Ten Three Labs

I've been curious about this line since Cara announced she was opening up her own shop over on reddit's Indiemakeupandmore sub. Ten Three Labs opened officially on October 3rd, fittingly enough, with a collection of eyeshadows, perfume oils and lip products. About two weeks ago I was finally able to put in an order. Spoiler alert: it won't be the last one. I really wanted the LE Howl O'Ween collection, and while I was at it I picked up a blogger pack of four smudge sticks and a salve stick. 

The whole she-bang

I was very impressed with the speed with which I got my goodies. Her stated TAT is 10-14 business days. I got my order in about a week. Also, I love that she puts the sifters on the side. It saves my poor brittle nails from having to try to pry them out. Another neat thing is that every order comes with seeds. I got marigolds which go lovely with tomatoes. Alright, on to the reviews.

Fair Season

It's Fall! Fall's great. And fall means fairs all around America. Funnel cakes and giant turkey legs and rides with people getting sick... You know, fun!

Cola, beer, candy corn, cotton candy, caramel, buttered popcorn, firewood, pumpkin, brown sugar, amber.

In the bottle: Smells sticky sweet.

On my skin: MMMmmm caramel! and peanuts! This smells good enough to eat. After about 20 minutes I think I start to smell cola in there as well. After an hour, it fades down to reveal a base of amber and wood.

Wear Time: Originally, I put this on bare skin and it vanished after thirty minutes. I was a saaad panda. I tried it again after putting on a layer of lotion (vaseline intensive care, if you were wondering), and that got me two hours. I really need to find a fixative-scent extender-whathaveyou seeing as how my skin quickly eats every scent I put on it.

Salves & Smudge Sticks

I decided to do one salve just because and the darker smudge sticks... because I have a thousand red lip colors, give or take a few. 

The Bubbler

This might be my new HG lip balm. It's moisturizing, it smells amazing, I'm in love. It also gives me that little tingle that I love from my current HG Carmex. Unlike Carmex, it doesn't leave my lips feeling extra dry when it wears off. I put it on last, after all the swatches and my poor abused lips instantly felt better. Strawberry Champagne is an apt description of the scent; although to me it smelled like strawberry champagne bubblegum.

Princess

I've been looking for a new golden peachy gloss for quite awhile, and I think I can stop now. This is lovely. One coat and I get a mlbb effect. Two coats and it's a lovely, warm, and gold. This smells like peaches. I keep thinking I smell licorice under this and The Bubbler. But I hate licorice. But I love the way these smell. Trying to puzzle that out is giving me a headache.

Vylette

And again here's a scent I should hate, but I don't. This smells like Grape Soda. I loathe things that smell and taste like grape soda. How much do I hate it? My mother used to buy Grape Children's Tylenol, which tastes like grape soda. I would wait until she was gone, and spit it out down the heat register. Yes, now that I'm grown, I realize that was gross. I was eight and would rather have been sick then eat that crap. But this smells like grape soda, and I love it. I'm so confused. 

Also it looks really nice on. This is two coats, and it gives a lovely purpley tint.

Alchemist

Ooo I like this one, and to be quite honest, I didn't think I would. Again, this is two coats. The first one went on a bit patchy, but with two it looks very nice. The scent is a bit licorice, which I should hate but again I really like. I feel like my whole life is a lie.

Black No.1

This one is the only one I was disappointed in. It went on patchy, and even after three coats I couldn't get it nice. This would probably benefit from a lip brush and/or a liner underneath. Which I am much too lazy to do on a regular basis. The good news is, this smells amazing, and not in a give poor Mel an existential crisis kind of way. It smells like normal, good old fashioned cola. 

On to the eyeshadows! 

From left to right: Howl O'Ween, Mouth, Shelley's Big Eye, and That Goat's Got Devil Eyes!

All swatches are done Top to Bottom over bare skin, NYX HD Primer, and Darling Girl's Glitter Glue.

Howl O'Ween 

I never get tired of greens

This is supposed to be emerald green with orange sheen. What I got is a chameleon: In bright and direct light I get more of an olive green shimmery shadow. In low light it looks very close to the swatches Cara posted: a frosty green that shifts to reveal a pumpkiny brown under it. You get this effect over regular primer and over a sticky base. The only difference is that the sticky base deepens the color.

Mouth 

This looked really familiar 

I put this on and immediately thought it looked familiar. It reminds me very much of Shiro's Everything is Bears. So, of course I did a comparison and lo and behold.....

At last, my search is over

It's pretty darn close. Mouth is basically Everything is Bears without the glitter fall out. This is wonderful in my opinion. I love EiB and I'm almost out of my little sample that I snagged in a swap. This is probably going to be my new Oh-shit-I've-got-10-minutes-to-get-my-face-on-and-get-out-the-door shadow. 

Shelley's Big Eye

I think this one might be my favorite. 

This was my free sample. Cara... get out of my brain. I sat and stared at this for way too long before deciding that I probably should skip it seeing as how I never wear the turquoises I have. It was so pretty though that I kept putting it into and taking it out of my cart. Actually, considering how gorgeous this is, feel free to read my mind any time you like. This one is bang on to the site's swatch and description: a lovely metallic teal that I wasted a lot of time on doing the arm dance to make it sparkle.

That Goat's Got Devil Eyes! 

This one really benefits from primer, as you can see.

This one is billed as black with a red shift. What I get is blackened navy. This is something I think would make a killer liner or look amazing turned into a wing. Which I probably won't do because I suck at that sort of thing. 

To sum up? There was nothing in this order that I didn't like. Yes, Black No.1 was patchy, but I bet it'd be fine with a bit of liner underneath or if I weren't too lazy to use a lip brush. I can't wait to make another order. I want a bunch of eyeshadows and all the scents. If you've been on the fence about getting anything do it. The Howl O'Ween collection is only here until Nov.1, so, get on with it!

~M.