Monday Musings

Once again, it's Monday morning. I was a bit concerned when my day started with picking up my keys to find that my Yoshi keychain was beheaded. However, with the help of some tacky glue, he's looking much better. That's the second keychain of mine that has broken in the past week or so. I'm trying something new for the blog, with scheduled weekly posts Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Mostly to give myself some more structure so I can post more. Balancing structure and inspiration seems to be the way to go. Years ago, I had a blog that I posted in every day. I need to get back in the habit of that. So this is the first installation of "Monday Musings".
Have you seen the new Aromaleigh collection? I love the photo showing the inspiration for the collection.

(from http://www.aromaleigh.com/neftaliedeyc.html)

How's your Monday going?

Aromaleigh V.2

Good news for Aromaleigh lovers!

Aromaleigh is in the process of creating a new version of the MMU we've grown to love. The company will be under new management, but Kristen Leigh Bell (founder of Aromaleigh) will be acting as the Creative Director and Director of Product Formulation. I'm glad to hear that Kristen will be involved in the new Aromaleigh, as she has created a legacy of quality and originality. Aromaleigh is now in a transitional phase, during which select products and ingredients are available for purchase at the Aromaleigh website here. While the company works on creating a new product line and a new Aromaleigh, they are looking for customer input. You can vote in polls here. I love that the new management is making an effort to figure out what customers want as they give a second life to the company. Aromaleigh V.2 is not a silent operation- they are creating a presence throughout the internet on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aromaleigh-Mineral-Cosmetics-v2/280130105344850), Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/aromaleighV2), and their blog (http://aromaleighv2.wordpress.com/).

This kind of involvement and communication is what I love about indie cosmetic companies. I'm definitely looking forward to finding out what the new generation of Aromaleigh has in store for us.

Warm Wishes- LOTD

First of all, yesterday was the 1 year old birthday of my blog! Happy birthday, dear bloggy!
Yesterday's look was full of warm, glowy goodness, inspired by the sunshine outside (finally!) and an awesome lip gloss.

All photos in natural light


I'm sure you've already guessed that it's from Brazen. It's the La Femme lip gloss, and I'll post more comprehensive swatches in a few days.


Now for the eyes:



I used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Wish- Aromaleigh (Inner half of lid and outer half of lower lash line)
Dormant Dream- Aromaleigh (Outer half of lid)
Buxom Insider Eyeliner in Pearl (hints of it on inner corners and lower lash line)
Physicians Formula Organic Wear Jumbo Lash Mascara

For the record, I was throughly unimpressed by the Buxom Insider Eyeliner. It has absolutely no staying power. I applied it about three times over the course of doing my makeup, and it still disappeared by the time I took pictures. It applies beautifully, but smudges and fades quickly.







Annnddd, an almost face shot.


Blush: Rococo- Aromaleigh
Lips: La Femme- Brazen Cosmetics (applied sheerly)

I love the glow that I get from Rococo. It's been my favorite blush for a while. However, Super Orgasm from Nars is also rockin' my world right now (so shimmery!).

Since the Buxom eyeliner was a disappointment, do any of you have suggestions for a good white liner?

Mister Golden Sun

The weather has me feeling lethargic today, so I decided to try to perk myself up with a sun-inspired look.

I used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Ringoffire- Aromaleigh
Swelter- Aromaleigh
Heat Wave- Aromaleigh
Spectacle- Brazen Cosmetics

Photos with flash.







How do you perk yourself up when the dreary weather gets you down?

Something new- lips!

I'm not feeling very wordy today, so we'll just go straight to the photos.

Photos in natural light.

I used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Italian Ice- Aromaleigh
Coney Island- Aromaleigh
Heart and Soul- Aromaleigh







Now for the lips. I'm a big fan of the Wet n Wild Mega Last lipsticks. Although they're advertised as being matte, they're not incredibly so. I'd say they're semi-matte. I like the formula, it goes on well and doesn't feel drying. I have a hard time getting clean lines with it, though. I really should try applying it with a lip brush instead of straight from the tube when I don't use a lip liner. Today, I used 908C. Most of the lip colors I own are very very red, so this shade is a bit outside my comfort zone. I was surprised by how much I like this color on me!










And now for an almost face shot:




REMINDER: my Aromaleigh giveaway ends soon, so get your entries in!

Long Overdue Post: Wonderstruck swatches

Sometimes, life throws a curveball. That certainly can be said about my life the past few months. A frustrating and unfortunate event resulted in another large re-evaluation of my life, and I've made some large decisions. I'm happy with those decisions and the altered path I'm traveling now. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I'm certainly going to do my best to enjoy the journey. I'm getting better at being in touch with what I need to be more well-balanced. I'm currently residing in a small town in the Pacific Northwest, and took an adult ballet class yesterday morning. It's been a few years since I took a ballet class, and it was great to do that again. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in ballet studios- I took classes and trained for about 12 years. (This is why I love Aromaleigh's En Pointe collection so much).

Anyway, Miss K of Aromaleigh was kind enough to send me a sample set of Wonderstruck to blog about. As a lover of Alice in Wonderland, I was very excited about this collection. Does anyone else love the made-for-tv version of Alice in Wonderland with Whoopi Goldberg as the Cheshire cat? Admittedly, I also loved the new Tim Burton version.
One thing I love about the Wonderstruck collection is that every shade is extremely wearable. I've found that in some Aromaleigh collections, there are shades that I honestly don't know how to go about creating looks with and feel a bit intimidated by them. However, all the colors in Wonderstruck are fabulously easy to play with.
For the sake of time, I've numbered the swatches instead of labeling each with the name of the shadow.
The number/name correlation is as follows (by row):
1)We're all mad here 2)Impossible things 3)Curious dream
4)Drink me! 5)Pool of tears 6)Looking glass
7)Opiate advice 8)Curiouser and curiouser 9)The wrong alice
10)Flamingo-go 11)Pink portent 12)Hearts a' plenty
13)Rule forty two 14)Tattered & grown 15)Melancholy maiden
16)Mimsy 17)But this is my dream 18)Spot of tea
19)Wonder-ous 20)Fiddlesticks 21)Tunnel vision
22)Just a-head 23)Temper-temper 24)Frumious
25)Pass the tarts

All swatches over Too-Faced Shadow Insurance, all photos in natural light.















My favorites are Hearts a' plenty, Fiddlesticks, Frumious, and Pass the tarts. If there are any shades that you'd like to see more photos of, just let me know in the comments!

Aromaleigh Midsummer Look

Here's a fairly subdued look, mostly using colors from Aromaleigh's Midsummer Night's Dream collection. I believe most of the collection is sold out, but there may be some still available in the Aromaleigh Vault sales ( http://blog.aromaleigh.com/blog/a---vault-sales/ )

I used:
Virtue- Aromaleigh
Fairy- Aromaleigh
Flora- Aromaleigh
Drama Queen Green- Aromaleigh
Too Faced Shadow Insurance

All photos in natural light.







Also, Aromaleigh will be releasing THREE more collections. There are swatches of one of them, Mythos, on the Aromaleigh blog ( http://blog.aromaleigh.com/blog/2010/10/skin-swatches-of-the-mythos-collection.html ). The collection looks gorgeous! The other two collections are Wonderstruck and Spells!, inspired by Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter, respectively. I'm going to go drool over the photos of Mythos now.

Two Aromaleigh looks

I seem to be getting into the habit of doing looks, photographing them, and then not getting around to uploading them. So here are two looks that I've been meaning to upload for a while. The first one is one of my favorite glitter liner looks so far, the second has one of my current favorites in terms of liners- Aromaleigh's Drama Blue. I really love Aromaleigh's Drama and Drama Queen liners. On to the looks: all photos in natural light.


Look number one!
I used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Mascara
Indelible Eyeliner Sealant- Aromaleigh
Bellflower- Aromaleigh
Heartleaf- Aromaleigh
Valentine- Aromaleigh






Look number two!
I used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Mascara
Wish- Aromaleigh
Viviane- Aromaleigh
Cascade- Aromaleigh
Mariposa- Aromaleigh







Now, time to crop and choose photos from my first attempt at what can best be described as an art look. A look that I wouldn't wear out (at least not to anything but perhaps a costume party), but is simply an experiment of color. Do you ever create looks not to wear out, but to just play with the colors?

Rainbow eyes

I really like the way this look turned out, and think I'll try variations of it in the future. I rarely use the sealant from Aromaleigh, but did for the liner in this look. It ended up a little flaky, but I think I just need to practice getting the consistency right. I love how vibrant the sealant made the colors.

Photos in natural light.



I used:
Tigrilla- Aromaleigh
Mariposa- Aromaleigh
Cricket- Aromaleigh
Forget me Not- Aromaleigh
Sylph- Aromaleigh
Indelible Eyeliner Sealant- Aromaleigh
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips mascara

Dear Aromaleigh,

I'll let you in on a little secret: a year ago, my idea of makeup was putting on some mascara, but only for special occasions. Then, at the beginning of December, I decided to order from Aromaleigh after seeing so many gorgeous looks created by the lovely ladies on a forum I was a part of. I instantly fell in love. With the arrival of my first order came the beginnings of my new relationship with makeup. Before using Aromaleigh, I saw makeup as something that people used to cover up their flaws- something to hide behind. Then, I fell down a rabbit-hole of glorious color and sparkle and realized that makeup could be so much more than that. I discovered that makeup can be used as a celebration of self. That you don't have to think that makeup makes you more beautiful to enjoy using it. That women that know that they hold great beauty without makeup can still brighten up their days with a little (or a lot of) sparkle.
As sad as I am to see Aromaleigh close, I am grateful for all it has introduced me to. If you told me a year ago that I would own and love binders and boxes full of makeup, I wouldn't have believed you in the slightest. Although Aromaleigh gave me the golden ticket to enter the wonderful world of mineral makeup, my journey has since expanded. Aromaleigh started this journey for me, and the journey is not over even though Aromaleigh is closing. I have more Aromaleigh than I could possibly use up in 10 years anyways, so I have plenty of Aromaleigh sparkle left to enjoy.

Ciao Italia swatches

Miss K sent me samples of the Ciao Italia collection to review, and once again she has created a lovely collection. I have spent a significant amount of time in Italy, and this collection made me reminisce about the beauty that can be found there. Right now, it's also making me crave some tiramisu.

Swatches done dry over Too Faced Shadow Insurance, photo in natural light.



My favorites are Bacio, Fico, Biscotti, and Rosmarino. I also really like Melograni, Fragola, Lampone, and Malaga.

The sample set can be purchased at http://blog.aromaleigh.com/blog/a---vault-sales/

Wishing on Orchids with Caelia

I'm alive! And I can finally breathe again, after a nice round of antibiotics!

I absolutely adore the look I did today. I tend to have a hard time doing soft looks, but this one was quite successful.



All photos in natural light.

I used:
Wish- Aromaleigh
Orchid- Aromaleigh
Caelia- Aromaleigh (Lost in Faerie)
Sylph- Aromaleigh (lower lash line)
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips mascara






I'm glad I was finally able to come up with a look that works for days when I need to keep it a bit more subtle. I usually hate the more neutral/soft looks I try. This is still pretty colorful, so I should probably come up with an even more neutral look. When I need to wear a neutral look, I usually wear practically no makeup (as in, only eyeliner and mascara). It's about time I learn how to do neutrals.

What are your favorite colors for neutral looks?

Lost in Faerie now available

The collection that I raved about from Aromaleigh is now available for purchase. I adore this collection and had a hard time narrowing it down to a reasonable number to purchase in full size.
Everything is available at http://blog.aromaleigh.com/dormantdream/
Samples are not available individually, only as a full set.

On another note, my asthma has kicked it into high gear the past week, hence the very short posts. I'm planning on going to urgent care today, so hopefully things will be better soon.

Aromaleigh closing

Some unfortunate news: Aromaleigh has announced that they are closing.
Info is on their news page http://www.aromaleigh.com/aromaleighnews.html
I'm exhausted at the moment, so I can't think of much to say.
I imagine I'm not the only one considering stocking up on a few things before they're gone. Is there anything you're going to buy massive amounts of?

Lost in Faerie swatches

Today I received a package from Aromaleigh, consisting of samples of the yet-to-be released Lost in Faerie collection.
As impressed as I was by the last collection Aromaleigh released, Victoria's Revenge, the new collection blew me away. Lost in Faerie contains some truly drool-worthy shades. I love all the different types of glitter and shimmer in the collection, everything from iridescent shimmer to chunky silver glitter, and plenty of colorful varieties in between. My sister, a MAC addict, was visiting with me while I swatched, and she literally stopped mid-sentence and stared when I swatched Meliora, it has a gorgeous iridescence that didn't come through in the photos. She exclaimed a few things not suitable to type here when she saw Loxy.

Now for the photos. All taken in natural light, all swatches done dry over Too Faced Shadow Insurance.































Anybody else loving this collection as much as I am?
At the moment, there is no set release date, but I imagine it will be out fairly soon.

Hurry and grab these for 50% off!

I did a few quick swatches of various Aromaleigh colors while contemplating my next Aromaleigh order. One color that I'm definitely getting in full size: Plush Romantic. It's an incredible color that you really should see in person.

All swatched dry over Too Faced Shadow Insurance.


(Indoors, natural light)

Every single one of these shadows is 50% off until 11 PM EST 6/22!

I decided to head outside to see these in direct sunlight, and it made me exclaim, "Holy sparkle!" The photos don't do justice to the awesome sparkle.








Now I have to go argue with myself about how many purples one toucan could possibly need.

Hot charcoal with a side of torment

Torment is the first Aromaleigh color I've come across that let me down. On the website and even in the sample bag, it appears to be a brilliant metallic red. However, it didn't quite come out that way when applied. I'm going to try this look again, but do some foiling to see if that helps the color.
That being said, it's still a nice color, just not what I was expecting.



I used:
Charcoal- Aromaleigh
Torment- Aromaleigh
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Mascara





I just couldn't bring myself to give up on the look I had imagined, so I tried putting Hot Hot Hot (Aromaleigh Rocks! glitter) over it. It was my first attempt at using glitter as anything more than a liner, so it's a bit uneven. I used Aromaleigh's Indelible Eyeliner Sealant to apply it. This brought me much closer to the look I was trying for.







Does anyone have a suggestion for a metallic red eyeshadow?

Bamboo Whimsy

I'm so glad to finally have time to post again! Moving is now officially one of my least favorite activities.
My birthday is on Sunday (June 6), can any of you guess how old I'll be?

Now on to the look.



I used:
Bamboo- Aromaleigh
Mourning's Whimsy- Aromaleigh
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Physician's Formula shimmer strips mascara

I love how gloriously creamy bamboo is!

Please excuse the stray hairs and the uneven lighting.