A while ago I was convinced by my friend
Krissi to try out this company called Brazen Cosmetics (they're on
Etsy and
Artfire). Krissi wasn't actively trying to convince me, actually--she just mentioned that they had some vegan stuff and since I hadn't tried them out yet...I bought a few things right away--I call that "Krissi convincing me". (I really didn't need much "convincing.") Anyways. The point is, I put in an order for two of their Passion Pots (their version of a lip gloss) and two pots of their shadows to see what they were all about.
I ordered through their Etsy page and my experience was pretty good. I had a momentary panic after choosing my two shadow colours because I thought that one of the ones I picked wasn't vegan. I messaged the seller, Sandi, right away and she got back to me the next day to reassure me that the colour I picked out was, indeed, vegan. I found the listings a bit tricky to wade through as I was looking strictly for the vegan products--Sandi did inform me that she was going through the listings to make sure the veganness was highlighted right in the product title. I appreciate that greatly, of course. :)
Shipping wouldn't have been an issue if Canada Post hadn't decided to strike while my package was in the mail!! Sandi, once again, was great and communicated a couple of times to me about the package and wondered/questioned when I would receive it. I finally received it yesterday, woo!!
On to the pictures!
My package arrived in a regular flat envelope (with some cute pink tape on it) and the insides were packaged very nicely. Bubble wrap protected the goods very nicely and an invoice was included--always nice when that happens--especially when a personalized note is also on it!
Brazen Cosmetics is soon about to open their own website. I didn't realize at the time when I made my order, but a little contest is happening (I'm not sure when it runs from or to) where with your order you get tickets and Sandi draws numbers and if you have a winning ticket, then you win! (Winning is fun!)
The inside of the bubble wrap was nicely contained with pink tissue paper. And an adorable little sticker.
On top of what I ordered (two passion pots and two shadows):
I received a couple of samples. This is "Music Box"--a lovely blue shade (the lighting here was messed up--it was getting dark out, but I was snapping pictures anyways!).
And here it is swatched!
As well as a sample of a finishing powder. I don't actually wear face makeup, most of the time, so I'm not exactly sure what to do with this. I imagine I apply it over my foundation with a big fluffy brush for a flawless look. We'll see if I find an excuse to try it out!
Back to the products I ordered. The pots are all labeled with ingredient listings. This is something I've come to expect and I was obviously not disappointed!
Each pot had been heat sealed with a plastic wrap. Nice and sanitary. It also prevented the product from getting out of the pots. Always a good thing not to lose any product!
The shadow pots have very nice matte black lids. I'm used to the shiny lids and these matte lids make the whole thing feel a lot "fancier"--which I thought was a nice touch. Since, as you can see, the shadows also have a seal on the inside of the lid--I think they could stand to NOT be shrink wrapped on top of it--wasting plastic packaging isn't one of my favorite things to do. But the Passion Pots, on the other hand--as you notice from the picture above--don't have any kind of sifter (of course, because you need to use your fingers or a brush to apply it) and so the shrink wrap seal is definitely needed for them. Back to the shadows though--I really *do* like the type of plastic seal Brazen Cosmetics uses. That little white tab (you can see it in the below section of the below picture) made the seals VERY easy to take off. Yay for ease!
(Ethereal on the left. Mayhem on the right.)
And up close, the two shadow colours look like this:
And swatched.
Ethereal. A pretty pink with gold glitter.
Mayhem. A neat grey/black with pink shimmer.
I threw together a quick look with these too colours to test them out on the eye. They both have a lovely texture and applied quite easily. I had to really pack Ethereal on to get it to show up how I wanted it to, but if you're a fan of the softer pinks--you would probably really like it! Mayhem's pink shimmer showed up nicely on the eye--I was happy to see that!
The item I am most excited about though--the Passion Pots.
Hype. Described as a "melon shimmer with pink shift."
Breathless. Described as a "frosty pink silver."
Both Passion Pots are a thick and kind of "sticky" (but NOT unpleasantly so!) lipgloss. I wish both of them were scented with some kind of oil--because as I mentioned before--I *really really* love the mint oil in Breathless. I find it kind of odd to put on Hype and not really "taste" anything, but maybe that is because I am just not used to wearing things on my lips that are unscented/unflavored. If you're looking for something neutral to put on your mouth that doesn't have a scent--you'll probably LOVE the ones with no mint oil in them. These things, though, are HARD to get a swatch picture of...I tried...
Swatch pictures aside, though, I will *definitely* be picking up more of the mint scented ones!! The staying power of these lip glosses is absolutely INSANE. I put on Hype before work this morning and I imagined that after eating lunch it would disappear. No, it sure did not. It stuck around until I got home!! How does Sandi do it?! I have no idea. But I just hope she comes out with more and more of them. Maybe even ones that are slightly vanilla scented?! Or cinnamon?! That would be a dream come true! The other awesome thing about this product--not only do they come in beautiful colours and have excellent staying power--but they're incredibly moisturizing for your lips (because of the jojoba oil, meadow foam oil and vitamin E). It's a win win win situation!
Here's a picture where I'm trying to convey the awesome texture that these Passion Pots have:
Do I recommend Brazen Cosmetics? Yep, I sure do. Especially if you're a vegan looking for some rocking lip glosses that pack a long lasting punch! I need to order
Make Out NOW. And so do you!
