MtCoffinz Review

I was so excited yesterday to see my very first MtCoffinz cosmetics package waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home! Jinx, of MtCoffinz, is mainly involved with making clothing and accessories, but just recently she has launched her own cosmetics line. Here is a wonderful note that Jinx posted on the MtCoffinz Facebook fanpage that explains the philosophy behind her cosmetics brand. In the note it is explained that she does not hand craft the cosmetics products herself, they are produced in a sterile lab. The colours, textures, shimmers and product size are all up to Jinx and from what I can tell from my first order, she definitely has all of her proverbial ducks in a row. A bonus about the MtCoffinz makeup is that it is hypoallergenic, paraben and fragrance free. And of course--they do not test on animals and so far--ALL of their eyeshadows AND their primer are 100% vegan! Yay!

The official launch of the cosmetics line was on May 11th. Jinx explained that due to an error in the sizing of the boxes for the pressed eyeshadows (the boxes were cut too small) that the store would be opening with 20% all prices on shadows and primers! Of course, I put in my order that morning. (Remember that I said I received it yesterday (Friday)?! FAST SHIPPING HOLY SMOKES. I am very very pleased about that!) There was also a little bonus that if you bought a certain amount of shadows, you'd get a little surprise. I ordered four pressed shadows and the Under the Rainbow primer.

My package arrived in a standard bubble mailer:


And inside were these things (little hand touches like the "Thank You" on the tissue paper is a lovely surprise):


I am going to apologize right now for the blurry photos. When I was taking them, the screen on my camera misleadingly convinced me that these pictures were more clear than they turned out to be! I promise that the product itself is NOT fuzzy. :P

The MtCoffinz business cards are adorable. Rainbow wonderfulness on the left hand side and a star cut-out on the top right. CUTE.


The bonus that I received (because I ordered four shadows) is a nifty little MtCoffinz pouch. Rainbow stars! The cuteness continues!! This pouch is a great size--it will fit a lot of stuff in it! (It's roughly 7 inches X 9 inches!)


And the inside is a super bright (awesome) green:


I'm going to begin with the primer. If you've been following me for a while...then you know my dilemma when it comes to primers! (Don't know what I'm talking about? Read here and here and here AND here--seriously. Primers cause me A LOT OF STRESS!) The MtCoffinz primer, called "Under the Rainbow" came to me packaged like this:


It regularly runs for $14. You get 7.5gms of product for this price. I would say it's DEFINITELY worth it.

The bottom of the pot has all of the ingredients listed:


And the product looks like this:


It is kind of similar to the All Natural Face primer that I use as far as how it's packaged and how I apply it--but THIS primer is definitely more tacky and so far I have experienced pretty great results with it helping my shadows NOT to crease. YAY FOR THAT. (At the end of this review I'll attach some pictures as evidence.) It does have a "concealer" type scent to it that seems kind of strong in the pot, but once it's on your lids...you don't notice it? Heh. If you want to know more information about this product, there is a super clear note posted on the MtCoffinz FB fanpage.

On to the shadows! They come packaged in these cute little boxes (blurry picture, I know, I know!). The backs say: "Lavishly pigmented Pressed Eyeshadow in brilliant colors to take you from day through night. The silken texture allows you to achieve the bold looks you desire." Like the primer, the shadows, too, have a note on the FB page. You can read it here. The shadows are regularly $10 a pop--and for that you get 4.5gms of product.


Here is the packaging of the shadows themselves. The tops have the MtCoffinz logo printed on the tops, the tops themselves are hinged, and the bottoms list the ingredients. The cool thing about these is that there is a sponge brush hidden in a compartment so you can do emergency touch ups! I didn't take a picture of that, so you'll have to find the brush for yourself. :)


I bought Gossip. It is described as a opaque white with soft pearl tones. The texture of this one is SUPERB. So silky smooth. When I run out of this one, I will be ordering it again FOR SURE.


I also picked up Nocturne--a matte black. I find the texture of this one quite "hard" to the touch...which isn't unusual for matte pressed shadows, I have come to realize.


I ALSO grabbed Fallen--a dark blue with black undertones and teal shimmer.


And last: Veruca (I am SUCH a sucker for purples!!). Veruca is described as a deep purple with black undertones and pink shimmer.


I actually managed to get decent swatch pictures of them! Swatching is hard for me, for some reason!! These were all swatched over the Under the Rainbow primer. As you can see--Gossip KICKS ASS. Nocturne is a bit on the pale side--which isn't necessarily bad for a black--sometimes you want a softer black! Veruca and Fallen show up great here and the purple/blue tones definitely show nicely.


And just for one more look at them:


The other nice little touch--inside each eyeshadow box and included with my primer are little star stickers with cute little sayings on them. Such a nice thing to find!


I immediately cracked my shadows opened and played with Gossip, Veruca and Fallen. These are both with the Under the Rainbow primer and NYX Eyeshadow base in "White" under the shadows.

Gossip + Veruca

Gossip + Fallen

Gossip applied like a freakin' dream. While Veruca and Fallen are both pretty colours in the swatch pictures, I find they photographed and applied a bit more similarly than I was hoping. I do use the flash for my photos, but you can't really distinguish these two colors from each other, unfortunately. I'm going to try applying them with different brushes next time to see if I can make the purple and blue tones come out more on my eyelid. BUT. What impressed me SO MUCH is this damn primer! The above two photos were taken at 8:26pm.

And these were taken at 12:17am (so only about 4 hours later, but STILL). This is the Fallen eye on the left and Veruca on the right. You can see a tiny bit of wear--but let me tell you all--these are the best results (HANDS DOWN) that I've gotten from a primer since ceasing use of Urban Decay's (un-vegan) Primer Potion!

(This one can be enlarged quite a bit by clicking on it--so you can see up close the primer's results.)

I wasn't completely sure if these results were due to the primer alone or if the shadows themselves just had great staying power--so today I used the primer below my Madd Style Cosmetics pigments. I applied my makeup around 1:52pm and at 5:49pm it's looking just as good. So again, just around 4 hours. But I'll try to snap some pictures of around 8 hours a bit later in the evening.

So far I am very happy with my purchase from MtCoffinz cosmetics. I think I will need to pick up a few of their brighter colours--probably Nemesis and Rumor--cause they look awesome, RIGHT? :)

My continuous search for a primer!

As you, my readers [hi readers!!], know--vegan eyelid primers are a hard hard thing to come by. I have tried SoBe's Primed and Proper (with relatively good results) as well as The All Natural Face's Eyeshadow Primer (both in Buff and in Black--the Black really works well as a base, but I don't find it works as well as a primer. The Buff works, but I definitely get creasing after a few hours).

My next foray into the land of vegan primers is going to take me to Evil Shades Cosmetics's Evileyes Primer. The explanation of the texture makes me weary, but also intrigued. I was also weary of The All Natural Face's packaging and the fact that their product comes in a pot--but the pot part of the whole thing hasn't turned me off yet. I'm optimistic that this "mousse" texture in Evil Shades's primer will be different in a good way. My fingers are seriously crossed.

Have any of you had any experience with the Evil Shades primer? If so, I'd love love love to hear about it.

This blog definitely doesn't have a good review of it. But in contradiction, this review is favorable.

So I figure it's best to try it out for myself, yes? :)

New brushes and new mail.

I super duper like to get new brushes. It may be one of my favorite things. Do I need new brushes? No, not exactly!! However, that doesn't stop me. My second most latest purchase (my most recent purchase probably won't make its way to my house for a couple more weeks) was unplanned--and thus I don't feel as guilty about it as I should. Also--the trip the to art supplies store was for another purpose entirely...and that makes it all okay (somehow). AND. Artist brushes are MUCH cheaper than brushes you'll get that are actually "make-up" brushes. So in the end, I WIN.

So. While going to the art store to pick up acrylic paints (my husband and I want to try messing around with them), I found a neato package of brushes that will totally be awesome for liner. And a fan brush--which is so small that it isn't really useful. But 5 out of 6 ain't bad (I think the pack cost $11.99)! The flat topped ones and the angled one are especially exciting to me because their ends are SO very thin. To the left of the pack is a single 000 sized teeny tiny brush (I think it cost...$2 something). I had been doing my eyeliner with a size 00 up to now. The 000 one is awwwwesome though.


I used the 000 to achieve the liner in this look (featuring Madd Style Cosmetics pigments, of course!):

(See how thin the liner is?!! Gah! Awesome. MSC colours used: Blister in the Sun on 2/3rds of the lid. Kick Ass in the outer 1/3rd and then blended into BitS to make that orange colour. The Up in Smoke matte Black was used as my liner. And I used a dab of Rocky (from the Rocky Horror Picture inspired collection) in my duct. Lastly, Xray Spex lightly dusted on as my brow highlight.)

So far I haven't had a chance to play with the brushes from the 6-pack. Hopefully I'll break at least one of them in on Sunday!!

Then, when arriving back home from the art store, I had mail too!! My package from The All Natural Face had arrived! I ordered their primers when I was anxiously awaiting my primer from SoBe--and after a friend recommended the ANF primer, I just had to find out what they were all about. The package contained:

(Liquid Eyeliner, Eyelid primer in "Buff" and in "Black," a business card and two samples)

The samples look neat.

(The one on the left is a "Face Food Fruit Facial Wash--Strawberries and Cream" made of strawberries and coconut milk. The one on the right is a "Softening Mud Mask." I rarely do much "fancy" stuff with my facial cleaning routine, but I'll try these out and see what I think!)

The primers were what I expected. The texture on them is nice enough, but I definitely experienced creasing after not too long when using them.

The pigmentation on the black one is especially nice. I used it as a base to this look:

(This is MSC in Jive Talk on the lid. Blended out with some Star Gazer and UiS White as the brow highlight. I also used some UiS Black in my water line overtop of UD 24/7 Glide Pencil in Zero. Putting the loose pigment over the pencil REALLY makes it stick. I mean, really really stick.)

For the picture taking and for about an hour, the lids looked good--but then the creasing set in and I was one sad vegan Canadian make-up obsessed girl.

So all in all, I am not too impressed with the primers I received from The All Natural Face. I am going to try using less and see what happens. Likewise, I was not very happy with the eyeliner. I tried to take a swatch picture:

(The lower smudged liner was just me testing out the staying power. The top line (right under the scar my sister gave me with a mechanical pencil back when we were younger and hated each other) is the product after two swipes. This colour is called "Black Pearl" but I don't find it to be nearly as pigmented as I want it to be/thought it would be. At least it didn't cost too much $.)

Thus concludes my new brushes and mail show-and-tell! I am hoping to work on my next pictutorial on Sunday--so if you're dying to see me try out a specific colour combo--let me know!! :)

Attempt #2: SoBe Primed and Proper.

Due to the helpful email response from Lex (of SoBe Botanicals) after my first experience (chronicled here) using the Primed and Proper eyelid primer--yesterday I tried it again, but this time I used much less product.


After putting this on one finger, I just rubbed my two index fingers together and applied the product evenly on each eyelid (up to the brow) and down around the ducts and lower lash line. A little goes a LONG way, trust me!!

In order to get qualitative results I did two different eyes (one eye with MSC pigments and the other with the SoBe samples that I was sent with my order). Both had the same base (NYX eyeshadow base in White) applied over the primer and under the pigments. I photographed both eyes at three various times in the evening. I have to say, I am quite pleased with the results.

Using my two unnamed SoBe pigments:
(Edit (7:13pm): Lex let me know that the two pigments are "One of a Kind." She creates pigments (that aren't on the website) to send out in packages. Sometimes these are sneak peeks into new colours that will be posted on the site, and sometimes they're just a colour she mixed together. Neat!)

(What a terrible swatch picture. I have awful luck trying to get swatches to come out properly! I will practice with this!!)

I created this look:


I applied the light/soft pink to my lid (from the ducts all the way to the outside corner of my eyelid) with a flat eyeshadow brush. Then I applied the mauve colour in the crease/orbital bone with a fluffy blender brush. You can see that even after 7 hours--the product still looks pretty good! Yay for that!!

For the MSC eye, I did this:

I used Princess Buttah Cup in the inner eyelid (applied with a flat eyeshadow brush). Then Radar Love was applied with the same brush to the rest of the lid. I used a fluffy eyeshadow brush to apply She-Bop to the outer "V" area of my eye and pressed some Dazzle Dust on top of the She-Bop with the same fluffy eyeshadow brush. Mr. Roboto was used in the ducts and as a brow highlight (I think I used a pencil brush to apply to my ducts and fluffy blender brush to apply it to my brow). Glitter Bitches became my eyeliner (applied wet with my go-to eyeliner brush: a size 00 Galeria Winsor & Newton artist brush--then I used an angled eyeliner brush to press some dry pigment). Just like with the SoBe eye, my primer stood up to the 7 hours underneath my MSC piggies. Woo!!

I am BEYOND thrilled to have a found a product that works for me!!! For any vegans out there (or for anyone who prefers to keep animal products out of their cosmetics) curious about what to use, SoBe's Primed and Proper has my stamp of approval!!

Edit (05/21/2011): As I have said in the comments on this blog--I have NEVER been able to successfully recreate the results that I achieved during this test. -sigh- I don't know what it is. For a consistent product, Primed and Proper has not delivered (for me). If you know of any trips/tricks, I would LOVE to hear them. Today I played around with using it as a lip primer under some OCC Lip Tars--I'm not too sure how well it's worked, but the Lip Tar has stuck around pretty well so far!

Primerlessness ceases!

Today was a glorious day! I received my new vegan primer from SoBe Botanicals!

A bit of back story: I have been traumatized by companies messing up my order/not sending my orders out. The result of this trauma is paranoia about every package I ever order not getting to me. I have to say, Lex (of SoBe Botanicals) was wonderfully communicative throughout my waiting period. I had originally emailed her when I didn't receive a shipping notice. I was informed that the website automatically generates an email notice, even though international customers are exempt from actually being sent a tracking number or shipping notice. This is normal, and I'm used to it--but because of the auto-email, I was concerned. The day after emailing I heard back from Lex and she reassured me that my package was shipped in the 5th of January. By Wednesday the 26th when I had still not received my package, I emailed Lex again (see?! paranoid much?!!). She once again replied and said that harsh weather may have been the issue and she asked me that I let her know when my package did get to me. A+ for customer service, for sure! And then today I excitedly emailed her to announce that my package did make its way to me!

And here's the proof:
And the excitement doesn't end there. Upon opening the package I was confronted by this adorable packaging:

Gah!! Cute, no?!

And the insides:

Left to right: Primed and Proper, business card, two seemingly unlabeled pigment samples.

The primer, the pièce de résistance, was sealed. A nice reassurance that the product hasn't been compromised in any way,shape,or form.


And the product itself:


My first impressions of the product were very positive. I think that had a lot to do with the packaging and the way the product arrived and the communication I had received from Lex. The texture of the primer is very light and what you see in this picture was what I used for both of my eyelids. The scent of the product was nice: there was a freshness to it. When I put it on my eyelids it was a bit cool, which wasn't unpleasant. It was very smooth to apply--though I wasn't exactly sure how much to use!

Later impressions: I applied some MSC pigments over top of NYX eyeshadow base in white (all over top of the primer, of course!). The immediate results were awesome. The primer seemed to help my base stay in place, and applying pigment over top didn't give me any issues.

This is MSC's Nirvana (on the lid) with Sub Zero in ducts and as a brow highlight. Time Warp as a liner.

Even later impressions of SoBe's Primed and Proper: About an hour after application, my eyeshadow still looked great. But after two hours I definitely have creasing (more on one eye than the other, it seems). I'm not entirely discouraged by this because I wasn't exactly sure how much product to use. I will experiment using less first and then more after that.

Knowing 100% that this primer is vegan makes me very willing to try to make it work!

Edit: 11:14pm

When I received my package and let Lex know, I also told her I would be writing up a blog about it. She asked me to forward her the link and I did--also saying that she might be able to help me out with my amount of product issue. Lex let me know that she uses about half the amount I pictured for both eyes. So tomorrow I will try it again with way less product! And hooray for that--cause that means the 1/2 oz bottle will last me a long while!!

Primerless.

I am still primerless. My Sobe Botanicals package with my (hopefully) new (favorite) primer has not arrived yet. It was shipped to me on the 5th and I keep hoping that maybe it'll just take two weeks to get to me--which means it could be here ANY TIME! But I keep checking my mailbox and getting all disappointed when I find it empty. One day, maybe one day, mail won't take three weeks to get to me from America. Maybe. One. Day.

Yesterday I had an un-fun day at work and decided to try to cheer myself up with colours. One of my friends suggested I try using chapstick as a primer, just for the time being. I tried it. It worked long enough for me to take some okay pictures, but the colours blended together and creased pretty severely shortly (within an hour, I would guess) after I applied it. Maybe next time I'll try less chapstick?

It really just all depends on how long my darn package takes to get to me!! Bah! And this also depends on me actually being happy with the results of the SoBe product! So many variables.

Here is a collage I made of the look I did yesterday (see xsparkage's tutorial on youtube for the method behind the madness).

As usual, the pigments I used were MSC. And I realized after struggling with photoshop in order to make that darn collage (all by myself, mind you!!) that I forgot my tear duct colour: Xray Spex.

Where I lament about my lack of a primer.

Up until a few weeks ago (right after New Years Day, to be exact), my makeup wearing abilities were dramatically altered.

I had been a happy vegan customer of Urban Decay and faithfully used their Primer Potion for my eyeshadow primer as it was marked with Marley's purple paw--the symbol that UD uses as their "vegan" signifier. Sometime after December 31st I was browsing UD's website when much to my dismay, I came across this (click to enlarge):


Oooooh, I was sad. The non-vegan ingredient is a derivative of lanolin (the oil that comes from a sheep's wool). I was sad about this and also sad because I had stocked up on two whole bottles while on a recent trip down to the States because they are considerably cheaper south of the 49th parallel. -sigh-

I keep meaning to take a trip to my local Sephora to see if they still have the UDPP marked as vegan. They probably do, and that means that vegans who don't regularly check UD's website won't know about the announcement that was made in November about the un-veganess of that product.

Thus began my search for a NEW primer--and the search has been...relatively unfruitful. As of right now I have ALL of my "eggs" in one basket--SoBe Botanicals offers a vegan primer called Primed & Proper. I ordered it on January 2nd, it was shipped on January 5th, and I have yet to receive it. If this product doesn't stop my creasing, the only other option I know of is The All Natural Face's primer--but from the looks of their packaging, I'm *really* hoping that SoBe's primer doesn't let me down. Today I also got all excited after learning that Sugarpill will be coming out with their own primer--but then my excitement was extinguished when a friend of mine asked Amy (owner/creator of Sugarpill) if the product will be vegan. The answer is negative.

So my fingers are crossed very tightly for my SoBe primer. Oh, are they ever!

(PS: If any of my followers have any leads on any awesome vegan primers, I would *love love love* to hear about them!!!)