Review: Geek Chic Cosmetics - Science Fiction Double Feature, Back to the Fuschia, Happy Ending

Okay so call me addicted... (YOU'RE ADDICTED!) Thank you, but when I saw the LE Halloween set from Geek Chic Cosmetics, I knew it was something I had to have. The only thing I wasn't 100% sold on was the pink blush but we'll get into that in a moment.

Packaging:


Some of the items came in the typical organza bag, but I was actually surprised but happy to see a bag with owls peering out at me. On it were the trademark lips from Rocky Horror Picture Show and I knew instantly that it was Science Fiction Double Feature. A very nice touch ladies for those who may have too many organza bags. ;) The package also came with a min-frisbee with a black spider on it. :D

L to R: I'm Going Home, Madness Takes Its Toll, Sane Inside Insanity, and Rose Tint My World

 Eye Shadows:
I'm Going Home - Described on the site as a Robin's Egg Blue, I think this is the truest one I've seen. It has a frosty sheen to it which makes it a great lash liner but it can also be applied sheer all over the lid or as a crease color. In some ways, this color also reminds me of Smurfs and I kept thinking of Smurfette when I put this Sane Inside Insanity.

Madness Takes Its Toll - I was a little nervous about this color because I'm not normally a fan of very pale pastels but this makes an amazing, shimmery highlight with just a hint of melon-y green to it. I put it with Shiro Cosmetics to blend it out and lighten things up a little bit. My one complaint is that Madness seemed just the tiniest bit chalkier when applying it.

Sane Inside Insanity - A pale, pastel gold. It's not something I've seen around. I love blending this on the eyelid with Rose Tint My World on the outer corner of the lid. It definitely leans to the warmer orange-yellows than the green side of the spectrum but it still goes well with Madness Takes Its Toll.

Rose Tint My World - Probably my favorite eye color out of all of these. It's a warm rose color with an orange-gold almost duochrome-y glitter. From one angle on my lid you get the rosey pink and from another angle you get a warm orange sparkle. This is why I like blending it with Sane Inside Insanity.

L to R: Happy Ending, Back to the Fuschia, Sweet Transvestite

Lippies:


Happy Ending - When I put in my first lippie order, I realized that most of the colors I got would not be kosher for every day or the work place, so I thought I would add this clear gloss to my list and I am very happy with it. It's able to be worn on its own for an iridescent sparkle or over just about any lip color you could imagine. Very versatile.

Back to the Fuschia - Although my name didn't win the contest, I've been looking for another great hot pink lipstick and this time in an indie product. My current Holy Grail is Tokidoki's Lip Balm Stain in Pink Martini but this is a very close match. It may not be a balm or a stain but the color is beautiful and it starts semi-opaque so you can build it if you want to. Although the site says it is buttercream frosting flavored, I couldn't smell or taste it. Your mileage may vary.

Sweet Transvestite - A deep maroon, it looks rusty brown in the tube. This is one of those lippies I prefer to blot and then put clear gloss over because it brings out the red undertones. More reserved for evenings out and possibly with a neutral eye on formal days or evenings. Definitely matches Frank's awesome lips.

Blush:
Touch Me - Okay, first of all, I had some trouble getting the swatch to show up on camera so I will do my best to make an addendum with a swatch as soon as I can. This blush looks bright in the jar and it is described as a candy pink. However if you take just the tracest amount and blend it over your cheek bone you actually do get a healthy pink blush that isn't too bright or over powering. This is the product that surprised me in the most positive way.

Final Verdict:
I wish the Science Fiction Double Feature set wasn't Limited Edition. A lot of the pastels are amazing for every day wear and Sane Inside Insanity and Rose Tint My World would work very well for the workplace without being too distracting. I love Back to the Fuschia because it's very close in color to my HG Tokidoki Lip Balm Stain. I never once imagined wearing bright pink blush but the sheer and buildable Touch Me just works.

Catch Up: Big Geek Chic Review Post

So I recently got a big order from Geek Chic Cosmetics and I wanted to do a huge swatch post. Some of these swatches are comparing similar color families and include previous purchases as I wanted to show the differences between certain colors and just why they ARE worth getting.

L to R: What's Under the Helmet? (N7), Game Over (Mushroom Kingdom), Fear Bomb (10 Man Raid), and Ambassador (Big Damn Heroes)

First up are the purples. I've been obsessed with trying this color due to it being great for parties and nights out. I also have interesting eyes because even though I was raised thinking I had plain brown eyes, I actually have a little bit of my dad's hazel eyes. Purple tends to bring out the green in them which is something I love. I can really play with some color theory and how eye shadow changes the color of me eyes.

The new colors I got in this order were:

• Fear Bomb
• Ambassador

Fear Bomb from the 10 Man Raid set is something I've been eyeing for a long time. It's on the cooler side of purple which I find is something that suits me quite a bit better. One thing about warmer purples is that a lot of the time, they make your eyes look bruised and tired and that's not a good thing at all. Cooler purples are a bit easier to manipulate and place on the lid in such a way that it actually enhances your eyes. Fear Bomb is slightly sheer as well. It's in between the dark intense What's Under the Helmet? and the ultra-sheer Game Over.

Ambassador falls into that tricky warm purple family. It's no fault of the company and I fell in love with this color almost immediately. It's a pink toned purple with gold glittery highlights in it. I think with a bit of eyeliner this would work out and I feel like that would be an amazing Inara/Companion look.

L to R: Inevitable Betrayal (Big Damn Heroes), Twilight Princess (Hyrule), Riddle Me This (Single Player)

New greens to my collection:

• Inevitable Betrayal
• Twilight Princess
• Riddle Me This

Inevitable Betrayal is another color that I've been eyeing for a long time. I'd describe it as an olive green. It's precisely what I think of when I think of dinosaurs which were an important part of this scene where we first met Wash in Firefly. This is more than likely going to be one of my go to colors for when I start work. I need to keep my makeup somewhat neutral but I think this has enough color to satiate my artistic side without being too distracting.

Twilight Princess was a color that I originally thought I would just use as a liner because it looked so dark in the swatches but when I got it, I couldn't help but try it out for religious services. It's more a green toned grey in my opinion which went quite well with my grey outfit. I had lined it with Solid Snake from the Single Player set and put Inevitable Betrayal in the crease. This one is more for evening or formal but a color not to be dismissed.

Riddle Me This is Phil's first try at making a color and I love the green tone with purple glitter. I think this is more of a weekend color than anything else but the green is sheer enough to use as an accent color. Something I was pleasantly surprised to find out. :) Kudos to Phil for this wonderful addition to Geek Chic's Single Player line up.

This next swatch is one that I didn't have a similar color family to from Geek Chic so I decided to swatch it with blues from two other companies who's reviews are forthcoming.

L to R: Blue Your Mind (Pollen Cosmetics), Blue Box (A'dor Beauty Supplies), Solid Snake (Geek Chic's Single Player collection)

Solid Snake is the only new Geek Chic color in this set of swatches and it's one that to date I have only used as a liner. I've been a fan of dark blue liners for a while and this one adds a little sparkle to the classic dark blue almost black liner.

Now for something which I had yet to buy at any point in time... Lippies.

Hipster Ariel

Hipster Ariel  is part of the Joysticks collection and probably the only one that the flavoring was obvious. I love Spearmint so that's not a bad thing at all. I had originally gotten this for LARP (live-action role play for the uninitiated) and I LOVE it. The coverage is great and the new slimline tubes are perfect for my tiny lips. Coverage is usually an issue because I have highly pigmented lips.

Electric Rat

Okay so I got Electric Rat because it was the perfect finish to a last minute gijinka Pichu costume I made. The costume was a hit at MatsuriCon but I wanted to add the touches of makeup to just push it further over the top and I think I've found it. Another lipstick with great coverage although the flavoring of fall spices and "Seduction" wasn't apparent in this one.

Mana Potion Geek Gloss

I wasn't sure quite what to think of Mana Potion but it's another one I got for Halloween/LARP. It's a sheer sky blue which makes it even more than just a sheer version of Hipster Ariel. Perfect for the Snow Queen or anyone who needs blue lips. ;) Due to their gloss nature they aren't as full coverage as the Joysticks but the blue of this still shows up brightly.

The Darkness Geek Gloss

The Darkness is another one for LARP but I was very pleasantly surprised to see how well it works for everyday. The gunmetal grey base mixes well with my lip pigmentation but also adds a dark silvery sparkle. Probably my newest holy grail product.

The geek glosses are a little sticky but it feels good, like it's protecting my lips and when I take it off, my lips are very soft.

Joystick (top) and Geek Gloss (bottom 2) packaging

Would I buy lippies again? In a heartbeat... In fact, I am currently waiting on Back to the Fuschia, Sweet Transvestite, and Happy Ending in my next shipment. I will be sure to swatch those for you and you can expect some reviews coming soon. As for the eye shadows, I'm almost always floored and these colors were ones that I had been dying to get. I was especially surprised when Twilight Princess turned out to be more than just a liner color for me.

Experiment: Home Made Lipgloss/Balm From Eye Shadow

So, today I decided I would try my hand at tinted lip balms using some of my favorite eye shadow shades. I knew some of these would rarely if ever be put on my eyes but they are lip safe so I figured why not make glosses out of them? I found something that is lip safe and it actually protects your lips from chapping a drying. It's Vitamin A & D ointment! The main downfall of this is the fact that it has Petrolatum and therefore tastes like Petroleum jelly. The smell however does fade pretty quickly. The other issue is pooling but I like that effect sometimes.

Okay first of all, I am using Geek Chic Cosmetics eye shadows for this project.

First off was N7, and I really like how this turned out. I wanted to try for a little bit more color but I made the batch too big. However when this goes on it does enhance my lip color just a little bit. It also has a subtle silver sparkle to it as well despite not having much of the red.

N7 on my lips as a gloss.

Next up is Purity Burns, which is a metallic and uber-glittery silver. I /really/ love this gloss because it will add sparkle and shine to just about anything I put it over. With iridescent glitter galore, this gloss would be perfect for any ice elemental or snow queen.

Next up is Eyes of the Werewolf. An amazing copper with an amazing glitter. Works pretty much the same as Purity Burns.

Mmmmm Blood Bond. This deepens my lip tone a bit which will be great over red or brown lipstick to warm it up a bit. It also has a great glitter like Purity Burns and Eyes of the Werewolf.

Viking King, antique gold with lots of glittery pay off and the glitter shows in the gloss.

These are all of the glosses I've made thus far. I'm thinking of mixing up a shade a week using various lip safe eye shadows as pigment. Next week, we'll have Continuum and possible Sleeping Bucket from Geek Chic and I know I would love to turn their Glitter Grenades into a glitter-packed gloss.

Review: Jordana Cosmetics - Lip Out Loud Lipgloss in VIP

So I had totally forgotten that I signed up to try their new lipgloss. As a disclaimer, this offer was available to all consumers and this free product is a full size product. It isn't technically a review sample. I am doing this full review on my own.

First of all, I'd like to preface this with an apology about the quality and size of pictures. I left my camera at a friend's place and I am waiting potential return. I will try and do some supplemental posts for all of my reviews with better pictures but I think these will suffice for the time being. These are taken by webcam so there is no flash. All natural light.

Above is the packaging. I was very happy to see a bright pink gloss as it seems the colors of the samples were sent out randomly. I use a lot of gloss whether it's over lipstick or just over my natural lips as it adds something regardless.

The applicator was something new to me. It's similar to a doe's foot applicator but it's thinner. I really like this because I have such tiny lips. I don't feel like I'm wasting product because I am putting so much outside my lips.

As I opened the bottle for the first time, I got a sweet melony scent coming from the gloss. I personally love this. I'm not one for scented lipgloss as much as I used to be but the melon is so refreshing.

As I put the lipgloss on, I found it actually pretty soothing. It's not sticky at all which amazed me because most glosses have even just a tiny bit of stickiness.

Not sure if the above picture really does this justice. There isn't any color to the gloss at all but it really does add a patent leather shine like the advertising suggests. I have an intense color to my lips naturally so I don't wear lipstick unless I am getting dressed up and I know I would absolutely wear this over any color.

This gloss didn't wear off until I ate dinner that night which was a good 2-3 hours after application. I keep my lipgloss in my purse so re-application isn't a problem. The thing I love is that after the gloss came off, my lips felt soft and moisturized which is hard to find in a gloss. A lot of times, glosses are more drying than lipstick or balm.

BOTTOM LINE? I will absolutely buy this again. I really didn't have any negatives to this product. It suits my needs, the packaging is nice and small so it's great for the purse so that you can apply it everyday. It looks good over lipstick or just over one's natural lips. It's a versatile gloss that can do just about anything. It's not drying and actually allows lips to feel great and comfortable.

EDIT: I forgot to include a swatch on my hand so here it is!

This is in indoor light. No flash.

EDIT: I put in a better close-up of my lips. I hope this works. :D

What's In My Bag - Major League Gaming Survival Kit

Okay so after lurking on a lot of makeup blogs, I saw this column over at LeGothique and I thought I would post the contents of my bag from the weekend of June 3rd. That weekend was one that I spent at a Major League Gaming event here in town and I have a survival kit for events like these,

First of all, Dr. Pepper sponsors the league and gives out awesome drawstring bags like this one. I almost always end up transferring my stuff to my new bag and this one was even better than in past years thanks to the tougher shoulder strings and the outer pockets.

 One of the main things I always pack are my Sharpie markers. At events like these, you never know who you'll run into and the pros are more than happy to sign autographs if they're not in a huge hurry (which isn't all that much unless they're about to play). I always keep these with me because even if you are not hunting for autographs, someone is and it's always nice to come in with the clutch and have markers that they can use. :)

Extra camera battery. My Canon PowerShot luckily came with two batteries. I always keep my extra charged and in my bag for easy changing.

I also kept my charger in there as there are outlets all over the convention center.

 This is my bag within a bag that holds both my cellphone and my ID.

My Anti-Bac gel. Sure I love meeting people but do I really want your germs? No thanks. This one is part of the Royal Collection in honor of the Royal Wedding. If The Tiara Fits is the name of the scent and it's a mixed berry frangrance. From Bath and Body Works

Also my Bath and Body Works lotions. I love Moonlight Magic which is in the center and the others smell predominantly of coconut. The coconut ones aren't my absolute favorite but these were also gifts.

What would a video gaming event be without a Nintendo DS? Yet again, you never know who you can hook up with. I've been playing Pokemon Black lately and training up my team to be the very best.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs fragrance oil in Sachs. The second link goes to the Hero Initiative oils page. Hero Initiative is a wonderful charity that helps for hire artists with cost of living and medical bills. I support this charity because they have helped a close friend of mine, Josh Medors, in his 3 year (and still going) battle with a rare form of Spinal Cancer.

While I got this issue of Black Belt at the event itself (which is why it's signed by MMA fighter Tim Kennedy), I had to keep it with me for those times when I'm just sitting around and waiting in line. Whether it's for the doors to open or waiting for a match to start, reading material is a girl's best friend.

And last but not least, lip gloss. It keeps your lips feeling good and shiny. This one is Princess in Training from the Royal Collection from Bath and Body Works. It has a nice orange flavor akin to that of a Creamsicle but with less vanilla to it.

I hope you enjoyed this note about my MLG survival kit. Hopefully I should have another for you next week.