Tweaking the Conservatorie's foundi

Added a touch of Grape, extremely small amount of Blueberry and silica microspheres, a half teaspoon of boron glow and three full teaspoons of TiO2 to the Conservatorie's mix (6-7 teaspoons of it - do not have an exact measuring device) - result - DAMN! too light - I've not been able to say this for years. Beautiful glowing pinkish-grayish powder in the jar and white on the face - unfortunately my neck seems too yellow now...
Coverage and adhesion are both excellent, the texture is creamy. Had to use mom's coffee grinder to mix it up though - the tiny unmixed granules of Grape streaked...

In daylight - it's a match on my neck... how the hell is this possible? And the lady downstairs commented on my beautiful flawless skin :D. Oh what a happy day...

The TKB haul is here

Friday the 13th and there's finally a note in my mailbox telling me to come and pick up my parcel.

Some pictures of the haul:
The little round thingies in the picture are samples of Blackest Black and Crucible Khaki - the expensive piggies, that are only 1 teaspoon per sample. They are packed into clamshell-jars. They're not mine and I did not dare to open them - they look potentially messy :S.

I did not bother to take a picture of the boron glow sample and the 1 ounce TiO2 and silica microspheres baggies - they're just white powders.

So have spent a happy and exhausting day swatching the stuff. I spent 3 hours potting all my new piggies... The best way to get them potted was to lift the pigments out of the plastic bag using a teaspoon.


These samples are BIG - they fill a 25ml Sarstedt jar with no problem.

Some of the colors bare the same names as the Conservatorie's but are not exactly the same. First of all - the sample sizes differ significantly:

And the colors are not a match either (see Antique Gold):

For the record: I like Conservatorie's version of the Antique Gold a lot more - more gold and less black pigment in it.

I am in love with browns and golds at the moment and so it's naturally to be expected that they make up the most part of the haul (some Conservatorie's browns are also added for comparison):

Antique Copper - medium brown with copper sheen and orange sparkle
Antique Gold - has strong dark grey undertone if rubbed, a tad too dark for me
Athena Mica - perfect shiny purplish brown, very elegant
Australian Amber - shimmery light brown
Bronze Fine - beige with strong metallic sheen
Bronze Mica
Bronzed Gold - looks like red gold, would make a decent bronzer
Chameleon Fine - exact match to Simply Naturals Moca, beautiful reddish brown with silvery shimmer
Copper Penny - unbelievably bright metallic dark orange
Glimmer Beige - glimmery neutral
Honey Mica - extremely glittery, needs a good eyeshadow base
Mermaid's Gold - reminds me of Zion Views, more coverage and more yellow pigment
Moonstone Mica - seems matte medium brown, blends well
Swiss Chocolate Mica - beautiful rish dark brown with some gold sparkle
Zion Views - same as Conservatories Xian Vistas

And the pinks (with some browns for comparison):

Dusty Rose - not pink at all to my surprise
Winter Rose - looks like Archetype's Silk & Cyanide
Ivory Lace - skin colored shiny highlighter

Dusty Rose is NOT pink, it has a very strong coppery sheen - weird, methinks.

And the miscellaneous greens etc:

Blackstar Blue - black with blue sheen
Starlight Green - warm yellowish green sparkle
Ocean Green - beautiful light blue with gold sheen
Sparkle Turquoise
Pisces Blue - beautiful light blue with gold sheen with more sparkle
A Breath of Spring - like Archetype's Weeping Willow
Sparkle - more silvery sparkle
Satin White - pretty good coverage

And last but not the least: the Pop! Collection (gonna use this one to mix new shadows and tweak the ones I already have but do not like). Very vibrant and with good coverage.

Lemon Drop, Green Apple, Blueberry, Grape, Tangerine, Strawberry, Raspberry

(I think MAD Minerals Big Apple is mostly Raspberry.)

Not all these piggies are mine, about half of them will go to their separate ways.

Also ordered 7 of the 20gr stackable jars. I can safely say that there is NO WAY IN HELL one of these samples will fit in a 20 gr jar. So my friends just have to fill out their jars and stash the rest of the piggies away. It seems to me that the stackable jars are smaller than ordinary 20 gr jars - they have extra space under them to accommodate the next jar's rim.

The first thing I did in the morning was to wear my new colors, here are the results:

And here are all my multi-use piggies in their box:

PS! I think I am gonna be quite sorry that I have stored my Simply Naturals piggies upside down...

Threading the eyebrows

I watched this Youtube post and tried to imitate it. I think I did something wrong, because my eyelids were seriously damaged after this. I mean - I could see blood, the tiny hairs were not pulled out at the right angle. My eyelids have hurt for two days now...
Glittering eyeshadows help to hide the puffiness, overall redness and incrustations. I presume it would have helped had I had just 2 more arms to hold the skin on the eyelids more firmly.
What the hell did I do wrong? On the videos the people just slide the thread on the skin and the hair is removed.
I'll stick to my tweezers...

(3 days later)

Uus või pigem igivana meetod kulmukarvade kitkumiseks: võtad veidi niiti, seod otsad kokku ja hakkad "vurri mängima". kahjuks ei tõmmanud see meetod mu kulmukarvu pärikarva välja ja jättis mu laud veidi veriseks (karv tuli ära koos tillukese naharibaga - ei soovita). Seda on vist parem lasta kellelgil teisel teha, sest mõistlik oleks laugudel olev nahk selle protseduuri ajaks pingule tõmmata. Karvaeemaldusmeetodina on see väga efektiivne.

My tiny Archetype haul is finally here

Took it long enough - almost 4 months.

The foundation samples I ordered for my friends (5 samples, 15 USD incl shipping) and my own order (2 full foundies, 2 small pigments and some samples totalling 31,75 USD incl shipping) arrived at the same time in different envelopes. They were shipped out on the same day too, January 27.

The foundation samples are in darker tones then the foundations I wear myself. It will be interesting to swatch them.

As for me - I've got full size foundations in Striptease formula Level 1 Yellow Beige for day wear and Level 1 Pink Beige for evening wear (the first tones down the redness of my face during the day and the latter supposedly helps to give a more radiant look to me in the artificial light - the theory is yet to be tested). I am a little disappointed that the foundies are only 20gr jars - they will not last long.

Also ordered some small eye shadows: Burlesque Revival (on the homepage described as:

"Looks dove grey in the pot, and in the picture, but when applied it reveals a spectacular pinkish iridescence and a moderate silver sparkle. Applies fairly opaque."

and Erotic Underground (on the homepage described as:

"Flat out gorgeous color- this one has a velvety grey satiny silverypink look straight on, but tip it to the side and see it change to a blackened green, and has a tiny bit of blue sparkles. Looks very multidimensional when applied, like several shades rolled into one.";

I have begun not to like the last one - too dark for me) and some more multi-use pigment samples - they are so affordable, I could not resist: Madame Terpsichore, Dirty Blonde, Epiphany, Silk&Cyanide and Angel Dust have been now added to my collection.

The foundies I am going to swatch later on are:
Yellow Beige Lev 1
Yellow Beige Lev 2
Yellow Beige Lev 3
Pink Beige Lev 1
Neutral Lev 2
Neutral Lev 3
... all in Striptease formula. According to the Archetype homepage the Striptease formula consists of:

"Striptease Contains: Titanium Dioxide (77891), Zinc Oxide, Mica (77019), Boron Nitride, Silicon Dioxide, Polymethylhydrogen Siloxane, Iron Oxides (77499, 77491)."

They also carry a very minimalist formula called In the Buff for those who wish to entirely avoid any man-made substances (that one is completely matte, Striptease has an in-built sheen, which I absolutely adore).


The samples in this haul:

Angel Dust
Apocalypse Meow
Autumn Leaves
Child of Hounds
Dirty Blonde
Dungeon
Epiphany
Fool in the Rain
Lisa's Busted Camaro
Madame Terpsichore
Silk&Cyanide
Spun Sugar
Starfall
The Oak King
Xibalba

The haul:

Full sized foundies (20gr) and mini eye shadows (5gr)

Eyeshadow and blush samples:

Now the foundation swatches:

(dry application, no primer) just in case - another photo too:Swatches of the samples
(dry application, no primer)
All the Archetype browns I have:
(dry application, no primer)
All the Archetype pinks:
(dry application, the upper ones are applied on Manhattan Cosmetics eye shadow base but there seems to be no difference - they are so shiny the camera is unable capture the colors)
EOTD in browns:


Absolutely love this foundation...
no primers, no nothing - looks absolutely flawless on it's own

Eyeshadow primer - to buy or not to buy? or rather: which one to buy...

Eyeshadow primer is something that tweaks the piggies into decent wearable eyeshadows - most of the piggies are supposed to be mixed with additives to add adherence and with that, staying power (the more glitter, the more urgent will be the need for primer...). Primer is a "get out of jail" free card for those who would like to skip the mixing-part. A primer makes anything stay put on your lids - be it straight mica or a bad eyeshadow.

So now I have to choose - primer or a lot of mixing?

Nah, isn't really even a choice, gotta hit the stores during the weekend and look at the available merchandise.

The cheapest option would be Manhattan's eye shadow primer (on sale atm) but I do not have the ingredients list. The TKB forum also mentioned water based lubricant as an alternative for those with sensitive eyes. :P Makes sense though - who would put anything toxic near an area as sensitive as THAT? The question remains - does it actually work...

Archetype Yellow Beige 1 as foundation
Manhattan Cosmetics eye shadow primer
Archetype Dirty Blonde under the brow
Conservatorie's Dark Bronze in the crease
Conservatorie's Chameleon Glitter all over lid

And a second try: covered the lids with primer and then applied the micas.

Xian Vistas All over lid
Salmon Interference as highlighter
foundation: Archetype's Yellow Beige 1
EDM's Pick Me Up Bisque as blush

Later addition:

Praised be the almighty Internet - contacted the wholesaler and they graciously provided me with an ingredients list:

INGREDIENTS:

C11-12 Isoparaffin – mingi mineraalõli derivaat
Talc - talk
Mica - vilk (silikaat e räni e kvarts)
Cera Microcristallina – järjekordne mineraalõli derivaat
Polyethylene – mürgine, sellest tehakse kilekotte (the only component which was unfavorably described)
VP/Hexadecene Copolymer - sünteetiline polümeer
Tocopheryl Acetate - sünteetiliselt valmistatud rasvlahustuv E vitamiin, võib olla allergeen
Bisabolol - valmistatakse kummelist või toodetakse sünteetiliselt, nahka rahustav aine
Propylparaben - säilitusaine, looduses võib käituda kunstliku östrogeenina, tundub, et ladestub vähesel määral inimese kudedes, mõju inimesele alles uurimisel, parabeene hakati laiemalt kasutama alles alates 1920ndatest kui naftakeemiatööstus kiiresti arenedes einevaid sünteetilisi molekule ehitama hakkas.

CI 77891 TiO2
CI 77492 Fe2O3 (Ferric Oxide, Hematite, red iron oxide, synthetic maghemite, colcothar, or simply - rust)
CI 77491 Fe3O4 (Triiron tetraoxide - seems to be virtually the same stuff as the next compound - probably some slight alteration in the molecular structure which determines the pigment's color or some other physical characteristics)
CI 77499 Fe3O4 (Ferrosoferric oxide aka magnetite)

IMHO: Manhattan Cosmetics Base Line Eyeshadow Base is relatively safe, contains just 1 preservative (although there are 4 other petrochemical substances in it too, mostly different variations of mineral oil) and the amount of ingredients is remarkably low.
Will go shopping.

Later addition:

All EOTDs will from now on be made using this:


The consistency is that of a thick creme and the color is light (pinkish-beige?) skin color with tiny sparkles. Price: approx 5.60 USD

Enamus mu värve on pigmentidena st et neisse pole sisse segatud aineid, mis aitaksid värvil lau külge kinnituda. Lahenduseks on kas segada vajalikud pulbrid ise sinna sisse või hankida silmameigi aluskreem. Kergem on poest silmameigi aluskreem hankida :D.
Häda vaid selles, et nood on väga imelike koostistega - mitut eri liiki säilitusainet jne... Manhattan tundus neist kõigist hinna ja ka koostisosade poolest parim olema. Töötab hästi - hommikul peale kantud pigmendid pole ka tööpäeva lõpuks veel lauvakku kokku jooksnud.