Aromaleigh Cosmetics Ephemera - April 2015

Oh my...

What a busy week and a half I have had. I am not quite sure WHY it has been this crazy but it has. One reason may be because I have been updating my jewelry site, HGHobbyShop, which has been awesome.

Anyways, I got my April Ephemera monthly sub the first week of April and have had some time to play around with it. The theme for this month is Floralia and is PERFECT for the upcoming season.

Like every month before this one the package is adorable. The label is beautiful and fresh.

When I opened the box I literally had to put it down and take a deep breath. Look how beautiful this is! 

 

 Each month this box comes with a very descriptive insert that talks about the theme, inspiration for each products, product descriptions, and the samples included. 

"This month's theme is the Ancient Roman Floralia, a Spring festival to honor Flora-Goddess of Spring, Flowers, and youthful pleasures."

This month's box included two eyeshadows, rouge, and multipurpose highlighter. 

Beautiful labels

LOOK at them! They make me want to frolic in a field of flowers. My father, now deceased, loved to garden and anything that reminds me of his passion brings a HUGE smile to my face. 

Top to Bottom: Vernal Roses, Realm of Flora, Metamorphose, and Locus of Desire

  

All items are vegan. Metamorphose is the only non lip safe product. Vernal Roses is not eye safe. Foiled products are labeled with a "*" in the caption.

Top to Bottom: Vernal Roses and Realm of Flora

Left to Right: Realm of Flora and Vernal Roses

Descriptions

• Realm of Flora: a pale creamy peach with a violet highlight.
• Vernal Roses: a muted, mostly matte mauved rose with delicate copper shimmer

Left to Right: Realm of Flora* and Vernal Roses*

My Take

• Realm of Flora: as described; when foiled a warm golden tone comes through
• Vernal Roses: as described

Top to Bottom: Metamorphose and Locus of Desire

Left to Right: Locus of Desire and Metamorphose

Descriptions

• Locus of Desire: a soft, coral peach frost with golden shimmer
• Metamorphose: a midtone mauve with buff tones, and green/chartreuse interference highlights

 

Left to Right: Locus of Desire* and Metamorphose*

My Take

• Locus of Desire: as described
• Metamorphose: as described

PLEASE NOTE: I did not swatch these over a primer but will be in future posts. Locus of Desire is beautiful dry but for whatever reason that did not translate well in my swatch. See photos of me below to get a better idea of how amazing the shadow is!!

Left to Right: Realm of Flora*, Vernal Rose*, Locus of Desire*, and Metamorphose*

This ENTIRE collection is breathtaking and working beautiful for spring! I find myself reaching for these shadows quite a bit.

This box also came with three samples, one being a cream eyeshadow from Glamour Doll Eyes.

Floralia is the name of the cream eyeshadow and its a beautiful sparkly pink! It works well on its own OR paired with the colors in this set!

Left to Right: Minthe, La Plus Heureuse, Floralia

Left to Right: Minthe*, La Plus Heureuse*, Floralia

Minthe is a beautiful..well minty green that is incredibly fresh on the lids. This shadow is a preview sample from the fourth installment of the Spring Greek nymph collection which features the "flower nymphs."

La Plus Heureuse is the sneek peek from next month's collection. Can you guess the theme?!? This shadow is a beautiful purple pumped full or sparkle!

Products in Action

Lid: Locus of Desire

Crease and Outer Lid: Metamorphose

Lower Lashline: Minthe

Highlight: Realm of Flora

Highlight: Vernal Roses

Lid: Realm of Flora

Crease: La Plus Heureuse

Liner: Metamorphose foiled

Lower Lashline: Locus of Desire

Inner Corner Highlight: Valhalla from last month

Lid: Floralia

Center Lid: La Plus Heaureuse 

Lower Lashline: Minthe

I don't know how its possible, but this box may top last month for me. I reach for these shadows often and they compliment one another so well. I also CANNOT wait until next month's Ephemera..that sneak peek shadow is beautiful!! 

Currently the Ephemera subscription has a waitlist so be sure to check out their Facebook page for updates. The monthly cost is $15 plus shipping.

Are you subbed? I would love to know what you thought about this theme!

Corvus Cosmetics: Kinder-und Hausmärchen Collection

I had a pretty crazy weekend and meant to get this up by Sunday. However, I spend most of the weekend building inventory for my Etsy and Storenvy shops, as well work on a custom orders. Thankful to be doing my clay jewelry work but definitely forgot how much goes into doing listings!!

Anyways, I can't remember the series of events that lead me to Corvus Cosmetics but do know it happened on Instagram. I live in Baltimore and was INCREDIBLY thrilled when I saw they were based out of the same city!  SO I placed an order shortly after their new website and Kinder-und Hausmärchen collection launched.

This collection consists of 14 shadows inspired by Grimm's fairy tales. The prices for the full set of samples is $14 and the full size is $70. Individual shadows full size shadows are $6 each. I went ahead and ordered the full sample set.

I received my package within a week after placing my order, which I thought was super fast for an indie brand. The website is updated with the TAT so you know what time frame to expect when placing your order.

The package was super adorable, simple, and elegant. I also got some candies thrown in there! Naturally, miss Ninja, my pug, tried to eat them.

 *Side note: I LOVE their business cards and name. The company name to me is very Baltimore, the resting place of Edgar Allan Poe. I will post a few pictures of the burial spot at Westminster Hall at the end of this blog because it really is one of my favorite spots here.*

Note: Shadow names with a "*"  in the caption indicate they were foiled. All other swatches were done on bare skin with no primer. V=Vegan and LS=Lip Safe. Clio was a sample sent with my order and not part of the collection.

Swatches

Top to Bottom: Bluebeard, Three Ravens, Nightingale

L to R: Bluebeard, Three Ravens, Nightingale

Descriptions

• Bluebeard: velvety, navy blue (V)
• Three Ravens: satiny black with strong blue undertones (V)
• Nightingale: mid-toned aubergine with subtle shimmer

 

L to R: Bluebeard*, Three Ravens*, Nightingale*

My Take

• Bluebeard: as described
• Three Ravens: smokey black with a blue undertone (to me this isn't as strong)
• Nightingale: as described

Top to Bottom: The Summer Garden, The Thirteenth Gift, Barely a Bite

L to R: The Summer Garden, The Thirteenth Gift, Barely a Bite

Descriptions

• The Summer Garden: midtoned rosy purple (V,LS)
• The Thirteenth Gift: coral pink with gold shift
• Barely a Bite: apple red with poisonous green shift (LS)

L to R: The Summer Garden*, The Thirteenth Gift*, Barely a Bite*

 

 

My Take

• The Summer Garden: as described
• The Thirteenth Gift: light pink with gold shift
• Barely a Bite: clay red with green shift

Top to Bottom: Goodbye Hans, He Was No Frog, Clio

L to R: Goodbye Hans, He Was No Frog, Clio

Descriptions

• Goodbye Hans: bright orange with gold shimmer (LS)
• He Was No Frog: pastel green with gold shift (V)
• Clio: slightly blackened molten gold with a metallic finish (V, LS)

L to R: Goodbye Hans*, He Was No Frog*, Clio*

My Take

• Goodbye Hans: as described
• He Was No Frog: as desscribed
• Clio: as descibed; I am normally not hyped about golds but this was is gorgeous!

Top to Bottom: Death at His Feet, The Better to Eat You With, Gingerbread Haus

L to R: Death at His Feet, The Better to Eat You With, Gingerbread Haus

 

 

 

 

 

Descriptions

• Death at His Feet: dark chocolate brown with satin finish (V, LS)
• The Better to Eat You With: antique silver with deep brown undertones (V, LS)
• Gingerbread Haus: matte tan with complex indigo-purple-red shift (V, LS)

L to R: Death at His Feet*, The Better to Eat You With*, Gingerbread Haus*

 

My Take

•  Death at His Feet: as described
• The Better to Eat You With: as described BUT more brown than silver; really unique color
• Gingerbread Haus: as described and my FAVORITE; a must have from this collection

 

Top to Bottom: The Devil Told You That, Let Down Your Hair, Golden Slipper

L to R: The Devil Told You That, Let Down Your Hair, Golden Slipper

Descriptions

• The Devil Told You That: soft white highlight with gold sheen (V, LS)
• Let Down Your Hair: soft nude pink with lots of shimmer (LS)
• Golden Slipper: champagne gold with slight shimmer

 

L to R: The Devil Told You That*, Let Down Your Hair*, Golden Slipper*

 My Take

• The Devil Told You That: as described
• Let Down Your Hair: as described
• Golden Slipper: as described

Thoughts

I REALLY enjoy this collection. There is an amazing range of neutrals and bright colors. All the colors are pigmented and easy to blend. The website is easy to navigate and I HIGHLY recommend going through and reading the product descriptions for the shadows. Each color has the Grimm fairytale it was inspired from.

Some stand out colors for me are Gingerbread Haus, Bluebeard, Barely a Bite, The Better to Eat You With, and Goodbye Hans.

Products in Action

Lid: Better To Eat You With

Crease: Three Ravens

Inner Lower Lashline: Golden Slipper

Lid: Clio

Inner Crease: Blue Beard

Outer Crease and Outer V: Nightingale

Inner Corner: The Devil Told You That

Inner Lid: Let Your Hair Down

Middle Lid: He Was No Frog

Outer Lid and Outer Crease: The Summer Garden

Inner Crease: Goodbye Hans

Lid: Gingerbread Haus

Crease: Death at His Feet

Blended from Crease: Barely Bitten

I hope you enjoyed reading this! Let me know if you have tried Corvus Cosmetics and if so, what your favorite shadow is! Next on my blog list is my March FwB monthly sub with Brazen Cosmetics and my Aromaleigh Ephemera Box for April!! 

-H