Showing posts with label Aquataenia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aquataenia. Show all posts

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Lime Crime- The Grand Copycat Brand

Just a few moments ago i published a post about my drugstore disappointments, click here if you haven't seen it yet.  This post is to address an on going issues i have with Lime Crime. For a while now i have been posting about my issues and problems with the brand that range from selling vastly over priced shadows that are just pigments they bought from TKB trading that have been relabeled (some are selling for more than 5 times their worth), Liquid Eyeliner being sold for $14 dollar in sample sized bottles .04 oz vs .24 oz for a normal (L'oreal brand liquid liner, thats SIX times less product!!!!!!!), Nail Polishes sized at .3 oz which is also sample sized, and now they are blantly copying drugstore brands (isn't that a little backwards???)


After buying a Covergirl palette called Tropical Fusion, which has been out since 2008, i noticed it looked very similar to Lime Crime's Aquateania Palette (released 2012). How similar? These are the exact same colors! The only difference is Lime Crime is a little more pigmented and they added an additional purple. I know brands can draw inspiration from seasons (most brands doing purple for fall), or color themes (like pairing yellow and purple (complimentary colors), but this is straight out copying!

These colors are so similar that when swatched the Covergirl simply looks like a blended out/lightened version of Palette Aquateania. While Covergirl is crap, Aquateania blends well, has great pigmentation and, has little fall out. Still this is all no excuse!

This is pretty blatant copying. Covergirl Tropical Fusion vs. Lime Crime Aquateania Palette.

This is pretty blatant copying. Covergirl Tropical Fusion vs. Lime Crime Aquateania Palett

This is pretty blatant copying. Covergirl Tropical Fusion vs. Lime Crime Aquateania Palett

If you want the same colors as the Aquateania palette, Tropical Fusion would make a good dupe but be prepared to work hard at making it work. Lots of primer, a fan brush to remove fall out, and patience for the hard work of making this blend.

Drugstore Dissapointment

It feels a little soon to talk about drugstore dissapointments when i just talked about fabulous finds, or maybe they even each other out, either way this is going to be a post of meh.

Let me start off by saying i am a sucker for a good cupon, buy one get 1, 50% off, even 20% off. When i found a $3 dollar off any two covergirl products i was pretty happy. My local Duane Read is severly overpriced and leaves me little option or desire to try new things when i know they may not live up to the quality. Why pay $10 dollars for covergirl lipstick that may be terrible when you can pay $15 (MAC has raised their prices again) for a high quality one. Don't get me wrong some Covergirl has great products, their foundation and face powder are great. I even recently fell in love with one of there lipsticks, but just one. So i figured, maybe, just maybe, i would try something new and be blown away. It is that kind of expectation that really makes one fall hard.


Covergirl Tropical Fusion 205 Eyeshadow Palette-
I chose this palette for it's tropical look and well it was suggested in the magizine i got the cupon for. They wouldn't reccomend a completely crap product would they? Yes of course they would. Now to be complrelty fair if you like very low pigmented, unblendable, soft, fall-outty (this is so bad i am making up terms now!) eyeshadow, then this is for you! If you have bought this and had great luck with it then maybe i just got a bad one, but i would not recomend this to anyone.

In order to make these swatches visible, since they are very sheer except for the last blue, i had to use a sponge applicator since a brush wouldn't pick up the color. These are over primer and with about 4 coats of color. There is a difference between sheer, and little to no pigment. This palette color range does not seem something that someone would want sheer color for, maybe if one was sheer as a lid base, but this fails on all levels. Not to mention that there was quite a bit of fall out as you can see on the bottom of blue, i tried to wipe it all away but apparently i missed some. These colors do not blend well, i tried to make them lead into one another but they kind of just sat on top of each other. I guess each color alone, advertised as sheer or hint of color (which they were not). I would have had a less harsh opinion on these. So if you like the colors and are willing to work hard to make these work, pick this up. If not pick up it's over priced, but higher pigmented twin Aquataenia from Lime Crime.

Covergirl Tropical Fusion Eyeshadow Palette swatch. Swatched over primer without flash.
Covergirl Tropical Fusion Eyeshadow Palette swatch. Swatched over primer without flash
On a side note, in the store i kept having this gut feeling like i shouldnt get this palette, not only because i was so iffy on the qaulity but also because i felt like i had it. Like the exact same colors, arranged very similaryly. Once i got home i figured it out, it is the exact same palette colors as in Lime Crimes Aquetaenia. You will be hearing a rant from me about that shortly after i post this!

 Covergirl Perfect Blend Pencil in Cobalt Blue-
To go along with my crap palette i decided to buy a blendable blue eyeliner. I have been getting into the smokey look latly just to step out of my bold, pop of color, comfort zone. While this color looks amazing as a liner, it is a matte navy blue, the smudge brush, which actualy is just a sponge applicator disguised as a smudge brush does nothing. It does not blend, it does not smudge it does not make smokey. What does it do? Well it kind of removes the color. It would make a great makeup mistake corrector. Isn't that sad? This product doesn't do what it says it will, and half of it will remove itself. It's almost as if it is aware of it's own bad quality. While it is a pretty color, it is very dry and tugged at my eyelid. I also had to go over the line 3 times to achive full opaque color. This would have worked if it was softer. It would have felt better on the lid and also would have been bendable.
 
 Covergirl Perfect Blend Pencil in Cobalt Blue
 Covergirl Perfect Blend Pencil in Cobalt Blue

 Covergirl Perfect Blend Pencil in Cobalt Blue, blend end.

 Covergirl Perfect Blend Pencil in Cobalt Blue, pencil end.

 Covergirl Perfect Blend Pencil in Cobalt Blue swatch without flash

 Covergirl Perfect Blend Pencil in Cobalt Blue after being "smudged" It did not blend at all, just got lighter.

 Covergirl Perfect Blend Pencil in Cobalt Blue after being "smudged" It did not blend at all, just got lighter.


There is a moral to this post. If you don't need it, don't love it, don't really want it, then don't use a cupon or sale, no matter the discount.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Lime Crime Palette D'Antoinette Palette Aquataenia Cosmopop and Chinchilla Review and Swatches

Today i got my delivery from Lime Crime cosmetics and i so desperately wanted to rave about the products i received, but something always has to go wrong when i order from them. Let me start off by saying every one i know who ordered from them recently received a free small sample of Lime Crime's eyeshadow helper, guess who didn't receive one. Yep i didn't. Aside from that, i was very disappointed to get a palette with a broken eyeshadow. To be fair, i was contacted by customer service and they will exchange the item and reimburse me for shipping.

Shipping box

Shipping Box
  

Intro card and glitterysticker.


Palette D'Antoinette Palette Aquataenia Cosmopop and Chinchilla


Doe Deere's Quote
  
Aquataenia promotional card.


Promotional card for Aquataenia



As for the review, let me start by saying I love the attention to details. The shipping box with Doe Deere's quote on beauty, the envelope type packaging on the palettes, right down to the unicorn imprinted stamp. Its just too adorable and shows that this company is dedicated to giving you the experience of something magical, whimsical, and fun when you open your package. I appreciate that.


Palette boxes
  
Unicorn stamp detail on palette boxes.
Envelope design on palette boxes back and front.
  

As for the products themselves, aside from one busted up eye shadow I have to say I am pretty impressed at the quality, size, packaging, and application of these products. Id like to start with the newest addition to Lime Crime cosmetics which is Palette Aquataenia. Palette Aquataenia consists of five shadows that have a pearlesque shimmer to them as if to resemble scales under water with the light just gently hitting them. These shadows are called Nautilus Prime, Coral of the Story, Seahorse Discourse, Pearl-ple, and Atlanteal. I love how even the names of these colors go with their theme which is mermaid inspired and I find these shades are perfect for summer. I cant show you as much of them as I would have liked to due to my palette being broken during shipment, but I will share some swatches so you can get an idea of what to expect. Just a note, these shadows are very soft, so be very careful with them. As I always suggest, these would look best over a primer to help the colors pop. You can use a drugstore brand or if you would like to stay in the Lime Crime family you can check out their eye shadow helper here.
Price per palette: $34



Opening the palette envelope.

Outer case of palette

Black of Palette with colors and name of palette listed.

Nautilus Prime, Coral of the Story, Seahorse Discourse, Pearl-ple, and Atlanteal
Nautilus Prime, Coral of the Story, Seahorse Discourse, Pearl-ple, and Atlanteal. Taken with flash. I feel this really shows how pearl like these colors are.

Nautilus Prime, Coral of the Story, Seahorse Discourse, Pearl-ple, and Atlanteal. Taken without flash


The second palette that I ordered is the Palette D'Antoinette which is supposed to resemble Queen Marie Antoinette's iconic style. I find it to represent more of the modern image of Queen Marie Antoinette; the image that comes to mind is Kristen Dunst in the 2006 movie. (makeup artist Francoise Chapuis-Asselin).
Regardless of which Marie Antoinette inspired this palette, it is beautiful. The first four colors are matte and a little chalky (but not in a bad way!) They apply easily and smoothly. They are very pigmented as well. These colors all compliment each other so you can use one or use many and blend them together on the eyelid. The last color is a silver metallic shadow that just brings this whole palette together. I think the silver would make a great inner corner color to off set the pastels or even as an under the brow high lighter. The names of these colors are Royal Flush, Absinthe, Macrooned, Ribbonesque, and Mercurious. I love the French/Antoinette inspired names that these shadows are given. It is so suiting. 
Price: $34


Royal Flush, Absinthe, Macrooned, Ribbonesque, and Mercurious

Back of palette Royal Flush, Absinthe, Macrooned, Ribbonesque, and Mercurious
Mercurious, Royal Flush, Absinthe, Macrooned, Ribbonesque, taken without flash

Mercurious, Royal Flush, Absinthe, Macrooned, Ribbonesque, taken with flash



Along with the palettes mentioned above i decided to purchase two lipsticks which i thought would compliment the above palettes, while i wasn't able to create a full look (will be added in the future), i was able to do some swatches.

Two lipstick boxes

Just like their shipping box and palettes their lipsticks are uniquely packaged. While some people may find this packaging immature, I love it. Each purple tube is adorned with a holographic unicorn and stars! (These will always remind me of MAC's Heatherette collection seen here)






Sparkly purple lipstick tubes




This is a gray lipstick with a lilac undertone. I bought it more for its lilac undertone and I wasn't disappointed. I find it to be a little darker than D'Lilac and more flattering on the lips if you are light skinned. I liked how it covered my lips evenly and opaquely. Since it is a little darker than D'Lilac it is a little more forgiving on lip flaws. As always I love the sweet vanilla scent that these lipsticks have. The scent is not overpowering but it is noticeable even when just opening the cap. if you own MAC lipsticks then you know what scent I am referring to; both companies use the same scent.

Price: $16


Chinchilla


Chinchilla without flash


Chinchilla with flash

D'Lilac compared to Chinchilla 



 
This is a bright orange, opaque lipstick with a yellow undertone. It applies smoothly, is highly pigmented, and opaque. On some skin tones it may come off as a nude, on others it will be super bights, so remember that this is a super opaque color and will come out on your lips the same color as you see in the tube. I suggest that you exfoliate your lips gently with a soft tooth brush and some salt before applying it since it is very light and can be unforgiving of imperfections.
Price: $16



Cosmopop


Cosmopop with flash

Cosmopop without flash.



I hope you have found this review useful and that my swatches have helped you. If you like what you see please subscribe or leave a comment below.
Thanks =]