Focus on Indie: Darling Girl Cosmetics [Part 1]

Above: I sent for a very special model to showcase my Darling Girl Cosmetics swatches. Actually, he just kind of showed up and knocked everything off the table, but he was so cute that I didn't have the heart to fire him! ;)

First of all, I need to get the obligatory apology for my absence out of the way. I feel really bad for my hiatus. I know no one likes a blog that has infrequent updates, so hopefully I'll be able to get back on track now. I have no one to blame but myself (and my crazy, crazy life), but I've been craving a creative outlet all this time; and I'm glad to be back.

Alrighty then, let's get started! I'm so excited for this post, because it's about one of my very favorite indie companies: Darling Girl Cosmetics. Before I get into the picture love, I'd like to do a brief overview on the company itself and my experience with it.

About

Darling Girl Cosmetics was founded by a beautiful and oh-so-kind lady named Susan. According to Susan's blog(http://darlinggirlcosmetics.blogspot.com/), she was tired of searching endlessly for "the perfect color." She would come so close to a color she was looking for, but it would never be precisely what she longed for (i.e. not enough shimmer, not the right hue, not sparkly enough, etc.). I know I've been there! Susan started creating her own colors to fill the perfect color voids in her life, which is awesome for all of us, because her family and friends convinced Susan to start selling her beautiful creations to the public! Now she works independently creating a wide range of beautiful products, which can be found at http://www.darlinggirlcosmetics.com/

Customer Service

I've always had fantastic customer service with this company. One thing I really like is that Susan always keeps her customers updated through social networking sites, so no one is left wondering when a collection is coming out or how close their order is to being shipped. I think that says a lot about her loyalty, hard work, and overall awesomeness that she is so stellar at communication even though she's a one woman show!

Product Quality/Availibity

I've ordered from Darling Girl Cosmetics various times, and I can tell you that I've never been disappointed. In fact, I am captivated by her products. Her eyeshadows are unique and absolutely stunning. The pigmentation is top notch, and they're smooth and blendable. They're everything my heart desires in an eyeshadow. She has really lovely lip products too. Her Sweet Lips On the Go Sugar Lip Scrub combats dry lips immediately, and her Holo-glosses are a must have! Another thing that sets this company apart from others is the fact that the majority of her collections stay available for long periods of time (I'm talking years in some cases!). This is a huge plus for me, as there's nothing more disheartening in the makeup world when you find swatches of beautiful colors that are no longer available and were limited edition. To add to the awesome sauce, Susan even makes custom colors at NO extra fee. You're required to buy a full size if you order a custom color, but at $5.90 for a full size; you are getting an incredible deal. I can say from experience that I was very happy with how the custom color I ordered from her turned out.

Pricing/ Turnaround Time

Everything is very affordable, especially for the high quality products you get for your money. The eyeshadows come in a petite size ($2.50) and a full size ($5.90). I find that more than reasonable.The TAT has usually been about two weeks whenever I've ordered, and she's never gone over that estimate. 

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Okay, now that you hopefully have the main gist of this company in your brain, let's move on to the visual stimulation! Below are my swatches for the Darling Girl Cosmetics Darling Ghoul Halloween collection, which was released last fall. Thanks to Susan's incredible collection availibility, I was able to purchase these colors long after they were released (as in this year). I will tell you right off the bat that these swatches do not do these beauties justice! For visual reference, I seperated these in two groups: my full sizes and my petite sizes (Labeled FS and PS below the photos).

Above: FS bottoms from L to R: Will-O-Wisp, Jack's Lantern, and Bats in the Belfry

Above: FS top view from L to R: Will-O-Wisp, Jack's Lantern, and Bats in the Belfry

Above: FS opened from L to R: Will-O-Wisp, Jack's Lantern, and Bats in the Belfry

Above: FS arm swatches from L to R: Will-O-Wisp, Jack's Lantern, and Bats in the Belfry (Swatched over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy and outlined with black liquid liner for the heart shape)

Above: PS top view from L to R: Pumpkin Eater, Candy Corn Pixie Sprinkles, Corpse Candle, and Ghost Light

[   A/N: I tried to get a bottom view snapshot of the petites, but I failed profusely no matter how much editing I tried. The labels aren't even readable in my photograph, so I decided not to post it. Sorry! :(   ]

Above: PS open from L to R:Pumpkin Eater, Candy Corn Pixie Sprinkles, Corpse Candle, and Ghost Light.

Above two pictures: PS arm swatches from L to R: Pumpkin Eater, Candy Corn Pixie Sprinkles, Corpse Candle, Ghost Light (Swatched over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy)

Product descriptions

Please Note: Product descriptions in Bold are from http://www.darlinggirlcosmetics.com, and italicized descriptions are my take on the product.

+Will-O-Wisp: Will-O Wisp is a sheer, peachy pink with a silvery blue shift and blue reflect.

                     My swatches do not do this beauty justice. It is duochrome at its best, and it's to die for. I like to use it for my daily makeup routine as an inner corner highlight and to blend out a darker coral/pinkish color (Braaains from Evil Shades).

+Jack's Lantern: Jack's Lantern is my take on the orange glow emanating from all the Jack O' Lanterns guarding the porches on All Hallows Eve. It's a deep black base with a fiery red/orange shift. The combination looks like a blackened purple, especially when foiled.

                     I love Susan's inspiration behind this color. This is such a dark, sexy color. Though it's perfect for fall, I don't have a problem rocking this all year.

+Bats in the Belfry: Bats In The Belfry is a deep, murkey brown with a kind of olive green undertone and sprinkles of multi-colored green glitter. It has a fairly low sheen and on the metallic side.

                I couldn't come close to a better description than Susan's. She hit the nail on the head with that one. I think this is such a beautiful color that I like to wear in lieu of neutrals because "I got it like that" (insert 15 year old's voice from Maury that wanted a baby). Nah, I just like to use fun, interesting colors like these for my neutral looks because if I must wear browns, why not have fun with them?!

+Pumpkin Eater: Pumpkin Eater is pumpkin orange with loads of green iridescence.
               This color is so cute! I wore it the other day with a bright green to contour my eye, and I felt just like a pumpkin in May! Haha. It truly does work all year. Not only is it a great color for Fall/Winter, it rocks in Spring/Summer. What more could a girl want in a color? I love the green sparkles in this one- it totally amps it up to a whole new level.

+Candy Corn Pixie Sprinkles: What is Halloween without Candy Corn? Candy Corn Pixie Sprinkles is a blend of orange, chocolate brown and holographic glitters. So amazingly awesome as an eyeliner!

               This glitter blend is pretty freaking amazing. I recommend using a sticky base to rock this to its fullest capacity. Darling Girl has one called Glitter Glue that I use frequently and it works great! I also recommend Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy.

+Corpse Candle Spectral Shift: Corpse Candle is a sheer, light gray with violet sheen and purple iridescence.
              This makes for a lovely highlight color, whether it be on the brow bone to blend your eyeshadow out or on the inner corner to open up your eyes. It also looks amazing as an all over lid color. Duochromes have a way of stealing my heart, that's for sure

+Ghost Light Spectral Shift: Ghost Light is a sheer teal with a touch of green iridescence and a golden shift.

          Last but not least is Ghost Light, and it's sheer alright... sheerly amazing! Haha. It's light, but very pretty nonetheless. I like to mix it with Will-O-Wisp to create a really awesome and beautiful custom color.  I have a feeling Ghost Light would be a match made in heaven with Pretty Plasma, but I sadly don't own it yet. :( 

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So if you're still reading, that completes part one of my Darling Girl Cosmetics feature. I will have part two up as soon as my little fingers can type it out. Hopefully my life will stay calm and allow me to work on this, because I have a lot more beautiful colors just waiting to be swatched.

Please check out the website at http://www.darlinggirlcosmetics.com/. It's definitely worth your time! :)

Thanks for reading!

DISCLAIMER: All products mentioned were purchased by me for my own personal usage. I am not affiliated with or compensated by this company in any way. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.

Focus On Indie: Black Rose Minerals

Tonight is the first post in a new series I'm starting called Focus on Indie. In this series, I will be doing overviews of my favorite independent makeup companies and posting swatches of the products I own from each company. In this post, I will be focusing on Black Rose Minerals.

Black Rose Minerals (http://www.blackroseminerals.com/), circa 2010, is owned by the very lovely and talented Rosa. She's an absolute sweetheart and is always super quick to reply whenever I have any questions or comments for her via twitter.

I was drawn to Black Rose Minerals at the beginning of the year after seeing swatches of the Halloween 2011 Luciferi collection (BTW, I'm a huge sucker for anything Halloween related, especially makeup and fragrance collections). When I lurked the site, I died a little of sheer excitement when I saw that some of the shadows were named after Manson songs. Yeah, I'm a huge dweeb of a Marilyn Manson fan. How dweeby, you ask? Oh, I'm dweeby enough to have not one, but two Manson related tattoos. But, I digress. Needless to say, my BRM online shopping cart received some items right after my lurking session. I ordered five full size eyeshadows, and three free sample baggies were included with the order.

Before the makeuppr0n begins, I just want to warn you guys that these are the first swatches I've actually photographed, so I am hoping they are not too terrible. At the very least, I hope these pictures can do the beautiful colors justice.

Bottom of the jars from L to R: Scabbed Wings, Tourniquet,

Coma Black, Scruffy, and Alice.

The bottom of the jars are adorned with the company's website and logo, the name of the color, the ingredients, the item's weight, whether or not the color is lip safe, and whether or not the color is vegan.

Open jars with their lids from L to R: Scabbed Wings, Tourniquet,

Coma Black, Scruffy, and Alice.

I love how the lids have themed pictures of the specific collection that particular color belongs to. For example, the first three colors are from the Luciferi collection, the fourth is from the New York New York collection, and the last (Alice) is from the general catalogue. Another wonderful thing about these (and all the colors offered) is that you are able to choose whether or not you want a sifter. As you can see, I opted for no sifter.

The following skin swatches were done over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy:

From L to R: Scabbed Wings, Tourniquet,

Coma Black, Scruffy, and Alice

I was immensely impressed with the quality, pigmentation, and complexity of these colors. They are all absolutely gorgeous and unique to my collection. As with all loose shadows, I really recommend using a sticky base before use. Using something like Darling Girl's Glitter Glue or Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy won't set you back more than $7 or $8 financially, and it will also give you a lot more bang for your buck when using pigments or loose shadows.

Shade Descriptions

Please Note: The descriptions following the bold print are from Black Rose Minerals. My take on the colors is in itallic.

Scabbed Wings: "Angels aren’t the only things that fly. This devilish little number starts with a black base, orange undertones show off a bronzy duotone. Finish that off with violet sparks for quite a shocking twist. We recommend a wet or sticky base for application."

My Input- Scabbed Wings is a beautiful black-based bronze with, yes, purple sparkles. It is quite beautiful, and is perfect for fall. I also think it would look great as a twist on the classic black and grey smokey eye.

Tourniquet: "A metallic gold in a black base and an ever so slight tint of a green highlight gives just a bit of a twist. True to color wet or dry."

My Input- Tourniquet is definitely my favorite out of the five colors I ordered. I already said this to Rosa, but this is a color that I feel comfortable wearing to work because it's not ZOMG IN YOUR FACE; but it is unique enough to put a twist on an everyday neutral look. I feel like I can express myself and simultaniously be work appropriate, and I love that. The green highlight in this color gives an olive effect on the gold, which is really lovely.

Coma Black: "This darkly deep violet shimmers ever so slightly but smolders all the way. Wear it dry for a shimmer glower and wear it wet to deepen the shade and compliment every scab of your broken heart."

My Input- Coma Black is a wonderful black-based purple with lighter purple sparkles. It's a pretty purple color that truly does justice to the song it was named after. I think Coma Black would look beautiful as a crease color with a lighter violet shade on the lid.

Scruffy: "Scruffy’s gonna die how Scruffy lived… This sparkly dark gray is a jazzy compliment to any janitor suit. We recommend a sticky base to capture all the shimmer and glitter in this one. Why is Scruffy sparkly? Well…. We don’t really know, but it worked. Mmmm-hmmm."

My Input- Not gonna lie, I was drawn to this shade because my childhood stuffed animal was named Scruffy. My mom got him for me when I was really sick in 3rd grade, and I had him until I was 20. He was unfortunately taken from me and never returned, so getting this color was like my tribute to Scruffy. It is a wonderful mid-toned gray with an array of silver sparkles within.

Alice: "High shine! High glitter! A mixed blue with massive amounts of aqua and teal glitter. A sheer duotone when worn dry with light and dark tones to highlight. When worn wet all colors are accentuated. Best used with a sticky base."

My Input- Oh, Alice. This color would make the character it's named after proud. It's a very beautiful bright blue that had a butt load of sparkles in it, but not an obnoxious amount. I think it's perfect for summer, or any time you're in a bright color kind of mood. For the less daring, I'd recommend pairing this with brown shadows.

The free samples I received were Bender, Luna, and Lunar Reflection.

L to R over Pixie Epoxy: Bender, Luna,

and Lunar Reflection

Bender: "Insert girder here… This silver shines with a touch of blue. It sheer when dry, but it can be built up. Worn wet the color deepens and has a slight metallic finish. Don’t like it? Well, you can bit our shiny metal… y’know."

Luna: "This is one of the shades created for Luna at toxid-lotus. A sheer ethereal light purple with lots of blue, red and purple shimmer. In certain angles it has a blue sheen. Wear it with a sticky base for the most opacity."

Lunar Reflection: "This is one of the shades created for Luna at toxid-lotus. A delicate sheer silver/gold with red, silver and gold shimmer. In certain angles it will look more silver and in other angles more gold. Sheer dry, more opaque with a primer and shines with a sticky base."

I felt like I hit the jackpot in the sample department, because http://www.toxid-lotus.net/ is one of my very favorite beauty blogs and Bender is my favorite Futurama character! The glitter in Luna and Lunar Reflection is absolutely breathtaking. I love shadows that contain multiple colors of glitter, especially when the glitter is unique to the base color. Both Luna and Lunar Reflection would look great as an inner corner highlight or dusted over the entire eye area for a pretty yet simple look. Bender is a really neat color as well. I can definitely see the blue sheen to it when foiled (used over a sticky base), and the blue compliments the silver shade very well. Bender would look really cool with Alice, and I really need to test that combo soon.

I am very pleased with my overall experience with Black Rose Minerals. It is very clear to me that Rosa truly cares about each and every one of her customers. I received the sweetest, longest thank you note I've ever gotten from any company with my order. The note was even on black rose stationary. When I sent her a message on twitter about how I loved my order, she wrote back immediately and graciously. She has really wonderful products and great customer service, and I fully recommend this company to everyone.

Thanks for reading, and please check out http://www.blackroseminerals.com/

DISCLAIMER: All products mentioned were purchased by me for my own personal usage. I am not affiliated with or compensated by this company whatsoever. All opinions are my own, and most certainly always will be.