Carpe Noctem Minerals!

Good evening zombies!

I'm coming at you tonight with a new indie makeup company new on the scene called Carpe Noctem Minerals which can be found on Etsy. Carpe Noctem is run by Veronica who use to own a popular indie brand a few years back. She's returned with a new company and a new vibe.

Carpe Noctem means "Seize the Night" and this is the new mission statement for Carpe Noctem:

"We specialize in the glamorous and the daring! Our products are specifically designed with the nightlife in mind!! Here you will find versatile, bold color and sparkle galore! We have what you need for your inner diva to shine bright like a diamond and slay, slay, slayyy!!

We are currently adding inventory, so keep checking back! Our stock includes many Limited Edition items that will never be seen again, so if you find something you like, jump on it!! Because once it's gone, it could be gone forever.

But never fear... We also have many core items and shades that will be available at all times! :)

Feel free to message us with any questions!

We love and appreciate all of our customers so much! We hope you all continue to slay the day and SEIZE THE NIGHT!!!"

Veronica was sweet enough to reach out to me and ask if I'd try out her new products. She sent me 3 full sized eyeshadow (10 gram sifter jars with 1.5 tsp of product) and a "GLITZ", which is CNM's name for cosmetic grade glitter (15 gram shaker jar). (That's a TON of glitter!)

(Click images for maximum AWESOME!)



I received the following:

Morgana's Fate: A shimmery silver purple
Siren's Blood: A bold, wine red with ethereal blue sparkle
Leviathan: A sparkly green on a blackened base

Mermaid Life Glitz: blue, purple, pink, and green sparkles 





Swatches! (All of my swatches are over Fyrinnae Cosmetics "Pixie Epoxy".


Natural Light


That glitter tho!


Blurred to show sparkles and dimension


Again, blurred to show the sparkles!


My thoughts!

Considering that I was a huge fan of Veronica's last company, I can say that these eyeshadow are on par, if not better than her last creations. I was a little nervous when I first received the products because the jars looked like standard private labeled eyeshadow. It wasn't until I opened and swatched them that I realized (immediately) that yes, Veronica hand blended all of the shades. There is so much sparkle, shimmer, pigment, dimension and personality in each one. You can tell she's put a lot of thought into these new eyeshadow and her new company. The three shades I received (plus the glitter) and gorgeous! I absolutely LOVE "Siren's Blood". Like, I love it with a fiery passion. The blue sparkle throughout is just amazing. "Mermaid's Life" is also such a stunning glitter and perfect for your inner mermaid! I can't wait to try it out. I'm so pleased with the new products and excited to see Veronica thriving again and making a come back. 

Each eyeshadow and GLITZ is $10.00. She only offers full sized products at this point but you get a lot of product and wonderful quality! I feel like it's a great deal if you find something you really love from the shop. She also offers a lot of Limited Edition items that once they sell may be gone forever, so if you see something you adore, you should probably pounce on it!

Go check out Carpe Noctem and tell her MakeupZombie sent ya!  

*products in this post were sent to me for review purposes only. All opinions are my own and 100% honest.*

Notoriously Morbid Haul!

Good evening zombies!

It's been quite a while since I purchased indie cosmetics, so I decided to show you all what I recently picked up from Notoriously Morbid. This post is full of awesome sauce, so check it out!

*As always, be sure to click images for maximum awesome!

I purchased the following: (descriptions are from the NM website, unless noted otherwise)

Lord of the Unseen (mini): deep blue purple with brilliant pink and copper sheen 
Demeter's Despair (mini): rose brown with bright green, pink, copper and gold sparkles 
Tainted Love (full sized color of the month): muted plum base with an antique taupe shimmer

*Tainted Love is also part of the new "super semi loose shadow pigment" formula which were formulated to give you an extremely creamy pigmented shadow with staying power! Arriving in a semi loose state, the shadow can be applied with your finger or a flat shader brush in a patting motion. The creaminess of the shadow assists with easy blending and is formulated to look spectacular over primer or over a sticky base.
 
Scottland the Brave (mini): metallic juniper green with color shifting sparkles that change from blue to violet depending on angle and lighting  
Albatwitch (mini): deep peachy tan with a pink sheen and aqua and blue sparkles 
Lizard Man (mini): brown base with a traveling shift of orange, pink, and golden green  
Ozark Howler (sample): warm bronze brown with copper, pink, and purple sparkles 
The Devil's Lake Monster (sample): deep warm red brown with pink, blue, and green sparkles

3 sample sized Mystic Matte lipstick in:

EL: A warm coral pink base with a blue shift
Sorceress: warm red with blue-purple shimmer
Bloody Kisses: blackened berry red

*Carrie was kind enough to send me the Slipknot Tribute Trio to try out! They are no longer on the website, so I'm going to describe them in my own words.
  
disasterpiece (full sized): blackened silver with multidimensional sparkles and green undertone
Snuff (full sized): blackened, metallic red with gold reflects
sic (full sized): blackened plum/ leaning burgundy with sparkles
*This trio seems to have the new formula as well. 

Jars of awesome!




The labels of the jars are all different because each shade comes from a special themed collection within the NM website. I encourage you to go check out the different themes! There is something for everyone!


Mystic Mattes sample tubes


SWATCHES, glorious SWATCHES!


Slightly blurred to capture sparkle


Look at these beautiful lipsticks!


Holy hell! I'm so in love with quite a few of these shades. "Scottland the Brave" is above all, my favorite. I'm a sucker for a good green and the sparkles within it are just beautiful. I'm also very impressed with "Tainted Love" because it's so vibrant and stunning and easy to blend out without losing it's color (which is hard to accomplish with purples). All of the colors in the Tribute Trio as are really nice as well. I'm really liking the new formula. The shadows are rich, buttery, pigmented and so easy to blend out. "Lizard Man" and "Albatwitch" are also two of my favorites from the lot.

Let's talk Mystic Mattes! NM's matte lipsticks are lovely and pigmented, but slightly drying. Just make sure that you use a balm before applying and you're good as gold. Sadly, "El" and "Sorceress" are *just* similar enough on my lips that I wish I'd gone for a different, more bold shade, but I'm very happy with the formula and the wear. I'd wear "EL" every.single.moment if I could.

(OH! Speaking of lipstick, I like to swatch lipstick over on Instagram @makeupzombie, so that's where you'll see these in action on my lips.)

I really like Notoriously Morbid's products and I'm happy to see the growth they've had in the last few years! Here is a breakdown of the cost of products.

Eyeshadow:
Sample- (approx. 1/4 tsp of product in baggie): $1.25

Mini- (approx. 1/3 tsp of product in a 3g jar): $2.75
Full- (approx. 1/2 to 3/4 tsp of product in a 5g jar): $5.50
Deluxe- (approx. 1 to 1 1/4 tsp of product in a 10g jar): $7.50

 

Mystic Mattes:

Sample (3.5 ml): $4.50

Full size (7 ml): $12.00 

A mini sized eyeshadow will last me forever because of my extensive indie collection and at $2.75 a pop, you can not beat that (the sample baggies are quite a generous amount as well). You can stock up on sparkly goodness without feeling guilty! ;) Go check out NM if you haven't already. And if you have, is there anything here that you love as much as I do?

 

*products in this post were purchased by me (unless noted otherwise). All opinions are my own and 100% honest. 

Matte Attack lipstick and other badassery from BeautyBarBaby!

*products in this post were purchased by me and sent for consideration purposes. All opinions are my own and 100% honest.

Good evening Zombies!

Tonight I'd like to take another look at a company I reviewed a few years ago called BeautyBarBaby, which is an Etsy based indie cosmetic company.

BeautyBarBaby just recently came out with brand spankin' new new lipsticks called "Matte Attack" liquid lipstick. The owner was offering them on a presale basis in her Facebook group, so I grabbed two: "Girl Crush" and "Poison Apple". I also picked up "Naked Dolly" pressed highlighter and "Champagne Cocktail" cosmetic glitter. Nicole was kind enough to add two more glitters and her "Bling Bling!" glitter/eyeliner sealer to my order.



Take a closer look at the products! All descriptions are from the BBB Etsy store.

"Naked Dolly" highlighter:  A pale champagne colored powder with pinkish gold reflecting highlights.


Ohhh, sparkles!


Dreadfully Divine: a custom blend of opaque black & transparent multidimensional purples (named for one of my favorite ladies on the beauty block!)
Champagne Cocktail: a super sparkly neutral champagne holographic glitter
Kirsten: a multidimensional medium purple glitter

"Our Glitters are top quality microfine/ultrafine cosmetic grade glitters & are perfect for face, body & nail art & are custom blended in house to insure uniqueness. .004/.008 particle size"

*The tubes rolled just as I was taking the picture and I got a little bit of "Poison Apple" on it's tube. #FAIL

Girl Crush: Semi Metallic vivid purple with pink shimmers
Poison Apple: Semi Metallic blackened red
Bling Bling! glitter sealer: Our Glitter/Eyeliner Sealer can be used to adhere your loose glitters to your face & body & also doubles as a eyeliner/wet liner sealer! Just mix a few drops with your loose mineral eye colors to make a liquid eyeliner

The lipstick come in a cylinder tube with a doe foot applicator, which is my favorite. 


Swatches! (I used Bling Bling! under the swatches of glitter.)




Top photos in each set are with flash.






I can't even begin to explain to you the love I feel toward "Poison Apple". When I first saw it in the tube, I thought it might just have a little too much of a brown undertone for my liking. Once I applied it to my lips, I was blown away at just how amazingly gorgeous it really is. Nicole blew this one out of the park. I have a very extensive lipstick collection and I do not own a color even similar to this one. Not only is it pigmented, it lasts a really long time on the lips. The only note worth mentioning is that you will need to apply lip balm prior to putting this on your lips as it's just a touch on the dry side. Other than that, I'm amazed.

"Girl Crush" is also super beautiful. It's one of those lipsticks that needs to be built up on the lips and once 2 or 3 coats are applied, it becomes such a gorgeous shade of purple with a pink undertone. It's unique and bold and the perfect purple for me.

I also want to touch on the highlighter. I've been looking for a nice rose gold highlighter that won't break the bank but that still has pigmentation and staying power to it. I've tried several different brands and although "Naked Dolly" isn't the rose gold I was hoping for, it's flipping GORGEOUS! It leans a lot more white gold and champagne to me, but it stays on my skin and it shows up without looking like I'm glowing. I will 100% be purchasing a few more of the highlighters from BBB. I'm super impressed. Nicole let me know that "Ballerina" is the rose gold highlighter in the shop. I'll be ordering as soon as I can.

I also purchased"Champagne Cocktail" glitter to go with my champagne highlighter and "Poison Apple" because I'm a freak. I have a feeling the 3 of those products will work great together to create and awesome sparkly look. (Hopefully I'll actually have time soon to do that and show you all!) As far as cosmetic glitter go, I like the size of BBB's. Some cosmetic glitter these days are super sketchy and I'd put them no where near my eye, but I'm comfortable with the size and the consistency of Nicole's glitters. Plus, sparkle! I have not played around much yet with the Bling Bling! glitter adhesive, but I intend to in the upcoming weeks and post some looks on my Instagram: @makeupzombie.

Overall, I am so happy with my order. "Poison Apple" and "Naked Dolly" will be getting a lot of use this Fall!

Product pricing:
"Matte Attack" liquid lipstick are $13.95 each for a 4.5 ml tube.
Pressed highlighters are $10.99 for  or you can get them in loose pigment form (3 grams in a 20 gram sifter top jar) for $10.00.
Glitters are $7.00 for 4 grams of glitter (that's a lot of sparkle!)
Bling Bling! is $4.50 for a 5ml squeeze bottle 

Do you own any products from BeautyBarBaby? What are your favorites?

Impulse Cosmetics Duo-Chrome lip gloss swatches!

*products in this post were sent to me for consideration and review purposes. All opinions are my own and 100% honest

Good evening Zombies! I hope you're all having a fantastic week.

Tonight, I'm going to show you three new duo-chrome lip glosses from Impulse Cosmetics! Their website sure has grown since the last time I took a look at it. They seem to have a lot more products to offer up!

 


I received three clam shells with product. The gloss is pretty thick, and stuck to the top of the lids.

The colors are: (descriptions per website)
Venture: Venture is a magenta purple shade with a blue duochrome effect.
Crusade: Crusade is a blue shade with a green duochrome effect.
Endeavor: Endeavor is a rosey pink shade with a gold duochrome effect.





Look at that amazing shift of blue in "Venture". I can't get over just how pretty it is. "Crusade" is a gorgeous blue/green, which swatched really green on my skin but photographed really blue. I had to take a few pictures of the gloss on my lips, to show the true color. "Endeavor" is a really lovely rose gold in my swatches, but once on my lips, it was very sheer. I decided to try these glosses over a darker base color, so I swatched them each over MACS "Cyber" lipstick.

"Cyber" swatches are heart shaped.


The gold in "Endeavor" really shines through on a darker base and "Venture" pops with blue and purple. "Crusade" becomes a richer green with gold peeking through.


Lips swatches. I swatched in both natural light and used the flash. I used a lip brush to apply the gloss.

Flash



Flash



Flash



I received my lip gloss in clam shells, so I believe that would be a "sample" size, which is $2.50 on the website. (Samples come in hinged-lid, "clam shell" jars & contain approx. 1/4tsp of product.) Full sized glosses are $7.50 and come in a 10ml tube with a doe-foot applicator. The was no scent or taste to these glosses and they were a little thicker than I prefer, so, a little of these go a long way. They are gorgeous colors however, especially "Venture". I love how the blue sheen transferred to my lips and showed up in the photos. The gold sparkles in "Endeavor" get a little lost once applied to the lips, but over a darker base color they will pop! "Crusade" is such a unique color in that it really does change color depending on the lighting and I love the gold sparks throughout.

Overall, these lip glosses are fun and unique, like most of the IC products!

What is/are your favorite product(s) from Impulse Cosmetics?

Notoriously Morbid Cosmetics REVISITED!

*products in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own and 100% honest. 

Good evening zombies!

I hope you are all well. School starts soon for my littles and I'm excited for both them and for me! ;)

A few years ago, I did a review on an up and coming indie cosmetic company Notoriously Morbid Cosmetics. Their business has grown exponentially since then, and I decided I'd like to order a few goodies to see how things are going with them these days.



The goods!


(descriptions from the NM website)

I ordered mini sized eyeshadows in:
 **The jars came sealed but had no sifters.

Philosophoscope: A plum toned burgundy with intense red/gold shift.
Chaos Reigns:An eggplant purple with INSANE gold and green sparkle atop a slight red sheen.
Love Reigns: A salmon pink with cool blue sheen.
Pure Passion: A ruddy brown with gold, blue and green shimmer.
Speak to the Devil: A brown based golden olive with a green highlight.

Samples in:
Grindhouse: not listed on website (to my eye it's a dark peach color with tons of sparkle and gold flash)
Reali-Key: not listed on website (to my eye, it's a light sea foam green with a gold sheen)
The Grand Empress: More than just a purple, The Grand Empress is a dark blue with a mad dash of red on top. Making it a velvety purple to deep red duo-chrome.
I received a sample in She's Full of Secrets: A sweet classic pink, but not for long. The cool blue shift overpowers the pink the more you build.



SUCH SPARKLE! MUCH WOW!



Swatches! I used Tick:Tock Cosmetics "Milky Way" base under my swatches.

"Chaos Reigns" is HANDS DOWN 110% my favorite from this lot! It's a deep purple with a gold sheen and tons of sparkles. The sparkle also transfers from jar to swatch, which I love. It's a gorgeous color. My second favorite is "Speak to the Devil". In the jar it's nowhere near as unique looking as it is once swatched. It takes on a far more olive color on the skin, and is again, FULL of gorgeous sparks. "Love Reigns" has an amazing green flash to it, which sets it apart from the others in terms of being unique, as does "She's Full of Secrets". I'm a sucker for a good duo-chrome. The most pigmented from this lot (and they are all pretty rich and buttery) is "The Grand Empress". It's like, 6 colors in one. It's got red, and some blue, some purple, and some gold in it (if you looked I'm sure you'd see a few more colors in there). It's SUPER pigmented and lovely. A little of this shade goes a long way. Overall, I'm really happy with the quality and the shades from my order. Everything is pretty spot on to their descriptions from the websites and the colors are insanely beautiful.

And what's even cooler about Notoriously Morbid, is that the eyeshadow are all very reasonable priced. Here is a break down of cost and quantity:

Sample size-approx. 1/4 tsp of product in baggie- $1.25
Mini-size-approx. 1/3 tsp of product in a 3g jar- $2.75
Full size-approx. 1/2 to 3/4 tsp of product in a 5g jar- $5.50
Deluxe size-approx. 1 to 1 1/4 tsp of product in a 10g jar- $7.50

In my opinion, the sample sizes are pretty generous and you can easily get quite a few looks from them. I'll probably never go through ALL of my mini sized jars that I ordered from them, as they are also nicely filled with product.

NMC doesn't just have eyeshadow. They also carry a wide variety of face products such as bronzers, blush and highlighters and lip products such as top coats, lip gloss, lipstick, and matte liquid lipstick. My next order will consist of lip products as I've heard wonderful things about them. AND, their products are all themed, so it's fun to look through the names and find things that are familiar to you and your geeky/gothy/girly side. There is something for everyone!

Have you tried Notoriously Morbid Cosmetics? What are some of your favorite products from them?