Face Candy Couture Swatches & Review

Today's swatches feature some products from Face Candy Couture, a mineral makeup company that was reviewed by Phyrra during the holidays. If you are a blogger, then you are in luck! This company will send free samples as long as you follow a few basic rules listed here.

Since they were having a sale, I just went ahead and purchased the 8 full eyeshadows for $19.99. It's a fantastic bargain.



I received 5 additional free samples with my order. Shipping was quick and didn't cost more than $2.









I accidentally swatched Chill twice because I purchased it in full-size and didn't realize it was one of the colors she had sent as a free sample. Other free samples include Pinecone, Pretty, Cinnamon, and Damask Grey. I really like these colors. They come with a lot of glitter but nothing crazy like Midnight Cowboy from UD. Feuta Marie comes pretty close to it though.

Overall: The only con I have to mention is how tiny the sample bags were. I am not talking about the samples themselves - there was more than enough - but the tiny bags were hard to open and hard to close. However, it seems Shantle (owner) gives these out for free so dang, a little work ain't nothing. :D I enjoyed these colors. I think the formulation is pretty similar to Aromaleigh. Feuta Marie does have a high glitter content but it's such a soft, pretty pink that I think it'd be fine to wear for more conservative situations. The other colors are just as versatile (maybe not Chill but that'd be a great crease color). Shipping and handling was quick. I love the labeling - it's so colorful! I didn't have any issues with my order so I didn't need to contact costumer service.

All in all, I would definitely order again.

What do you think? Any favorite colors? Personal experience?

Anderson Soap Company: A Review

Hi All! Just got back from my trip out to the West coast (for work) and I am pooped. I took the red-eye flight but since I had a transfer, it took much longer than it should have. It's all good, I got upgraded for my flight so that was some hot stuff. It was even better in addition to the fact that I had been upgraded for my hotel room. Haha, not that I used any of the extra room - usually got back to the hotel late so the only rooms I used were the bathroom and bedroom.

In any case, remember that big post of stuff to come that I did? I'm slowly working through the products. I know I should do more swatches but I thought I'd throw in some personal care items to shake it up. I just got my stuff from Epically Epic Soap along with Herbolution while I was away at work this week. I can't wait to share with y'all what I got!

Back to the point of this post...so like many of you, I follow LeGothique. I love checking out new makeup and body care companies; I think there's always a holy grail item to be found and I'll go to LeGothique whenever I want some suggestions. When I read this review of hers, I knew I had to try Anderson Soap Company out.

I purchased: Creamy Body Butter in "Satsuma", Rice Flower & Shea soap, Tropical Exfoliating Mango soap



Creamy Body Butter in "Satsuma": My skin has a tendency to "eat" up lotion. But sometimes, it's a picky eater so if a body cream/lotion/butter/etc has TOO many butters in it, the product will just sit on top of the skin. If the product has too little butter in it, I will find myself often reapplying, going through the product faster than normal. My skin is sensitive and it can get awfully dry. Anderson's creamy body butter in "Satsuma" has a fresh, citrus, bubbly smell. When I took a sniff, I thought it was a soda pop scent but it's a lot more sophisticated than that.

Satsuma is a clean and zesty refreshing citrus scent it is sweet with the delightful smell of pineapple, grapefruit, oranges, mandarin and plums.

Unfortunately, the texture was a bit odd. It wasn't 'creamy' so much as it was chunky. In any case, this doesn't mean you can't use it. I used it...and a lot. My skin loved it. I wish it had a higher moisturizing content because I found myself reapplying a lot and pretty soon, I went through my entire 2 oz. jar. See?



I kept huffing the jar too. It's such a fresh scent! I'm definitely going to see if I can get it as a perfume. I just checked and no cigar. They do have a room and linen spray though. :D Definitely a repurchase for me.

Rice Flower & Shea Soap: It was still cold when I started using this soap bar. It's got little pieces of exfoliating particles than my skin would've loved in the summer but not with the drying cold. Still, I loved how it cleaned. The shea is definitely present. Unfortunately, the exfoliating was a bit harsher on my skin than it normally would be. The scent is light but beautiful. I wish the scent was stronger because I love the smell of rice flower. I would use this and lop on the creamy body butter - such a lovely combination. I had to stop using this but just until it gets a bit more humid outside. :)

You can see the little exfoliating bits in here:



Seriously though, the smell is awesome. Just needs to be a bit heavier though. I sometimes thought the shea in the soap overpowered the rice flower smell, haha.

Tropical & Exfoliating Mango Soap: Another great soap. It's got olive oil in it so that helps replace some of the moisture lost from the exfoliation the poppy seeds in it provides. This soap also has a wonderful, fresh smell but it's very light and disappears quickly. Not a repurchase or a must-buy, but also not a regrettable buy. :)

Overall Experience: I think it was great. I'm definitely looking to purchase other items from this shop. As you can see from the pictures, I'm already done with my body butter so I'll need another jar. While I am quite happy with my products, I'd love to try out some of their other items! Shipping and handling was fast. You can tell from the pictures that the branding is also well done. Soaps came shrink wrapped and the butter was sealed very well to prevent any leakage. All in all, a fantastic experience.

Have you tried this company out? What were your experiences?

ShoeDazzle: March Purchases

From my March selection, I have purchased Hazel and BonBon from the "almost made it" portion of my Shoe Dazzle showroom. These are shoes that would have been placed in my primary shoe selection if others hadn't been more to my taste. Since I did not find anything in my primary showroom that I liked, I thought I'd give these two a try.

As always, shipping was uber fast. They shipped the day of me ordering these items.



I loved these shoes. They were cute and elegant. Unfortunately, I didn't know these ran a size too small. By the time I received these and realized it, they were out of the next size up. Yes, shoes do go that fast. =X



These shoes definitely looked better on the model than they did on me. My friend said that she thought they looked hooker-ish. Lol, I don't know about it. What I do know is that it would have been difficult to find an outfit that would work with these shoes. Fashionista, I am not. Haaaa.

Will be returning these two. I wish I could have kept Hazel but it almost got stuck on my feet, they were so small. Since I am returning these items for store credit (put towards future purchases), it will not cost me anything.

Also, I just found out that if you ask for a 'shoe explosion' on their Facebook, the employees will add a lot more selections of shoes to your showroom! I did that and got quite the selection. :D

On another note, I wore Gracia the other day. Oh gosh, is it hard to walk in them. Did anyone had a hard time getting these shoes to mold to your feet quickly? My feet kept slipping out of mine, even though I got the smallest size and they're true to size too. Hmm, maybe it requires a bit more wear, haha.



Spring is slowly, but surely, coming! I need a new light jacket. :D

Hopeful wishes and prayers go out to those in Japan.

By now, you all should have heard of the 8.9 earthquake that hit Japan and the aftershocks that are affecting the entire region.

Hopeful wishes and prayers go out to those affected.

Meow Cosmetics: Egyptian Treasures Swatches

How is everyone doing today? Finally, some stuff about makeup! First thing on the list, the wonderful and lovely Amanda over at Glitter and Toucans gave me an award - that is so cool! Awe, it made my week. :)

I am slowly but surely responding to comments. In the meantime, I finally did the entire Egyptian Treasures collection by Meow Cosmetics. These are such *beautiful* colors. Take a look:





















Thoughts: I love this collection simply because of where they got their inspiration. My major was Financial Economics (plus another, more boring, pre-law one) but I would take whatever Egyptian history classes that I could find and fit into my schedule. I wish I could have taken the Ancient Hieroglyphics class - BAH. I still wish I could have taken it. Grr. In any case, I love, love the colors. I think Meow did a great job with this collection.

I do wish there was more variety. This collection had a lot of shimmery golds. Where are the blues, the purples? I know the Ancient Egyptians used blue. Although, the materials they used to achieve this color was at times, unstable and over the years, changed colors. So that's prob why we don't see much evidence of it, archaeologically. Also, Cleopatra was known to have LOVED purple.

I remember when I was just starting out with my research on indie companies, people had said the colors in this collection were too similar and I agree. Still, they're pretty so I don't mind. :) Great for the lovers of gold eye shadows.

S&H: As always, absolutely no problems on this end. Fast and prompt. :)

Favorites: The blushes are too shimmery and not the right colors for my skin tone but still very gorgeous. My favorite eye shadow colors are Obelisk, Miw, Royal, Sand Dune, and Nile (love the blue-grey color).

What are your thoughts on this collection?

ShoeDazzle: February Purchases & March Selections

BAH. I had my Meow Egyptian Treasures swatch post all typed up. THEN, I realized I forgot to do the swatches for their glows. Wtf? Haha, I will do those swatches tonight and you will see that post tomorrow.

Hello all! I am so sorry for being gone so long. Things have finally slowed down at work but now I'm being sent across the country for some training. I figured I should at least get a few posts in before things start getting crazy again. In addition, I've sent out my grad applications, got invited back for interviews and completed those interviews so only the worst part is left: waiting. I'm really wishing for the best.

Since I haven't bought any new makeup lately (I gotta get through my large, large stash of unswatched colors), I've had some money to play around with. I was going through my closet the other day and realized that about half my collection of shoes could go. They're out of season and some of them need work that I just don't want to pay for. In any case, they weren't terribly expensive (I am CHEAP) so I'll drop them off at a clothing bin (they have them all over DC) whenever I get the chance.

This leaves me with a shortage of shoes to go out in. Now have any of you heard about Shoe Dazzle?

ShoeDazzle is a monthly style service. Every month, for just $39.95, you receive a personalized selection and one gorgeous pair of shoes or item of your choice. The styles are selected just for you by our fashion experts. There is no obligation to purchase once you register, and you are charged only after you place your first order. In any month, you may select the Skip This Month button in your account section between the 1st and the 5th of the month and you will not be charged.

The way this works is that after you sign up, you do this very short, very basic personality test. It's to give the stylists an idea of your taste in fashion. After 24 hrs, they have a 'showroom' set up in your account. Each month, you get a selection of new shoes based on your style:



And if you don't like it, you have 'shoes that almost made it into your top 5' (or 6, in my case):







And sometimes, they'll bust out 'special deals' and introduce new items to everyone. I suspect that this is just their way of getting more money out of us. Sometimes it works. Sometimes, not so much. :)



You also get a monthly selection of bags:



AND jewelry:



Because an outfit is never complete without it's accessories. ;]

And if you DON'T like your monthly selection, you can always request alternate selections. I already did it for March (you can only do it once per month) because these were my OLD selections:



Nothing here worked for me. Nothing in the new selection worked for me either. Although, I am eye-ing up Jolie and Tierney. I did purchase something from the "almost made it" items.

As you can see in the pictures, these are all my March items. I started back in February. Each item is $39.95. Domestic shipping and handling is FREE and they ship on the DAY of when you order, unless they don't have it in stock at that time in which case, they ship it the next day. UPS takes 3-6 business days to get it to you. I'm expecting my March items here on Tuesday and Wednesday. :)

If the item does not fit, you can ship it back for free and if they still have it in stock, receive the correct size - no extra charge.

For your first order, you can get 20% off your order if you use my link or any affiliate link in general. For the months after that, you can search around on the internet for codes. I found one for my March purchases: styleme20.

These were my February purchases:





Gosh, I LOVE Gracia. As for Primp, animal prints are not a style I usually go for but it was just a small touch, I thought "wow, this is really cute." The shoes really are cute. I find them pretty comfortable to wear - but that's because I've trained my feet to wear tall, tall heels without complaints (it's so bad for you, haha). I can't wait to find an occasion to bust these out in.

Am I obligated to purchase? No. After you make your first purchase, you will continue being billed $39.95 by ShoeDazzle on the 6th day of each month. If you do not use it, it appears as a credit in your account that you can use within 12 months of receiving it. If you collect 5 credits ($39.95 = 1 credit so if you go 5 months without using them), you will not be billed until you've used a credit. If you do not want to be billed, you can skip a month (there's a button for it) but you must do so before the 6th of the month. If you don't want to do that, then you can call them and just cancel your account. :)

In conclusion: I love it. Great selections, great shoes, cheap pricing, and if you see a shoe elsewhere (in someone else's showroom, on ShoeDazzle's Facebook page, etc) that you don't see in your showroom, you can always call them up and order the style. They will send it if they have it in stock. The best part is, is that there is no obligation to purchase. There is no limit to the amount of months you can skip and if you want, you can cancel your account at any time so that you don't have to remember to skip months.

If you did what I did (which was purchasing between the 1st and 5th day of the month - I am so impatient, lol), you will not be billed for that month.

Shipping and handling: The items arrive wrapped in pink tissue paper, in a pink ShoeDazzle box, with a pink shoe bag, all in a cardboard box. I don't have a picture this time around but when March's selections get here, I will get them. If you decide the shoe is not for you for whatever reason, exchanges are completely free. If you want to return it completely, please note there is a restocking fee.

Customer Service: Haven't had any issues where I've needed to contact them. This is only my 2nd month. I will keep you guys updated with my purchases and experience each month. :)

What are your thoughts? Have you tried this out? Are there other services just like this? I'd love to hear what you guys think!