HiFi Cosmetics Review (First crack at them!)

They're coming to get you Baaawwwbrrraaahhh...

Alllllrighty. Let me start out by saying that I paid for these myself, but it was a sample pack for bloggers so I got to try a couple out to really be able to give a fair honest review of the shadows over all. I picked five colors with no guarantee that I'd get them, and yay! I received all the colors I asked for. Awesome.


I had heard of Hifi cosmetics before while dotting from blog to blog- I had even been to their Etsy store and stalked them from afar. When I had finally decided to try them out I got lost in color! There are so many gorgeous colors- wholly crap. When I found the sample option I was THRILLED because my broke ass was only going to be able to pick up maybe two of the shadows (the price is right at 6.00 a jar but I B PO) and I don't love being able to show you vary few colors. It almost feels like a waist of your time, and had I waited until I could buy a few of them for review it would be sometime next year and that is just shinnagins. SO! Without further wasting your time ... I give you... the GOODS!


Ordering.
All correspondence was fast and easy. No surprises. Thumbs up. (both to esty and to Hifi) Only real problem is the huge selection- which is less of a problem and more of a personal issue because I have a burning case of WANT.


Packing and Shipping:
Shipping rates are great. 1.50 + .50 per additional item. Beans.
Came to me fast, I can say that. What I can't say is how they would have come packed had I ordered a full jar. My samples were in baggies. Look for my future Hifi posts for this information.


Colors(the goooood stuff):
Note: I put all my samples in jars when I got them home. Pictures of jars were taken on top of the baggies they came in.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll (Rockstar collection):
This color is a lot more purple than it looks on the site, however I have noticed that it can look bluer in certain light. The sparkle is pink and maybe some blue- it's really pretty. I've used it a few times now and I just love it. It's great over Pixie Epoxy and without PE can be built up to a medium light coverage. This one I love over a black base. SO pretty.

This is Halloween (Nightmare 2010 collection):
I was SO excited about this one. I have a weakness for Halloween anything and if it's Halloween colors with glitter, are you kidding? I'm all over it. This is a flat true black base with orange glitter. Tiny orange glitter and slightly bigger orange glitter. I like it. I like the look I get when I use it. You MUST use a sticky base or you'll be covered in orange glitter fallout. I only use it with PE because I couldn't find anything else that makes the glitter really stick. There will still be glitter fallout, but it's not as bad. After about four hours I didn't have much glitter left. Bummer.





Omen (Nightmare 2010 collection):
This one is tough to explain...a wine/plummy/silvery/taupe with like silver sparkleishness... in my pics it looks more like a plummy brown but that's not what this is. I found this to be really fun to work with. It changes to suit what you're using it for- I swear, it just performs somehow and makes everything better! So weird. Completely fun and Completely wearable. It's over the top AND work safe. It's slightly sheer but blends out great. Love it.





Fan Mail (Rockstar collection):
This is a really lovely green with a ton of gold micro sparkle. Yeah, micro sparkle. Shut up. haha It's really pretty. Semi sheer. Great over a base. I like it. I wear it. It's not So unique that I'd tell you to run out and get it - that said, It's really a pretty color and if you've not got anything like it you'd do well to pick it up. It's lovely over a base. All good stuff.



Lost and Lonely (The Labyrinth Collection):
This could be my favorite of the bunch. It looks really similar to another color I have from HighVoltage cosmetics but this one is a tick more sheer and has a pink sparkle to it.(I would have added a photo but I misplaced a jar while cleaning) I love them both but this one is a little easier to work with over bases and with PE and things like that. On the site it looks a little more light blue than in person, other than that the color is true- the shift is definitely there. And it's in the effing Labyrinth Collection which makes my butt parts really really happy. My butt parts are well pleased.




In Summation:
I really liked these. I used them over and over again and really like the formula. They stick well even without anything to stick to (as much as a loose shadow can) and the lasting power was really good. I'll be placing orders in future, without question. I would, and have recommended it. I've gotten complements which is always really nice. The costumer service is really great. Great blog to go with it. I like it when you can ask an actual person and actual question and I find that HiFi is really good at that. I got extra buisness cards- love that! I've handed out a couple. Don't know if they give them out with every order though. Should have asked. HA!

Great stuff. Wonderful stuff. Try it out and tell me what you think! Have a color that is a MUST try? Let me know! What more pictures of what I have? Let me know and I'll do my best to help you out! Questions? Comments? Wanna be happy butt buddies? SURE! Send them along! Let me know!

Have a great day!

-Robin

Want to stalk me?!? It's easy if you try! Here are some links to help you along... Tweet! Tube! Tumblr!

September Favorites!

I tossed up a September Favorites video the other day- Now I'm tossing it up here too! The ending is magical. Showcases my ability to work with my own fail hahahaha comment and sub and I'll love you forever...ish. Thanks!




tits!

High Voltage Review! (now with important Edit)

EDIT: This is a non issue at this point- but they have disappeared and taken people's money and trust with them. Sad news. I'm leaving this up because some of the shadows are still floating around and being traded and whatnot so the swatches still seem relevant. There are TONS of indie companies I trust and love and I hope none of you let one or two bad apples spoil your indie makeup experience. Indie is gooood. Great even! The products from High Voltage were good products... but the one who was running everything was not the best at it. Shit happens. Stay tuned for more great indie swatch slutting from me and others in the future. Thanks!

Got a packet of skull and crossbone sweet tarts on my lap, a horror flick popped in my dvd and a song in my heart... oh yeah, and my HIGH VOLTAGE cosmetics order came in!
(woot sound here)

Click any of these pictures for a full view.

Let me start by giving you a Quick Rundown of the Site. It's easy to navigate and updated every couple of days lately. Not a ton of frills and show, but not completely lacking it either. Gets the job done, which is leaps and bounds above many of the independent cosmetic sites that have launched in the last five or so years. Best way to keep updated on product availability and new items is by following them on Twitter, which I will link you to right here.

Okay, First Impressions when I received my package was nothing all that spectacular. Manila envelope, handwritten address...bla bla bla Like the website, gets the job done.

Packaging: The jars that they come in are great. Nice tight seal- Which I LOVE- Only one of my labels (bottom) had a gram weight 1.5 grams & full ingredients on each (love.) I think it's safe to assume that is what you are going to get in all the jars- no sifter (yay.) Mine didn't come with the cute little logo sticker that they do now- so take note that they have cute little logo stickers on the tops of the jars now. SO cute too btw.

I ordered three (buy two get one free 1st anniversary sale) and they came wrapped in the little orange thing they are sitting on like a big piece of candy (yay candy! hahaha) I was a little bummed because there were no free samples- I'm spoiled I guess lol- I kinda feel like if I can't walk up to a counter and see them, I have a hard time selecting a color from (usually) hit & miss swatches. So getting a sample, even a tiny one-use type of sample, helps me tons. They do include samples of new colors and collections that come out but there's no telling when one might pop into your order. You can however, buy samples for a dollar a piece- not sure how they come as I didn't order any- which I now kinda regret.

Color Rundown:

Born to rock: This one is my favorite of the three. In the jar it looks like a warm purple gray, with slight green shimmer. When swatched it's more of a gray with a crazy green cast... almost like the color has it's own aura. The photo shows it pretty true to life here. It does not like pixie epoxy as much as I thought it would. It's really a cool color to lay with- I used it for a gray smokey and the way you can blend it out to mostly shimmer makes it perfect for it! This and a base- blend out the edges- done. So pretty! And it works perfectly with nyx glitter liner in "disco queen"... sooo pretty. LOVE it. May need to pick up a backup jar.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gypsy Queen: I expected something warm. Hence the side by side swatch below- Just to show you that it's a dark cool brown with cool light gold shimmer.When swatched I see some deep purple tones in it. I used this to darken my crease and lay down a base color for the nyx swatch and it was really great! I did not have anything like this because when I ordered I had much lighter hair- Which I love because it works so well on me now. Not what I thought it would be, but it turned out great. Swatch below is pretty dead on.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This last one was my freebie. When they have these sales you add the two to your card and put any freebies in comments at checkout. I asked her to just toss in a color she thinks I'd need (because I'd spoken to her over twitter) and she did!

On the Prowl: is a true mid tone bright purple with pink and purple(?) shimmer. When I opened it I thought, that looks a lot like Grape Pop from tkb... than I pulled it out to crosscheck and was excited to swatch side by side- it's like the matte best friend of grape pop! I was jazzed. I do love that color- This will be used.

Final thoughts. Full size shadows run between 3.50 and around six bucks. Jars packed to the tippy top and they don't leak all up inside your package. Shipping is super cheap. Everything came packaged well- see above "gets the job done" because it's still true. I really like these- I will be ordering again in the future. I'm eyeballing her lip whips and those solid fragrances they have. I would have liked a free sample, (maybe of something that needs a boost in sales?) I would have liked a buisness card or two because I give them out to people who ask whats on my eyes. Other than that I was really impressed. The costumer service is great- Hella nice chick. Love chatting with her, but if I didn't end up liking her shadows I would tell you. I'm honest like that.

Should you check out the site? Without a doubt. And the shipping and full size shadow/sample is low enough to get a couple few colors to try before committing to a huge order- which I love because I am so often broke - worth trying. Let me know what you got and what you thought! I'd love to hear from you! Also, follow me on twitter and I have a youtube that you are more than welcome to check out. I'm new to youtube though so be gentle hahaha. Oh! And I paid for all this stuffs. Duh, but it had to be said.

Alright! Comments and questions Welcome!
Thanks ya'll!

tweet! tube! tumblr! <--- my clicky's

-tits

Fyrinnae haul (my first!)

I came. I ordered. I waited...waited a little more (not too bad considering they had a sudden mass of orders that week) I received! I opened! I REJOICED!!! yaaaay

^check that sexy paper hahaha click all pictures for full image

As this was my first order, I was weary of getting my hopes up too high. The hype on the Pixie Epoxy alone gave me the heebie geebies (both good and bad ones,) I did my usual google searches and youtube haunts seeing what there was to see. I didn't see anything bad enough not to give it a try. I am no where near disappointed.

It came packed fort knox style (took me ten minutes to get into it hahaha) in a Standard plastic padded envelope plastered in clear tape (love that,) items where in a fold of cardboard, wrapped in a bag, inside some SUPER cute skull and crossbones tissue paper (epoxy came double wrapped in foamy wrap inside of all that!) Safe to say the thing was bomb proof.

Color Breakdown according to Robin:
(Top row left to right. Bottom row left to right)

• Electric Stardust(arcane magic): This color is easily in my top 8... heh heh. The color is more mermaid than I've ever seen... bright light cool green shifts to a Cool bright blue with gold iridescence. This color seems to make it's own light- Great lid/highlight color.
  

• Glitter Boi (arcane magic): A dark blue/black base (but not that sort of thing where it looks like a black with glitter floating in it) With tiny glitter that shit from blue to purple. So sparkly!

• We're all mad here (alice in wonderland collection): Love the name . The color is what made me want to make this order in the first place. When I first went on to make an order it was nowhere to be found- I thought I'd missed it. I was gutted. A week later I looked again and it was back! I ordered that night. It's a plush light green stuffed with light yellow (I'd call it) sparkle.
  

• Dressed to kill: Did they make this color because of Eddie Izzard? Because this reminds me of him! I can't put my finger on why- but it also shares the name of one of his comedy specials. HUGE Izzard fan! HUGE fan of this color. (Sirvinya did a look on youtube with this color that I think shows EXACTLY what this color looks like. Seek it out!) This one is in my top three!

• Velvet Vampire (arcane magic):I'm a little sick of vampires at this point... but this color is great! So wearable and yet still totally sexy. Shifts from an almost burgundy red to a plummy brown? With pink and gold iridescence -only in some lights! SO complex! The most fun to play with under a lamp. hahahaha I can't wait to wear it this fall!

• Rapunzel had extensions: Crazy color. Also one of my favorites- I've warn it twice and I've only had these for two days! hahaha Once in a pinup sort of eye- and once as a lid color against a darker crease - It's a peachy pink that rubs down to a peachy gold- never seen anything like it.
  

• Mephisto (halloween 2009): This one is my number one favorite color... possibly ever. It was an after thought when I was making the order- it was something I added at the last moment not expecting much more than a nice dark cranberry kinda color. No big whop. Wholly crap. When I opened these I was FLOORED by this color.. swatched it and I thought I was going to die. (I get drama like that over makeup sometimes hahaha) It's like this intense deep purple with like burgundy pearly sparkle type thing... ugh. magic.
  

• Dokkalfar (freebie):This one is nice. I like it- I have something like it in my sample drawer but this one is far superior to the other. this over pixie epoxy is CRAZYNESS. It's a true dark black base with ...I want to say it has green/gold/blueish tiny glitter - SO nice!

• Enchant (glow blush): I got this because... I had to! Look at it lol It's this bright warm orange with slight bits of pink shimmer. Not a ton. I hate shimmer in my blush... and I really love this blush. (if you want swatches or anything let me know)
  

^close up, artificial light (see above photo for names, they're in the same order here)

The pixie epoxy is everything everyone said it would be. No scent = awesome! Staying power is great. I did have to fiddle a bit with it to get it to work how I wanted but when I did I didn't know how I ever lived without it. I love glitter FAR too much to had never given this a whirl before now.

^ artificial light (over pixie epoxy:top row LtoR (mephisto,electric stardust, glitter boi, dokkalfar) Bottom row LtoR (We're all mad here, velvet vampire, Rapunzel had extensions, Dressed to kill)

^ partial Natural light (over pixie epoxy)Check out those color shifts! I love love love these!

Misc. Info:

Samples come on jars and are $2.00 us each.

Every order comes with a free sample (a little smaller in volume as the 2.00 sample jars)
Free shipping on orders over $20.00 us.
Shipping time will vary from time to time due to the minimal employee count (two people these days) - longer shipping times are a trade off for their huge samples due to the low overhead. Sweet.
If you have any questions they are butt fast at getting back with you and pride themselves on their customer service.
Read the site. Don't just blindly buy. They are a well of information- they're chalk full of NASA goodness and interesting facts. The details on every color are great. The photos are as close as you'd expect anyone to get. If you read a description, you wont be surprised by a color- you'll be shocked! hahaha but not surprised.


Final thoughts thus far :

I love that I have the ability to try this stuff and play with it a million ways and swatch to my little hearts content without feeling like I've wasted an opportunity to fall in love with & commit to a new color/product. I am fully aware that not every company- and in fact vary few small companies can afford to do it up like Fyrinnae can- But boy am I happy that this company can. I had a great experience with this site. I just did. I could log into the site and check the progress of my package -which I need because I'm crazy and want updates!- I'll be buying from them again without a doubt! Check them out :)

Any questions or comments are welcome. Annoy me freely hahaha

Thanks for reading it.

Tits, Robin

Ugh. That video. Good Gawd almighty. hahahaha why bottle up shame when you can POST it to the internet! Woot. Yeah, so this is where I'm going to post some shots of the makeup- I really love the stuff. Great price- Great product- just really great. Great. So are the samples I have. It's hard to take a really good picture of the glitter and shine of the liners but at such a great price you can go ahead and buy them- just get them and then tell everyone that I made you do it. And tell them to watch my videos... and subscribe...and don't forget my blog and twitter. Ahem, Okay! Here we go!

With flash And the liners are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to take a picture of . Which is awesome :) So swatches will be attempted further if you ask for them.

Thanks!
Sorry about the rushed feel- I'm rushing. :)

Breaking the seal: My first youtube video.

Do Over!

Got crazy there. Has settled enough to get back to it! What's it? Well, I wrote a long time ago and was getting kinda "known" ... sadly, that was a long time ago and now I'm starting from scratch and trying to please a new demographic! Daunt'tastic! I'm going to start with a little bit of mineral shadow review madness and see where I end up. If you happen across this- Please fallow- I get lonely. As you do find me I'd love to know whats going on in your head so shoot me a comment or stop by my twitter www.twitter.com/MovieTrollop and I'll be starting up that youtube in all my puffy baby weight glory in the next couple few here. When I do I'll chuck it on here to let you know. It's weird talking to potential people, who do not know as of yet that you are, in point of fact, drawing breath.

tits,
-MT