TKB oxides

Got them last year but never got as far as to swatch them. Missing here are  the Blackest Black matte tone (black iron oxide mixed with ultramarine blue, therefore also not lip safe) and Paris Pink matte tone (ultramarines, not to be used on lips), that I have already potted and made use of, one as a black eyeliner and the other one as blush.

Swatches applied dry, no primer: Ochre Iron Oxide, Yellow Oxide, Ultramarine Pink (not lip safe), Chromium Oxide Green (not to be used on lips), Ferric Ferrocyanide (not to be used on lips; never put this one anywhere near acid! ever heard of cyanide gas?), Red Oxide 170, Dark Brown Oxide, Brown Oxide Opps.
Oxides are pigments for making eyeshadows, foundations etc. Not meant to be used as they are - drying, uncomfortable chalky texture. It's recommended to grind them with TKB Tradings eyeshadow base, the result will be a matte product. TKB issued a matte eyeshadow recipe book too, last year. Will come in handy.

They can be used straight (wet) as liners though, very effective. It has been suspected that Simply Naturals' Fern is Chromium Oxide green in undiluted form. I forgot to buy Ultramarine Blue, Manganese Violet and Hydrated Chromium Oxide Green ... :S

EOTD Mermaid's Gold with Athena

Today it's (TKB Trading's) Mermaid's Gold (inner corners) and Athena (outer V). Mermaid's Gold on its own and when applied dry is a very nice sheer greenish gold. Athena is one of the few TKB colors that can be worn without a primer for at least half a day and that blends wonderfully. Very wearable color, wholeheartedly recommended.

Foundi was Archetype Cosmetics' Yellow Beige level 1 in Striptease formulation (also on the browbone and under the eyes). Blush is TKB's Apricot, ELF's Rosy Raisin on the lips. Manhattan's eyeshadow primer and Lumene's Blueberry Curl are also present. Even used the ELF brown eyeliner pencil - yes, it is rather harsh on the eyes, reviewers are right on that. The horseface will be removed soon and replaced by the usual eyeswatch.

EOTD's Breath of Spring After Twilight and Smokey XXX in Antique Silver

Yesterday's look in (TKB Trading's)  Smokey XXX (lid) and Antique Silver (crease, outer V) was a bit too dark for the office. Lately I tend to pick colors that are too similar and there's not enough contrast.
Smokey XXX is the perfect smokey eye color for pale skin. Picture taken 9 hrs after application and again, one eye is creasing. This time I used the Manhattan's primer so it has to be my eyes that behave weird and not the primers. Right eyelid sweats more???

Today's look (pic taken just after application) is about greens again. (TKB Trading's) Twilight, After Twilight and Aquarius are all part of the same color-type, watery grayish smoky greens. Aquarius is the greenest of them. Colors used here are After Twilight (outer V) and Breath of Spring (all over lid). Breath of Spring is actually rather sheer but this is not so noticeable irl. I always forget the liner... but this time I at least remembered to curl the eyelashes . :)

Note to self: eyebrows seem kinda bushy... I really would have needed those bloody ELF tweezers I reordered.

EOTD Lucky Aquarius

These are TKB's colors again: Aquarius with Lucky Green. Aquarius is based on chromium oxide green and ferric ferrocyanide - this means that when one rubs it, the black oxides won't be there to show through - it just becomes more blue-green instead of murky gray. The black fallout on my face is street dust - it's windy today and I just came from walking the dog.

Lucky Green is part of the Irish Eye set and is a cheerful turquoise greenish marvel with some golden sparkle. It's ingredients are not pure MMU, also contains some lake dyes (so does the dark green Dublin), Limerick is the only pure MMU eye pigment in that set.

These photos are taken in the evening, 10 hrs after application. I used the E.L.F. mineral eye shadow primer, the very runny one - for some reason one of my eyes creased like mad but the other one looks presentable still. I do not have much faith in that primer, deservedly so I'd like to think.

Here's a color experiment from last weekend. This is what one gets by mixing Green Apple with Raspberry (The Pop! sampler) adding a touch of Travel to Pluto. Not my color, I looked as if I spent half the night crying. It really looks more reddish irl. The sheen was marvelous though! I think it was Travel to Pluto that accomplished this.

And as last: something scary from yesterday. Copper Penny as mono color. I had the same color shirt too that day... still too scary though.

Notice: upcoming blogsale in May...

I need cash - therefore I'm planning to monetize some of the stuff I have gathered so far (brushes and ELF shadows brand new and unused):

some TKB micas (you can tell me the colors you want, I was thinking on the lines of 2 EUR (35kr) per a full 5 gr jar+shipping (first come, first served  -  bigger choice of colors for the first pickers, feel free to browse through the TKB swatches); I could also pack them in baggies, those are somewhat cheaper);

some E.L.F. mineral eye shadows (Elegant, Confident, Wild);

an EDM LHK

an ELF blending brush

and other tiny unmentionables I cannot recall at the moment.

I do not add prices for the lot just now since I need to calculate those first.

Paypal would be the preferred method of payment and I'll ship all over Europe, kodumaast rääkimata. 

E-mail address is LiisK at hotmail dot com

Maikuus tulevad pakkumisele TKB Tradingu vilgusegud ja oksiidid (kui vasakult poolt leheserva vaadata, siis klikata märksõnal "TKB Trading"). Everyday Minerals'i long handled kabuki ja  ülalmainitud E.L.Fi mineraallauvärvid ka.

Pigmentide pressimine ja saadaolevad paletid

Ma tahan osta palette ja proovida ise pressimist, et oma meigilasu vähem "plahvatusohtlikuks" muuta. Pidev topside kinni-lahti keeramine on närvesööv. Siin oleks see valik, mis eBayst ja mujalt silma jäänud (Z-palette ja tema TKB analoogi jätsin hetkel valikust välja, need on papist).

Olen otsustanud, et mind huvitavad suured, 28-kohalised paletid 26 mm pannidega (vist suurimad, mis saadaval). eBay on täis selliseid (odavaim pakkumine 4 USD tk+7USD shipping):

Kahjuks nii suuri magnetiseeritult saada pole: StarsMakeupHaven müüb magnetiseeritud 28-kohalisi palette vaid koos lauvärvidega (vt see stiilne iludus siin allpool):

(muide, neid palette seal siiski müüakse 15 USD tükk (+8 USD shipping)- lihtsalt et kodulehe värvivalik nii perversne, et helesinine "next" ei ole mu kuvaril kuigi hästi nähtav)

Väiksemaid 12-kohalisi Coastal Scentsi magnetiseeritud palette pole jälle mõtet vaadata - liiga väikesed, kõik mu rohelised, rääkimata juba kuldsetest-pruunidest ei mahuks ühte paletti äragi...

Veel on selliseid, ilma pannideta Sleek Chic palette (eBays ca 2 USD millele lisandub shipping 10USD), kuhu sisse käib 2 kihis kokku 20 panni (aga ma ei loe müüja kodulehelt välja, kas 36 mm või 26 mm läbimõõduga pannid - TKBst tellisin nimelt 26 mm panne):

Mille kasuks küll otsustada? Mulle endale tundub, et käiku lähevad need odavaimad 4-dollarilised... veidi kummiliimi ja käravad küll.

I want to get some palettes to press my eyeshadow pigments in but cannot choose. My ideal one would be a magnetized 28 piece one from StarsMakeupHaven but those are not sold as empty palettes (note actually they are sold there, 15 bucks per piece, its just that the "next" does not show up on my screen cause of being light blue - but sooo expensive!). 12 slots is not enough - I'd like to get all the colors of one color group into one palette...

Eriliselt odav variant oleks E.L.F.i custom compact: mahutab 4 värvi ning maksab dollari (tühjalt)... Väike iseenesest aga reisile minnes ning meigikotis kaasaskandmiseks täiesti piisav. Probleem on kättesaadavuses :D.

Meigivaba päev ja MicaBella

(English summary is at the bottom)

Meigivaba päeva lõpetuseks seadsin sammud kaubamajja ja läksin MicaBellat vaatama. Asukoht on tõesti suurepärane - Viru Keskuse aatriumis. See tähendab, et päevasel ajal on väga hea loomulik valgustus ja pigmentide õige toon kohe näha. Minu juhendajaks sattus Kärt, kellele see oli tema jutu järgi ka esimene tööpäev. Proovisime foundisid ning tegime silmameiki.

MicaBella heledaim meigipõhi on minu jaoks hetkel tume, suveks sobilik. Tundub, et MicaBella valikus ei ole heledat, külma tooni meigipõhja. Puuder ise on struktuurilt sarnane EDMi original glo retseptuurile, siidine ja kerge. Katvuse saavutamiseks vaja mitut kihti. Hinda unustasin küsida, ju see 500-600 ringis on ning tops tundus olema 30-40 gr per volume (tavaliselt kiputakse kõige rohkem 20 gr per volume suurusi kasutama, EDM'il 25 gr per volume). Loomulik valgus hakkas sel hetkel juba kaduma ja ma ei saanud hästi aru, kas põhi on läikega või mitte, mulle tundus matt.

Silmavärvid meenutasid mulle straight mica'sid, matte ma nende seas ei märganud. Must oli vist matt. Nahale swatchituna tundus koostis sama kui mu TKB omadel, minu meelest vajavad kindlasti primerit. Ilusad erksad värvid, 10 gr per volume karbid ning ilma allahindluseta 250 kr tükk. Pruune oli ilus valik.

Pintslid tundusid ok, puudripintsel veidi kriipis aga lauvärvipintsel (väikse kaldega) oli väga pehme, seda kohe lausa soovitaks (jällegi, hinda ma ei küsinud). MicaBella pintslid müüvat väga hästi, Kärdi pintslipõll oli päeva lõpuks juba kaunis hõre :D. Kärdile unustasin öelda, et müümise mõttes oleks parim, kui tal oleks seal käepärast ka silmapliiats või siis peenike laineripintsel - kui lainerijoon/ripsmed värvimata siis ei pääse meik 100% mõjule. Võibolla tuleks töövahendite hulka panna ka ripsmekoolutaja.

Kärt oli väga tore ja kui teda võtta MicaBella konsultandikoolituse etalonina, on meil väga vedanud. Ma loodan, et ta vaatab kõvasti youtube'i tutoriale ning väänab käesolevast materjalist välja maksimumi, annet tundus olevat. Väga meeldiv ja üldsegi mitte pealetükkiv kohtlemine, eesti kultuuriruumi jaoks ideaalne.

Hinnad tundusid soolased, minusugusele rotile isegi väga - aga eks mulle olegi netishoppamine südamelähedasem. Eks laisem/vähem riskialdis klient peagi veidi juurde maksma: konsultant aitab võtteid tutvustada ja tooted on vabalt näppimiseks välja laotud.

Üks asi, mida tahaks Gloriale südamele panna - koolitusel tuleb müüjatele tutvustada ka teisi mineraalmeigibrände, sest on väga tobe, kui ma nt ütlen et "jah, mul on küll mineraalkosmeetikat: Everyday Mineralsi puudrid või TKB Tradingu silmapigmendid" ütleb müüja mulle, et sry aga need pole mineraalkosmeetika. Müüja üleolev suhtumine kliendi enda kogemustesse/teadmistesse põhjustabki paksu verd, seda mainitaksegi päris sageli ka nendes ameerikamaa foorumites.

Maailmas on palju muud mineraalmeiki kuid koolitusel vist jäetakse müüjatele mulje nagu oleks MicaBella üks vähestest. Enamus kliente on muidugi mineraalmeigi vallas täielikud noovitsid kuid sekka satub ka rahvast, kes asja väga hästi jagavad. Hea oleks, kui müüja oleks vähemalt sama hästi informeeritud kui tema potentsiaalne klient.


Kui klient kunagi peaks mainima oma jutu sees, et tal õrn/allergiline nahk, soovitaksin küll müügijutu sisse lisada lause, et "nagu kõigega, ei saa ka mineraalkosmeetikaga olla 100% kindel, et allergilist reaktsiooni ei teki - proovime täna, jätke ööseks nahale ja kui sobib, tulge palun järgmine kord uuesti ning ostke siis kaasa." Igal võimalikul juhul tuleks reklaamijutt jätta miinimumi peale, olla võimalikult aus ja lihtsalt toodet tutvustada. Toode on hea ja müüb ennast ise.

Peaks nädalavahetusel uuesti minema, mõned swatchid tegema. Kas keegi peale minu on veel märganud, et MicaBellal peaaegu et polegi swatche netis?

Today was the "Wear no makeup day" aka "Makeup-free day" in Estonia so it's only natural that at the end of the day I'll indulge myself somewhat. This little post is about me visiting the MicaBella counter today. Expensive as expected but Estonian salespeople are not pushy and very polite and all in all I had a lovely chat. Foundations are on the sheer side, to get coverage one has to build it up in layers. I'm too pale for MicaBella, their lightest would be wearable in July or so.

Eyeshadows remind me of straight micas, imho primer is a must. Most colors seem to be sparkly, foundation in artificial light seemed matte. Brushes looked ok and the slanted eyeshadow brush, I guess it was a blending brush, seemed excellent.

I think I should visit the kiost again during week-end and make some pics too - has anyone else also noticed that there are practically no swatches of MicaBella's stuff available online?

The versatile Antique Silver

Next to Moonstone, Athena and Ivory Lace I think there's one more TKB color that suits everyone - Antique Silver. It goes well with most other colors, blends quite well and does not look pretentious. Does not look like much when you first see it (color of wet asphalt).

Look is done with Ocean Green (damn, the blue is not my color! no matter what I do with it) and Antique Silver, a tad of Travel to Neptune in inner corners. Travel to Neptune reminds me of Hilite Blue, I'm yet to see the color shift in daylight. Maybe it'll be more noticeable in artificial light. Most pigments become very sparkly then.

I blended too much... it would look better if I had left more darkness in the upper part of outer V. Now I just made myself downwards slanting "sad eyes" :S It only shows when the eyes are closed.

Green Apples in Antique Silver

TKB's Green Apple in inner corner
Antique Silver in outer V
no primer, colors look a bit faded, everything applied dry as usual
lasted about 3 hrs, then started to crease

EDM's Fair and Conservatorie's Caramel Light mixed as foundi
Used the eyelash curlers today, eyes look enormous.
Pictures taken in daylight.

My skin has turned really bad, must be something I ate.

Värvid on peale kantud kuivalt, aluskreemita - pidas vastu ca 3 tundi, siis hakkas lauvakku kogunema. Mulle tundub, et ripsmekoolutajatel on täitsa pointi - silmad suured ja punnis nagu navi'l. Nahk seevastu on täitsa hull - igapäevane veinijoomine ma ütlen, tuleb maha jätta.

EOTD Mermaid's Gold on Ocean Green

Colors used are:

Ocean Green all over lid

Mermaid's Gold wet as upper liner

EDM's Fair Neutral Foundation in intensive

Garnet+eyeshadow base mix as blush
E.L.F. mineral eyeshadow primer
E.L.F. mineral lipstick in Pouty Petal

Neck is the same color as the face - perfect.

E.L.F. mineral lipstick in Pouty Petal

EOTD Black Amethyst in Twilight

Colors used are: TKB Trading's Twilight dry all over lid and Black Amethyst wet as liner. Foundi is the Minerals.Planet (Estonian webstore) foundation in Fair (we suspect she sells Coastal Scents foundi) which is also used on the brow bone. Garnet mixed with The Conservatorie's foundi in Caramel Light (50:50 mix) as blush. Forgot the eyeshadow primer, the pigment sticks quite well on it's own too.

Mineral makeup is not very covering. At least this particular blend is not - needs the concealer underneath. Here's a before and after for you to decide yourself. I think the result is better then the bare skin. This MMU has trouble covering big blemishes but (like all MMU) works wonders evening out the skin-tone.

Minerals.Planet'i poolt müüdav foundi (JJ-lt laenatud) pole kõige katvam kuid tal on mõnus siidine struktuur. Kehvema nahaga rahvas peaks ostma ka peitepuudri, mida probleemkohtadele paksemalt peale kanda enne meigipõhja tegemist. Ma kasutasin pärastpoole ka mingit veil'i, pilti ei teinud. Unustan alati viimistluspuudreid kasutada sest ei saa hästi aru nende otstarbest.

TKB Trading reds

Hilite Red - warm pinkish sheen, excellent over a dark base (if you have the Hilite collection no need to go and get the E.L.F. eyeshadow transformer - these are it)
Garnet - sheer pinkish blush
Strawberry - warmer sort of red but not really a warm color
Raspberry - dark pink
Hot Mama - this is the closest to true red that I've got
Chameleon Fine - has orangeish red base with turquoise sheen
Crucible Red - Dark red, turns orangeish golden when mixed into nail polish
Blackstar Red - black with tiny red sparkles.

Swatches done both wet and dry over primer.

Simply Natural's... for cheapo's like me :D

Simply Natural's was the first source of cheap piggies I discovered. A lot of their inventory comes from (it's a guess, I could be wrong) TKB Trading  but Tina makes custom blends too. Pics are not helpful at all and descriptions... lets say people see colors differently. I made 2-3 purchases and by now I have given most of them away to friends. I bought colors that were not for me (beware the awful orangeness of Shock - matte orange). The good ones that I still use are Cafe Satin, Sandlewood, Heliotrope, Twilight, sometimes Primrose as sparkly blush.

The reason I bring it up - I thought the eBay store has raised the prices by a third but a closer look revealed that the price has only gone up by the amount of shipping (that was usually some 4,5 USD) - now they offer free international shipping :D.

The 99 cent auctions are gone :S though. I think she's putting more emphasize on her web store. She has started offering foundations (nothing for pale gurls though) and veils etc. She also used to offer palettes but those are gone now (she pressed her piggies into palettes). I'm sad to say those are no longer available.

Last but not the least, definitely not least is the link to My Beauty Imprint, who ordered a huge haul from Simply Natural's and took the trouble to swatch them all. Kudos!

NB! Need pole valmissegatud lauvärvid vaid enamuses kõik poolfabrikaadid, Simply Natural's on repacker. Kuna kõik ei vaja ka kotitäit pigmenti, siis on tema töö ümberpakkijana vägagi tore ainult et tooted vajavad meigialuskreemi, eriti igasugused särapulbrid. Topsid on 5 gr per volume, kilesse pakitud ning minu meelest odavad ning saatmiskulu taskukohane. Näiteks TKB-l on miinimumtellimus ca 20 USD ning shipping veel 10-14 USD otsa. Meie siin aga peame arvestama käibemaksupiiriga, mis on 22 eurot ehk siis 344 kohalikku tugrikut ning Simply Natural's seega tore käibemaksuvaba ostukoht. Kätte saab küll koguseliselt vähem (teelusikatäis vs supilusikatäis) kui TKB'st aga see-eest juba purgikestesse pakitult. Toonide väljavalimine on keeruline, tuleb googeldada ja swatche otsida, et õigest toonist aimu saada..

EOTD Limerick Storm

Subtle, so very me. Makes the eyes seem gray though. TKB Trading's Storm in outer corners, Limerick all over lid and on top of it. All applied dry. Foundation today is EDM's Fair Neutral in intensive, EDM's Pearl Sunlight under the eyes. TKB Trading's Garnet as blush - I should mix it with the eyeshadow base, I feel it was too bright. Forgot the liner.

Eyebrows are starting to look like Brook Shields'. Damn it E.L.F., where are my tweezers I ordered more then a month ago?!? (Later addition: were lost in the mail, all refunded :S)

Ordered some more Sarsted jars too for all those TKB samples still without a jar but who's going to pick them up from the wholesalers at the other side of the town? I'm still crippled... Doc says to wear the bandage one more month. I already have friends and family to walk the dog for me, don't know how much longer they can keep it up.