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Friday, February 25, 2011

Brazen Cosmetics Review

I think I've fallen in love. With a lip gloss.
It all began with a photo on Etsy. When it arrived at my door wrapped in pink bubble wrap, I knew it was meant to be.

Brazen Cosmetics is my newest obsession, and the creator of the aforementioned gloss.

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Before I rave about the products themselves, I'll cover the basics.
Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BrazenCosmetics
I ordered my lovelies on February 8, and they arrived February 14.
They were packaged nicely- in a yellow envelope with the products wrapped in pink bubble wrap and tissue paper. Included in the package were two samples (one scent sample and one lip scrub sample) and two business cards. The products I ordered (all full-size jars) were in a cute cellophane bag.
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I ordered 4 full-size jars of eyeshadow and 1 full-size jar of lip gloss. The shadows and gloss are housed in the standard 5 gram jars. The shadows arrived with sealed sifters in the jars. The gloss and shadow jars have shrink-wrap around the outside. One of my jars did arrive without shrink wrap, but I didn't find that to be any sort of an issue.

I love the look of the packaging, especially with the silver stickers. The shadows have stickers on the tops and bottoms of the jars, the gloss has a sticker on the bottom of the jar.

Tops of jars:
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Bottoms of jars:
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Now for the actual products!

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Cocoa Loco- Sugar Lips Lip Scrub (free sample)
I really like this lip scrub. The sample amount is quite generous, enough for several uses. It smells chocolate-y, with perhaps a hint of coconut. The scent is nice, but not overwhelming. I inadvertently ate some of it, so I can tell you that it tastes nice too. A full size (approximately .5 oz/15 ml) costs $2.79. If you're looking for a lip scrub for a great price, I'd definitely suggest this one.

Hella Vanilla Scent Sample (free sample)
Etsy description: "Rich sweet creamy vanilla makes every girl happy. Does it get any better than vanilla, really?! Our custom blended scent is more of a bakery vanilla than your typical perfume. You will be obsessed, trust me!"
I received a little pink butterfly that smells like vanilla. It's definitely a nice vanilla, not the vanilla scent you'd find in a drugstore. 11 days after arriving, my little butterfly friend still smells nice. A full size (approximately .3 oz/10 ml) is $7.49

It is now time for you to prepare yourself for a silly number of swatch pictures.

Eyeshadows:
I ordered 4 shadows, all Valentine's shades. (Descriptions are from the Brazen Cosmetics Etsy store)

Be Mine (Candy Hearts collection): the quintessential darly baby pink, soft and girly. Opaque coverage with a pearl finish and a ton of baby blue sparkles. You will be the sweetest treat!

Tease (Screw Cupid collection): sweet yet sexy bubblegum pink with a red violet shift. Opaque, packed with color and sparkle. Be the belle of any ball this year with this tempting shade.

Miss Independent (Screw Cupid collection): feisty frisky burgundy shade with purple sparkles. Opaque, packed with color and sparkle. Show who's the boss with this hot color!

Vixen (Screw Cupid collection): scandalous sassy shade that makes all other shades jealous! Rich deep dark blackish reddish bugundy with a red shift. Opaque, packed with color and shimmer...this shade is so unique! One way it looks like purple/red, turn the other and you see the glowing red duochrome.

Tease, Miss Independent, and Vixen are now permanent colors, and are available in the etsy shop. Be Mine is currently unavailable. Full-size shadows run $4.99-5.49, the Screw Cupid colors are $5.49.

Are you ready for the swatches? I got a little excited and took way too many pictures.
All swatches done over Too Faced Shadow Insurance, photos in natural light.

Top row (L to R): Be Mine, Tease
Bottom row (L to R): Miss Independent, Vixen

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I love all of them, but Tease is my favorite hands-down. It's a fabulous pink with a nice blue shimmer. I have a weakness for pinks with blue shifts/shimmer. Vixen is also an awesome color. All the shadows apply and blend nicely.

Now, for my love. The lipgloss.
Here's the thing: I've never been a lipgloss girl. At least, not before I discovered this gloss. Every other gloss I've tried just didn't do it for me. Brazen's Passion Pot in Make Out blew me away. I bought it on a whim, and I'd liked the photos I'd seen of it online. I was expecting it to be more red, but I love it all the same.

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How Brazen describes their Passion Pots: Our PASSION POTS are delicious lip glosses that deliver. They keep your lust for long lasting color satisfied. This stuff rocks! Wear alone for a sweet stain of color, or layer over lipstick for a wide range of possibilities. We add lip-loving antioxidants vitamin E and meadowfoam oil for softness your pucker will thank you for!

And their color description for Make Out: Bust out this naughty lipgloss and get ready to pucker up! Woooooohooo! This is one fiesty shade! Cool opaque ruby red with super shine & mega iridescent sparkle (and a touch of mint essential oil), this will definitely up your vamp quotient and get you in the mood for some frisky business. Don't say we didn't warn you!

I LOVE the formula. Even though the Etsy listing calls it "sticky", I don't think it feels sticky, but it's not too slippery either. It has a slight mint scent that reminds me of a candy cane. It's pretty subtle scent-wise. It has a slight cooling feeling on my lips. It can be applied sheerly or opaquely, I've been wearing it opaquely for the most part. It's very emollient, between the lip scrub and this lip gloss my lips are wonderfully soft right now.

Swatch time! All photos in natural light.
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Applied sheerly on lips:
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Applied opaquely on lips:
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I love this gloss so much. It's love in a 5 gram jar. In this case, love doesn't cost much- a jar of this fabulousness is $4.99.

Not a single product from Brazen was a disappointment- I love everything I ordered, and the samples too. Sandi, the owner, seems like a great person and I enjoy ordering from her. I have already placed my second order with Brazen, and I'm pretty excited about it.
I definitely suggest that you check them out! Here's the link again: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BrazenCosmetics

5 comments:

Heather said...

I've been kind of on the fence, but this has really convinced me to try them :D

SilhouetteScreams said...

Miss Independent looks beauuuutiful! *___* and I need that lip colour too

eRiN said...

I would totally buy the gloss, except ... I HATE the packaging. Who wants to stick their fingers into gloopy gloss all day long? I want it in a real lip gloss tube (wahhhh)

Amanda said...

Heather: I can't wait to hear what you think of them!

SilhouetteScreams: Miss Independent is indeed beautiful. :) And we all know that I'm madly in love with the lippie, which is also beautiful.

eRiN: I think Sandi might be planning on doing tubes in the future. I vaguely remember her saying something about it. I'll see if I can dig up the info for you :)

Amanda said...

eRiN: It looks like she's planning on having tubes available this summer.

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