Morgana Cryptoria Swatches

I picked these up during the Halloween sale on October 20th. They finally got here, but I wasn't too worried about it since I know this store is reputable and they warned their customers ahead of time that it might take until late November.

 Swatched from left to right

Licorice: A matte black, takes a few swipes to become opaque, but it feels nice.

Lady Grey: Matte gray, it's sadly darker then I'd hoped and looks purple toned on my lips.

Strawberry Shimmer: A bright red gloss with red shimmer applies sheer but can be built up to opacity.

Cotton Candy: Semi-sheer cotton candy pink with a heavy blue shimmer.

Twist of Fate: A lovely coppery champagne shade, perfect for any occassion.

All of these apply well, and last a good amount of time, and feel great on. In short as awesome as I normally expect form Morgana Cryptoria. I really adore the strawberry gloss, it's a great color and has a subtle strawberry scent that's not too overwhelming. Though Twist of Fate is less "migratory" and goes with most things.

I bought the black only because I figured one day I'd wished I picked up one. And though I was disappointed with the gray it's not MCs fault my lips are red enough that it looks purple.

Meow Swatches: Teals Present

You might recall in a previous post, Teal sent me several Meow shades and I've gotten around to swatching them for you're viewing pleasure. They're all from the Holiday Collections, which should come in handy for those of you looking forward to trying them this year.

Swatched from left to right with Pixie Epoxy on top and Aromaleigh Eye and Lip Primer below.

• Hustle: Gold toned aqua with turquoise shimmer and diamond sparkle.
• Bah Humbug: Blue with a strong turquoise shimmer.
• Office Party: Greenish blue with a green gold shimmer.
• Some Assembly Required: Periwinkle with lavender shimmer.
• Shiraz: Deep royal purple shimmer with a smack or red sparkle.
• Bustle: Dark green with a green gold shift. Similar to Office Party but more intense.
• Pinot Noir: Slightly brown plumy shade with gold and red sparkle and an INTENSE diamond shimmer over Pixie Epoxy.
• Burnt Turkey: Copper brown shimmer in a dark smoky brown base.

I'm very fond of Bustle and Pinot Noir from this grouping. Some Assembly Required is lovely but looks terrible on me, and Hustle is a bit boring.

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.

Meow: Joys of Summer and Other

From left to right swatched over pixie epoxy on top and primer below.

Conch: Shimmery dusky pink with coral tones.
Polyhymnia: Lavender shimmer with blue shimmer.
Oddity: Pale blue shimmer with a strong lime duochrome.
Beach Bonfire: A dark burnt orange shimmer.
Firework: Bright fuchia with pink sparkle. Not as glittery as I'd hoped.
Flameing Marshmellow: Deep brown base packed with orange glints.
Iced Watermelon Blush: Swatches over PE on top, primer below and then a second swatch on bare skin. Bright pink shimmer.

Of this batch I'm fond of Conch, Oddity, and Beach Bonfire. Flaming Marshmallow was a disappointment as I'd hoped it would be more complex but I'm afraid I'm nit-picking here since it's still a good color.

Meow: Pleasures and Other

Swatched left to right over primer and Pixie Epoxy.

Bubblebath: Warm pearl with a VERY slight green/blue shimmer
Barefoot: Perfectly pale pink shimmer
French Fry Heaven: Yellow with a fried golden shimmer.
Mai-Tai: A shade warmer then French Fry Heaven, with more gold tones.
Bermuda Triangle: Stormy gray with grean and blue hints under different types of lighting.
Rainy Day: Gunmetal gray shimmer with blue tints.
Dolphin Blush: Swatched first over primer and PE and then again on bare skin. An incredibly pale peachy pink shimmer.

As you can see Dolphin is a very close match to my skin tone. You might think that means I don't care for it much but in fact I've been layering it over other blushes so they blend a bit better. My favorite eyeshadow of this batch was Bermuda Triangle with it's depth and uniqueness, they rest I'm not overly fond of. It might interest you all to know I picked up Margarita from the simple pleasures collection as well but was unimpressed so I gave it to Brenna as she liked it and it matched her skin tone better then mine.

Morgana Cryptoria Lip Product Review

 

I bought these during the Easter Egg sale though I've been meaning to buy from Morgana Cryptoria for awhile. Everything came within a reasonable period of time. Also I love the bag it came in hot pink with gold stars and moons!

The glosses come in containers with doe foot applicators. They apply fairly evenly and last a good amount of time for a gloss. They smell kind of gross and plastic-y but if you buy them for full price you can pick your own scent for them.

• Draugar: Surprisingly saturated sky blue with subtle blue shimmer. You'll want to cover the edges of your lips with foundation before applying.
• Medusas Magic: A pine green with gold hints loaded with green sparkle and shimmer.
• Galaxy: A semi-sheer fushia violet with heavy blue shimmer. Looks good with most everything.

These are gel lipsticks which come in tubes but are best applies with the help of a lip brush. They are very soft and become almost liquid when in contact with body heat. Though I've heard certain shades sometimes have difficulty staying even I haven't noticed that problem with these.

• Luminous Lava: Orange tinted red with a gold shimmer.
• Nevermore: A deep merlot with subtle red shimmer.
• Willow: A terracotta brown.

Colored lip balm in Qwark. I kinda thought this would be more orangy in life. It even looks orangy in this picture, but truthfully it's a light brown with green and gold shimmer.

Oh I adore Morgana Cryptoria, the colors are beautiful, they apply well, last long, don't dry out  my lips, and look fantastic.

Of the bunch my favorite was Nevermore, it's such an unlikely color for me but it goes with me skin tone so well. My least favorite is Willow my guess is it might look better on someone with a tan. Let me know if anyone out there would like to try it.

Geek Chic: Storybook Love and Others

Chock full of pastels and based on the Princess Bride this collections was made for me.

From left to right swatched over Pixie Epoxy on top and Aromaleigh Eye and Lip Primer below.

• Combustible Lemon: Citrus yellow with light golden shimmer and large blue sparkles with smaller red sparkles.
• Dream of Large Women: Baby pink with blue shimmer.
• Inconceivable: Pastel minty green shimmer.
• Prepare to Die: Shimmery peach with diamond sparkle.
• Viking King: taupe base loaded with antique golden shimmer.
• Ambassador: Brownish Merlot with golden shimmer.
• Little Albatross: Grayish blue with light silver sparkle.
• Rotten Miracles: Swatched over PE on top, ALprimer in the middle and naked on the bottom. I'm very impressed with this blush, usually peaches and oranges don't look that great on me but this ones seemed to work well. It's peachy orange with tan tones, very flattering.

I'm so very happy with all of these, my favorites being Dream of Large Women, and Prepare to Die. I also picked up another Biobalm in Little Sister, like Big Daddy it doesn't have much color to it but feels lovely on

Sweetpea and Fay Review

I kept seeing the lipsticks adds of Sweetpea & Fay all over the place, I was really taken with them. The colors were amazingly beautiful and I'm so desperate for a decent place to buy lipsticks from, at around 8$ apiece they seemed like a bargain, but I paced myself and only bought three even though I wanted to buy like nine!

The Liquid Lipsticks are soft and mouse-like in texture and they go on quite opaque but sink into all the lines. A lip brush is very recommended particularly with the more unnatural colors. Though I feel confident enough with Mermaid Kiss, I'd still rather use the lip brush.

Under the Cap

The labels are so pretty although the ingredients list is blurry on all three. Unfortunately the labels don't stay on very well, and they are not waterproof at all. I got a little bit of water on my tube of Mermaids Kiss and not only did it come off but left black sticky gunk all over the place.

Scuba Gear: looks avocado in the tube but goes on a spring green color, too bright to be pastel and definitely not the seafoam I was hopeing for, oh well, better luck next time. It's really not my color so if anyone out there thinks they want it let me know.

Beluga: a really nice neon peach, it's a nice enough color on me but would look amazing on someone with a bit of a tan. A real tan mind you, not some orange monstrosity.

Mermaid Kiss: Bright pink it's not red at all but it leans more toward that side of the color spectrum. Not orangy and not pale.

I'm really torn on these, on one hand I really like the colors, and I really want Tea Cups, Nordic, and Ranunculous. But these lip products are hard to put on, don't stay on particularly well, stain everything they come off on, and maybe worst of all they dry out my lips like crazy.

It's impossible to take any of these off without exfoliating my lips, the above picture was taken after I wiped off the excess with some tissue paper. I don't think this happens with everyone, I have particularly dry skin so don't let this put you off giving them a try.

With my lip products I got a free full sized eyeshadow, and a sample eyeshadow.

Swatched left to right over Pixie Epoxy on top, and Primer on the bottom.

Crystal Meth: Looks white, but don't be fooled, it's almost silver, it's basically a very strong pearl shimmer. Even over PE it takes a lot to get it opaque. Works well as a blending shade or a highlight.

Witches Brew: Can't find this on the site anywhere which is good cause this is a really terrible eyeshadow. Barely shows any color over primer, and over PE it gets really clumpy, it took me a bit to get it to look smooth for the picture. It's a blackened purple with tiny red sparkles.

Really unimpressed with the eyeshadows, Crystal Meth wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't anything special.

So the big question is would I buy from Sweetpea & Fay again? But I honestly don't know, I'm sorely tempted (because dear lord the colors!), but I just don't think my skin likes them enough which is really, REALLY, depressing.

Meow: Random Eyeshadows

I got these awhile back, sorry it took me so long to get them up.

Swatched from left to right with Pixie Epoxy on top and Primer on the bottom.

Friday the 13th: A really complex shadow sky blue with lavender tones and a coppery pink shimmer.
Miw: Disappointingly gold, I know I love gold but I just wanted a shimmery green and this is not it. But if you like a leaf green base with tons of gold shimmer this shade is for you.
Tree Fire: Lovely shimmery coral, more pinky then it looks in these pictures, with a pearl finish.
Midnight Kiss: Matte black base with tons of hot pink sparkle. Stunning!

Meow: Blushes and Glows

I'm currently questing for a suitable replacement for my Aromaleigh Gothic Lolita Corset blush. Meow seemed like as good a place as any to start, most Indy mineral makeup companies are sorely lacking in red blush for whatever reason. Maybe they're not big sellers or something, but Meow has quite a few.

Swatched bare from left to right

Brickhouse: Shimmery red with orange tones.
Bombshell: Shimmery with a lighter tone then Brickhouse and slight brownish tones.
Risque: Very hot pink shimmer, blends out very well without looking too garish.
Cleopatra: Shimmery pink, soft and beautiful.

Blushes blended out.

These are the Egyptian Treasures Glows in Deity and Eternal swatched first bare, and then swatched again over primer on the bottom and Pixie Epoxy on top. I realize these look a bit brown but there's plenty of pink shimmer in both of them.

Deity: Dusty buff rose with pink shimmer, blended out it's quite nice.
Eternal: Mauve shimmer slightly darker then Deity, still nice but not for me.

Meow: Supernaturals and Reindeer

I'm a sucker for highlight colors, Brenna buys Meow too, and she let me try a bunch of the colors he's bought, and even gave me Astral Projection and Telekenisis because they didn't suit her. We went in on an order together and I picked up all the rest.

From left to right swatched over Pixie Epoxy on the top and Aromaleigh primer on the bottom.

Teleportation: A cool blue shimmer with a lavender sheen under direct lighting.
Astral Projection: Lilac color with pearly sheen.
Telekinesis: Bright tangerine with red/copper shimmer.
Telepathy: Lovely lime shimmer.
Levitation: Buttery shimmery gold.
Hallucination: Pale orange, lighter then Telekenisis.
Illusion: A nice soft pink that magically shifts to a pearly green under direct light. It dosn't look like either in either of these pictures, but trust me it is.
Aura: Bright shimmery gold that leans more yellow then Levitation.
Apparition: White with gold shimmer.
Psychic: White with silver shimmer.

I was very impressed with the three reindeer shades I bought last time, so this time I bought the rest.

Swatched like above.

Comet: A complex green/gray with gold shimmer.
Dancer: Bright shimmery warm orange.
Donner: Baby blue with pink shimmer.
Prancer: Lemon-lime green that is so shimmer is almost glows under a light source.
Rudolph: Dark shimmery pink toned red.

I like Teleportation, Telekinesis, Donner, Prancer, and Rudolph out of this batch of swatches.

Meow: Scary Ghost Stories Glow Powder

I don't quite know why, but I was looking forward to trying these more then anything else. Glow Powders seem like a lovely notion, I already like highlighting with shimmery stuff. I kinda want to try these all over though.

Swatched twice, once over Pixie Epoxy and Aromaleigh primer, and the second time over nothing.

• Present: Beautiful tawny shade mixed with both red and gold shimmer. Which I choose to believe was purposeful on part of the creator. With present also including Past and Future.
• Past: Bright orangy copper, smudges down a bit brownish.
• Future:Clear red shimmer, smudged out lovely and peachy.

So that's it folks, wow all of these were exhausting to write, was it exhausting to read them all? My final thoughts on Meow are that I don't think they are getting enough recognition in the Indie Mineral Makeup world, everyone knows about them, but how many people say it's their favorite company. Their formulas are not as dry as a few I tried, they have some fantastic colors, and a lot of them. They tend to repeat themselves a bit, but that wouldn't be hard to do with the sheer amount they stock. Everything is well displayed, but color descriptions are sometimes off if there even is one, and I like a good color description to go with a photo of the product.

I would definitely buy from Meow Cosmetics again (in fact I already have), and I suggest you do as well.

Meow: Xmas Ghost, Sugarplums, Random

I can't believe I only picked up three shades from this collection. Santa Baby, Midnight Kiss and Vixen look so pretty, although I don't care for the fact that Meow has reused names cause I think that might get confusing.

From left to right swatched over Pixie Epoxy on top and Aromaleigh primer on the bottom.

• Ornament: Brilliant dark gold.
• Grinch: Venomous golden green.
• Elf: Dark hunter green with gold shimmer and red sparkle.

Okay I admit it, I might have too many golds now.

I only bought a sample Sugarplum blush, It's a dusty rose with peach tones and pink sparkle.

I received two samples with my package. Both brown, both to dark for me to use even in the summer where the most I manage tan wise is one shade darker then normal. No I'm afraid I'll have to send these to someone who does tan.

I've swatched both of these twice, one with Pixie Epoxy at the top and Aromaleigh Primer on the bottom. And once without anything.

• Sizzle: Bronzer, dark with diamond sparkle.
• Jadite: Glow Powder dirt brown with multi-colored sparkle.