Entries for Wednesday June 30

Aromaleigh v1’s Lost in Faerie collection

Posted at 06:40 PM in Kits and collections • Rate or comment on this entry

Vendor: Aromaleigh v1
Availability: June/July 2010
Availability: from the company's blog (only through the blog)
Contains: 25 eye colors
Cost/Amount: USD$8.00 for 1.2 grams. Sample baggies also available.
Would you purchase again: yes

The final collection from Aromaleigh v1, previewed and debuted on various blogs in the second half of June but not made available for purchase until after the announcement of the company's closure. Samples were only available as the full set, while the fullsize jars were available individually. These colors were available through the blog, rather than through the regular site, to streamline the time required to program them all into the Aromaleigh v1 online storefront. This collection contained:

Alina — magenta berry sparkle
Annysia — sage green shimmer
Caelia — violet lavender shimmer
Calista — medium grey shimmer
Celinette — sun-gold shimmer
Cleantha — yellow orange shimmer
Donella — muted mauve brown shimmer
Eglantine — mauve berry shimmer
Ellette — greyed taupe shimmer
Elodie — evergreen with gold sparkle
Elysia — muted light blue shimmer
Emerenta — rich violet with blue shimmer
Erlina — medium golden green shimmer
Liriope — berry purple shimmer
Loxy — rosewood brown sparkle
Luella — medium apricot shimmer
Meliora — muted lavender blue sparkle
Naida — pewter lavender sparkle
Olinda — mid pink shimmer
Pherenice — periwinkle blue shimmer
Rosina — pale pink-white shimmer
Sorette — rosewood brown sparkle
Trixy — blued grey sparkle
Xylia — muted purple shimmer
Zanna — dark plum shimmer

I did not take advantage of the "blogger offer" for a promotional sample set, but now I'm almost wishing I did, since it's going to be the final collection. (Live and learn...) I was initially leery of choosing any fullsize colors from this collection, simply because I already have so many; but I did find some that looked just different enough that they'd make good additions. I chose to buy Alina, Elodie, Elysia, Loxy, Meliora, Naida, Sorette, and Trixy. I had initially shortlisted Cleantha, but after looking at some other swatch photos I decided against any of the oranges...though Luella was in the cart for a while. EDIT: I went back again. Yes, again. Ordered Annysia, Emerenta, Liriope, and Luella.

In terms of overall color and pigmentation levels, this collection reminded me of TSS' earlier collections, particularly Cinderella Dumped Her Fella. The colors ranged from medium-light to medium-dark, there was a goodly amount of sparkle (my repotting area looked like several pixies had sneezed when I was done), and the pigmentation levels were a little lighter than some Aromaleigh collections - most notably the stock collections.

Entries for Tuesday June 29

Zoya’s Uli

Posted at 03:27 PM in Nail Files • Rate or comment on this entry

Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
Availability: originally released in January 2007 as part of Zoya's Serendipity collection
Color Range: metallic peach-beige shimmer
Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
Would you purchase again: yes
Similar shades:

Got this in my final order from the Zoya Polish Exchange, when looking for two things: deep browns (I got three - maybe that was too many) and some softer, neutral colors. Uli is almost “mannequin hands” for me, but not quite. It’s just barely peach-gold enough that it does have color differentiation. I think it will make an excellent base for nail art, as well as a good “everyday” color.

Zoya’s Fawne

Posted at 10:14 AM in Nail Files • Rate or comment on this entry

Manufacturer: Zoya/Art of Beauty
Availability: originally released as part of Zoya's Re-Cher-Che collection
Color Range: metallic golden mauve shimmer
Staying Power: 4 out of 4 stars
Cost/Amount: USD$6 for 14 ml / .5 fl oz
Would you purchase again: yes
Similar shades:

Aromaleigh v1’s Victoria’s Revenge collection

Posted at 12:04 AM in Kits and collections • Rate or comment on this entry

Vendor: Aromaleigh v1
Availability: June/July 2010
Availability: from the company's webstore
Contains: 25 eye colors
Cost/Amount: USD$8.00 for 1.2 grams. Sample baggies also available.
Would you purchase again: yes

The first full-release limited edition collection of 2010, released in early June (but previewed all over blogs in late May.) This collection contained:

Airy Ethos — burnished gold sparkle
Apocolypse Pansy — medium-deep violet sparkle
Bleeding Poppy — plum purple sparkle
Brazen and Bitter — golden mid-orange sparkle
Cyanide Sorrow — medium mauve sparkle
Freakshow — khaki gold sparkle
Frigid Gloom — clear medium blue sparkle
Gaslight Tears — muted violet-plum sparkle
Infernal Chaos — slight-pink beige sparkle
Magick & Metal — deep mauve-plum sparkle
Mania's Locus — duochrome violet blue-silver sparkle
Mayhem's Trilogy — leaf-green sparkle
Mourning's Whimsy — bright violet sparkle
Nightshade — dark charcoal blue sparkle
Obscura — navy sparkle
Oleander Vapor — medium mauve-pink sparkle
Perpetual Motion — medium warm red-brown sparkle
Phantasm — dusty medium violet sparkle
Poison Utopia — dark purple sparkle
Private Lunacy — medium olive green sparkle
Ruthless Indulgence — deep red-purple sparkle
Scratched Scruples — muted sapphire blue sparkle
Skeleton Key — muted silver-grey sparkle (sold out mid-June 2010)
Splintered — blackened teal sparkle
Tarnished Strychnine — silver evergreen sparkle

The on-site descriptions were more flowery and poetic than actually descriptive. The various blog swatches, in different lighting conditions and on different media (some on a primer or base, some foiled, some dry) helped me make my decision more than the color descriptions. There was apparently a contest in the works to get people to submit descriptions for these colors - which I did not take part in, because my descriptions all tend to be very basic and straightforward and I had a feeling that the owner was looking for artistic more than "working" descriptions.

When I placed my first order for these colors, the only color that had sold out was Skeleton Key - a nice enough silver-grey sparkle that I nonetheless wasn't intending to get because I already had several greys and silvers, and this one didn't look that remarkably different from the ones I already owned (BE's Sterling Silver, EDM's Silver Spoon.) I wavered on Gaslight Tears, which so many blogs talked up, because I really didn't need another purple. (I ended up getting it anyway.) I also deliberated about Freakshow, because I was concerned that it might be too yellow a brown.

When I placed my first order - and three days later, when I placed a "second-passthrough" order right after Aromaleigh v1's closure announcement - the color Infernal Chaos was still an available choice on the dropdown menu. All told, I ordered three jars of that color. Unfortunately, when my first order arrived, instead of two jars of Infernal Chaos there was a handwritten note in the invoice that the color had sold out, and the money had been credited back to my Paypal account. It had indeed been credited back...for both orders...but dang, I was looking forward to that color!! Still, since it was a neutral, there's a better-than-average chance of my finding similar colors in other vendors' collections.

The majority of these colors are very, very sparkly. In that, they remind me slightly of the Bete Noire collection. When I was done repotting my colors from this collection, the counter looked like several pixies had sneezed. Pigmentation-wise, these are less pigmented than other Aromaleigh collections - especially the stock collections. The colors are pretty, but not as easily substantial.

Entries for Monday June 28

Everyday Minerals’ Prettier in Pink

Posted at 07:25 PM in Eye Candy • Rate or comment on this entry

Manufacturer: Everyday Minerals
Availability: from the online storefront; part of the regular eyeshadow line.
Color Range: coral-petal pink sheen
Staying Power: 2 out of 4 stars
Cost/Amount: Before Sept 2010: $6 for a 10-gram jar with sifter / 2.5 grams (or, with the 45% beauty perk, $3.30 for 2.5 grams)
Would you purchase again: possibly
Similar shades: