Etsy: Mannaia Fragrances

I love geek inspired things, particularly when it's something like makeup or perfume. How someone else interprets something that I, and obviously they love is fascinating to me. Sometimes I agree with their interpretations sometimes I don't but it's like a new discovery each time and tells me a little bit about what that person thinks.

 

Products were well packaged, the little glass vials were placed in bubble wrap and I was sent a sample from Detrivore Cosmetics.

I bought six perfume samples in from Mannaia Fragrances.

Dark Passenger: A clean tropical scent with notes of orange, ocean water, nectarine, blood orange, banana, coconut, and a splash of shaving cream.
My Take: It's good, it triggers a scent memory in me of shampoo, that's probably the ocean water and the shaving cream coming through making it smell a bit soapy, but the fruit scents blend beautifully.
 
Three Pipe Problem: Notes of cherry pipe tobacco and smoke, with hints of black tea and black currant.
My Take: This description is pretty accurate. At first it smells a bit fruity but after a few seconds you start to notice a sort of smokey woody quality to it.

Bad Wolf: Notes of tea, scones, honey, strawberry jam, and clotted cream.
My Take: There's a strange rich scent to this that I think must be the clotted cream mixed with the scones and that's what you smell the most. Far below it I can sniff out the tea and honey but I can't smell the jam. It's a different sort of scent not for everyone.

Black Lodge: Notes of cherry pie and a damn fine cup of black coffee
My Take: Yup that's what it smells like. The coffee mellows out once applied but it pretty much smells like eating a cherry pie in a cafe. If that's a scent you enjoy you're gonna like this one.

Petrichor: The smell of dust after rain.
My Take: I knew this one was a long shot for me, for those not in the know petrichor is not actualy the smell of dust after it rains, it's the smell of oil plants extrude after it's been hot for awhile. When it rains this oil reacts with the water to make the scent of petrichor. It's long been one of my favorite things but it's was kind of wishful thinking to believe something could capture it in a perfume. I will say that this scent does smell like dust and clean soap.

Black Christmas: Apple pie, cinnamon, sugar, pine, clove, and pumpkin
 My Take: There's a lot going on in this scent, it smells like Christmas attacked a spice factory, threw the building into a bakery, planted it's flag, and said "fuck subtle". The major top note is cinnamon, below that is the pine, and then the apple pie, pumpkin, sugar, and clove all sort of mix in at the bottom.

So I like most of these, some of them are not to my taste but that's okay cause not everything is going to be. They last a long ass time, I even tried to wash them off but they are still there, so long lasting is a pretty good label.

 Etsy Conversation

  Shipping details

My problem is not the products it's with the store itself, let's look at the timeline here...

•  I bought these on October 16th. 
• On October 21st I was sent am email with a tracking number and I waited patiently for for my package in the mail because Milwaukie OR is about half an hour from where I live so I knew it shouldn't take long.
• After several days of waiting for movement on tracking I sent an etsy convo on October 29th to the shop owner because I was afraid maybe my package had been lost.
• On November 1st she get's back to me to let me know she will send that Friday November 2nd.
• After another several days of waiting I sent another etsy convo on November 7th asking if she'd really sent it on Friday because if she had there would have been movement on the package after 6 days. 
• I never got a reply back, but on November 7th the package was finally sent to me and it arrived in my mailbox the next day.

 I don't mind long waits on packages so long as the seller has let me know before time, in the shop policies it mentions it could take up to a week for packages to get sent in the mail, I waited 13 days almost 2 weeks before I finally convo-ed her about what was going on. When she told me "I'll ship it tomorrow" I'm thinking "okay, yeah that's fine. I can be happy with that." But she didn't, and I don't know the circumstances maybe she forgot, got tired, was too late getting to the post office, doesn't matter. She didn't send it for the next couple of days either, nor did she message me to let me know any of what was going on so all I can conclude is that she just straight up lied to shut me up.

Honesty and communication are very important to me, I've had a few online sellers string me along over the years and that's exactly what this felt like. I won't be buying from this shop again, I liked what I eventually got so I do invite you to give the company a chance if you find a scent you can't live without but I will be looking elsewhere.

Tee Fury: Be Excellent To Each Other

Okay, I love Bill and Ted! It's this really great feel good movie that totally warps history and could not possible have been made today. Thank goodness it got made at some point so we can all enjoy the magical journey of two idiots who somehow become the most important people in the universe. It has George Carlin, the best acting Keanu Reeves has ever done, and some of the most memorable one liners ever. I really, REALLY wanted this t-shirt!

Shipping was about the same as last time, the shirt is very soft and not too thick, not too thin. I bought a medium, it's long, and fits very well. Unfortunately there are a few problems with the print.

The first thing I notices what this weird blue "pimple" on Bills forehead.

Then this smudge on the side of Teds face.

There are a few other notable smudges in the Stallyns name. I'm really kinda disappointed since the Halfling Feet shirt came out so well, but I suppose there was less to get messed up. I don't want to return the shirt because I don't think they'll send me another one of the same, but I don't know if I can continue to recommend Tee Fury now. It's kinda a major bummer.

Okay, I'm glad I have my Bill and Ted shirt, the print itself is really cute even with it's flaws. Here, I'll cheer myself up with one of my favorite scenes. This is what I think every time I pass a Circle K.

Silent Hill: Revelation

 

Up until a month ago I had no idea they were making a new Silent Hill movie. Then I was sitting in a theater watching some trailers, and there's this soot falling, and the words "there is a town", and I was immediately, "SILENT HILL, IT'S SILENT HILL!" Luckily I was seeing Judge Dredd at the time so I didn't piss a whole bunch of people off cause apparently nobody wanted to see that movie even though it was pretty good.

So this movie won't be winning any awards, but if you like the games like I do then it's pretty fun to watch. They merged the two movies as best they could, and followed game 3 pretty well, some scenes were exactly like the game and it was fun to point out what they had in common with my friends. The dialogue was, just awful, half the sets were amazing, and the other half looked like something out of a B Sci-Fi movie.

The movie itself is short only around 1 1/2 hours, I didn't find it as scary or disturbing as the games, but it looked good, there's a fun fight scene toward the end. If your a fan of the game I say yeah go see it, if you're a fan of horror movies wait till it comes out on DVD.

TeeFury: Halfling Feet

  Trying out a new 'one a day' t-shirt site. I bought this X-Large shirt as part of Randalls Christmas gift (shh, don't tell him). I plan on giving it to him so he can wear it when we see "The Hobbit", so excited! I'm really happy with it, shipping took about a week and a half, and the whole price came to 12.75$ The print is smooth and clear, and the tee itself is a very nice comfy cotton, not at thick as Qwertee shirts, but definitely softer.

Tee comes folded in a baggie with the order form, it's pretty basic, but if it's not broke don't fix it.

Doesn't it look nice? I'm quite happy, in fact I've already bought from them again, so look forward to a review about their female tee, which is really the true test of a company.

Petshop of Horrors

WARNING: Some fairly minimal spoilers ahead.

 Created by Matsuri Akino and released originally in 1995, ancient as far as manga goes these days. It's long been one of my favorite series, despite the fact that I've never been fond of the art style. But I like supernatural mystery's. Along with the greater mystery of Count D, there are individual puzzles that you get to see through the eyes of Detective Leon Orcot.

 Usually Leon does not look so suave.

Leon is a bit of a problem character for me, as much as he is necessary for the story to unfold, sometimes his choices baffle me. He leaves his kid brother in the care of someone he believes to be a felon, allows said felon access to his home. It's crazy, and folks in the story mention that he's a good detective, but there's not really anything you get to see that proves it. Don't get me wrong, I like him, he's a good person, and the only person who ever seems to ruffle D's feathers (and D deals with mob bosses and puppy kickers).

Anyway, if you're not familiar with the series, it revolves around Count D's Petshop in Chinatown, a business he's taken over from his grandfather the original Count D. Inside is every kind of pet you can imagine from birds and fish to kirin and dragons. And to a select few the pet's seem almost human. D's motives are all over the place, sometimes he aims to punish an owner, sometimes to help, he's not a character you can box in despite what the ending of the series tells you.

It's really a beautiful, and horrible series, if you liked CLAMPS XXXHolic I suspect you'll fall head over heels for this one as well.

Qwertee: Loki Charms

Awhile back Ript Apparel sold a Loki Charms shirt and I didn't know about it until long after it was gone. I was devastated, what I wouldn't do for a Loki Charms T-shirt! But then Qwertee got hold of the print and I jump on it faster then Thor on a snowman... I know that was a terrible joke.

My shirt! I'm so happy, it came with Haribo soda-pop gummies which is awesome AND random.

I wouldn't normally buy from one of those "1 Deal a Day" sites. I usually come to find they're not such a great deal, and I like buying multiple shirts at one time and you really can't do that on those kind of sites. Qwertee charges 12$ for today's shirts and 14$ for yesterdays, with an extra 6$ for shipping. It's not a bad for something that get's made after you order it but not a steal either. Also they ship from the U.K so it took awhile to get to me, it's understandable, but everyday I had no Loki shirt was like a fresh wound to my soul. Dramatic? Maybe.

Ript Apparels version for comparison.

As you can see my shirt is a different shade of green, my print isn't actually smaller it's just the way it's laying and my shirt is longer then Ripts that makes it seem that way. My print is a little dotty up close, but looks just fine from further away. The fabric of my shirt is fantastic, it's soft but seems like it will hold up for a long time, it's long-ish which I always appreciate in women's shirts. In fact my only real problem is even though it says 'Women' on the label it seems to have ignored that women have curves and it's too loose around the waist and too tight around the hips.

I might buy from Qwertee again, but only if they had a print I really, REALLY wanted.

Femme Fatale Cosmetics

Femme Fatal is an Australian based indy makeup company I happened to come across. I liked their website, which is clear and easy to use with accurate photos, shade descriptions and all sorts of information about ingredients, uses, and recommendations. Along with eyeshadows they also have a few blushes and "Illuminators", plus they sell some really awesome looking nail polish that I wanted, but alas they don't ship them outside of Australia.

Shipping itself is decently priced for the distance they come from, some of my baggies exploded a bit, but it wasn't too bad, and they arrived about a week and a half after I made my purchase.

 

 From left to right swatched over Pixie Epoxy above, and Aromaleigh Lip and Eye Primer below.

• Phantasm: A very soft lilac shade with a gold shimmer. Works well as a liner and a hilight for the corner duct of your eye, but looks odd on the brow bone.
• Levitate: A pink toned lavender with a pink shimmer.
• Shooting Stars:Purple with a STRONG blue duochrome.
• Space Cow: Gray toned purple with pink shimmer.
• Haunt: A plum shade with red/pink shimmer.
• Sunfire: A coral shade with heavy gold shimmer that makes it look more orangy.

 

• Sunfire: See Above
• Ignite: Orange with orange/gold shimmer.
• Dreamstate: Navy with a very strong turquoise shimmer.
• Crusader: Bright yellow with gold sparkle and orange shimmer.

 

 If you like unique shimmery purples this is the shop for you, My favorites of this bunch were Shooting Stars, Sunfire, and Dreamstate. My least favorites were Ignite and Crusader, they're not bad shadows, but they're just very common, there was nothing unique or surprising about them, I feel like they're just there because every makeup company is expected to have an orange and a yellow shade.

As you might be able to tell the shades show up amazingly well over Pixie Epoxy, though you REALLY have to let it dry up on your lids before putting these shadows over them because they crease like crazy otherwise. They did not not like my primer (as you can also see), but I later used some Urban Decay Primer Potion and they worked better brushed over it.

 

 Along with eyeshadows I picked up two blushes, which I swatched over bare skin.

• Fire Bloom: A pink toned coral with copper shimmer.
• Fierce: A burgundy wine shade. Matte and patchy.

They difference between these two blushes is like night and day, Fire Bloom applied smoothly with some shimmer, and Fierce is patchy with no shimmer to speak of although it's supposed to have some. It's really the only sour note from the entire company, it won't put me off buying more from this company in the future.

Evil Shades: Beautifully Evil Skincare

 Company Complaint 

I want to start by saying that I loved Evil Shades, I think their shadows are complex, beautiful, and they wear well, my experiences with their lip products have all been good, the colors are fun, and not drying, but I was pretty pissed at them over this.

Toward the end of February I picked up Evil Shades Mystifying Face Cream for Dry Skin, I still had enough left for about a month, but I was running out of facial moisturizer and these were new at the time so I wanted to give them a try. I didn't have a lot of extra money so it was the only thing I bought, and I figured it would be a quick ship, so I waited, and waited, and waited....

The turn around time was at a maximum of 20 days not counting holidays and weekends. It's kinda hard to tell with Indy companies if their TATs are because of worst case scenarios, or if they really are that busy, so like the polite customer that I am, I waited some more. Finally, two days past the 20 day marker (around the beginning of April) I got into contact with them and just asked, what was up?

They said my order had gotten lost somehow, and that's why it hadn't been sent, even though I could find my order on their website. They apologized and told me they would send it out by the end of the week. A week AFTER that it actually did get sent out and arrived on my doorstep May 3rd.

So I realize this is not the worst story out there, but it did sour me on this particular company a little. Which is really, really sad.

Lotion Review

Okay, as for the cream itself, I like it, it's somewhere in the middle in terms of quality, it's better then Drugstore brands, but still can't hold a candle to Lushs Imperialis which is my normal go-to face cream. Despite the websites claims I did find it a bit greasy, it was slow to absorb and I would never try wearing it under my makeup so I relegated it to a night cream. I like it okay, but I wouldn't have felt the need to buy it again, even if I hadn't gone through so much trouble the first time.

Review: Black Butler

 

I'm a little late in the game to be getting into this anime, Black Butler (or Kuroshitsuji) is one of the more popular titles to have come out in recent years. It's got a lot going for it, beautiful art, fantastic and well developed characters, plus it's really well written so kudos to the talented writer illustrator Yana Toboso. It's also helped along by catering fervently to the plethora of yaoi fangirls out there, and they'll pretty much buy anything with a hint of boy on boy action so I'm guessing that Black Butler, for a lot of them is too much of a good thing. Like going to Disneyland, and then getting to cut in front of everyone in line.

 

I recently watched season 1 of the anime and read up to the circus arc of the manga. Season 1 follows the manga up until the last 6 or 7 episodes, but even though the stories veer off from one another the anime still keeps the characters thankfully true to form. My favorite character being Ciel Phantomhive himself, though I'm sure few people would agree with me, I've come to think of him as a bit of a role model. I believe anger can be a source of great strength in people, some people, are frankly stupid and don't know how to use it, but Ciel is smart, manipulative, and passionate. Where another child might have lashed out after receiving the treatment he did, Ciel quietly positions his game pieces. Anger can be a good motivator, and even though so many people caution him about his path the kid sticks to it defiantly. He's maybe not what you think of as a traditional role model, but who gives a shit about traditional anyway.

I've really liked what I've seen of the anime so far, there are a few issues that most anime have like lack of explanations, and I wish the fight scenes had been more interesting to watch, but in general this just something you have to learn to deal with if you're going to watch anime in length. I assume the manga will answer the questions I was left unsatisfied with, but it hasn't progressed far enough along yet. I look forward to catching up to it soon.

So, have you seen Black Butler yet? What did you like? What did you hate?

Get Her to The Greek...Food

 When you're strange, no one remembers your name, when your strange!

Brenna got to choose dinner awhile back, she wanted Mediterranean, Greek, or something like that and I suggested A Touch of Athens a Greek restaurant in the heart of downtown Vancouver inside the historical landmark Hidden House. It took awhile to be seated, although there were plenty of seats available, but the house was working on a skeleton crew on a Friday night poor guys.

That's me up above with the owner in the background, a smoky voiced woman who sung in Greek later that evening. I'm not giving her the eye, I didn't even know she was behind me when this picture was taken.

Brenna has never had completely Greek food before, we ordered a bunch of appetizers as our dinner.

 

A plate with stuffed grape leaves, calamari, fetta and pita, with hummus and kalamata olives, and taziki dips. Brenna was so taken with the stuffed grape leaved covered in a delicate lemon sauce she bought an extra order of them to take home.

Lemon Potatoes, simple but tasty sprinkled with a dash of salt and I think rosemary.

Spanikopita! One of my favorite dishes ever, it's a spinach pie. Some recipes vary but almost all include spinach (of course), cheese, and egg. Mint Tea makes a version of it drizzled in olive oil and honey that is to die for. Touch of Athens version has more lemon to it for a wonderful tangy quality, though I'm not wild about it being served on top of a bed of wilted lettuce leaves.

Along with your food there was a Bouzouki player, belly dancing, and Greek music. I don't know if this is every night or just Fridays, but it was there and it was loud! It's a bit kitschy, and sometimes felt like the walls were closing in on me since the establishment was so small, but it's fun and the food is delicious and reasonable.

Review: Snow White and the Huntsman + Daily Wear

 

Warning: Contains Spoilers

Now that I've seen both SWATH and Mirror Mirror I can say what I've suspected since I heard of these two films which is, I like Mirror Mirror better. Not that SWATH is a terrible movie, it's just the two are very different so I've decided to do a bit of a comparison.

Snow White: In MM she's plucky and sweet, in SWATH there's not much of a personality at all aside from wide eyed wonder of the word around her and they only ever call her Princess, they only reason you even know her name at all is because of prologue at the beginning of the movie. In MM she runs away and gets trained to fight by the dwarfs. In SWATH she was locked up in a tower since she was 10, she runs away and is constantly getting saved until she dies, is resurrected, and suddenly she's leading troops into battle. I don't know about you but I wouldn't follow an anemic, malnourished Princess into a fight. It's bit like Kristen Stewart never moved on from her character in Twilight. On the bright side she speaks blessedly little where as MM's Snow has several lines, most of which are uttered pretty in a sickly sweet unbelievable way.

The Dwarfs: In MM the dwarfs are bandits who were thrown out of the village as a product of racism, in SWATH they're are a noble race of miners dwindling out of existence. However in SWATH they used forced perspective and regular actors, where as in MM they used actual dwarfs. But here's the odd thing, in MM they get more lines, screen time, and each dwarf has their own distinct personality. SWATH had Nick Frost as a dwarf and I can't remember a single interesting thing he did.

The Queen: Ooh this is a tough one because I really liked Julia Roberts version of the Queen which she plays a bit like a spoiled child that's all grown up, but Charlize Therons Queen is deliciously wicked, plotting and killing people right from the get go. Her right hand man is her ever loyal and super creepy brother who usually does quite well at his job. Julia Roberts has a bumbling steward that can't do much of anything right.

In the end I liked both movies, but for different reasons, if you're put off by Kristen Stewart (for whatever reason), she doesn't actually seem to add or subtract much from the movie and it's mostly Charlize and Chris Hemsworth that carry the movie even though his character doesn't even get a name other then Huntsman. And we like Chris Hemsworth. Over here we like Tom Hiddleston better, but if Hiddlestons are thin on the ground we'll take Chris.

As you all know by now I do like to be on theme when I can, I wore my prairie dress to the movie and a big red rose my mom sent me for christmas. I think it's my first time wearing it.

I kept my makeup simple, using my regular foundation and Aromaleighs Ultra Resolution Powder in Clear, with AL Cherry Bomb blush just on the apples of my cheeks. On my lips is a combination of Morgana Cryptorias Luminous Lava, with a ruby gloss I got from my mom. When she gave it to me the lable had worn off, so my best guess is it's Wet n' Wild, but I don't know for sure.

 

 On my eyes is a light dusting on AL's Champagne Toast with no primer black liner, and white liner for the lower waterline.

 

 All in all it was very simple, but thanks to the bright bits of red, pretty striking.

Navarre PDX

 

I went to see Jiro Dreams of Sushi at the Laurlhurst Theater the other day, Randall and I arrived quite early since we had tried to see it the day before and it was sold out. We were hungry and walked across the street looking for some place to eat. I didn't even see this restaurant until we were right in front of it they had a tasty looking menu outside and weren't very busy so we went in.

The inside Navarre is small and simple with jars of pickled veggies in shelves on the walls. I wasn't fond of our waitress, she wasn't there to seat us and there was no sign saying "please wait". When we sat ourselves and she came with our menus it almost seemed like she was going to seat us somewhere else, like it mattered in a mostly empty restaurant. She explained how the daily menu worked and we ordered from the "small plates" menu mostly.

First was marinated olives and grassy olive oil with soft chewy bread and a crisp chewy crust for dipping.

Pork Rillette  with toast points and pickled bell pepper. It was a bit un-nuanced (which is weird for pork), but it was still very good, and pretty filling on it's own.

 

Potato and Nettle Gratin, I didn't try this but Randall said it was good. Nettle is becoming a popular feature on changing menus around here. It's not bad, if you get a chance give it a try.

The deal sealer! This is Sliced Foie-Gras on Cumin Toast, it's about as wide as my fist, and half an inch thick with it's buttery slightly irony taste. It's fantastic with the cumin and was only 7$ on the menu. Our whole meal together cost about 30$ and I enjoyed it imencely, I can't wait to go back.

 In comparison, for my birthday Randall and I went to Toro Bravo which was voted one of the best restaurants in Portland last year. We got the tasting menu (30$ each) with nine courses, and the most interesting things we received was the Salt Cod Fritters 8$ (we received two of them they were only about an 1 1/2in long and 1in thick) and a sauteed spinach dish with nuts and raisins also being sold on the regular menu for 8$. For that price and the amount I received I have to assume the spinach was hand picked by virgins and washed with Evian.

All In all Toro Bravo was an all around disappointment, and Navarre has given me hope that "small plate" cuisine can indeed be delicious and affordable.

Review: Mirror Mirror

 This delightful comedy, as you probably already know, is loosely based on the Fairy Tale of Snow White directed by Tarsem. Between you and me I pretty much love everything that man has ever done. Seriously rent The Fall, and shame on you for not seeing The Immortals when it was in theaters. Tarsems movies are gloriously shot, and always magical, just perfect for a movie like this.

The movie starts out with the viewer being told it's the Queens story, and Julie Roberts is an excellent evil stepmother, she's all a once likable and vicious. Frequent readers will know that I do indeed like a good villain. Snow White is on the opposite end of the spectrum, played by the stunningly gorgeous Lily Collins sadly as a bit of a one dimensional character.

My favorite outfit from the entire movie.

That's was expected though, I did like the changes to the story as well as the things they decided to keep for the original Fairy Tale, I adored the Seven Dwarfs and liked that they got to kick a little butt. The Prince wasn't the hero and I never believed he should have been in the Grim Tale in the first place, all he did was kiss a dead woman after all, and suddenly Snow was riding off into the sunset with him, yeah that makes sense.

Costumes were designed by Eiko Ishioka who sadly passed away last January, her talent and whimsy will be sorely missed I can tell you that, she's worked with Tarsem for years and I just don't know if it will be the same without her over the top designs and eye for color. Seriously I'm gonna cry here because look at these dresses and tell me you know someone who can do better.

Second favorite outfit.

Mirror Mirror is beautiful with plenty of wonderful visuals that will have you drooling, the story is a little trite, but the dialogue and fantastic acting by Julia Roberts, Nathan Lane, and Armie Hammer more then makes up for it.

Review: Fusion Sweets

I bought a You Pick 16 Piece Caramel Sampler from Fusion Sweets, here's what I got:

• 4 French Sea Salt: Excellent salted caramel.
• 3 Rose Orange Blossom and Vanilla: Very sweet with a lovely slight floral taste.
• 3 French Lavender, Vanilla, Honey, Sea Salt: It's a good balance between flavors and tastes really good but I'm not wild about the actual bits of lavender it in. They feel a bit gritty.
• 2 Maple Syrup: Nice and smooth, not overwhelmingly maple.
  
• 1 Macha Green Tea: Tastes like sweet creamy green tea.
  
• 1 Some Like it Hot Habanero: I didn't try this one I picked it up cause I thought Brenna would like it. She said it was VERY spicy but still tasty.
  
• 1 Black Sesame: Definitely an odd combo of sweet and savory. It's really not for me.
  
• 1 Masala Chai: Tastes just like the drink
  

It came with 2 sample caramels and one sample taffy. One of the sample caramels was English Breakfast Tea, which was amazing! Definitely getting more of those. The taffy was something like Habenero and Coconut. I'm usually down with spicy foods but this was a little much. The portion sizes for the caramels are large enough to share and they have have smooth creamy textures.

Shipping was quick, all in all a smooth and delicious transaction was had all around. I would buy from this company again.

Fusion Sweets Etsy Shop
Fusion Sweets Website