Tooth & Nail Cosmetics Review

Long time no post, everyone!  Today I'll be giving my brutally honest review of Tooth & Nail Cosmetics.

I became aware of them via one of my favorite beauty bloggers, Tori from Biohazardous Beauty.  She said their highlighters were amazing, and they are.  I purchased a rainbow one from them back during the rainbow craze and loved it, and again purchased their Sailor Moon collection sometime last year.

Sadly, the highlighter arrived broken.

I emailed her about it, and Hannah Foote was quick to tell me how to fix it, but didn't offer a replacement.  Well, all right, the eyeshadow palette was fine, so it was probably a fluke.  I enjoyed the eyeshadows and highlighter a lot, so made another purchase late October to get some of her Nightmare Before Christmas highlighters.

After waiting over a month (they arrived early December), all three of the highlighters were broken, and no wonder, because they were wrapped TOGETHER in really thin bubble wrap.  They destroyed each other.  This time it was way worse, so I emailed Hannah about replacements.

They're SUPER dead.

She was again very quick to respond, and promptly offered me replacements with a new formula.  Great!  I sent her my address, she said they'd ship the following Monday, and all seemed to be good.  These were so damaged and messy that I got rid of them. 

I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

I emailed her again in the beginning of February, kindly apologizing for bugging her but wondering where my highlighters were?  No response.

I waited two weeks, then tried again using her website contact form.  Again, silence.

Another two weeks, and I found myself making my first Paypal case.

She was quick to respond then, promptly offering me replacements but asking for all my information again, even though she still had my emails (unless they were deleted), and I had it all there in the main text of the Paypal case, anyway.  Nevertheless, I provided the information again.

And waited again.

Paypal sent an email letting me know that the case would be automatically closing in two days, and she must have gotten that, too, because she said she wasn't getting the Paypal responses but would still send me the replacements if I still wanted them/would give information AGAIN.

At this point, I was beyond done and just wanted my money back, so I escalated it to a Paypal claim and thought I'd be getting my money back, at least, and could put this disaster behind me.

Nope.

She demanded that I send the broken product before she'd refund my money, and I WOULD HAVE TO PAY THE SHIPPING.  Even if I still had the highlighters, I'd have been pissed about that part.  I tried getting Paypal to understand my situation, but nope.  So now I'm out the highlighters AND my money, but I have reported her to Paypal and they're investigating, so hopefully there's justice there. 

It's a real shame, because her products are honestly very good (although my fixed sailor moon highlighter also broke again when I took it on a trip, so there's that, too.  My big ones that are in a Z palette are fine, though), but I just can't abide this level of customer service.  I'd rather buy from Lime Crime (who were very kind when replacing a broken item and actually followed through with it...).

GUYS, MI VIDA LOCA IS COMING BACK

Ohmygosh, The Palette That Got Away, Kat Von D's rainbow palette called Mi Vida Loca, is coming back and better than ever! 

Let's bask in the pictures, shall we?

It's blurry because she can't show us yet

Ogod YES real artwork again!

Last time, the palette only had your standard 8 or so shades, but it looks like this time around we get a FULL GODDAMN RAINBOW.  YES!  And what's with those middle shades?  I don't care, this is going to be an instabuy.  I am going to be stalking KVD on Sephora.com every. single. day.

ARE YOU AS PUMPED AS I AM?!

Ipsy Glam Bag April 2015 Review!

My goodies!

So, this was my first month getting the Ipsy Glambag.  For those of you who haven't heard of it, Ipsy is a $10/month surprise bag filled with makeup samples and sometimes even full-sized products.  It's about exploring new brands and things, and $10 is pretty cheap, so I decided I'd give it a go.

THE BAG.  It's actually really cute.

The bag itself is surprisingly well put-together--I was expecting something really flimsy and made of cheap plastic. 

I was pretty upset about two of my items:  The fragrance and the cleanser.  I have really sensitive face issues and I have my skincare regimen down, so I refused to try the cleanser (at the risk of having a blowout) and will just give it to a friend.  I gave it an abysmal review (Sorry, Hey Honey!) so that I won't get skincare products ever again.  I also sent Ipsy a scathing email about receiving something I made sure to avoid in my "Profile," and they sent a really kind, professional reply, so I'm happy with that.  Their suggestion, which is echoed by my friends who also use the bag, is to make sure I review all my product contents.  Eventually the algorithm or whatever they use will figure out to never, ever give me skincare products.

Or fragrance.  I stupidly said I liked fragrance in my profile, and I've changed it.  The fragrance I got in my bag smelled like your standard floral, old lady something-or-other, but I'm sure other people would be thrilled to get such a large fragrance in a bag!

Now HERE we go

Everyone got a theBalm Cosmetics eyeshadow sample in their bag, which is super exciting, because I've heard great things about the brand and have been wanting to try them!  This shadow met my expectations, having great pigmentation and applying as I would expect a high-quality eyeshadow to apply.  I'm sad I got the "white bread" color, though--other people got a purple one! D:

Have a really bad photo of it on my eyeball using Fit!

A sorta "meh" item for me was the Starlooks lipgloss.  I mean, it's fine, it's a lipgloss, it's got this retro 90's frost thing going for it, but I have other lipglosses.  I will use this one.  It didn't shatter my world (like the MUFE Plexigloss, which I'll tell you aaall about tomorrow!).

Please ignore my awful thumb, kthx.

Bad swatch is bad--my camera felt rebellious today.

I wore KVD Studded lipstick in Cathedral under the gloss.

 Now, the main item in my bag was a Hikari Cosmetics blush in "Tango."  At first I rolled my eyes and was like, "Oh.  Blush.  Yay./sarcasm,"  but it's actually rather good.  The color is a lot more flattering blended out than it appears in the pan, and it's a full-sized product!  At $15, it more than pays for the cost of the bag, which is pretty cool.

Full-sized blush, ooooh!

Click to embiggen.  It's actually quite pretty!

So, overall, I'm satisfied.  Initially I was pissed about the skincare and the fragrance, because other people got fancy lipsticks, but you really do get a good value out of the bag.  I'll see where the next few months take me!  If you decide you want to try the Glam Bag out, please use my referral link ;) 

Full face of my Ipsy products!

Sugarpill Chromalust Loose Eyeshadow Asylum Review!

I loveloveLOVE Sugarpill's Chromalust loose eyeshadows!  This post will focus on the red one, Asylum, because it's the best.  It's super sparkly, yet metallic, and is pure love.  I use Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy as a base, then pack Asylum on over it.  A little goes a really long way, ao I think one jar will last approximately forever.

Forreeevverrrrr.

So gorgeous.  Click to embiggen!

There's no primer there.  Yup.

There's really not much else that can be said about this product.  It's just a solid product.  I even chose it as my eyeshadow of choice for my wedding makeup, and practically everyone commented on how beautiful it was!  I'm sorry I have no more words, but seriously, this is the shit.  You know how there are some things that you just put them on and you think, "Yeah.  This is It."?

This it It.

But enough about that, have a look at Asylum IN ACTION:

Sugarpill Bulletproof and Concrete Minerals Black Metal in the outer crease.

It's seriously the best red I have.

So, what are you waiting for?  GET ASYLUM NOOOOOWWW.  Or any of the other colors, really.  All of them, in fact. 

Sugarpill Sparkle Baby Palette Swatches and Thoughts

I've had the Sparkle Baby palette for quite some time now, and was practically salivating for months until I finally got it.  It has gorgeous colors, a kitten on the front, and that's just what dreams are made of, right?!

Kittens!

Well, mostly.  I already have the Kat Von D Esperanza palette, and they're praaactically identical, except the KVD palette has one of the best purples of my life and a few more shades, so I was kindof bummed.

Close-up of the goods!

This is SO PRETTY, and the name omg!

 I have problems getting this one to work on my eyeball :(

Frosty minty color, woot woot.

This one had the best color payoff for me, which is the opposite of everyone else's experience??

My eyeballs also don't show these kinds of pastel colors very well at all, even with a white sticky base.  So, either I'm doing something wrong, or people Photoshop the fuck out of their looks using these colors, or maybe I'm just not packing on enough color.  But I PACK IT ON SO MUCH, GAIZ. 

Anyway, before I wax poetic any further, here's the swatch:

They're so hard to see. And I used primer, even!

And I've tried So. Many. Times to use this on my face to show you for a review, but it just will NOT photograph.  It looks pretty enough in person, but just will not pick up in a photo.  It's a pity, especially the Frostine shade, because it's actually got a pink chrome shift to it that you can see in the pan, but never shows up on the eyeball.  Again, it might be user error, buuut I dunno.  Honestly, after all done, the only color that really stands out is Hotsy Totsy, which a lot of beauty bloggers said was the problem shade of the palette!  So I'm clearly just backwards or something.

Here's the best I could do.  I used ALL the colors.  A lot.

So, there you have it!  It's not really a palette I reach for often, but Spring is upon us and I'll be reaching for these kinds of shades more.  I think I'll try mixing it with the Esperanza palette and see what happens!

Let's all calm down about some lipstick, shall we?

As I was perusing Facebook yesterday, I came across this post by Kat Von D.  Basically, some people were calling out Sephora for her lipstick shade called "Underage Red," demanding they pull it.  Kat defended the name, and said that she refuses to pull it.  I always thought of the name "Underage Red" as the kind of bright, crazy red that teenagers are drawn to.  So, Underage Red.  I never thought of it in the crazy, child-trafficking, sexual ways that other people are saying.  They're also comparing it to "Lolita," which is a shade I've always adored not just because it's a great color, but because it makes me think of the Japanese Lolita fashion movement.

Like this.  Photo from here.

Kat Von D has never made any official statements about the Lolita lipstick, but the same people who call for the end for Underage Red make lewd statements about Lolita, too, and how it's about children being sexualized.

And that's totally fine if that's what the name means to you, because obviously nothing Kat says is going to change that, but just don't buy the lipstick.  If these names bother you so much, NARS has much worse (Orgasm, Deep Throat), but that doesn't seem to offend anyone THAT much. 

And I can't help but wonder if it's because NARS is a much bigger, more traditional, male-led company, whereas Kat Von D has complete control over her own, smaller makeup line.  And she's an alternative woman who many people just flat out don't like.  Because she helped that one guy cheat on America's sweetheart a while ago.  And because she's covered in tattoos and lives in the gothic mansion of my dreams.

Feel free to discuss below!  :)  Sorry for no makeup pictures this week--Life has been kicking my ass recently.

Lit Cosmetics Superfly Holographic Glitter Review

As you probably know by now, I fucking love glitter.  Glitter is my lifeblood.  So, I have no idea why I haven't purchased anything from Lit Cosmetics before now.  I just, I don't know.  I have no excuses. 

I picked up some holographic glitter in Superfly from Beautylish, and EEGADS is it magical.  It's a gunmetally color that's all rainbows all the time.  ALL THE TIME.  CONSTANT RAINBOWAGE.

I used Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy instead of the glitter adhesive that Lit sells, and it worked just fine.  I'm still going to try out their adhesive sometime (will probably get one of their kits next), but I went with what I had on-hand.  Pixie Epoxy is great, so I knew it would work.  I just treated the glitter as I would any other loose eyeshadow, and it worked as I expected.  No surprises!

PORN! (click to embiggen):

SO SPARKLY.

I was quivering in anticipation, couldn't wait to get it on my eyeballs.

I enhanced the photo a bit more than usual to get the glitter to show moar.

Aaaand here it is on my face!  I usually use Kat Von D's Tattoo Liner, but with glitter and loose shadows I usually have to use Stila's Stay All Day Liner.  I dunno why, but KVD doesn't do well with the Pixie Epoxy or something.  Also wearing Meow Cosmetics foundation and KVD lipstick in Lovecraft.  I also threw some random silver (Urban Decay?) in my inner crease, and another random Urban Decay in my outer Crease.  I have all the Vice palettes on-hand for such things.

THE GLORIOUS GLITTAR

It sucks that you can't see how blindingly holographic this is.

GLITTTERRR

Yepyepyep going to get a billion more of these.  They're $12 a pop, but eeehh I need moar glitter.  All the glitter!  I tried to capture how crazy holographic this glitter is in photographs, but you know how it is with holographic stuff--it's pretty hard to capture the rainbows.

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