Sure, I like the Twilight series alright...but I'm not one of these crazed fans that must have everything associated with the franchise. What stuck out about this collection were the mini palettes and the lip stains. I really like sheer lip colors and mini palettes always rock.
I ordered the "Bella Beauty Set" that had a mini palette of nude shades called "Bella", a glittery, fragrance spray that smells like vanilla and one of the infamous Lip Venom's by DuWop (but with a new twist, a splash of glittery red color). It's a really good deal because you save over a third of what these items would cost if ordered individually. I also ordered a reddish staining balm called "Just Bitten".
Well, the order was placed on May 3rd. I didn't figure I'd get it in time for Mother's Day, but that's really no big deal to me. On May 5th, I got an email explaining that the palette I ordered was out of stock. I could either wait a week or so for the new stock to arrive or substitute another palette. I decided a week or so isn't so bad, so I'd wait.
I waited and I waited. I finally emailed on June 2nd to find out what was up. I explained I've been a make-up artist for 18 years and dealt with many cosmetics companies, but this really takes the cake for poor service. I also explained that I write reviews about products straight from the box. The response I got explained the delay as a mix-up with the manufacturer and that my package would be mailed out the next week. My last email correspondence was on June 10th.
This was good news, I recently moved and was reassured the package would show up before I actually left the address they had.
The bad news is they shipped it to my husband's house, which was the billing address...not to my place, which was the shipping address. This was bad because when it arrived, he was at my place helping me get packed up. So, my goodies sat out in the NC heat for 2 days. I got the package way beyond a month after I placed the order.
The lipstick was a tad soft from being in the heat and had indentations from the tube on the sides of the bullet. That made me pretty unhappy. I get really anal retentive when it comes to my make-up.
As for the products, I really like the staining balm. It's a great, wearable red that anyone could wear. The palette is very neutral, which is foolproof for people who are afraid of make-up. There's not a lot of color to the eyeshadows, the lip glosses have almost no color, but the blush is quite nice.
I can remember when DuWop's Lip Venom was the latest and greatest in make-up. They were the trailblazers with the whole lip-plumping product trend. But, somehow, I managed to never try it. I have quite a full lower lip, but my upper lip is challenged, so I was definitely curious to see what it would do. The consistency is very thin, almost like an oil. But it's not slick or oily. It dries and leaves just the stain of color, which is not too different from Benefit's Benetint. I personally do not like those kind of stains. The color tends to be uneven and you have to work with them very fast because once they set, they are impossible to blend. There was a little burning which I suppose is to make my lips feel fuller, but they weren't. I even had to apply the staining balm over it because it's just not sufficient to wear by itself.
I really struggled with writing this review because I hate having a bad experience with something. I really hung in there hoping for some sort of redeeming factor to pop up, yet while the staining balm is cool, it's not cool enough to counterbalance everything else. The bottom line is that overall, the products are fair, the customer service is poor and if I had to do it all again, I would've canceled my order and gotten something else.
**My next review will be of Konad's nail stamping products!**
