Notoriously Morbid: The Winchester Gospels

The Winchesters. 
Two brothers who've been to Hell and back, literally. Their story pulls you in like very few things on television right now. In the episode "The Monster at the End of This Book", Castiel tells Dean that their story will come to be known as "The Winchester Gospels."

That line struck me. When I think of gospels, I think of music. The music in Supernatural is as deeply woven into the story line as the Impala or the monster they're fighting that day. That's why we decided to pick a song for the characters we especially love, one that we feel tells a lot about who they are, their own personal gospel.

Each color was created with more in mind than just the tones of the show. We thought about the characters and who we see them as. We hope you enjoy our take on The Winchesters & Co.

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a Supernatural fangirl. Just a little. So when I saw that Notoriously Morbid had a whole collection devoted to the show, The Winchester Gospels, I just had to pick it up. And luckily there are some utterly gorgeous colours in this collection, including a bunch of duochromes, and I'm a sucker for duochromes.

Swatches are done over Smashbox 24hr Primer on the left and Pixie Epoxy on the right and photographed in natural light. Descriptions in italics come from the Notoriously Morbid site.

Eye of the Tiger -  "There's always something eating at me. That's who I am." ~Dean

 Much like a tiger, Dean never stops fighting. A gilded orange with purple and gold flecks.

The Gambler - "I adopted two boys and they grew up great. They grew up heroes."  ~Bobby SingerAs unassuming as his old cap and tattered flannel shirt, but full of comfort, reliability and warmth.
A sooty sage green with pale gold sparkles.

Sympathy for the Devil - "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a little Hell to raise." ~Crowley

Loyalty is worth more than sin in Hell. An ash gray with red, green and gold sparks and a hellacious red shift.

Visions - "I'm a whole new level of freak." ~Sam

When you don't know who you are, you just might assume the worst.

A bright peach with electric yellow to green shift.

Walking on Sunshine - " Mine is Princess Leia in a slave bikini straddling a 20-sided die. I was drunk, it was Comic-Con." ~Charlie

Sometimes, life will give you the sister you never knew you always wanted.

A dynamic heliotrope purple with a strong aqua shift.

Wayward Son - "Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days..." ~Dean

The line that started it all. A search for a father and a relationship between two wayward sons. An airy pale blue with a light green shift. 

Notoriously Morbid can be found at notoriouslymorbid.com/

Shadow costs and sizes are as follows:

Sample 1/4 tsp in a baggie, $1.25

Mini 1/3 tsp in a jar, $2.75

Full 1/2 - 3/4 tsp in a jar, $5.50

Deluxe 1 - 1 1/4 tsp in a jar, $7.50

Notoriously Morbid Swatches

These swatches have been a long time coming, I ordered the first week of January pretty much as soon as the shop reopened (yes I was technically on a no buy, but this was one of my Christmas money buys and the shop was closed over Christmas, I did add an extra day to make up for it). I've had the eyeshadows and the swatches done for probably a month and a half, if not two months. I'm slow.

First off I have to talk about how awesome Notoriously Morbid and the owner (who's name completely escapes me) are. My order was all sample sizes but when it arrived not only did I have a GWP in mini size, AND it was the Black Friday order GWP despite my ordering in January, but THREE of my shadows were upgraded to mini size. I am floored with how kind and generous that is, and before anyone asks I never mentioned I was a blogger or anything. Not that I'm big or popular or anything, but worth mentioning for disclosure.

Anyway, rambling aside, on to the swatches. Or rather, part one of the swatches: my GWP and the three shadows I bought that weren't a part of the Winchester Gospels collection (Supernatural addict, me? Never!). Swatches are over Smashbox 24hr primer on the left (or top in the big pic) and Pixie Epoxy on the right (or bottom), and were photographed in natural daylight. Descriptions in italics are from the website.  

13 Black Rainbows - Inspired by the Type O Negative song "12 Black Rainbows" except we gave it one to grow on! A black matte with a crap load of rainbow glitter. You won't get tired of looking at this one.

Black with rainbow glitter? As if I could let this one go by without buying it, rainbow glitter is my weakness. Especially in a black base.

Fierce Poison - An army green with a fiery red duo. This shadow is inspired by Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, aka Poison Ivy.

When I looked this shadow, and the whole villains collection, was no longer on the site. So my apologies if I'm sharing a discontinued colour, though you may well still see it come up in swaps/destash posts. Especially on /r/IMAM. This was one of the shadows that was upgraded to mini size for me.

Garmonbozia - "It's the sustenance those in the hidden lodge feed on. It's your pain and sorrow." A creamy corn yellow with a chestnut undertone and a frigid blue shift. The more you blend, the more the chestnut undertone appears. If you are really into unique shades, this one is for you.

As you can see this one is a bit sheer with primer but the colour and glitter come out much more with a sticky base. Another of the mini size upgrades. This shadow is part of the Lost In The Lodge collection, inspired by Twin Peaks.

Cermet & Paesh - GWP a cool toned deep silver with sparkles.

This was their Black Friday sale GWP, but I was lucky enough to get a mini jar sized one. Which is awesome, it's beautiful.

Notoriously Morbid can be found at notoriouslymorbid.com/

Shadow costs and sizes are as follows:

Sample 1/4 tsp in a baggie, $1.25

Mini 1/3 tsp in a jar, $2.75

Full 1/2 - 3/4 tsp in a jar, $5.50

Deluxe 1 - 1 1/4 tsp in a jar, $7.50

Aromaleigh Diavoli Collection Swatches: Part 2

Here's part 2 of the sadly currently discontinued Diavoli collection from Aromaleigh, however it'll be back again on the 15th September this year so you can grab some of these truly stunning shades! 

These were all purchased on the Aromaleigh site, by me. Swatches were done over Smashbox 24hr Primer on the left and Darling Girl Glitter Glue on the right and photographed in natural light (or as best as I could do). The colour descriptions in italics are from the Aromaleigh site, if I feel it's warranted I'll add my own comments in normal font.

Draghignazzo - "A fascinating shade when it comes to trying to describe it. In some lighting, it appears to have a deep taupe plush matte base. In other light, this base appears more grey. But what you can’t deny is the very strong blue to green to teal color traveling duochrome effect, which sometimes even appears a bit purplish at certain angles!"

Farfarello - "A muted brownish/mauve plush matte base with a gorgeous metallic copper lowlight and a very strong red to violet color traveling duochrome effect."

This one has a really subtle shift which can be difficult to see and even harder to get a picture of.

Graffiacane - "A deep warm brown plush matte base with an intense color traveling duochrome effect that ranges from gold to chatreuse green."

This is stunning and reminds me of a darker more brown version of Femme Fatale Candied Apple (one of my all-time favourite duochrome shades!)

Libicocco - "A greyed violet plush matte base with metallic copper undertones and a strong copper to red to violet color-traveling duochrome effect."

This shade has a very subtle shift as it's mostly copper, but it is beautiful all the same, I need to swatch this over glitter glue next to Geek Chic Antequarian (another favourite) to see how they compare, especially as Antequarian is discontinued. 

(sparkle shot)

Malacoda - "A deep purplish taupe plush matte base with an intense color-traveling duochrome effect that ranges from copper to green to aqua." 

As I mentioned earlier these shades are currently unavailable but they shall return many other shadows as well as blushes and face powder can be found over at the Aromaleigh website.

Samples cost $1.00

Full sizes are $6.50

The full collection is $13.00 as sample sizes and $84.50 full size.

Aromaleigh Swatches Part 1

Months ago I made an order at Aromaleigh, it arrived early November too... oops. I ordered the whole Diavoli Halloween collection (Dante's Inferno anything and I'm gone) plus a few extras and Kristen very kindly threw in a few free samples. These are the extras I bought and the free samples, the Diavoli swatches are coming soon (famous last words!).

All swatches were photographed in natural light, or what passes for it in Bolton in Winter, left side is over primer and right side is over glitter glue. Shade descriptions are from the Aromaleigh site.

These are the extras I bought.

Fleeting Impression - a soft, atmospheric twilight mauve with overall iridescence of gold, green and blue. Part of the Brilliant Deductions collection.

Crisp - pure matte white

Cthulhu - a deep mauved red/chestnut with a strong green/aqua duo chrome and brilliant green sparks! “Mythical Monsters CoTM”

These are the very generous free samples I was given.

Opalia - a delicate opalescent pink with bountiful pink to blue color shift. “Sol Invictus”

This is super sheer and a bit of a pain to work with, the pictures are just over the glitter glue to show the colour.

Gryphon - a very complex gray with khaki undertones, gold to pink multichrome highlights, and vibrant bronze and coppery sparks. “Mythical Monsters CoTM”

Cephisso - a deeper midtone grey with khaki and lavender undertones.

Amalia - a rich deep periwinkle frost with vibrant blue sparks.

Aromaleigh's webshop can be found here

Samples cost $1.00

Full sizes cost $6.50 - $7.00

and there is always at least one collection discounted as well as a clearance section.

Hello Waffle Swatches

A little while ago I ordered a sample pack from Hello Waffle having seen them raved about on /r/indiemakeupandmore (I know I keep mentioning them, but I've spent a lot of time on Reddit recently and they're massive enablers even without posting a lot on there). Today I finally have some swatches to share with you.

I bought the 10 sample pack for $12.50 and Christine very kindly included a free sample, which makes my eyeshadow hoarder heart happy. As always swatches are done over primer on the right and pixie epoxy on the left (top and bottom for the vertical swatches) and photographed in natural daylight.

from the Ouroboros Collection

Envy Medium forest green with multicoloured sparks

Greed Golden pastel yellow with gold shimmer and blue sparkle

Lust Dark berry with purple and blue shifts

Sloth Light olive brown with green sparks

from the 1000 Likes Collection

1000 Likes Dark gold shimmer

23 Rose gold shimmer, more on the rosy side

Enabling Copper with gold shimmer

Heavy Breathing Cat Golden silver shimmer

(this was so hard to capture, it looks more silver or taupey-gold depending on the angle)

a few random picks

Bartok Copper with bronze, gold, and red sparkle. Caution: Sparkle-bomb (Musicians Collection)

Mad Shimmery orange peach that leans copper with a gold undertone (Painted Flowers Collection)

Amber (GWP) Dark orange-gold shimmer (Alternate Universe Collection) 

I think Lust, 23 and Bartok are my favourites, though all the shadows are stunning. 

Everything can be purchased from Hello Waffle

Samples (1/8-1/4 tsp) come in sets of 5 or 10 which are $6.25 or $12.50 respectively.

Halflings (1/3 tsp) are $3.75.

Full Size (3/4tsp or 2g) are $6.

Sets of the full collections in sample, halfling and full size as well as mix n match sets of halflings/full sizes are also available. As are pressed shadows, blushes and special loose shadow duos/trios. 

Shipping is a flat rate of $6 for everyone, including international orders, which is amazing and great value for those of us not in Canada as international shipping can be very steep!

Meow Cosmetics Swatches

I got a load for Meow Foundation samples and to get my order value up to the amount needed for shipping I threw a few eyeshadow samples in my cart as well, and Meow kindly sent two GWP samples on top all of which I have swatched for you here.

All eyeshadow swatches are photographed in natural light, the left side is just primer the right is pixie epoxy and in the middle is bare skin. The blush is swatched over bare skin, first heavily then blended out.

Astral Projection - lilac with a blue shift. Part of the Supernaturals collection.

Hallucination - buff with copper iridescence

part of the Supernaturals collection

Telekenesis - peach with orange iridescence

part of the Supernaturals collection

Heiroglyph - metallic chartreuse with verdigris overtones and metallic gold undertones

part of the Egyptian Treasures collection, GWP 

Madam - neutral deep wine

from the Stripped collection.

Meow Cosmetics is available to purchase at Meow Cosmetics online

Samples (1/16th tsp) $1.00

Eyeshadow between 1g and 1.6g and between $7.00 and $8.50 (check for each collection/shade)

Blush in 10g or 20g jar and between $8.00 and $16.50

Geek Chic Swatches and Solid Perfume Review

The final few shadows (and a solid perfume review) from my massive Geek Chic Cosmetics haul! This isn't a single collection but a few random shades from Summoners (Final Fantasy inspired), Timey Wimey (Doctor Who inspired) and Witchcraft and Wizardry (Harry Potter inspired).

Swatches are all done over Pixie Epoxy and photographed in natural light, descriptions are from the Geek Chic site.

Bahamut is the undisputed king of Final Fantasy dragons and clearly someone you want on your side. His notable accomplishments include destroying Queen Brahne's armada (IX), and more recently ENDING THE WORLD (XIV).

Mega Flare is a pale shimmering silver with a soft blue sheen and aqua shimmer.

Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink.

Don't Blink is quantum-locked; under the gaze of any living creature it ceases to exist and becomes this gorgeous, sparkling silver tinsel. Incredibly sparkly and festive, brimming over with silver, holographic and iridescent glitter in a silver base.

(I see gold undertones in this, as well as the silver)

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." 

Need a map that shows you every room and every secret passage ever plus the location of every person inside Hogwarts? Well, the Mauraders have a map for that. Thank Remus. The Weasley twins considered it essential for pranking before they memorized it, and Harry got quite a bit of mileage out of it himself.

Mischief Managed is a parchment tan with shifting hues of reddish purple and golden shimmer. This color is perfect for an all-over lid wash of soft color, or to blend out a neutral look.

"Why is it, that whenever anything happens, it's always you three?" 

Wherever situations of mortal peril can be found; Harry, Ron, and Hermione are close by. From dungeon trolls to the dark lord himself, they're probably involved somehow. Saving the wizarding world from evil and all that.

Golden Trio is a cool toned red with raspberry undertones and a hefty pinch snitch golden shimmer.

(mislabelled this, my apologies) 

And if you'd like to see these shadows in action here's a quick look I did using Mischief Managed and Don't Blink:

And finally one of their solid scents, this is from the Les Femmes Tragiques collection, inspired by various tragic women from mythologies around the world.

Sure, curiosity killed the proverbial cat... but long before that was coined, curiosity unleashed evil and destruction on humanity. Pandora, the first human woman in Greek mythology, just wanted to know what the jar (pithos, in Greek) contained. It was hardly fair... Zeus gave it to her under strict orders never to open it. What did he think was going to happen? Why give it to her at all? Oh, of course. Sigh, Zeus.

Pithos of Curiosity is a rich and mysterious blend of smoky, yet sweet aged vanilla beans and ooey-gooey toasted marshmallow, swimming in a pool of decadent and herbal absinthe.

Top notes: Rich, Herby Absinthe

Middle notes: Smokey Vanilla Bean

Base notes: Roasty-Toasty Marshmallow

I adore this scent, it's feminine but not overly girly, and I'm a huge fan of vanilla scents. It doesn't last all day on me, but I do still catch its scent for several hours after application. And the solid wax is easy to apply, it slides on and turns into an oil almost straight on contact but I've not seen it melting even in the warmth of my room. It should also be easy to transport as there is no need to worry about broken glass bottles or spillages, I haven't taken it anywhere yet though!

All these products can be purchased from the Geek Chic Cosmetics website.

Full Size $5.99

Sample $1.25

Solid Scents $3.49