I LOVE Tokidoki

I can remember when Smashbox had a collection that featured Tokidoki a couple of years ago. It made me insane with envy that I didn't have the means to snatch it up at the time! I have always been a fan of his work, even making a doll that was inspired by him a few years back! So once I saw Sephora was carrying a Tokidoki line of cosmetics, I KNEW I had to try them!

I read a lot of reviews. They really do help me decide what I will and will not purchase. Amazingly, the reviews were really good! And we all know I am a sucker for great packaging, so I was already sold on all of this stuff. It was nice to see a line that can actually be cute and make a solid product, as well. All too often something is cute, but the product is lacking or vice versa, something is really great but the packaging is so incredibly generic.

I ordered the Chromatico Eyeshadow Palette in Mozzarella ($25) and the Perfetto Eyeliner pen ($16) in Sabochan/Black.

The eyeshadow palette appealed to me because I love to mix bright colors and neutrals! My ONLY gripe about the palette is that the container is bulky. It has the eyeshadow and then below it, there is another compartment with a charm in it. While it's all ridiculously cute, it's just not practical. I wish I could detach the additional compartment, that would be ideal. For that reason, this won't be an eyeshadow you can throw into your make-up bag. This is more for a kit or for display on a vanity. As for the actual eyeshadows, they went on flawlessly. Some shadows look like they are painted ON the skin, these do not...they blend perfectly. Of course all of these colors are shimmery, so that helps. The only other thing that was minutely disappointing is that the brown shadows look more like a gray-brown on the Sephora site, when in fact the colors are warmer. I've read some hit or miss reviews on the matte shadows, but I will have to wait until I can get my hands on one to form my own opinion.

Now, the eyeliner. I love liquid eyeliner. I always feel more polished when I am rockin' some cat eyes. This pen is a little pricey. BUT there is one thing that sets it apart....the nib of the pen is rounded to a soft point AND is chiseled. This gives you some options when drawing your lines. Most eyeliner pens either have a nib like a felt-tipped pen or a brush pen. This is definitely different. I like it. The color is nice and opaque, but dries with a bit of shine. I just ordered Mostro, which is a green color because it's on sale at Sephora for $10!!

Tokidoki in action!

Tokidoki on left, Hello Kitty on right

And I hate to ask, but if you enjoy my blog, will you please spread the word? Obviously, the more followers I have, the more seriously cosmetics companies will take me. Thanks!!

Hard Candy Cosmetics

Imagine my excitement when I received a FedEx box in the mail yesterday from Hard Candy! Once I opened it I found these:

Eye Def in Sequin

Plumping Serum -
Fat Pout Lip Gloss
in Nude Beach

Hide & Glow Cheek -
Cheek Tint Duos
in Hot Date

First of all, I love the Eye Def shadows. They are overflowing with glitter and are so easy to use! I always look for products that are quick and easy. The color is a really pretty purple color, the texture is creamy and dries nicely. I do find that the color stains my skin a little bit. BUT as you can see, I am insanely fair. I don't find that to be so problematic that I wouldn't use the product. As you can see in the photo below, I used the Eye Def in Algae in the inner corners of my eyes and it looks fabulous!



The Plumping Serum - Fat Pout Lip Gloss was a gorgeous color. Nude Beach is a gorgeous neutral color with lots of sparkle. This shade would be really easy for anyone to wear. It made my lips all tingly too! I used the gloss with MAC's lipliner in Subculture. As for plumping, I've always had a pouty lower lip, it's my upper lip that is challenged!


Last but not least, there are the Hide & Go Cheek - Cheek Tint Duos. I really like these. The colors looks a little dark when you first look at Hot Date, but once you get them on the skin, it really is a sheer wash of color. Again, I love products that are easy to use and this is. Just swipe on your cheeks and rub. And there is no need to panic or rush, like there is when you use a liquid cheek stain like Benetint. This doesn't stain upon first contact, so you have some time to blend it out nicely.

All in all, I really like everything they sent me! I know I definitely want to pick up the Eye Def in a few more colors. And I know that Hard Candy is going to be releasing a lot of NEW products sometime this month and I look forward to trying them. (Especially their Lash Ink, a mascara that tints your lashes for 4 days!)

Now, I know some of my readers are Anti-Walmart and this can turn into a heated debate (Hard Candy is exclusive to Walmart). For some it's just the experience of going to a Walmart store, for others it's feeding into the big box store that has taken over areas and put a lot of small businesses out of business. If it's the prior situation and you just don't like going there, you can order Hard Candy products on their website with FREE shipping. If it's the latter...there really isn't anything to say. I understand the stance and respect all views on that subject.

**Oh, and for my vegan readers, here's a list of vegan products Hard Candy makes:

http://www.hardcandy.com/updates.php?a=69 **

EOS Lip Balm: Smooth Sphere

We all know that I am a sucker for packaging! When there is something that is different or cool looking, I am most likely going to try it.

When I first saw the EOS Smooth Sphere lip balm, I was intrigued. It took me a couple weeks to pick one up. The flavors I was finding were mostly Sweet Mint and Lemon Drop, neither which appealed to me, so when I came across the Summer Fruit flavor, I snatched it up.

The sphere is a matte finish, which makes it easy to hold onto and open. Once you do open it, there is a semisphere of lip balm! It doesn't twist up or do anything fancy like that, it's just a semisphere of balm. It's different, it's interesting...but maybe not the most practical thing. It's a little bulky. It would be best suited as the lip balm I use before bed time, rather than one I throw in my purse.

Using it is kinda interesting. The sphere of balm is kinda big, so I felt silly rubbing it on my mouth. It's almost like you should just pucker your lips, hold it up to them and twist, like you're juicing an orange. The directions on the website say, "Twist off top. Pucker up. Smooth on. Smile.", so I guess I wasn't too far off the mark.

I'd say it's a lightweight lip balm. I put it on and about 15 minutes later, my lips were soft, but the product was pretty much gone. With that said, here it is 5 hours later and my lips are still soft. The Summer Fruit scent/flavor was quite nice...very peachy.

I went to the EOS website to learn more about them and there are some interesting facts:

"eos lip balm is 95% organic, 100% natural, and paraben and petrolatum free. Packed with antioxidant-rich vitamin E, soothing shea butter and jojoba oil, eos keeps your lips moist, soft and sensationally smooth."

The lip balm is also gluten-free, paraben-free, petrolatum-free and phthalate free.

They also make a stick lip balm, if this isn't your cup of tea. The packaging for the hand cream is kinda cool too.

Want FREE Stuff For Valentine's Day??

Who doesn't, right?

Well, the amazing Glitter Bitches have put together a "VD Survival Kit" Giveaway! And if you like handmade, crafty items (like I do), then this is for you!

Each of the Glitter Bitches have contributed a cool item(s) to the mix! Check it out and enter today, what have you got to lose??

http://glitter-bitches.blogspot.com/2011/02/giveaway-bitchs-vd-survival-kit.html

New Glittersniffer Products

Okay, so there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Glittersniffer Cosmetics over the past few months. It is a very heated topic that people feel passionately about, whatever their opinion is. This blog is strictly a review of the new products that I received today. I'd like to keep the drama at a minimal, if not non-existent level, please. I'm strictly going to discuss the product, packaging and my experience today.

First thing I noticed is that there is a lot more detail to packaging. There were bows tying up the bubble wrap. Extra touches like the "whipped cream" tops and charms are very cute. I can tell you my 8-year-old daughter was chomping at the bit to try to get her mitts on them.

The next thing I noticed is that two of the stacks had containers that were not properly sealed. the same thing goes for the random pot that was included, but fortunately in it's own bag, because it leaked. I didn't fix them because I wanted to photograph it first. BUT as I was lying on my bed taking photos, the Carnival Collection container came open and dark gray powder spilled out all over. The Valentine's Collection also spilled out onto the ribbon that was on it. I'm not going to lie, this really annoyed me and started off my process of photographing and swatching the colors with a bad taste in my mouth.


Now, onto the collections:

The Carnival Collection

The rainbow colors of the Carnival Collection appealed to me.
They are bright, they are pretty. The textures were nice and seemed to blend well.


The next two collections didn't have names, so I named them. They are NOT GS names. FYI.

The Browns Collection

The lightest color and the next lightest color blended the best. The next color looked like a medium tan, but started to show a lot of red, the more that I rubbed it. The next darkest color was fine. The next to darkest color was very gritty. The darkest color was slightly smoother. I dabbed the color, rather than rubbed so the glitter would stay in place.

The Valentine's Collection

It looks like the white color has some pink iridescence to it, but when I swatched it, I didn't see it. The silver is pretty, but started to get darker the more that I rubbed it, you can see in the swatch. The lavender, burgundy and pink are pretty.


The Unicorn Collection
The colors here are quite nice. The textures were comfortable on the skin.
The colors were consistent, without any odd rubdown.

The Random Pot

The Harajuku Collection

These are my favorite colors of the bunch, it's a shame I only got samples. I did not swatch them today, I find baggies to be messy and I had already had enough mess today. Will swatch soon.

Random Samples

The top photo is of a couple random samples I got, the bottom photo is of the ingredient list on the back of the Harajuku Collection bag. It was the only ingredient list included in this shipment.

All in all, I can see the Glittersniffer is trying to step up their game and I believe that they are on their way, but there are still some recurring issues that need to be taken care of. Sifter stickers are critical. It makes a customer feel like their product is safe, not wasted and sanitary. For me, this is especially the case when dealing with stacks of pigment. (I am not a huge fan of stacks, in general.) I know that it is an added expense to get sifter stickers and then there is time invested in placing them on the sifters, but I'd much rather spend the money on that and not have an accident, rather than cute packaging. I mean, you don't even have to invest in the stickers companies put out which are intended to go on sifters, basic round price stickers work just fine at a fraction of the cost. It just feels so awful to have a mess and waste product before you ever get to use it.

As you read in the review of the pigments, there were a couple that were a little gritty, so I would hesitate before using those, simply because I fear they would irritate my contact lenses.

I look forward to seeing Glittersniffer continue to step up their game.