Gothique

So, when it’s the middle of the afternoon and I actually have time to sit down and relax, what do I do?

This.

I love it when my friends let me experiment.  I used Petrilude’s tutorial and Kryolan Aqua Color from Shrinkle.

Ordering

I found Sobe Botanicals on Etsy, however they also have an independent website.  As always, Etsy is fun and easy to navigate and ordering is a breeze.

On a whim I searched for ‘black lipstick’ and one of her listings came up.  Her listing was eye catching and packed full of information.  So often on Etsy you run across a listing that’s all of two paragraphs, but Sobe’s listing contained all the info about the product I might want.

I had mistakenly forgotten to pick a flavor on one of the items I ordered and Lex contacted me and asked.  We also discussed the coloring in the stain I ordered, she was thoughtful enough to ask about how I felt about including certain ingredients.  She was really friendly, sweet and very polite.

Her listings are very vegan friendly as well, which is always a major plus for me.

I ordered:

Da Balm Halloween Lip Butter in black with pumpkin flavoring

Cheek and Lip Stain Mineral Lipstick in Dolly

Shipping

I ordered on November 7th and received my package on November 18th.  I suspect it took so long because she made them to order, which is awesome.

Packaging

The package arrived in an unassuming bubble mailer.  When I opened it I found a cute little black bag inside tied with a ribbon.  Inside were my lippies, a personalized thank you,  and several generous sized samples of her mineral eye shadows.  It was original and thoughtful.

The lipsticks are in simple black tubes with a label.  Very sleek, which I appreciate.

Product / Colors

The Halloween Balm

I literally gasped when I put this on my lips.  The listing stated:

Back by popular demand-Limited edition Halloween Stix Lipstick to get into the “spirit” of the season. Soothing creamy lip butter FULL of butters with intense color & a hint of shimmer. Gives Amazing color payoff (more of a lipstick) & sheen while moisturizing & repairing your lips. Wonderful creamy feel & texture. VEGAN & Dye FREE!

And that’s not just advertising.  Right out of the tube I got one stroke opacity.

That’s literally one pass over my lips.  It goes on smooth and creamy and with a sweet pumpkin flavor.  It’s moisturizing and all natural.  It was only 5$ a tube.  If you’re interesting in a great, inexpensive introduction to black lipstick, RUN and get one of these before I buy them out from her store.  They come in several other ‘spooky’ colors, although I can’t say for sure they are as pigmented or not.

It wears like a balm, light, not heavy or sticky.  It’s shiny and beautiful and I love it.

The Stain

This is the perfect tube for in my purse.  It works as both a blush and a gloss if I need a little touch up.  I had asked her to use dye to get the brightest pink possible and WOW, she did.

It’s a very clear bright pink that’s just lightly sheer.  The formula is smooth and moisturizing.  On my cheeks it leaves a little stain and blends easily.

Conclusion

Would I order from Sobe again?  Yes, in fact I just did.  Twice.  Seems like whenever I go to look for links for reviews I end up shopping…

• The two lip products I bought were amazing quality and far surpassed my expectations.
• Although I haven’t tried their other products, I do really like the shadow samples she sent.
• The customer service is amazing.  I get the impression it’s second nature to her to treat her customers well.
  

Overall: /5

More From Sobe

So Beautiful

Big News!

For Me?!

More?

While doing my usual blog cruising one night laying in bed with my iPhone I found out that Meow Cosmetics was offering a Halloween sale.  Normally I look at their sight and think “a lot of colors are pretty, but 8$ a shadow is a little more then I want to pay”.  I realize 8$ isn’t much for a custom blend shadow considering the work that goes into it, but, well.  When the opportunity arose I was working with a discount, I ordered a few shades from their Halloween page.

Ordering

The site itself was easy to navigate, although I kept having to remind myself to scroll down to find the colors and the descriptions.  They sell a wide variety of products and most have several ordering options, including sizes and samples.  I was impressed with all the mattes they have.  They also have several types of foundations available based on coverage from light to full.  The color charts to match your complexion are really expansive.  I’m sure I could find one to match my pale skin.

I only ordered a few eye shadows, including :

Full Sized –

Necromancer (Halloween Collection)  – a pure black shadow (like warlock and witch) loaded with pink and purple sparkle and fuchsia iridescence.
Evil Eye (Zombie Collection)  -Dark plum/purple with blue-black undertones and bronzed metallic iridescence.
Vampire (Halloween Collection) – lurking in the shadows, this is the only color of the Dance of Death collection that is not very sparkly – it is a gleaming luminous purple with iridescent red undertone.
Bad Luck (Friday the 13th Collection) – golden toffee with orange iridescence twinged with warm russet undertones
Macabre (Zombie Collection) – Plum with red undertones and copper iridescence.

Samples -

VooDoo (Zombie Collection) – Dark Gray with gold iridescence.
Black Cat (Zombie Collection) – Deep Black with lots of sparkle and twilight blue undertones.
Coven (Zombie Collection) – Blue-Black with golden teal iridescence.
Asylum (Halloween Collection) – gleaming teal loaded with green iridescence and blue and green sparkle.
Goblin (Zombie Collection) – Rosy plum.
Grave Robber (Halloween Liner) – mysterious deep navy with bright blue iridescent undertone.

Shipping

I placed the order on Friday, October 30th and it arrived Saturday, November 7th.  So at just over a week the shipping time wasn’t bad.  I am totally spoiled by the few companies I most often shop from because they ship practically that night and I usually have my order in a few days.  I didn’t notice anything on the Meow site noting delays or a shipping schedule, so I assume this would be the average delivery time, which is reasonable.  I did get a shipping notification and was able to keep an eye on my goodies as they made their way to me.

I was really pleased to open the package and find my items packaged in a very cute spider web bag.  It was a nice little Halloweeny extra.  I also noticed there were several other samples included I didn’t order, as well as a personalized thank you written on the invoice.  All of these things are very important to me.  It’s not required, but it makes me feel very good about who I chose to shop with.

You can find their table of shipping costs on their Customer Service page.  There is no additional shipping and handling charge.

The Packaging

I quickly realized that each little shadow jar is individually sealed outside with a little wrap.  I don’t think I’ve run across that before.  I realize that the little sealed sifter inside is enough to ensure a non-contaminated product, but the little extra was nice.  Also the cute little labels on the top of each featured the collection name as well as a little kitty of some sort.  The packaging was very well thought out and personalized for each collection.  Nothing generic here.

They each weighed about 9grams and the average empty jar with a sifter is about 7grams so that’s nearly 2 grams of product.

Product / Colors

Swatching the colors I actually said to myself ‘why did I get this one?’ a few times, the color descriptions and swatches were just a bit off from what I expected.  Everything is still amazing, but I wasn’t so sure it was accurate.

From left to right : necromancer, Bad Luck, Evil Eye, Vampire, and Macabre

For instance Necromancer looks more like black and orange to me then the described black and pink/purple.  I don’t quite see the same iridescence.

Bad Luck was another I was scratching my head over.  I don’t’ quite get the golden undertone to it.

I will be wearing Vampire all over the place, though.  It’s a really nice ‘blood’ color, not a true red and it just looks stunning with my peculiar brown eyes.

Macabre is also very pretty, very subdued and would probably work for a lot of people, even those not into the other dark and gloomy colors I ordered.

The formula is really nice.  They are described as “creamy densely textured moist shadows.”  I’m not sure how moist figures in there.  The ingredients listed are : Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Tin Oxide Some Colors May Contain: Ultramarine Blue, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Copper, Silica. Which to me appears to be a nice and complex blend, ensuring someone worked hard to create each of these shadows by hand.  They certainly are very smooth.  They go on very well, although I would of course recommend a base such as a primer or a paint pot.

The Conclusion

Would I order from them again?  Probably.

• There are a few colors I’ve seen I would really love, although I’m semi-wary they are accurate.
• The cost is admittedly an issue.  Unless I run across another sale I don’t think I’ll be ordering soon.

Overall: /5

Updated 01/26/2010 :/5

More from Meow

A Bone to Pick

If one more person asks me “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob” I seriously might hurt them.  Last night I was dressed as a vampire, yes, but as Mina Harker I was more “Team Dracula”.

I kept things very simple and very wearable.  I was going to be out doing several things and didn’t want to be too over the top or inappropriate.

• I primed my face and covered any imperfections with concealer.
• Then I used a full coverage foundation mixed with a little white to lighten my face and neck.
• I didn’t use a contour or a blush, instead I finished with Twilight Lustre powder from Aromaleigh for a glow.
• My eyes I kept really simple but smokey.  I used a neutral shadow from my 88 palette and then Doll House Plush and Still In Hollywood Rocks from Aromaleigh.  I changed my mind on the eye last minute and used this tutorial from Tiffany D.  It was perfect, subtle and Gothic all at once.  I obviously used a blend of purples instead of greys.  I also added some long spiked lashes from NYX.
• For my lips I used my new A Lady Never Tells lip color from Spell.
• I defined my brows very lightly with my ELF Brow Kit.
• I of course wore my Scarecrow fangs and used a little Graftobian wax to make a pair of fang marks on my neck.  But since Mina is somewhat only half a vampire, they would be healed scars, so no dripping blood, just well blended marks.
• I curled my hair in little steam rollers and messed with it a bit so it looked like my somewhat short hair was actually pulled up and then wore the custom fascinator I got from eBay.  I also used a streak of white clipped in for effect.
• I had sort of a spider theme going as well with the spider web stockings so I wore my glass spider plugs.

The overall look wasn’t very camp or obvious but I got compliments all night.  The ‘costume’ is actually an outfit I would normally wear to work, but with solid tights and without the belt and feathers.  So those small additions, plus the spider pin at my throat were perfect to add just a touch of Goth.

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I’m in LA tonight for a show and an after-party, but through out the day I’ll post SIX Trick or Treat Scavenger Hunt clues.

Each one will be a request to find me something, for example:

• Find me a picture of a celebrity with a faux hawk.

The first person to comment with a TINY PIC link to the picture will win.  So the winning comment would be:

• http://i33.tinypic.com/r7q3cp.jpg

The hunts you’ll be looking for will vary.  Some will be harder then others, some might be a cinch, but you’ll have to be quick!!

Comments for each post will be screened so you never know if someone else has got it, or if you’re the first!!

The hunt will officially begin after Noon, Pacific Standard time and run through the evening.

Each will be titled The Hunt, Part X with the prize for that hunt listed.