Review: The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

So, I will admit that I have been very lucky lately with winning online contests. Luckily, as my readers and as most of my prizes are nominally geek related, I will be sharing these prizes with you as they arrive and as I am able to try them out. The first prize I won was a signed copy of The Sookie Stackhouse Companion. I will admit that normally I don't go for companion books such as these but I was very pleasantly surprised by the content.

The first section of the book is a new short story in the Southern Vampire Mysteries universe. I really liked it because it took Sookie away from the vampires for a little bit and showed what was happening in the world outside of Louisiana a bit more. Another thing that I should note is that I am not entirely caught up on the novels so I am coming in with a relatively fresh perspective and I realize that I am reading things a bit out of order.

Probably one of my favorite sections is the recipe section. It has recipes both fan submitted and ones from Charlaine herself (or her characters) including Gran's Blue Ribbon Chocolate Cake and a recipe for Fried Pickles which are one of my favorite pub foods. I have yet to try the recipes however there will be more entries as I do. I am so excited to try diving into these.

There are also interviews with Charlaine Harris as well as Alan Ball (the creator of True Blood) which answers fan-submitted questions about Sookie, Eric, Bill, and all the rest of the Bon Temps gang.

While this book is meant for the more die-hard fans, it is a great insight into both versions of Sookie's world (books and television). There is also an index with some brief character histories and it lists the books in which they appear and for those that have died, the book in which they died.

A great resource for Truebies and Newbies alike.

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 and Swatches: Geek Chic Cosmetics - Fang Banger's Quartet

First of all, I should note that I approached Deb and Chantel at Geek Chic Cosmetics about doing a review. They sent me 4 sample baggies of colors of my choice so I chose the Fang Banger's Quartet. More about that later.

First of all, I was so excited to get the ball rolling on a potential addiction. I've been eyeing Geek Chic Cosmetic's site for a long time and every time they come out with a new set it makes me drool with envy.

In this review, packaging, although noted and described won't play a huge part in my review. They have just changed their sample packaging so what you receive will be different. Also, the pots you see in the photos are my own. I took the shadow out of the sample baggie so that I could apply it easier. The one thing I will note is that everything comes with a sticker with a full list of ingredients which is great!

The following swatches are on bare skin with no primer:

With Flash: Top L to R - Viking King and Purity Burns

Bottom L to R: Blood Bond and Eyes of the Werewolf

Natural Light: Top L to R - Viking King and Purity Burns

Bottom L to R: Blood Bond and Eyes of the Werewolf (I mention later how Eyes matches my skintone, I promise it's there.)

The following colors do contain metal powders so speaking of ingredients, if you have allergies to any metals, I would take note of the ingredients before ordering.

Viking King:
This was the first color that I tried. It's a shiny, uber-metallic antique gold. While gold eye shadows are easy to come by in the world, I have yet to find one with this type of color pay off without a primer. It made my lids look gilded which was something I loved at the time. Having a week off from my blog to deal with real life let me wear it multiple times. The first time I put it on, I was worried because my eyes itched a little bit. It wasn't anything big but I was concerned because I knew about the metal powders. I decided to give it one more try and I was very relieved to find out that the feeling I had was more than likely due to fatigue and not an allergic reaction. One of my favorite looks is to put Blood Bond (review and swatch further down) on the bottom of the lid and put Viking King on the rest of the main lid. It has a hint of Gryffindor to it as well as a bit of royalty.

This is a great everyday shadow and can be used in a variety of ways.


Final Verdict: 4/5

Purity Burns:
A silver shadow with iridescent sparkle. Another great everyday look with a frosty light gray color base. More than likely officially my go to Slytherin silver color and I will be wearing this tonight to the midnight showing of the final Harry Potter movie. The shadow goes on smooth with very little fall out. The powder is fine and very light weight. Something that I love about all of these. I don't feel like I'm made up when I just put a little bit on. Being someone who never used to bother with make up and also was a stage actor, while I am used to feeling made up from the thick base needed for stage work, I don't like it for everyday. Yet again, silver is pretty easy to find elsewhere however I think the iridescent sparkle is what sets it apart from others.

Final Verdict: 4/5

Eyes of the Werewolf:
The base color of this reminds me of the dog that Sam Merlotte tended to shift to. This color matches my skin tone almost perfectly and is the quintessential eye shadow for me to just add a shimmer to my lids. Although the site bills it as a copper, it's not as orange as traditional coppers and this is what I like about it. There's not much else to say about it that I haven't already spoken about the other colors just that it's even more an everyday color for me due to the neutrality.

Final Verdict: 5/5

Blood Bond:
Probably the only color that isn't an everyday color for me. It's not to say that the deep, shimmery burgundy is bad but more to say that I don't go out often enough to see use for it. To me, it's something I would wear to a club or with specific costumes that call for a dramatic burgundy eye look. The one thing I did do with it was my Gryffindor Eye of the Day and I wore it to Ba-Con's Barfleet party.

Final Verdict: 3/5

Overall:
I am really pleased with this set as my first experience with Geek Chic Cosmetics. Deb was very helpful in communicating with me about any delays in the shipping of the samples as well as answering any questions. Always a great plus when dealing with independent companies. I potted all of my samples in some old sample pots I had left over from products I had received but I don't use and this makes it a bit easier to use the right amount of product. Although now, samples are shipped in clamshells which will be massively easier.

I will definitely be rebuying Viking King, Purity Burns, and Eyes of the Werewolf on a regular basis. Blood Bond will probably already last me a long while  but eventually I probably will rebuy it. Being a LARPer who plays a vampire, it has it's uses. :)

Final Verdict on Whole Set: 4/5

Thank You to Everyone

I wanted to post a quick thank you to everyone who wished me well over the past week. I really appreciate the support I've gotten and this is one of the reasons why I like sharing my adventures with all of you. I am relatively new to blogging in this manner but the support I've gotten already has bowled me over so thank you!

Coming This Week:
* EotD: Bellatrix Lestrange
* EotD: Tonks
* EotD: Cunning and Wit
* EotD: Brave and True
* EotD: Lily Evans
* Review and Swatches: Geek Chic Cosmetics Fang Banger's Quartet
* Review: Geeky Clean - Portal Soap

I am also working on a few things for some events coming up so expect some in progress costume updates as well as some makeup ideas. I am hoping to do a very makeup intensive costume which will debut at Dragon*Con this year. I know there are a lot of tutorials out there for her makeup but I am looking at things and seeing which is the most viable for me and will make the most impact.

Hopefully soon I will get right back into regular posting.

Thank you again.