Gothique

As I’m recovering from surgery, I opted not to do a full face for this look. I started with the darkest color towards the inner crease in this look, as I wanted to try something different than I normally do. Devil’s Bonfire was the perfect black for that, since it has holographic glitter and isn’t chalky. Then I used Glooming, a black with aqua sparkles, to define the rest of the crease but I left the outermost crease open, to sort of fade the color out. Partylicious seemed to be the perfect lid shade to work with Glooming, and Lumi added some awesome iridescence to the eye.

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I went from boycotting MAC’s Rodarte collaboration to wanting to purchase the whole thing!

You can read why here on Pink Sith’s blog!

This week’s Picks of the Week are MAC Must Haves.

1 – Penultiate Brow Liner

I’m pretty sure this thing only comes in one color, sort of a nondescript brown called Universal.  But it’s in this amazing marker form that makes it work like magic.  Although I totally realize that the light/nonexistent brow might be in, I won’t give up my dark severe ones.  My hair is almost black and my skin so pale I just like the look of a dark brow.

Using this pen I can define my brow, heavier or lighter depending on what I’m aiming for that day, and it’s virtually undetectable.  No harsh brow lines, just soft fluffy brow goodness.

2 – Pro Longwear Lipstain Marker

These are amazing.  I love lip stains in general but these are remarkable.  They apply with a sweet taste, and they seem like they might not sink in, but after a moment and the product dries you’re left with stunning color, nothing too vibrant, it’s a stain after all.  But they last FOREVER and you can wear anything over top, including just a simple balm.  I have Tomorrow’s Coral and it’s actually a gorgeous deep shade of red.

3 – Naked Liner Lip Pencil

This is my basic lip liner, the only one I typically use if I’m wearing one.  It works under EVERYTHING especially my favorite alternative color shades, such as the amazing ones from Morgana and SoBe.

For Easter I wanted to do something soft and pretty and very Spring.  Because I’m only going to be out long enough for church, I don’t want to really dress up, so I was aiming for something easy.  I worked with My Sugar Skull on Etsy to design this adorable resin Easter Bunny Necklace.  I convoed her with some basic concepts and she was able to come up with this sweet design.  The end necklace is gorgeous, she does an amazing job ‘finishing’ resin pieces.  I’ve ordered a few with some rough edges and scratches, but this necklace is perfect!

I’ll wear it with a white dress shirt and a pink plaid skirt and some pink lace gloves.  Putting the rest of the look together I ran across this soft pink polish from Essie called Pop Art Pink.  It matches the soft shade of the bunny necklace perfectly.  That along with My Favorite Pink Dazzleglass and both Prude and Detox from Concrete Minerals and the over all look is perfect!

After I posted the Eden Primer review, I’ve gotten lots of inquires about which eye primer I prefer and which I think works best.  I figured that I’d sit and try some swatches out and see.  It really depends on what I reach for in the morning as to what I usually use.  I typically reserve the Paint Pot, however, for simple one shade looks, or when I want a naked eye, since IMO I don’t like to blend on it.

From top to bottom, left to right : Urban Decay Eden Primer, TFSI, UDPP, MAC Paint Pot in Painterly

I swatched Sugarpill Chromalust in Starling over all four primers.

• Looking at my hand I can tell you right now that the Paint Pot swatch is less vibrant, and it was difficult to swatch smoothly, the Paint Pot is a little thick and sticky for vibrant shadows.  In fact the shadows looks dusty.
• The original UDPP and the TFSI both look about the same to me.
• I’m quite surprised that the Eden swatch came out the best.  It’s the most vibrant and opaque.

Next I swatched something lighter, with a different finish.  This is Pink Negligee an Eye Plush from Aromaleigh.

From top to bottom, left to right : Urban Decay Eden Primer, TFSI, UDPP, MAC Paint Pot in Painterly

• Again, the Paint Pot swatch is sort of subpar.  The color isn’t as clear or ‘pink’.
• The TFSI swatch is very soft and delicate, showing off the plush finish and the light pink shade fairly well.
• The UDPP swatch is a little dull.
• The Eden, once again, shows off this shadow really well!

I applied each primer lightly and as evenly as possible in it’s square.  I then applied the shadow with my finger, rubbing it in a small circle.  I tried each time to be as consistent as possible.  I have to admit I’m sort of surprises by looking at all four of them side by side that Eden seems to perform the best.  As I suspected, the Paint Pot didn’t seem to perform as well as the others.  It’s a great base for simple, unblended, and neutral shades.  The UDPP and TFSI seemed to work the same, IMO, the TFSI did seem to make the shadows a little clearer and brighter, but it wasn’t all that much noticeable in the vivid shade.  I would say the preference one over the other would be a personal.

Yesterday was sort of an amazing mail day.  I got TWO new lip colors that are just amazing.

Remember last week when I posted about MAC’s Show Orchid?  Down in the comments we were comparing it to Morgana Mineral’s Azalea, which we determined was just a little different.  A day or so later Melissa from Morgana offered ten tubes of Azalea Blue on her Message Board.

I pretty much pounced all over that.  I love Morgana’s vegan lipsticks, they are an amazing consistency and have such a vibrant range of colors.  It arrived yesterday, much to my surprise!

Then when I opened my Fyrinnae order I found a tube of their new Lustre, Trickster.   I’d seen it on Phyrra’s blog and pretty much had to have it.  It’s the same pink/blue combination that I’m crazy for.

From left to right : MAC Show Orchid, Morgana Mineral’s Azalea Blue, Fyrinnae’s Trickser

Show Orchid

Azalea Blue

Trickster

They are all very beautiful and slightly different.  MAC’s color, while Limited Edition in store, is a permanent PRO color.  If I had known Morgana was coming out with Azalea Blue, I might have skipped Show Orchid, preferring vegan lipsticks.  Morgana is also gluten free, for those of you who can’t wear the Amplified colors from MAC!

Fyrinnae’s Lustre is, as always, a joy to wear, the formula unique and easy to wear all day.  It has a very subtle flavor to it that I freely admit I can’t identify.

Both the Morgana and Fyrinnae versions should be available soon!

La Vie en Rose!

I ran into MAC today and just about fell over myself when I ran into this small display.  It’s the display from the Riveting Collection.  You can see it’s obviously been very picked over.  But if you know me, and I know you do, you know exactly what I was looking at.

See it there, in the upper left hand corner?

Show Orchid lipstick is described as :

Vivid hot pink (Amplified Creme)

But wait.  No.  That’s not all it is.  It’s got just the tiniest hit of a blue/purple shimmery/duochrome to it.  It’s also Limited Edition, so I’m telling you get up and go get it.  Or just, you know, click on the link up there and go to the MAC site and order it.  I love the Amplified Creme formula from MAC, and I they might have recently improved it.  It goes on so lovely and smooth and lasts.  It doesn’t dry your lips out a bit.

This picture does not do it justice.  I need a better camera.

Pink Heels

This quirky set of heels from Miss Me are the perfect way to start out this retro look.  I ordered these from Plasticland, but they sold out fast.  Wear them with a pair of white fishnets, maybe with a seam up the back for added va-va-va-voom.

Cheery Pink Lipstick

I picked Speak Louder from Mac to compliment this look.  It’s a clear beautiful pink with a hint of a vintage feel.  It’s a Cremesheen, so it’s smooth and light, nothing to drastic or harsh!

Heart Bracelet

This heart bracelet from Ghost Love is an actual working lock.  The key is a separate little charm.  Ghost Love makes amazing jewelry, her collections are totally unique and when I saw this I knew I had to have it.  I think it personifies Cupid’s Victim.

Vintage Hair Pieces

I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with my hair.  I knew I wanted a slightly vintage look, but I didn’t want to go with full-on Victory Rolls.  Instead I picked this Hanky Comb from Which Goose with an assortment of little bobby pins from Liz Hutnick.  Wear your hair up in a loose roll, fastening it with the bobby pins along the side and then slide the comb in across the crown for a distinctly vintage feel.

Dramatic Black Eyeliner

Use the liquid or gel liner of your choice to get the classic retro cat eye.  A neutral shadow makes a perfect base, highlight it with a shimmery pink.  The one I wear is MAC’s Penultimate Liner. It’s tip makes it easy to get a perfect line with no fuss.

Pink Polka Dot Clutch

This simple small bag is the perfect size for a night out.  This one is from Toon Design.  You might need a bigger bag is you have to carry more then your lipstick, but I love how dainty and simple this clutch is.

Feathery Tank from Anthropologie

Hobo Bag by Mondani from Overstock

Oceanside Distressed jeans from Hollister

MAC Lipstick in Snob

Ordering

Ordering from Silk Naturals is easy.  They have a well organized site with clearly marked navigation down the left hand side and as well as a few links across the top of the page.  The only thing I found confusing was the categories, some seemed to repeat products and the lip glosses have several categories to page through.  It didn’t take me long to fill my cart and hit my review quota, though.

The prices are very competitive at 4$ for a shadow and 6.50$ for a blush, for example.  I easily got quite a selection of products well within my budget.

I noticed that they had a category called ‘Gumballs‘ and right away I groaned to myself, expecting to see the same old repackaged POP! shades.  Instead I was surprised to find that it was actually a little section that sells ‘experiments’ or little bits of products that are in development.  Genius.

I was holding out on reviewing Silk Naturals because the name itself implies it’s not vegan, however, they do have a variety of vegan products available and have them listed in separate categories.

The site has an integrated cart system that keeps track of your running total along the top, which is one of my favorite features of an indie shop.  Creating an account is easy and worth the effort to be able to keep track of previous purchases

I ended up ordering :

Carrot & Pumpkin Salve Gumball

Climax Blush – Nars Orgasm clone

Nekkid Eye Shadow – MAC Naked Lunch clone

Nymph Eye Shadow – MAC Vex clone

Purr – Stilla Kitten Clone

Halo – MAC new Vegas MSF Clone

Sparkle Vegan Lip Gloss

I received ExtraVert and Cream free.

I didn’t see an order minimum but their shipping is very reasonable.

Shipping starts at $2.75, and the most you will ever pay for shipping is $6.50.

There is no additional shipping and handling charge.

Shipping

I ordered on January 8th and my package arrived on January 13th.  I was very pleased it arrived so quickly.

Packaging

My order arrived in a bubble mailer.  Inside my products were wrapped in purple tissue paper keeping them snug and together.  Also included was my very professionally done invoice, a thank you note signed by the owner, a sample of  vegan lip gloss, a two free eye shadows, and an amazing ‘Guide to Mineral Makeup’.  It was a really awesome little extra to include.  On the back of the guide was a printed listing of her ingredients.

Product / Colors

Ok, I’ll admit I ordered some very tame colors.  But I knew right away I wouldn’t be keeping them to use myself (they’re not vegan) so I ordered shades that I knew my cousin Elizabeth would wear.  We’re often mistaken for sisters, our coloring is the same, so I felt pretty safe with my choices.

I was curious mostly about the ‘Clones’ and ordered several.  Although I didn’t have much to MATCH them to, Phyrra did do a little comparison herself recently.  I was able to compare Climax to Orgasm and Nekkid to Naked Lunch.

From left to right : Nars Orgasm and Silk Naturals Climax

You can see that while they are close, I wouldn’t call it a match.  Orgasm is much brighter and clearer while Climax is more of a ‘dusty’ peach.  But again, unless you knew the difference, no one would know.

From left to right : Naked Lunch and Nekkid

In the case of Naked Lunch and Nekkid, the shades are pretty close, however the clone, Nekkid, is much more shimmery.

I noticed that in general the Silk Natural shades are all quite shimmery.  Shimmery as in an almost metallic quality.  I’m not sure if it’s just what I ordered or just how they formulate.  The one shade, ExtraVert, I’m sure will make a lovely liner and goes well with the peachy tones of the other shadows and Cream is just satin enough (NOT as shimmery) that it makes a good highlight.  They seemed to blend really smoothly, but stayed on best with a good base.  I found my Paint Pot worked best, the UDPP didn’t seam to do much, the colors were too sheer to show up, but over the smooth opaque base of the Paint Pot they were lovely.

From top to bottom, left to right : Nymph, Purr, Cream, Halo, Nekkid, and ExtraVert

After poking around looking at their foundations, I don’t think I get how they work.  I think you have to mix your own shade with the pigments and ingredients included in the kit you purchase.  That could go either way, either an amazingly perfect color match, or one heck of a mess.  I don’t wear mineral foundation, so I didn’t order any, so I should reserve my speculation.

I only ordered one lip product, a vegan lip gloss.  It’s a clear shimmery color that I can wear on it’s own or over another color.  There isn’t anything very remarkable about it, but I would say it’s a nice gloss.

The MSF clone, Halo, is great though.  It’s about what I expected and it is very pretty.  I can’t comment on how close it is a match to the actual MAC product.  According to the ingredients list I have the Glows do not have silk powder in them, so I’m probably going to keep this one for myself.

Conclusion

Would I order from Silk Naturals again?  Maybe, if I were buying only vegan products.

• Their shadows are, obviously, like silk, but they seemed too shimmery for me.
• I love their Clone line and see some cheep alternatives, I would only hope they expand those color selections.
• The prices are very good, as was the cost of shipping.  No gouging here.
• Everything arrived quickly, well packed, with generous extras.

Overall : /5