LOTD/ EOTD- Violette Bruises

Been doing this look a lot lately because it's simple and dramatic.

EOTD- Dangerous Curves

Such dreary, damp and dark weather here in the Northeast! Terrible for trying to take pictures of looks... not that I've really done any worth posting any way. Been stuck in a makeup rut out of laziness and working too damn much.

LOTD- Raven

This is a lovely gothy purple smokey eye...

EOTD- Night Wing

Decided to give Maybelline's Eyestudio gel liner a spin!

Heavy Red

It's not often I wear red lipstick, I just don't care much for the color on me. This is Revlon Love That Red Lipstick with Milani 3D Glitzy Glamour Gloss in Fashion Diva.

 

Eyes are Black Rose Mineral Nobodies, Larkspur and Meow Cosmetics Telepathy
Face is Skin Food Red Bean BB Cream in shade #1, Meow Cosmetics foundation in Himalayan, My Pretty Zombie MDMA blush

Skin Food Red Bean BB Cream Review

I have been wanting to try a BB cream for years but I could not find one close to my skin tone. My skin is very pale and pink, most BB creams tend to be too dark and either too yellow or too grey. I looked for ages, read lots of reviews, looked at lots of swatches and then gave up. It wasn't until last month that I started looking again and found one that might just look passable on my face!

Pretty much everyone already knows what BB cream is, but for the people that don't it's kind of supposed to be a miracle product. Face makeup that multitasks and saves time but also improves skin condition. LOL YEAH RIGHT... I know, it sounds crazy.  BB stands for blemish balm (or "beblesh" balm in the case of Skin79), basically it's supposed to help get rid of blemishes. BB cream is supposed to also take the place of moisturizer, primer, sunscreen and foundation. Some do other things such as skin lightening, anti-aging, etc. Basically it's supposed to be awesomesauce for your face.

I bought my Skin Food Red Bean BB Cream off Ebay from a Korean seller for about $20 and paid only $2 for shipping. The bottle is 45 ml so it's a pretty good price. The front sticker is completely in English and gives the product name and SPF 20 PA+. The back sticker gives a small blurb in English that says the shade (mine is #1, it only comes in two) and explains what kind of BB cream it is. Red Bean is supposed to be moisturizing with buildable coverage. The rest of the back is all in Korean and I have no idea what it says. I looked around for a translation but couldn't find one. All I can gather is it has some kind of red bean extract among countless other ingredients.

EOTD/ FOTD

Black Rose Minerals Venom in the inner corner blended out with Medusa's Makeup Jail Bait (a baby pink with lilac iridescence)



Black Rose Minerals Larkspur on the lid blended out with Hi-Fi Super Sonic Overdrive

 Black Rose Minerals Nobodies in the crease and outer V





Fyrinnae Chrome as the highlight

Ignore my messy hair...




With Shiro Cosmetics Leeroy Jenkins Intertube on the lips



Foundation is Illamasqua Skin Base in 02

Blue Sunday

EOTD and swatch comparisons with Black Rose Minerals

Hi-Fi Cosmetics Super Sonic Overdrive in the inner corner
Black Rose Minerals Larkspur on the lid
Black Rose Minerals Nobodies in the crease and outer V and as liner
Fyrinnae Chrome on the outer edge

 WITH FLASH


Far left: Sugarpill Afterparty
Middle: BRM Larkspur



Top right: MAC Deep Truth
Bottom right: BRM Nobodies

WITHOUT FLASH















As you can see Larkspur is more metallic than Afterparty. It's also a tiny bit lighter and more green. Deep Truth and Nobodies look a lot alike with out flash, but look very different with it in the first picture. Nobodies has a lot more sparkle, you can see some of the green and aqua reflects in the shot with out flash. Deep Truth likes to blend out  black due to the iron oxide but Nobodies stays more blue and true to color.

Black Rose Minerals Review

Website

http://www.blackroseminerals.com

The website was a little confusing for me at first but I was able to figure it out pretty quickly. The listings for categories are a bit cluttered so it took a minute to figure out what I needed to click on. Eyeshadow is sold by color under full or sample size. You can get samples in bags or jars. There is a $6 order minimum.

What I Ordered

Sample Jars: You Pick 6, which is located under the "Your Choice" category. The colors I chose are Bruised, Venom, Pacific Oil Slick, Teddy, Nobodies and Larkspur. The cost was $12.00 with $1.75 for shipping. The samples come in those 3 gram jars with the rounded bottom and the amount of product you get is very generous, it's pretty close to Fyrinnae's mini size. Jars come with out a sifter but are shrink wrapped to prevent spills during shipping.

Order Experience

When I ordered my samples there is a place on the website to input the color names, I received no errors but was promptly e-mailed saying they did not go through. This was the only problem I had with my order and was easily remedied by replying to the e-mail with my choices.

I ordered on January 7th, got the e-mail on the 8th, package shipped on January 26th and I received it on the 28th. Current turn around time on the website is 4-20 business days so this with in the stated time.

What I Got

Product Overview

Each jar is very nicely packaged, the top of the jar has a sticker with the company name and a rose. There is a sticker on the bottom with the website, full ingredients, what the product is safe for use on (eyes, lips, etc), company name and location and product net weight.

 click to enlarge

Venom, Bruised, Pacific Oil Slick, Nobodies, Larkspur, Teddy

blurred slightly to show shimmer

Venom

A bright pink that leans violet, has a bright violet sheen so it photographs less pink than it looks in person. Happy to see it's lip safe because this would be gorgeous in a gloss. This color is BRIGHT and glittery

Bruised

Perfect for a glamourous black eye. I was most excited about this color because I had a bruised colored shadow years ago and I have been trying to find one like it. It's kind of a muddy reddened purple.

Pacific Oil Slick

Reminds me of Sugarpill's Magpie, it's a blackened teal that is very sparkly. Photographs very green and metallic, but looks more like black with sparkles in person. I have a few shades similar to this but Pacific Oil Slick is the most green and most metallic. Perfect crease color for a teal smoky eye. It is also surprisingly lip safe!

Nobodies

A shimmery navy blue like MAC Deep Truth only prettier. Also similar to Fyrinnae's La Noche, but darker. In the pots they look very different but swatched they are similar. This is very satiny and shimmery and would be gorgeous in a smoky eye.

Larkspur

Such a pretty bright medium blue with a satin finish, I can't stop staring at this one. It would look lovely with Nobodies and Venom. It's along the lines of Sugarpill's Afterparty but a bit more complex.

Teddy

A rich chocolate brown with lots of shimmer. It looks to have a little pink and a little blue shimmer. On my computer the website swatch looks rather grey, make no mistake if it looks that way to you too this is a chocolate brown. It's very warm and pretty.

Extras

In addition to the eyeshadows I received a hand written thank you note and some stickers. I got little animal stickers, a Sponge Bob sticker and two scented stickers. An invoice was also included. Last but not least, business card and two shadow samples in baggies- Lunar Shower and Blood Moon. These extras came in their own wax paper baggie decorated with a rose stamp and sealed with a logo sticker.

What I Liked

+ I was promptly e-mailed when I had a problem with my order.

+ Shadows are properly labeled and include whether they're safe for lips. I often like to mix my own glosses with pigments so this is a huge plus for me.

+ Products were well packaged with shrink wrap and secured in a plastic bag in a bubble mailer.

+ Colors are very pretty and rich.

+ The shadows are pigmented and apply well.

+ There is a wide variety of colors to chose from.

+ There are colors named after Marilyn Manson songs (yes, sometimes I buy a product based on it's name... don't judge me).

+ There are multiple pictures of the shadows in action. It's shown swatched dry and wet and shown on an eyelid.

+ Did not stain.

+ Pricing was fair.

+ Sifters are available for full sized shadows, If I order full sized ones I will get them to avoid the mess.

What I Did Not Like

- The website is a little hard to navigate. I think more spacing between the categories would make it easier.

- Special collection colors aren't listed under the full color listing. If you're not careful to check each category you might miss some nice colors. The Luciferi Collection is really worth checking out.

- I made a HUGE mess when I opened these because there was a lot of product in the threads and on the rim of the jar. It's a good thing these were shrink wrapped.

Do I Recommend This Company?

Yes, I am satisfied with my order and I will probably order from Black Rose Minerals again even though I need another eyeshadow like I need a hole in my head.

Stay tuned for some EOTDs using these!