Warm, Look Upon Me, Shadow of Things)

Melancholy One: 'Appears like a soft golden beige in the jar, this color, when applied or blended,changes to a light blue with an orange duochrome.'

Stake of Holly: 'A holly green with aqua sparkles.'

Spirit of All Three: 'Gold with green and red sparkles (the green is more prominent).'

Frozen Whisper: This beautiful shade was only available as a GWP during the Black Friday sale - so glad I snagged it!

(Left to Right: Melancholy One, Stake of Holly, Spirit of All Three, Frozen Whisper)

I mentioned in a previous post that this is not only my fave Notoriously Morbid collection so far, its my favorite of any eyeshadow collection I have seen. Its perfection - the shadows are perfectly creamy and pigmented and the duochromes are beautiful. There is a great range of shades here also.

Carrie has just launched her own website which looks great, plus for the next week you can get an extra 25% off with code NEWNM25 - this code expires 12AM EST on Jan 31st 2014.

Thanks for viewing my review - the madness at my home will end soon when the kids return to school and I should be able to get back to regular posting :) xx

Serenity's Top Indie Brand of 2013!

Hi guys! Happy New Year! I thought to celebrate the end of 2013 I would pick my top indie brand of the year. I started the blog this year to share my love for everything indie - it seemed a shame to have all these sparkles and not share them! I've tried a lot of brands this year, most of which I've reviewed at least once. I have however overlooked a few that I've had some fantastic hauls from (including Shiro Cosmetics - how have I not had a Shiro post yet?!).  I do, however have a clear favourite for the year! While many brands have impressed me, none have blown me away quite like this one in particular. I'm sure its not going to come as a surprise to anybody who frequents this blog, my brand of the year is:

Notoriously Morbid came out of nowhere with a perfect formula from the beginning. I was quickly drawn in by the awesome branding and great choice of shades, and became addicted from my first order. Throughout the year Carrie has released collection after collection of amazing shades, as well as running some spectacular promos and discounts.
I have not been disappointed in anything I've received and was super impressed with her mattes, because they seem to be something that a lot of companies struggle to get right, but as I posted about here, NM's mattes are smooth, creamy and blendable. I've also become quite a fan of her lip balms (Coffin Kissers) - Vanilla Veil, which is vanilla and honey flavor is my favourite.

My first Notoriously Morbid order! (The Bloggers pack)

Coffin Kissers

Of course we can't forget the wonderful blushes! I use mine on a daily basis :) 

The Gallows Hill collection held the spot for my favorite collection since it came out, but its just been knocked off its perch by the masterpiece of a Christmas collection NM released - 'A Dark Christmas Dream'. I'll be posting individual swatches of those tomorrow, but heres a sneak peek:

I just want to congratulate Carrie on doing such a great job, she is obviously doing something she loves - its easy to see that a lot of time and effort is put into getting things just right, and her presentation is stunning too! Remember the Coffin set from Halloween??

Halloween '13 'Bitten' Coffin Set

Thanks Notoriously Morbid for all of the beautiful additions to my makeup collection this year, I can't wait to see what is coming in 2014! Do I hear whispers of a new product...? Oh and also, confession time - this is my Notoriously Morbid collection currently: 

This is minus a few coffin kissers - they're spread throughout bags and cars :P

*cackles*

aaaand some of my fave shades:

If you made it this far, then good work!!! Notoriously Morbid's facebook page, and storenvy.

Thanks so much for reading and following in 2013, best wishes for the New Year! I already have some hauls on the way so I'm starting 2014 right! :P xx

Notoriously Morbid 'Save Me' Collection - Swatches and Review

Happy Holidays everyone! I've just gotten back from a short holiday and am finally getting a chance to post some swatches - I've been missing my blog! I've got a lot to catch up on - I've had the following collection for a while and am loving it. It is based on the Adult Fiction book, Save Me. I bought the book from Amazon and it was a great read! I recommend giving it a try if you have some free time this holidays :)

  

One November: "A dark brown with green, orange, and gold sparkles."

Captivated: "A metallic olive green with copper sparkles"

Jack: "A chocolate metallic bronze"

Carly: "A light burgundy/pomegranate with copper sparkles"

These are all shown over pixie epoxy, but as usual with Notoriously Morbid shadows they still have a great level of pigmentation even without primer. I always love swatching this brand because application is just so effortless - whatever Carrie is doing I hope she keeps it up, I love the fact that I can just order everything and have complete confidence that I will love each and every one! I've already used these a lot, I especially love Captivated and One November. 

This collection is permanent and is available in sample size ($1.25), mini jar ($2.75), full size ($5.50) and in a set of all four full size jars ($15.00).

In other news, I also just received the entire Notoriously Morbid Christmas Collection (thanks to an amazing Black Friday sale) and I am just in love. As soon as I spot some sun I'll have some beautifully colored stripes on my arm ready to be photographed! Its my favourite full collection of any indie brand yet, and I've tried a lot!

Thanks for viewing my post, hope you enjoy your holidays xx

Notoriously Morbid - 'Sealed Judgement' Black Friday Collection - Swatches & Review

I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview in my recent parcel of the 'Sealed Judgement' Black Friday collection from Notoriously Morbid - and I am so excited to share them with you. I had high hopes for these, as the last matte set from Notoriously Morbid (the Lady Lovely Locks Collection) has become one of my favorite sets. 

From the Notoriously Morbid site:

"Black Friday Exclusive Set: A completely matte set with (4) 5g Jars and one sealed letter. Each letter represents one of the horses of the apocalypse and inside has a unique code that gives you a year long discount with unlimited uses until Black Friday 2014. This discount will range from 25% to 40% depending on which "horse" you receive. The higher percentage codes will be unique and can not be shared."

Sooo.. want some swatches? :) These are all shown over UDPP and photographed in natural light.

Conquest: 'An ivory matte'

I was excited to see that this was ivory rather than white, because I don't own another matte shade like this one, and I can think of lots of ways to use it :)

Pale Rider: 'a gray violet matte'

If you read my blog often, you know I love my purples, and this is no exception - I love the dusty look to it, makes it nice and versatile.

War: 'a brick red matte'

In my opinion, the star of the collection. I definitely don't own another matte in anything similar to this, and its gorgeous. Look how pigmented it is!!!

Famine: 'A deep black matte'

Ahh a nice solid, non-chalky black. Always handy to have one of these in the collection! This is a lot smoother than the previous matte black I was using, so I'll be switching :)

This set did not disappoint! I love it just as much as the Lady Lovely Locks set and I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of them. The formula is perfect, they are the smoothest mattes I've tried and blend amazingly well. The pigmentation is fantastic. As usual Notoriously Morbid has exceeded my expectations, I can never praise this company enough. Its obvious a lot of time was spent perfecting this formula, its beautiful.

'Sealed Judgement' is only available until the end of Monday (December 2nd), so if you like these head on over to the storenvy or etsy now and snap them up! You can follow Notoriously Morbid on Facebook to keep up to date with the flash sales running over this weekend (with discounts up to 60%!). This set is excluded from the discount, but there is a magical new christmas collection (A Dark Christmas Dream) to check out, and it is eligible for discount. And yup, its actually magical - check out the color changing shades!!!

Use coupon code BLKF40 for 40% off your order until December 3rd @ 12am.

Thanks for viewing my post, enjoy your weekend of shopping! xx

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