Entries for Thursday December 02
Meow Cosmetics’ Xmas Rant collection
- Vendor: Meow Cosmetics
- Availability: every November and December beginning in 2010, through the company's webstore
- Contains: 14 eye colors
- Cost/Amount: USD$8.00 for 1.6 grams, $1 for a sample baggie.
- Would you purchase again: yes
“For anyone who wants to start taking hostages during the holidays…” This collection capitalizes on the joyous dread with which we all approach the holiday season. (For some of us, this dread first makes its presence known when schools open back up and we realize that it’s only a few months until The Madness Begins.)
The colors are a mixture of finishes, with mostly shimmers and satins (not a matte finish, not quite a pearl finish, but somewhere in between.) They’re also a mixture of shades, from the candy-bright Noise and Greed and Calories to the richer Bustle, Drunken Relatives, and Commercialism. Hustle looks similar enough to Aromaleigh v1’s Loretha that I don’t need to have them both in my collection (but I’ll have to swatch them side by side to be sure.) Eggnog is a bit paler than I like my shadows to be, but it’s a bit too pigmented to work well as a highlighter - it’s my only “meh” color from this collection. If you loved Aromaleigh v1’s Unicorn, then get yourself a sample of Eggnog and see if you want it in fullsize: it does have the blue duochrome action going on, and the base-color is almost the same shade of pale yellow. Commercialism is a lovely deep green, and I have many greyed greens and paler greens, but not too many dark rich emeralds. I might also get Office Party and Calories in fullsize. My two instant favorites from this collection were Traffic and Drunken Relatives - they’d probably even look good used together, since they’re complementary shades!
Aromaleigh v1’s Magnolia
- Vendor: Aromaleigh v1
- Availability: available as part of the Carolina Summer collection
- Color Range: muted mauve-brown matte
- Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
- Cost/Amount: USD$6.75 for 1.2 grams
- Would you purchase again: yes
- Similar shades:
For some reason, I gravitate toward two color groups: jeweltones, and greyed colors. When I found Aromaleigh and saw that they had an entire collection of greyed matte colors, I ordered an entire sample package. Most loose-powder companies will have a few faded greyed colors that aren’t very heavily pigmented (Bare Escentuals), or will concentrate on brighter colors but release few greyed shades (just about every other indie MMU vendor that I’ve bought from.)
Like all the rest of the shades in the Carolina Summer collection, Magnolia is well pigmented, applies smoothly, and adheres well (though admittedly, with my oily and heavy lids, if I don’t use a primer I will only ever get about an hour’s uncreased wear out of *any* eyeshadow, no matter how spectacularly it adheres.) It’s a mauve-brown, and to my eyes, it’s just barely more of a “red” than a “brown” color.
Entries for Wednesday December 01
Meow Cosmetics’ Xmas Ghost Stories collection
- Vendor: Meow Cosmetics
- Availability: beginning 2010, November through December through the company's webstore
- Contains: 3 face and body colors
- Cost/Amount: USD$12 for 4 grams, $8.00 for 2 grams, $1 for a sample baggie
- Would you purchase again: yes
Three new glow powders in colors that are not necessarily “natural”, but could be quite interesting. There’s also always the option to use these as sheer eyelight colors, which I do quite often with the various body powders from this and that vendor - especially if they’re too dark or the wrong color to work well on my cheeks.