Buff'd Cosmetics samples

Okay so here is part two of searching for the perfect quad of mineral eyeshadows to compare to the Revlon 12hr color stay quad in Blushed Wines.

Buff'd Cosmetics I use for my foundations and they are very good quality ad make my skin look great. They are located in Prince George, British Columbia in Canada. Placed this order on the 22 of July and the samples arrived in Texas today July 30th. considering it's coming from Canada 1 week is great. That is how long my foundation takes to get to me as well. Samples come in a plastic baggie and are only $1 each. when ordering samples only shipping is FREE. they arrived in a simple brown mailer with the company logo on it and the recipt of my products. No frills but they are jsut samples which is okay with me. Tissue paper and fluff just go to the trash.

Buff'd Cosmetics describes their Mineral Eyeshadows as:

With colors that range from natural to earthy, from smoky to sultry, the Buff'd Mineral Eye Shadow line has a shade to suit every occasion.

Only the finest mineral pigments go into our eye shadows allowing for great wearabilty and colors that will never fade. Using the Angle Detail brush - all Buff'd Mineral Eye Shadows can be mixed with a small amount of water for the perfect eye liner.

ingredients: mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, ultramarines, chromium oxide

full size jar: 7 grams volume / 2 grams weight
sample size: 1/4 teaspoon sample bag

Price: Full size jar: $8 (on sale now for $6.40)
Sample: $1

I ordered six samples of Mineral Eyeshadows and received as a bonus one extra sample of eyeshadow and one mineral blush. More on the extras later. The baggie contains 1/4 teaspoon of product and trust me when i say a little goes a long way with thsi company as i just ran out of my sample of foundation and have just started using my full size after 3 weeks of using it.

My order included these colors:

Fluff - Light shimmering pink
Candytuff - Soft creamy pink
Carnation - Vibrant pink
Electric - Dark wine burgundy
Braisin - Dark blend of purple and pink.

One sample came from the Pure Pigments Line:
Buff'd Cosmetics has this to say about thier Pure Pigments:

Buff'd Pure Pigments are pure oxidized mica minerals producing some of the most beautiful shimmering colors.

An all-purpose powder, Pure Pigments can be worn as an eye shadow, blush, bronzer and shimmer. Applied either dry for light shimmering highlights or wet for vibrant color. They are so versatile and true in color they can even be added to lip glosses and nail lacquers.

ingredients: mica

full size jar: 7 grams volume / 2 grams weight
sample size: 1/4 teaspoon sample bag

Full jar price: $8 (on sale for $6.40)
sample: $1

I ordered the sample of the color:
BabyDoll - Soft pink.

I really liked the selection of eyeshadows and pure pigments they have a nice assortment which to me is not overwhelming.


Bonus Samples
Rosewood Mineral Blush
Mushroom Mineral Eyeshaow

Here is the swatches of the samples:


From top to bottom:

Babydoll, Fluff, Caddytuff, Carnation, Electric, Braisin, Rosewood and Mushroom

Here is a closeup of the lighter pinks:


The texture of the eyeshadows is very soft and creamy, though for the Pure Pigment i did need to apply a little more and it feel a little finer than the mineral eyeshadow since it's just pure mica.
The Rosewood blush is divine in texture and i know it would look lovely on my skin just as their Thrift blush feels great on my skin and gives me a dewy look that i love. Carnation is my fave of the pinks and Braisin and electric are wonderful colors with Braisin having more of a dark plum hue where as electric has some red leanings.

Need to try teh colors out int he look to see how they work. Laready have the full size of the Blush Thrift in my cart and Mushroom..though i do need to compare it to Lusty from Coastal Scents to make sure it's not the same color.

I guess I'm easy to please when i pick colors i like. Buff'd MES are less glittery that Aromaleigh but they are stunning. They also warm the skin give off a sublte shimmer so if a subtle glow is what you are looking for in an E/S, then i highly suggest you order samples and see for yourself.

will let you know of results soon.

the Aromaleigh samples have been working well on me for the past few days and i will have a more in depth analysis soon of both companies.

Cheers!

Coastal Scents Purchase

Finding Coastal Scents.com makeup has been an interesting experience. I have purchased from them in the past and found my fist blush that didn't itch me half way through my day. The blush which also doubles as a nice base color eyeshadow for the warm neutrals I love. I have also purchased makeup brushes and was flabbergasted at the quality for the great price.

With my blush purchase i received a sample of Fawn eyeshadow. It's a beautiful rich chocolate brown color. It goes on so soft and lasts all day without moving. It's lovely and trust me when i say that a little goes a LONG way. The sample bag still has a a good amount of product in there. I use it for a crease color. $7.95 it comes in a generous 10g sifter jar and is so worth the price.

Simply stunning is just too demure of a word for this eyeshadow. Along with this gorgeous shade i also ordered Lusty a high light shade that would go with everything. Pearly and has hints of gold in there but is so neutral that it can make an appearance with almost any look. Described on CS as " Lusty shadow is a creamy light satiny beige powder with low sparkle. " it''s creamy and beautiful and like Fawn, a little goes a long way.


The two jars came nicely packaged in a mini lilac organza bag and I also got a free sample of a color called Aqua Zone. The color is like a dark aquamarine and is so soft and silky when putting it on.

May have to find an occasion to wear it since i usually am a neutrals kid of gal. Maybe my sister who uses color more can use it. Though it is very pretty. I had a MAC color like it in high school that I loved using it.

Considering how long these shadows last the investment of almost $18 is well spent. I have not even gone thru half of the blush color i first ordered. Very much satisfied.


Cheers!

Aromaleigh Samples

So after looking at a tutorial on YouTube for this gorgeous look with Revlon 12 Hour e/s in Blush Wines, I am so taken by the look. It was done by geisha1254

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6js2WPogwUY

However, I cannot use Revlon..it makes me itch. So I started the search for comparable colors to complete this look.

I ordered from two companies and Aromaleigh came in first.
Pronounced Aroma Lee, Aromaleigh has been on the web since 1998 (great year.. graduated high school that year) and according to the About Us page:

Aromaleigh is a small, independent online company that specializes in microformulating our unique and proprietary loose mineral powder cosmetics and natural fragrances using the finest cosmetic grade pigments, natural ingredients and botanicals available. Our loose powder mineral makeup is not repackaged or "private label", as is becoming more and more common as the mineral makeup trend has grown exponentially. It seems like new Mineral Makeup companies are appearing every day! Mineral Makeup is even being sold in drugstores!

We've been serving the natural beauty needs of our customers since 1998 via www.aromaleigh.com, and are celebrating our ten year anniversary this year. We are proud to have been part of the mineral makeup revolution, and the handful of like-minded, woman-owned online companies who started providing an alternate source to mass-manufactured mineral makeup. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." And so Aromaleigh Mineral Cosmetics has. We're humbled to have you along for the ride...

That being said, they have a HUGE selection of eyeshadows. It's so overwhelming I had to join the boards on the website and ask for suggestions as to matches for the quad I was trying to color match. The ladies ont he board were so helful and i quickly got a list of colors to sift through.

I made some hard decisions and ordered samples of:

Lyche Deeper rose-brown raisin shade
Wish A peachy golden pink with slight iridescence
Wine A medium toned, rich pinkish-wine shadow
Damask A great "nude" shade... use as a base, highlighter or all-over color
Persephone Lush bordeaux with a cocoa lowlight and rose highlight
Magnolia Matte Eyeshadow: A medium-deep muted mahogany
Petunia Sweet as sugar, baby pastel pink with a frosty pink highlight
Angelique Innocent mid-toned fawn pink with a hint of buff and opalescent highlights.
Ophelia The sweetest pale baby pink with a dewdrop green highlight.
Edie Pearlized glimmering medium pink.

The cheapest price for my samples was 65 cents and the most expensive was 1.30 for a small baggie of product. Considering that i'm on a beauty mission from god the expense was rationalized away as i entered in my credit card number. Shipment took 3 days to get to me....not bad since they are in South Carolina and I'm in South Central Texas. Oh and did i mention that if you order ONLY samples and samples ONLY you get free shipping. That is a great thing.

The samples came in a simple bubble mailer and wrapped in bright pink tissue paper with a Silver AromaLeigh logo sticker to seal the package of samples. In addition to the samples I ordered i received three other samples at no extra charge:

Gossamer Color Infusion Lipstick sample ( a red brown with shimmer lipstick very soft and beautiful)
Little Craving e/s (a bright pink fromt her Gothic Lolita collection)
Plush Romantic e/s (a beautiful Mysterious smudged indigo with brilliant bright sparks of blue. with a ton of shimmer..so sexy also from the Gothic Lolita collection)


The full size jars of eyeshadow come in the 5 gram sifter jars. All the eye shadows at full size are $6.75 except for Lychee which is on sale till 7/29 for $5.81 and regular price is $7.75. Not bad considering the quality is in a word, gorgeous.

I did swatches of the shadows i was considering before i reviewed the YouTube video to narrow down to my final choices. bear with me and the pen markings i will explain:
From top to bottom:

Petunia
Ophelia
Damask
Edie
Angelique
Wish
Lychee
Persephone

After looking at the shades which all went on gorgeous even without base and with a cotton swab, i decided to go with (going from lightest to darkest):

Petunia
Angelique
Wish
Persephone

I'm excited to try the look. I'm looking forward to my first order from Aromaleigh..since my order will be more than $20 i qualify for the First Order coupon which takes $5 off my order of $20 or more. FABULOUS!

They have more deals and coupon codes in their Coupons + Deals link from the left menu bar. Looking for ward to the other samples i ordered some in and have some more comparisons to make. They are coming from Buff'd Cosmetics who I love for my foundation.

Until Next Time!

Makeup Box Project and Makeup Brush holder

In the quest to become more organized at my now increasing makeup collection and makeup brush collection, I have purchased two unfinished wood pieces, one jewelry box and a pencil holder from Hobby Lobby. At a total of almost $20 for the pieces, the paint, and the pretty paper, i think this is a project worth the money and what a savings from the $59-$79 organizer i was eying online.

So here is the 4 drawer box. You can check it out on Craftsetc.com for $12.99 (or at Hobby Lobby)

The other thing is called a remote organizer but i think it looks more like a pen holder/organizer. It is on the same site or at your local Hobby Lobby store for $3.99.

The 4 drawer chest is quite nice. I liked the idea of vertical space versus horizontal space although i do have plenty of room on the bathroom counter, but the hubby will be back from Iraq one day and will need the one foot of room i give him. I'm so excited about this project!

I also found some nice paper to use to decorate the drawers themselves. And the greatest part was finding this metallic peridot paint by FolkArt! It is absolutely beautiful! It matches my sexy bedding that i found at Ross. Dark Peridot with gold in it..so warm and calming. To die for!

Now for the paper, the die cut lace papers are really in now and i found a good scroll pattern in black. Very pretty and with a cardstock thickness so it's not filmy or too delicate.

To adhere the paper i just used the Tacky Glue. Modge Podge was just too expensive and i always loose it. Have to get a sealer on Monday but it looks greta so far.


The Result was this gorgeous box i am proud to put in my bathroom! The makeup brush holder isn't finished yet but i do have pics detailing the paint job. i love both so far.




I do plan on adding the scroll die cut paper to it some where but i need a second coat on the holder. It soaks up a lot of paint. Would love to do some more in this color and some in bronze. I can't begin to say how much fun this was and how glad I am that all this was done for a fraction of the price of those ones i wanted. Thank God for Hobby Lobby!