Saturday, September 25, 2010

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.

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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.




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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
































Tuesday, September 14, 2010

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