Review - The Morbid The Merrier

This week has been the best mail week...which roughly translates into: I spent a lot of money. But hey...it was my birthday...then it was Valentine's Day...and being old and single, I think I'm allowed.

Today's review is of a perfume company I came across whilst trotting around Etsy a week or so ago. I was reminiscing about how I used to love Velvet Moon Bathory's awesome awesome blends and how sad I was that she was nowhere to be found when I decided to see if there were any other shops out there that could satiate my intense need for odd smelling perfume.

Voila: The Morbid The Merrier
My first impressions of the store were quite favorable. I love the whole 1800's carnival aestetic, and Lysa, the owner...grabs you with her tag line. As I was poking through the listings, I was surprised to find some scents that used some of my favorite notes...leather, black pepper and amber to name a few.

I picked up the following scents. I will link the listing in each name. Descriptions are directly quoted from her shop.

Black Jack 
Described as: "Citrus top notes and vanilla-wood middle notes are supported by a base of black, smoky leather."
My thoughts: The leather is definitely the first thing you smell when you put it on. It's very pungent, but after a few minutes...it fades slightly and you get the vanilla notes. At first sniff, it's a little disarming, which is good when a female wears a masculine scent...but then it sweetens up and is really pretty.

Natali
Described as: "Directly out of the tin it smells exactly like a Terry's Chocolate Orange. After a few minutes, however, the scent begins to mellow and change into something extraordinary. A little incense, a little tobacco, a little mystery."
My thoughts: I didn't really get the chocolate orange smell at first...but I am sometimes woefully inept at picking out different scents. It reminds me a lot of Dragon's Blood, and I have a tin of that so this might be something I pass along to a friend. The scent also seemed to fade pretty quickly, but that might also be because I was sniffing four other things at once.

Dessert Absinthe
Described as: "Upon opening, the first notes are lemon, sugar, and anise - very reminiscent of a lemon sugar cookie. After wearing it for just a few minutes, however, the bottom notes emerge... woodsy, earthy, mysterious, and alluring."
My thoughts: This scent is very much like the description. A citrusy sugar cookie. It definitely fades into a less sweet and more woodsy scent as it wears. I like this one a lot. I am also curious to try it's bigger sister.

Maximo
Described as: "A complex and beautiful blend of sweet cocoa, spicy black pepper, earthy patchouli with a heart of vanilla and wood."
My thoughts: Yum. This scent is sweet and delicious without being too much so. The patchouli comes through later, but not in that "dirty hippy" way that so often ruins how pretty it can be...it's definitely well placed. This one is my second favorite.

1891
Described as: "Notes of amber and rum surface first, followed by spicy clove, smoky wood and moss."
My thoughts: This one is definitely my favorite of the bunch. It is almost exactly what Arsenic & Lace from VMB used to smell like...and that is just what I was looking for. It's sweet, also without that cloying sickly smell (that unfortunately the Arsenic & Lace DID have) and it wears extremely well. I want to nom my arm right now...

Sample: Horseman
Described as: "Fiery jack-o-lanterns, black leather boots, temple incense, and the edge of a dark Autumn wood. Opens sweet, almost caramel-foody, but after only a few minutes on the skin, it darkens dramatically, almost changing into a different scent altogether."
My thoughts: This opens similarly to Black Jack...but is sooooo different. Where the Black Jack's leather notes mellow out to something sweet and stays a little tart...Horseman goes in a totally different direction. You do get that caramely note she describes for an instant, but it changes the leather smell into something warm and awesome. This is supposed to be limited edition, and I'm not sure if she's just selling off her stock...but I think I am definitely going to have to get a full bottle of this.

Customer Service:
This part of the experience was awesome. In my classic Dori (just keep swimming, just keep swimming) fashion, I wasn't paying enough attention when I ordered and decided, right after that I wanted the 1891 solid perfume. I was fully willing to pay for it, and the shipping, but she threw it in for free. I did converse with her a few times via Esty convo and she was awesome! The packaging was beautiful and the artwork on the tubes is amazing!

The only problem I had was that I thought I had ordered Natali in the chapstick tube (which is the best thing in the world BTW), and I got it in a tin. Really, I'm not complaining...she gave me a whole tube of perfume for free...plus I am planning on passing that scent anyhow so it turns out it's not a big deal. Overall, I am DEFINITELY ordering from her shop again...ESPECIALLY since I know that a few of these scents are going to be used up fairly quickly *cough 1891*.

If anyone has any questions about what I ordered or my blabbering, leave a comment below. Also, if you order from her, let me know what you think!

The End!

PS - The scents on my arms are all mixing together...but in a good way. I'm gonna go have a long sniff and a nap I think. Also, small side note...I have VERY sensitive skin...and I am in no way adversely affected by these perfumes. *thumbs up*

e.l.f. Haul & Swatches

A few posts back I let you guys know about a sale over at http://www.eyeslipsface.com/ where if you spent $25, you got 10 of their mineral eyeshadows for frees! FREES! Well, I have some haul pictures and swatches for you, so you can see all the pretties! I have had the chance to play with most of these, with the exception of the 100 eyeshadow palette. (I lie, I touched at least half of the colours...oooh that sounds dirty.)

First up, the mineral shadows. Each pot was pretty big, 0.85g per. They come with a sifter...and we all know how much I love my sifters. I will list each colour under the picture, left to right; top to bottom.

Top row:
Innocent
Elegant
Wild
Earthy (it's a lot greener in real life, but still light)
Outdoorsy (also a lot greener, but much darker than I had anticipated)

Bottom Row:
Dreamy
Beachy
Smoldering
Socialite (LOVE THIS COLOUR!)
Seductive

These are the lip gloss and blush swatches:

Gloss:

Top - Minty Lip Gloss in Nashville - This colour is very pale, a tiny bit plumping and the mint is lovely.

Bottom - Lip Stain in Heartbreaker - I wore this a bit today...it's only OK. The colour is pretty much the same as my normal lip colour, and it doesn't really last more than any regular gloss.

Blush:

Left - Peachy Keen - I wore this for like four days in a row...I love it. Almost more than I like my Nars blush...almost.

Right - Berry Merry - I wore this today, it's a gorgeous pink with a tiny bit of gold undertone! I am extremely happy with this as well as I thought it was going to me much too plum coloured for me.

I also took a quick picture of the 100 eyeshadow palette...it's a crappy one...but I figured it's always nice to see more than the picture on the website.

Of the little swatching I did...there are a few colors that are amazing...but most of them are only so-so. I'll have more information when I've actually gotten to dig into it a bit more. I will say this...a lot of the e.l.f. products have a musty...almost mushroomy...smell to them. A while back I bought a bunch of their liquid eyeliners that had the same problem, I thought perhaps that they had gone off or something, but now that I've gotten this palette...I'm guessing it's just their smell. It's kind of gross...but whatever.

I have absolutely no idea what to do with this palette...that always happens to me when I have too much to pick from. Leave a comment below if you have any ideas, or want to see some specific looks involving any of my e.l.f. swag!

The end!

Randomosity

Like that title word? I made it up...just now. Yeah...I'm like that.

Anyhow, I popped over here the other day to check on some things and I noticed that I'm up to 86 followers! Hello to all the new people! Thanks for following my blog, I really appreciate it! I'm going to have to cook up another good giveaway soon!

This post is going to be a little bit of what I purchased whilst I was staying with my brother (he loved shopping for makeup...I know he did...'cos he left the store about 20 minutes in lol) and a little bit of a random look I found lurking on my camera's memory card. I apologize in advance that I don't have product pictures. I hate the way they look when I take them so I am just going to give you links to each item so you can see the colors...and you know...this way...I can enable you to purchase your own. Gee, it's a good thing we aren't talking about drugs here...eh kids?

First off...some crazy thing I did one night. I was just playing around so excuse the woefully unkempt eyebrows and lack of concealer on my ever so pink complexion.

To be honest, I'm not even sure what I used...I know the purple and the white are two of the baked eyeshadows from Hot Topic...the yellow looks like Buttercupcake from Sugarpill...the black is likely Bulletproof from Sugarpill, I rarely use another. The lashes are Red Cherry F-001. I love the way fake lashes look...but I'm never satisfied with how I apply them. I've tried all kinds of methods and I always see a gap between my lash line and the band of the fake ones.

I really love that frontal wing. This is not the best execution but the style itself can be just so pretty.

On to the goodies!!! Here are all the things I got from the HUUUUUGE Sephora that was in Westchester.

NARS
Blush in Luster
Eyeshadow in Night Porter

I have been searching and searching for a good blush. My first instinct was to check out the Orgasm line by NARS...it's supposed to be flattering to everyone. Well...not me. I put it on and it has such an odd pink cast on my skin...I skipped it and went for Luster instead. This peachy gold looks great on my skin without being too shimmery or too orange. I wear it almost every day.
Night Porter is amazing. It is a very beautifully soft and easily blendable black with the most perfect green shimmer (they call it "pearls"). Over a black base, this shade is stunning. It also works very well in the crease with a pale green or olive on the lid. I did both of those looks while I was away and of course I didn't have my camera with me.

DuWop
Eyecatcher Shadow in Green Eye Intesnifier

I originally picked this shadow duo up because I liked the burgundy color in it. It was a whim, I admit. What I found when I actually played with them is a super velvety, very richly pigmented couple of shadows. The green of the duo has a gold and a sage running through it that mix with the mint base color and turn the whole shadow into a very bright shimmery olive. The burgundy, to my delight is deep and absolutely beautiful. I was tempted to get the other two duos that they offer, but though I wasn't really impressed by the others...I do recommend this one.

Urban Decay
Eyeshadow in YDK

I love Urban Decay. There isn't anything about their stuff that I don't like, really. Some of the shadows have too much glitter and not enough pigment...but they aren't anything I'd buy full pots of. Most of them come in their awesome palettes...so chock full of the aforementioned awesomeness that it really doesn't matter. This shadow I picked up because it's an all around great gold/brown...perfect for inner corner highlights and a nice shimmery lid. In retrospect, I would have done better with a color like Maui Wowie...which would have done the same duty as YDK and also been suitable for a brow highlight. As it stands, I'm sure I can find room in my life for both...and I won't even have to try too hard.

MAKE UP FOR EVER
Eyeshadow in #167
Diamond Shadow in #302

I have been on a blue kick lately. #167 is the most beautiful blue of them all. Seriously. It's literally my most favorite shade of blue ever...ever. If you know me at all, you also know that I'm a sucker for a pretty turquoise...#302 is just that. It's like a giant pressed version of Glittersniffer's Liar...which I love but don't always have time to use. It's a pigment, and I'm clumsy when I'm not rushing...so when I am...it's messy.
I don't have a ton to say about MAKE UP FOR EVER. It's awesome. The best. I will mention that I skipped the #92 (probably the most notable purple eyeshadow of all time) because I have Sugerpill's Poison Plum...but I might just order it anyhow. It's sitting in my cart on Sephora.com waiting.

As usual, I've been overly verbose but I hope you all enjoyed it anyhow. If there's anything you'd like to know about the stuff I posted here...I've used it all a ton so feel free to ask.

The end!

MAIL PRESENTS!!!

I love getting mail. Especially when it's full of stuff I've been waiting for, and this week I went a little internet-shopping happy. There is still more coming, but here are the presents I got from my mailman today.

First up is a super rad polymer clay necklace from Miss Destry of Pet Zombie Creations. Destry is one of my favorite music twin, Golden Girls obsession sharing, DIY bitches. Go check out her shop...there is a ton of awesome stuff in there! I have a few of her pieces and I wear them all the time.

 

My Zoya order!!! Yayyyy. I took advantage of their "spend over $20 and get two polishes free" Twitter deal last week and ordered these four colors. Left to right: 

Ali 

Paris (currently wearing)

Reece

Adina

I can't tell you how awesome these all are in person. Zoya has some of the most unique and beautiful polish colors I have ever seen. I will have swatches of all of these (plus the ones I already own) coming up in a future post. (I like to compartmentalize).

And last, but most certainly not least, my Glittersniffer haul. I have spoken time and time again to Lela's awesomeness. And this is just a very small sneak preview of the colors. I will have looks coming up soon. Many, many looks.

I ordered the four leftmost colors during her customer appreciation sale and she sent me the two on the right because she is so awesome. You might have to enlarge the picture to truly appreciate how cool the colors are. Left to right they are:

Button
Unicorn
Arjay
Jennifer Nazi (HOLY CRAP AWESOME)
Ruthless
Silk Sheets

PS - all of those freakin' awesome colors up there...NO BASE. Nothing. Not one little stinkin' thing but my arm skin. I seriously can't wait to smear these on my face.

The end.