Jordana Modern Matte Lipsticks

Hey y'all.  I'd like to say that I haven't updated in awhile because life got crazy and I was off being a Responsible Adult.  What really happened was I made the mistake of downloading a Pokemon LeafGreen rom.  That and my skin went crazy, so I haven't been playing with my makeup as much, which gave me more time to work on leveling up my squad, and it turned into a vicious PokeCycle of slacking off.  Now that I've finally managed to hit on a new skincare routine that's working, I figure it's time to get down to business.

Ok but we're talking about makeup, not fighting the huns.

Kheimistrii

Kheimistrii is a newish bath and body shop on Etsy.  It'd been on my radar for a little while, but I finally decided to take the plunge during her big New Year's sale.  It's a good thing I waited for the sale because I ended up hauling quite a bit.  I settled on a bar of the Ginger Glace Handmade soap and 2 oz samples of the Whip'd Body Wash in Sleepy Hollow, the Macademia Body Souffle in Dreamcatcher, the Sugar Exfoliant in Cimmerian, and the Body Butter Cream and Bubbling Scrub in Ultra Violet.  I also received a free sample of perfume oil in Kyoto.  

All my goodies, fresh out the box

Kheimistrii shipped lightening fast.  After several days worth of dithering over sizes and types of lotion, I placed my order on January 10th, and it showed up on my doorstep on the 15th.  The shipping costs were pretty reasonable too: she uses USPS Flat rate packaging.  Orders that fit into a padded envelope or small box are $5.95 and medium is $10.  

sixteen92 Winter Haul

When Claire announced she was releasing a line of winter scents, including a hot chocolate themed line, I was all in.   I jumped on the whole collection the day it came out in November.  Why am I just now talking about it?  Because I'm super lazy No idea.  Things happen.  Yeah.  Right.  Anyrate. 

I'd received a preview sample of Ex Tenebris Lux and Mexican Hot Chocolate with my previous order, so I opted to buy full sizes of Ex Tenebris Lux, Peppermint Hot Chocolate (I had it in lotion form already) and Toasted Marshmallow (after listening to everyone fall in love with it on IMAM) as well as blind buying a full size of Hellebore and samples of everything else.  Claire was sweet enough to upgrade my sample of Red Velvet Hot Chocolate to a full size bottle in lieu of a free sample this time around.

Quickie: L'Oreal Infallible Pro Matte

I absolutely was not going to try this foundation.  This soon anyway.  I was interested in it, every Youtube blogger I follow has been raving about it, but I never thought I'd get my hands on it.  It's almost impossible to find swatches in my color range, most people have been reporting that anything darker than Classic Tan was hard to find and seeing how it's pretty expensive for a drugstore product at $12.99 to $14.99, I thought I'd pass for a little while.  Plus I already have way too damn many foundations as it is.  

That was until last night.  I was out running errands and ended up stopping at a Rite Aid to pick up a few odds and ends for my skincare routine.  Lo and Behold, there was a full display.  And L'Oreal was Buy 1 Get 1 50% off.  AND there was a manufacturer coupon on the display for $1 off one product or $4 off two.  Clearly, it was a sign that I needed to buy it now.

Quickie: Blackbird Cosmetics Skulpting Powders

I feel bad.  I've had, loved, and been wearing all twenty of Blackbird Cosmetics matte eyeshadows for months.  They're my favorite matte eyeshadow formula hands down.  I don't know why I haven't bothered to review them yet. (spoiler alert: you need them).   I keep meaning to and telling myself that I'll get to it someday soon.

Aaaaand today is still not that day.  When Maleah, the super awesome force behind Blackbird Cosmetics, announced she was coming out with a line of six(!) contour powders, I was extremely excited.  I finally placed an order last week and they just got here in the mail today.  I can never resist playing with my new things, so I thought I'd do a quick swatch post.  Mostly because I'd already swatched them on my arm.

Haus of Gloi Yule Release

Of course I heard of Haus of Gloi on IMAM because it's full of dirty, dirty enablers.  This fall I picked up a couple of samples in swaps, but until last month I'd never made an order from the Haus itself.  Partly this was because Haus of Gloi is wildly popular.  Since I've been paying attention, any time they put out a new limited release it sells out faster than you can spit.  Seriously.  When the Winter scents were first released, I took five minutes too long to decide what samples I wanted and had everything in my cart sell out while I dithered.  When they announced a restock on November 20th, I just tossed whatever sounded interesting in my cart and hit Checkout before I could get cart-jacked again.  



Despite the fact that HoG must have been drowning under a deluge of orders, I got my stuff quickly. I placed my order on the 20th, got my shipping notice on December 2nd, and it showed up on the 6th. I went back and forth between getting Wintervale and Snow Wolf. In the end I settled on Wintervale so I was really happy to see I'd gotten Snow Wolf as a free sample in my order!

Black Violet Winter Collection

I feel like I've been buried under an avalanche of Christmas cheer.   Which I have noone but myself and my brilliant idea to Crochet All The Gifts! this year.   The worst part is I'm not even done.

Me, for the past 2 weeks.

Seeing how it's actually Christmas, I won't see the rest of the people I have gifts for till next month, and I got another Black Violet order last night, I thought I'd take a rest and get back to the fun stuff: Talking about my precious precious indies. This batch I ordered when Black Violet opened back up the week of Black Friday.  I was going to wait for the sale because I wanted the Glamour Doll Eyes GWP.  Then Momotaro sold out of the Wildflower section and I panicked.  What I did manage to score was full sizes of Snow White Tea and Marrakesh, and samples of all 4 of her winter release scents, as well as a mini of Bavarian Apfel Cider from the fall stuff.  My free samples were a Komorebi Body Butter sample and a GDE shadow.

Deep Midnight Perfumes

I honestly can't remember where I first heard about Deep Midnight Perfumes.  Most likely, it was someone raving about it over on IMAM.  What pushed me into making an order was finding out that there were a trio of Dragonlance inspired perfumes.  After that, it was just a matter of figuring out what else to sample first from the extensive catalogue.  I decided to pick from the Gothic, Vampires, Magic section because.... who doesn't like vampires?  Well maybe werewolves.  Too bad no one cares what they think.  

At least I'm house trained.

I ended up doing a five piece sampler of Black Throne, Blood & Donuts, and the Triple Moons.  I couldn't decided between Nocturnis or Velvet Harlot for my free sample; after going back and forth for ages, I just asked Cat to pick for me.  Color me surprised when I read her note that said first time buyers get two free samples so I got to have both!

Black Violet Perfumes

Not pictured: Candy.  Because I ate it.

I'm pretty sure I'd heard about Black Violet Perfume Vault & Bathory before the big anniversary sale back at the end of September.  I hadn't even been planning on making an order.  Then I heard about the sale, and the gift with purchases and.... I sort of tripped and fell on the *Submit Order* button?  Yeah, I don't buy that excuse either.  Moving right along then.  My haul included a Detangling Mist, a five pack of perfume samples, a full size Body Butter, and my samples were the Celebration mini, a lotion sample, and the Shiro GWP.  But Mel, you're probably saying, You said you got a five pack of perfumes and there's six in that picture.  That's because I happened to get a swap with Ringmaster in it.  

sixteen92 Fall Scents

I've been sitting on this review for a while.  Why?  I don't know.  I'm really lazy like that.  But here we go.  I'm getting shit done.  No, actually, if I'm being honest, I'm only wrapping this up and getting it out so I have an excuse not to wash and detangle my hair.  It's a whole production and between washing and twisting it takes all day and thinking about it makes me tiiiiiiiired.   

Yeah, ok, you're right, that's enough whining.  No one wants to hear about my first world curly hair problems. 

So when the fabulous Claire originally opened sixteen92, I stupidly only picked up a five pack of samples.  When the Fall collection came out, I had learned my lesson and bought the sampler of the entire thing.  I haven't met a scent from sixteen92 yet that I didn't like.