Aromaleigh Cosmetics Ephemera - May 2015

I know! I know! It is literally the end of May and I am just getting around to wrapping this up. But better late than never, right?

"This month's theme is inspired by Anne Boleyn: Queen of England, Marquess of Pembroke and ill-fated second wife of Henry VIII."

This box, in my opinion, is a beautiful tribute as Anne was executed May 19th, 1536.

The box pamphlet not only has descriptions of the products and reasons behind the names, but has some background information about Anne. I include a picture of the write up because I think it is incredibly interesting to read. I highly recommend reading through it as I tend to not go into too much background when I do my swatch write ups!

Top to Bottom: Marquess, Lady Perseverance, Besotted, and La plus heureuse

Just like the month's before this one, the label art is one of my favorite things about this sub. I will say that thus far this one if my favorite! 

Top to Bottom: Marquess, Lady Perseverance, Besotted, and La plus heureuse

This month we got two eyeshadows, a rouge, and a highlight glisten. Everything is feminine and delicate and perfect for the spring to summer season shift.

All items are vegan. La plus heureuse is the only eyeshadow that is for eyes only. Everything else is lip and cheek safe. Foiled products are labeled with a "*" in the caption.

Lady Perseverance

Marquess

L to R: Lady Perseverance and Marquess

Descriptions

• Lady Perseverance: coral rose blossom, freshly pinched from the vine, with delicate lustre
• Marquess: soft violet with golden highlights

L to R: Lady Perseverance* and Marquess*

My Take

• Lady Perseverance: definitely a beautiful rosey coral that makes a beautiful eyeshadow as well
• Marquess: as described

Besotted

La plus heureuse

Left to Right: Besotted and La plus heureuse

Descriptions

• Besotted: smooth, lustrous copper with violet tones
• La plus heureuse: regal purple with gold and copper sparkle and shimmer

Left to Right: Besotted* and La plus heureuse*

My Take

• Besotted: as described but lies a little pink as well
• La plus heureuse: as described 

Left to Right: Marquess*, Lady Perseverance*, Besotted*, and La plus heureuse*

Everything is BEAUTIFUL! I adore everything included in the box and had a lot of fun creating some bright looks from everything.

The box also came with two samples from Aromaleigh and a sample fragrance specially made for the box by Black Violet called Enigma. It is still available for purchase on their website and is limited edition.

Enigma is a perfume oil with blood orange, sweet orange, benzoin, and petitgrain.

 I think this perfume oil is sweet without being too sweet. I enjoyed wearing it this month and am proud, and sad, to say I have finished it!! I will be browsing through Black Violet's catalog and picking up some things to try.

I forgot to swatch the eyeshadow samples! But I have a look below using them. Tarantula is a beautiful purple that is part of the Galactic Mission: Part 2 to be released next month! Tres faulse serpente is the sneak peak shade for next month! Can you guess the theme?!?!?!

Products In Action

 Lid: Besotted

Crease: La plus heureuse

Lower lash line: Marquess

Inner Corner: Marquess

Cheeks: Lady Perseverance

Lid: Marquess

Crease: Besotted

Liner: La plus heureuse

Lower Lash Line: La plus heureuse

Cheeks: Lady Perseverance

Lid: Tres Faulse Serpente

Crease: Tarantula

Liner: Tarantula

Another great month! Everything is beautiful and worked well together. I am utterly excited about next month which actually starts shipping tomorrow!! 

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!

First Look! Notoriously Morbid

So, I have a confession...I only just recently tried out Notoriously Morbid. I signed up for their Vanishing Cabinet back in January in hopes of getting in on that soon after. I thought it would be an awesome way to get acquainted with the brand. BUT the Vanishing Cabinet is such a huge hit that I found myself sitting on the waitlist for months before deciding to just order their blogger pack. I tried to be patient but a few girls I follow on IG and FB are quite the enablers..so I ordered it a few weeks ago.

**The Vanishing Cabinet has a few slots open and I am praying to the Norse gods I finally get off!

It took me a bit to go through and decide on what I wanted to try first in this round. But was incredibly stoked about the shadows I ultimately decided on.

About:

Notoriously Morbid is a company out of West Virginia and is run by the lovely ladies Carrie and Laura. This is not far from me and where I am originally from, Virginia, and totally feel like I am supporting a local business :) They also run a kick ass closed group that is really active. I recommend joining to keep up with upcoming collections and products, as well as see all the beautiful looks fans come up with.

Packaging and Shipping:

I kind of tore into my package too quickly and don't have a photo of my package when it first came in. I can say it was well packaged and even came with a company pen. The shipping was well within their TAT time listed on their site. I even think it came in a few days sooner than expected. All in all, I was incredibly pleased with that aspect of my order.

I ordered the Blogger Pack which includes five samples and a full sized eyeshadow in your color choice. However, notice one of the lovely ladies slipped in another extra shadow and I happily accept this :) The baggies were well sealed and the NM label is beautiful.

Swatches:

Swatched dry without primer

Swatched foiled

Shadows from Left to Right:
Quiet In The Dark
Bad Juju
Wayward Son
She's Full of Secrets
Garmonbozia
It Can't Rain All The Time
Autumn Flower 

Dry Swatch L to R: Quiet In The Dark, Bad Juju, and Wayward Son

Site Descriptions:

• Quiet In the Dark: dark rose red with a gold duochrome

• Bad Juju: warm coraly magenta with an airy lavender duochrome

• Wayward Son: pale airy blue with light green shift

Foiled Swatch L to R: Quiet In The Dark, Bad Juju, and Wayward Son

My Take:

• Quiet In The Dark: as described

• Bad Juju: as described and probably one of my favorites

• Wayward Son: as described leans a little silver as well

Dry Swatch L to R: She's Full of Secrets, Garmonbozia, It Can't Rain All The Time, and Autumn Flower

 Site Descriptions:

• She's Full of Secrets: classic pink with blue shift

• Garmonbozia: creamy corn yellow with chestnut undertones and a frigid blue shift

• It Can't Rain All The Time: iris purple with green hue and teal blue shift

• Autumn Flower: regal dusty purple with blue/green shift

My Take

• She's Full of Secrets: as described

• Garmonbozia: as described and really versatile. Changing up a sticky base color really transforms this color. This is my favorite of that colors I ordered.

• It Can't Rain All The Time: as described and can be work more lighrly for subtle wash of color

• Autumn Flower: as described and BEAUTIFUL foiled

Products In Action:

Lid: Wayward Son

Deep Crease: It's Not Raining In Here

Blended From Crease: Autumn Flower

Lid: Garmonbozia

Crease: Autumn Flower

Lower Lashline: She's Full of Secrets

Inner Corner: Garmonbozia

Lid: Bad Juju

Crease: Quiet In The Dark

Lower Lashline: It's Not Raining In Here

Inner Lid: Garmonbozia

Outer Lid and Crease: Quiet In The Dark

Lower Lashline: Bad Juju

Thoughts:

In all honestly, I LOVE the formula and finish of the shadows I got. I think NM makes some of the best and true duochromes I have ever tried. The stand out shades for me are Bad Juju with that beautiful purple duochrome and Garmonbozia with the complex colors. Every single shadow worked well with my eyes and made them darker than they are (which is already practically black). That alone impressed the crap out of me. I got zero creasing, though I normally don't have issues with that anyways. 

Overall I think I will be picking up a bunch of other colors. Specifically some blues and greens since I skipped out on those apparently..for whatever reason. I would love to hear if you have tried Notoriously Morbid and what you favorite shades are! 

Be sure to check NM out on their website and Facebook page!

***New handmade items are up on my Etsy and FB page!**

#EOTD: Collab Edition 1

I know I have mysteriously fallen off the face of the earth but I am back now! My field season has started so my weeks are pretty exhausting crawling in tire piles and collecting mosquitoes..I have a strange profession.

Anyways, I have something incredibly exciting to share. To make a long story short, I had a conversation a few days ago about my love for pigeon feather colors. This launched into a search for all the grays with pink sparkle and/or duochrome eyeshadows. The lovely Mariam from Longlivemakeup and I realized we owned a Shiro Cosmetics eyeshadow that neither of us had used often. In my case, I had never touched IT! So, an idea was born and we decided to do a collab look using Homunculus, a dark grey with pink sparkle.


 AND here is what I came up with using all Shiro on the eyes..

Eyes:
Inner Lid-Wildflowers
Outer Lid-Homunculus
Crease-Rebellion
Lower Lashline-Ever In Your Favor
Waterline-Attercop, Attercop

Cheeks:
Aromaleigh Cosmetics-Pharmakon

Lips:
MICA Beauty Liptint-Natural


Be sure to check out what Mariam came up with. You can find all her links down below!!

Facebook
Instagram
Youtube
Blog


**New items in my Etsy shop***

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!