NOTW + couple things

Actually, these are my nails from a couple days ago XD I changed them to green for St. Patricks Day, & will change them again tomorrow. But, I finally got my hands (derp!) on some of that highly coveted crackle polish! I found these on a couple sales online & was so happy to finally try them out! I had actually ordered a crackle polish on eBay, but it never showed up & F if that OPI one will ever come back into stock. So I got the China Glaze versions, which I'm totally okay with, because I prefer China Glaze to OPI anyways :D

China Glaze Mega Bite & China Glaze Black Mesh crackle!

Has anyone NOT received their Inglot Cosmetics order? I am just...kinda pissed right now, hahah. I placed my first order & was happy that it was processed & shipped so fast. I was little bum that some items were on backorder, but I was happy to wait. Well, thinking that since I had such a rad first experience, I placed a second order sooner than I told myself I would. This was on the 12th, almost a week ago & still, nothing :( 

I'm sure they got smashed with tons of orders when they opened their US website, but in my opinion, they should have been prepared. Backorders are one thing, but when I pay for 2nd day service, I expect the company to process my order quickly, so that spending $16 in a service is justified.

So, I have no new order, no back ordered items. I was emailed on the 12th, saying my back ordered items were being shipped....which is what made me want to place a second order, in which I did. I was told those back ordered items would also be shipped out 2nd day, but it's been longer than that & I'm just getting super frustrated. I love this company already & I think their products are really, really great. LE SIGH. Maybe it's because their products are awesome that I am just so anxious to get my stuff. Plus, I spent a lot of money there & am just sorta stingy about buying things that I don't have. Meh, I guess I need to relax :P

I'm going on a verrrrrrry much needed vacation next week! It will just be for a few days, but I need a break so bad! There has been a lot happening in my personal life that at times is just so overwhelming. I can't wait to just relax & play video games with a very special loved one for the weekend :D I'll try to get a couple FOTD's up before then!

I also bring you some early news of moving! I have decided to pack up & head for AUSTRALIA!!! :D :D :D I am f'ing thrilled, to say the least! I've been deciding between Southern France & Australia for quite some time now & Sydney is where it's at :P I'm going to try & be settled in by early next year and I could not be any more excited :D!!!

And, saving the best for last...I've got a huge project I've been working on for the last week; Amy from Sugarpill Cosmetics has asked me to do eye swatches for her website! I am so happy, honoured & flattered that she asked me to help out! She sent me a couple goodies that I will be adding to my giveaway selection! Can't wait to see the final product up on her site, I'm so excited!!! :D

Anyways! That's all I have for today! Like I said, I'll try to get some new looks up before vacation time! Have a great weekend everyone!

Haulin' & Rantin' plus some FOTDS

I stopped by the Chicago Premium Outlets today so I could check out the CCO there. I haven't been there for quite a bit & figured I'd *hopefully* find some new stuff.

Nope. Same old crap, hahah. Now, while I love saving on makeup & such...I really hate that the women who work there treat you like utter garbage. No "Hello" when you walk in, not even a smile on anybody's face. Like...really...I'm about to give you my money & you can't even acknowledge my existence. Right. So I spent about a good 30-45 minutes in there, checking just about everything MAC. Selection was, like I said, pretty lame. I get everything I want & when I'm ready to check out, am reminded of the "rules"; You can't re-sell this on eBay (um, fuck you? I'll do what I'd like with the items I purchase, thanks) you can't purchase more than 3 of the same TYPE of item (no more than 3 eyeshadows, 3 pigments, 3 lipsticks, etc) and your total can not exceed $300. IMO, that's kind of lame. Even though I don't buy things just to re-sell, especially not for MORE than I paid, I think these limitations are just silly. It's not that I'm unappreciative of CCO's or anything, I just don't really get why they enforce such rules. Then again, my stand point is that I'm purchasing just for my own use & not to make money on eBay or whatever. So that and the shit attitude from everyone who works there just gives me a headache. The store was messy & I ended up purchasing two of the wrong things because they were not placed correctly. It's my fault completely, but I just grabbed the box behind these items & thought the name was correct (it was two Estee Lauder blushes which I am not familiar with in the least) When I brought it to the attention to the cashier (oh yeah, there's NO refunds either) she snatched the items out of my hand, huffed, puffed & blew the house down. I said I'd just buy the one I actually wanted & keep the other one (I kinda wanted it anyway) EITHER WAY. Sorry to rant, but I just HAAAAAATE being watched like a hawk while I shop there.

Anyway. Here's some pics of my overall haul. I stopped by a couple other stores as well XD

 Yep, I totally bought those shoes XD!

I also had quite a splurge at Ulta the other day, too. And with all the stuff I've been buying online, too, there's no excuse for me to not do my makeup :P

Speaking of which! Here are some looks I've done since my last post :D

 

NYX White eyeshadow base

Urban Decay Electric 24/7 liner

Glamour Doll Eyes Radioactive pigment

Glamour Doll Eyes Immature pigment

Ben Nye White eyeshadow

Glamour Doll Eyes Techno glitter

 

NYX White eyeshadow base

MAC Red Velvet shadestick

MAC Later. pigment, applied wet

MUFE #92 eyeshadow

MUFE #9 eyeshadow

Ben Nye White eyeshadow

Ugh! I had such a hard time getting this to photograph, especially up close. It was MUUUUCH more blue than it's appearing. BOOO.

NYX White eyeshadow base

Ben Nye Silver lumiere creme colour

MAC Platinum pigment

MAC Cinderfella mineralized eyeshadow

MAC Blue Flame mineralized eyeshadow

MAC Hi-Def Cyan pigment

Ben Nye White eyeshadow

After this week, I want to get back to working on my video game series. I took a break because I didn't want to fill the blog with just video game looks, even though video games rule :P If you have any requests, feel free to email them; glammedupgeek@gmail.com! 

Have a great weekend everyone! I feel myself coming down with a cold (I try to stay away from my makeup when I'm sick) so I might not update for a few days :( If I do, it will be the zillions of swatches I've been meaning to post :)

Lime Crime : Review & Swatches

This review has been in the making for a LONG time. I've been debating if I should post it or not, but I want to share my thoughts and honest feelings with all of you!

I first tried Lime Crime when it was launched. I would sometimes read up on Doe Deere's blog-thingy-majig & kinda liked her awkward style. When she announced she was launching a makeup label, I was excited & couldn't wait to see what she had in store.

I will admit, that at first, I was like "Woooooah! Nice!" - though now that has significantly changed. A LOT! When her company first launched, she sold tiny little 5g jars of pigment for $12 a pop. Pretty pricey, considering it was a new company & you'd think they wouldn't have such an expensive price tag. I first used the colour Empress here and was really diggin' the rest of the shades I purchased. To this day, that is one of my most asked about EOTD's on MUA. I had a few complaints when I first got these, one, being the size with the ridiculous price. The second was how messy they were. Pigment just crammed into a jar, no sifter. I later found out why this was all happening, which is when my desire to ever use these again completely died off. Since my first purchase of these shadows, I've noticed that they have changed their packaging. At first, it was a simple, 5g square sample jar with no label & no sifter. Now, it's a larger jar, sifters & labels included.

A simple Google search will provide you with all the drama which now surrounds this company. Allegations of repackaging TKB micas for an unreasonably high profit is the main thing. I absolutely believe that Lime Crime is a repackaging "company" & the price tag is the worst part about it. With my recent TKB purchases, I wanted to see what goes into creating and mixing your own colours. I carefully studied for hours about several bases, fillers & other things to take into consideration when you make your own colours. While I am not against mixing colours & making 'your own' - I am 100% against dumping POP! mica's from a 1lb bag into a tiny ass jar without even having the decency to add a fucking base. Just simply turned the bag to the side & into a cruddy jar they went. When these accusations came 'round, I heavily researched the findings & was just flat out disgusted. This definitely explained the messy-mess these shadows caused, because they were simple micas, no base/fillers, etc. What. A. Waste.

After all this shit came flying around, the owner of Lime Crime (Doe Deere/Xenia) and her team of fans/followers came to her defense. Simply put; the way this was handled, on top of the repackaging BS just completely turned me off from this brand. As someone who loves makeup & gives my support to indie companies, I was ashamed I had put my money into Lime Crime. I'm not here to divulge into all the details surrounding the fall of this company, nor am I here to steer anyone away from purchasing their products. But do your research. And don't just read the online rants & drama, read the actual research so many have put in to this entire ordeal. I've only put in one order since all this came down & that was because I really wanted to try the lipstick. Does this mean I support her company? Not in the least, but I am a sucker for pink lips & couldn't resist when her 40% off sale came to my knowledge. I actually like the lipstick I received, but I will get into that later.

Here are some swatches. All packed over NYX jumbo eye pencil in Milk.

Yippie, right? Sure, they may seem pretty, bright, bold...but in all honestly, they are mediocre, dupe-able and not anything close to what they were hyped up to be. Their slogan is "So Bright, It's Illegal" and I would beg to differ. Again, I'm not posting this to bash or degrade, this is all my honest opinion, regardless on how things went down.

After the crash of their shadows, Lime Crime then released a line of lipsticks. In my opinion, these are the only thing even worth thinking of trying Lime Crime for. While I only have one, it is a pretty rad lipstick. I purchased Great Pink Planet which is incredibly opaque. A tad drying, so I always use lip conditioner underneath. I've always thought this lipstick was very, very similar to MAC's Pink Friday. When comparing the colour in the tubes, it looks different.. But when applied to my lips, I can't tell the difference.

 

Can you tell the difference? It's really all dependent on your application. A very light sweep of this lipsticks & it's practically identical to Pink Friday. I don't rock out with lips like this too often, but a light layer of this and a lipgloss would make it very wearable.

To wrap this up; I don't think LC is anything special at all. You can purchase your own TKB mica samples for $1.25 each as opposed to the $12 LC charges per jar. The lipsticks are different and very, very opaque. But with that comes dryness & staining, and these are $16 a piece...more than MAC which is an established name brand who is known for their great lipsticks. Either way, Lime Crime is a company that I have stayed far far away from. Too much drama & dishonesty to the fans/customers. The biggest turn off was just how everything was handled. To this day, LC maintains that they do not repackage TKB, though the photographic evidence posted by some seems to be far too accurate. There is also talk of any bad/negative reviews being threatened by "lawyers" for removal. Really? I'm not allowed to speak my mind, share my thoughts on your "cosmetics" company? I think not. I know my rights and I know the legal system well. As I stated before & will always state...I'm not here to flame or send anyone away from this brand. If you read up on everything & still decide to try Lime Crime & love it, then great! I'm not against that in the least. 

Either way. For me, Lime Crime is a brand that I will be staying far away from!

MAC & Wonder Woman : I wonder what DC was thinking?

Today, I woke up nice and early (10 am is early for me :P) and decided to go check out the new MAC Wonder Woman collection.

Wow. That was a waste of time & over $100. Some of you may know that I have willingly left the MAC loop a couple years ago. I was just getting awful tired of price increases, smaller containers & the same old regurgitated makeup that was placed into new packaging, which was for the most part, ghastly & quite ugly. MAC has certainly made no exception with this new collection. Now, what I find to be ugly about the packaging is NOT the colour scheme & graphics; I am a huge gamer & comic book fan. Wonder Woman is not my favourite by any means, but the look of the cases doesn't bug me in the least. What turns me off, is how unnecessarily HUGE these products are. The MSF's remind me of very expensive & delicate frisbees. The blushes are the size of beauty powders & don't even get me started on that lipglass. I may have decently full lips, but, they are by no means the size of a lemon. Funny, how the tiny pigments, however, remained to be oh so tiny...which still has me pissed off at MAC for changing them.

Anyway. Back to my story :P I stopped by my favourite Macy's counter (&the one I used to work at) to check this out in person. The store was dead. Not a soul there but myself & the employees. I think MAC prepared to have a huge crowd today, but around noon time in Chicagoland...there wasn't anybody fighting with me over a skinfinish. I walked in knowing what I wanted to check out, because I looked at the collection online beforehand. I was so unimpressed. I did purchase a few things but, wow....what a dull collection this was. A colour-less collection in obnoxiously clunky packaging. And, again, while the colour scheme doesn't bother me, it is still quite ugly to have in your collection.

I have some photos for you. I won't be doing swatches, because I am in desperate need of a better camera for that. I would suggest you check out Temptalia for those as she always has the best photos!

Yep. All this, for $108. I feel like such an idiot now :P

Pink Power MSF compared to Blonde MSF (&then a BN Petticoat MSF)

 Compared to a BN Petticoat MSF to show difference in the overall size, including the dome.

UM. HUGE MUCH?!?!?! Geez. You could probably use this as a dog toy once you've finished the product. I can't believe they decided to make this collection so massive.

 Compared to a regular sized MAC blush pan. Then compared to a MAC Beauty Powder.

 Compared to both.

Mighty Aphrodite & Amazon Princess.

Supersized blush? Or just fancy coloured beauty powder? I think these are the only thing worth looking at in the entire collection.

 

 Emancipation compared to a regular sized lipglass. Look at how monstrous that applicator is! YIIIIKES D: I'm also not liking the transparent label on the bottom.

Emancipation over a very light application of Pink Friday lipstick.

 Yay! A proper sized lipstick!

 Overall. I am so disappointed in this collection & MAC in general. My love for them died quite a while ago after I discovered so many better & cheaper brands. I took a look at the eyeshadow quads & didn't even bother swatching. Or, rather, I just had no desire to. They just looked like they were weak & chalky. I picked up one, looked at the eyeshadow finishes on the back (1 veluxe pearl & 3 satins) and just put it right back down. Satin eyeshadows are my favourite, but these just looked terrible. The only thing I *might* go back to look at is Wonder Woman lipgloss. I swatched it on my hand and it was a pretty red with a nice, gentle silver sparkle. But I very rarely wear red lipstick, let alone a red gloss. It was just pretty to look at. The nail polishes I didn't even glance at. MAC has always sucked with nail polish & I find them to be too watery/runny.

I think this collection can be passed up for the most part. The blushes & MSF's are interesting, but the price hike is such a turn off. I don't care that they are massive & sure, you're getting "more product"... but a collection of super sized products is just unnecessary. They are awkward to handle, especially that MSF. The lipglass, also....obnoxious in its size.

You will also save some serious dough passing this up. Like I said before, I spent over $100 and hardly got anything. So disappointing, and the price increase just makes me feel worse. I'm not one to impulse buy on makeup anymore & I know I will use what I purchased. I just feel like such an ass for blowing through that much money & receiving very little.

I hope this was helpful. I am not trying to steer anyone away from buying/using MAC, this is just simply how I feel about this collection & MAC in general. I think they've really gone down the tubes over these last few years. And this collection has really set me on ignoring this company. Boo! Rumour also has it that MAC/Estee Lauder did NOT pay the copyright fees on this collection; meaning you will not ever see it at a discounted price unless you purchase it used from the various selling communities. No pro discount, no CCO, nada. Once this collection has been out for a certain amount of time, MAC will pull it & most likely destroy whatever is left of it.

Next post: More Fyrinnae swatches & review/swatches on Madd Style Cosmetics!

Glittersniffer Cosmetics : Swatches & Review! *EDITED 02/11/11*

 So, before I get this post started, I wanted to state a couple things. I am not posting these swatches & review to stir up or initiate drama of ANY kind. While I respect those who freely speak their minds (as I often do myself) I am not here to push buttons, bash or degrade ANYBODY. This and every review I post is my 100% honest opinion & view of both the cosmetics products and the cosmetics company. There is more to a makeup company than their makeup, as I take customer service very seriously.

With that said, this post will reflect MY experience with this company. This may upset those of who you had an unpleasant time with GS Cosmetics & you are free to express your opinions as you wish. I will not judge, hold grudges or flame anyone for how they feel, EVER. I only expect the same respect back. This is merely my outlook on this company & is not meant to offed or upset anybody. I take my reviews very seriously & I am sure to correctly and articulately post my honest, truthful opinion. While I may not be some hot-shot YouTube guru of any sort, I have been working & experimenting in the makeup field for almost 10 years now. I'm not one to flaunt my credentials in any way, but know that you will always receive my honest, genuine & sometimes professional opinion. I will never sugar-coat reviews for any reason as there are ways to be constructive without being destructive. I am here to help & to learn. If you have any questions or concerns, I urge you to express them without the fear of negative repercussions. I will never hold differentiating opinions against anybody, under any circumstance.

With all of that said, this is my review for Glittersniffer Cosmetics. I was suggested to join their Facebook page several months ago by a friend who shares many common "likes" with me. I joined & just sorta forgot I did, I never looked into their products or fan photos. A couple weeks before Christmas, I noticed a lot of activity on that page. I am not posting this to my review, as you can Google pretty much the entire story and then some. From what I've read (and this does pertain to my review) is that GS is just another makeup company that repackages TKB micas & puts them into cute little jars. Do I agree with this? Yes, I believe that is more than likely the case here. The thing with me, is that I've never been too against companies doing that; I just generally never buy from them. I was one of LimeCrime's first customer when their makeup line launched & eventually crashed when accusations & swatch comparison photos hit the web. The problem? Was that these repackaged micas were sold at an incredibly high price ($12 for a 5g jar). I think the fall of LimeCrime really kicked off MORE companies who repackaged. I'm probably going off on a tangent here, but my general point is that I'm okay with repackaging & mixing colours if you sell them for a decent price & are able to admit to what you are doing. Will I purchase your makeup? Probably not, but there are plenty of people who don't mind that process & will buy away.

The next issue this company was facing was the accusation that they were using soap dyes & ingredients that are not approved for eye use by the FDA. UH OH. That...just flat out scares me. Their entire line of pink/red eyeshadows was posted for a recall due to these harsh chemicals placed into them. What really, really seemed to upset people was that these products we're being marked as eye safe & vegan, when they unfortunately were not. While I absolutely, 100% do NOT agree with that practice & dishonesty, I will say one thing. How many of us own/use MAC pigments? Probably quite a few, even if all we own are samples. MAC has listed a large portion of their pigment collection as NOT LIP/EYE safe, yet, we still take our chances. I know there have been plenty of times I've used a pigment, KNOWING it wasn't meant for my eyes...and away I went with using it as eyeshadow. The difference, is that MAC acknowledged that these products were not intended nor were they safe for use around the eyes.

That is just a small amount of the backstory. Again, you can Google everything up if you'd like & read into it further. Even though it seemed this company was doomed, I decided to take a chance. As someone who hadn't even reached the status of "new customer" I still wanted to give it a try. I am easy going with makeup in terms of companies both big & small. The owner ended up closing shop for a while, threw away the unsafe makeup & started all over again. There was a note posted, where she vowed to use nothing but FDA approved, safe ingredients and while I disagree with the dishonesty previously displayed, I really felt this young woman wanted to make a difference for the better. I think she has a good eye for colour & from the photos of previous collections I had seen, I knew I wanted to at the very least, try this product.

SO! That all leads me to today. I received two orders from Glittersniffers and was excited to test them out. I ordered the Unicorn collection and the Carnival collection (limited edition, doesn't appear to be on their site)

 

First I'll start with the Unicorn collection;

 Qt little topper!

Now onto the Carnival collection;

 

Yeah, that's totally a Super Smash Bros poster 8D

.

EDIT 02.11.11
I have retracted my review of this company and their products. I am no longer a customer to this company. As I went further & further into my research, I discovered simply too much utterly bad things about this company. I do not believe I was misinformed, because I attempted to find the answers myself. I posted this original review without further educating myself. I simply cannot suggest a company like Glittersniffer Cosmetics. I stand very true to all of my morals & with a blind eye & lack of research, I failed to do so with this review.

I highly suggest anyone who is looking to purchase from this company read this. You will find vital, astounding & flat out ridiculous PROOF of what this company has caused. I am still in the midst of creating a new, more articulate & educated review which I will post as soon as I have finished. I apologize that I took my time to review this company without taking the time to read further into a situation that I didn't understand quite that well.


I generally ALWAYS do my research before I purchase from ANYWHERE. My first impression was that it was just a form of drama, lack of business ethic & backed up orders. But as I've continued reading the posted link, I found it to be so much more than that. I am nearly speechless at the flat out ABSURD way this company is run. The lack of any tact is just inhumane & disgusting.


Be aware & BE SAFE!

[All products listed in this review were purchased by me & were not sent for consideration. This review is my honest opinion, for which I am not being paid for]