Darling Girl Eyeshadow Swatching Fun

Darling Girl is a small indie makeup company from Houston, Texas created by a woman named Susan.  I'd seen some swatches of colors from Darling Girl by Phyrra (phyrra.net), but I wasn't until I'd read some of Kadie Lee's raves about the company over at makeupisrad.blogspot.com that decided I had to try some of the shadows.

The Darling Girl site is quite nice.  It is easy to navigate, and there are swatches and descriptions of all the shadows.  Plus, some of the pictures of the eyeshadows remind me of little scoops of colorful ice cream!

All of the shadows I ordered are loose powders.  Also offered are blushes, highlighters, bronzers, glitter, and cream shadows.

You can buy samples (that come in 2 x 2 baggies), petit jars, or full size jars.  I like that there are all three options.  I ordered some samples of various colors to try out.

The first five (descriptions taken from darlinggirlcosmetics.com):
   Moondust Diamond Dust -- silvery taupe with tons of "diamond dust"
   Here's Johnny -- blackened red with color shifting sparkle
   Barbarella -- metallic melon-y gold with a red/orange flash
   Leviathan -- rich teal with strong green flash
   Sushi Flower Diamond Dust -- (no longer on the website) purple with "diamond dust"

Swatches dry:

from left: Moondust Diamond Dust, Here's Johnny, Barbarella, Leviathan, Sushi Flower Diamond Dust

Swatches over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy:

from left: Moondust Diamond Dust, Here's Johnny, Barbarella, Leviathan, Sushi Flower Diamond Dust

 
The next six colors:
   Sunset Strip -- warm coral pink with golden sheen
   Camp Blood -- steely grey pearl loaded with color shifting red shimmer
   Creature From The Black Lagoon -- murky blackened aqua with golden sparks
   Bio-Exorcist -- black base loaded with gold and blue shimmer
   Seven Days Later -- antique silver with soft turquoise to pinky violet flash and a light
                 dusting of royal blue sparkle
   Coral Kiss (free sample) -- (I couldn't find this on the website)

Swatches dry:

from left: Sunset Strip, Camp Blood, Creature From The Black Lagoon, Bio-Exorcist, Seven Days Later, Coral Kiss

Swatches over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy:

from left: Sunset Strip, Camp Blood, Creature From The Black Lagoon, Bio-exorcist, Seven Days Later, Coral Kiss

The necessary blurry photos to show the sparkle.

All photos were taken with a daylight bulb as the light source.

I am very happy with the shadows I tried.  They are all beautiful and not like anything I already have in my stash.  If sparkly shadows isn't your thing, Darling Girl also offers some matte colors.  I'm impressed by the website, and the fact that a thank you note is written on the receipt.

The turn around time is stated on the home page and is currently 14-16 business days.  Everything is hand-blended, and Susan says on the home page "I am the only sparkle fairy filling orders. I get them to you as quick as possible, I promise!"

You can find Darling Girl Cosmetics at darlinggirlcosmetics.com (not an affiliate link).

I did a look with Seven Days Later, Bio-Exorcist, and Camp Blood here.

P.S. I will have more Darling Girl eyeshadows and looks to show you soon...

Dragon Inspired Look of the Evening

I have these awesome boots that my husband gave me years ago that I decided to wear to La Traviata (the Verdi opera we went to see at the Detroit Opera House this past weekend).

The dragons on the boots are what inspired my makeup for the evening.

Eyes:  Marc Jacobs eyeshadow palette in The Starlet -- gold color on the lid
          E.L.F. eyeshadow palette from the Maleficent set -- dark green in crease
          Tarina Tarantino Hyperliner in Tommy Jet -- lower waterline
          Benefit They're Real Mascara

Cheeks:  Milani Illuminating Powder in Amber Nectar -- cheekbones
             Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Exposed -- apples of the cheeks

Lips:  Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Demure

Marc Jacobs The Starlet palette gold color, E.L.F. palette dark green color, Tarina Tarantino Tommy Jet eyeliner

Milani Illuminating Powder in Amber Nectar, Tarte blush in Exposed, Revlon lipstick in Demure

Just for fun, here are a couple photos of the Detroit Opera House.

What did you do for fun this weekend?

November Garden

Just a couple things are still blooming.

The Hydrangeas blooms have turned a deep pink color.  I don't remember them doing this last year.

Toad Lily

Some of the Hosta have turned a beautiful golden yellow.

The Japanese Maple has turned a burgundy color.

I like the way a carpet of colorful leaves looks.

Look at the colors in this leaf!

We put spiderwebs on our gargoyles for Halloween.

I need to start doing the winter prep thing now.

Sephora VIB/Birthday Haul

My parents spoiled me at Sephora for my birthday.  It was nice that it coincided with the Sephora VIB sale!

Marc Jacobs Style Eyecon No. 7 Plush Eyeshadow Palette in The Starlet -- this
       had been on my wishlist since it debuted.

Too Faced Pretty Rebel Badass Beauty Eyeshadow Palette -- another on my
        wishlist since it came out.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Exposed -- most of my blushes are pink
       or coral.  Everyone raves about how this blush is the perfect neutral light
       plum-brown that goes with everything.

Josie Maran 100% Argan Oil -- a staple in my skincare regimen, and I'm almost out.

Perfect Formula Gel Coat (review) -- a staple in my nail care routine, and I'm almost
       out.

Oscar Blandi Dry Conditioner Spray -- this was an impulse buy.  The Oscar Blandi
       rep was at Sephora and talked me into it.  I haven't had much time to play with it yet,
       but in the store it made my hair feel really nice (having the rep from the company
       rave about it helped too).

2 eyeshadow brushes from the Sephora line -- because I need more brushes :P

Thank you for the birthday presents mom and dad!

Opera Nails

Here's what I wore on my nails during my recent trip to Chicago where we went to see the opera Parsifal.

The cream nude base is JinSoon Nostalgia (review here), and the flaky (flakie?) on top is Sally Hansen Triple Shine in Pearly Whites.  The Sally Hansen Triple Shine is a new formula, but it is permanent to the line line, I believe.

I wanted to wear Nostalgia since it is elegant and neutral (so it matches everything I wore), but I thought it could use a little extra something.  I didn't want sparkle or glitter, so the iridescent flakies in the Sally Hansen polish seemed just right.  I used two coats of Sally Hansen Pearly Whites to get the number of flakies I wanted on each nail.

The flakes in the polish lie quite flat to the nail, but a top coat to seal them still seems like a good idea.

Have a gorgeous day!

Chicago Trip

I went to Chicago over the weekend with my parents and younger sister to see Richard Wagner's Parsifal performed by the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as for a belated birthday celebration.

The opera was amazing.  I mean goose-bump and tear-inducingly beautiful.

We arrived friday night for dinner, shopped on saturday morning/early afternoon, and went to the opera in the late afternoon (it started at 5pm and ran until after 11pm).  On sunday, we wandered around Chicago a little.

Friday night dinner of salmon and lentils.

My sister is a much happier person in the morning once she's had some coffee.

The Marshall Fields (now Macy's) holiday windows featured the history of the holidays at Marshall Fields.  This on shows the clock being set with the holiday decorations hanging around it.

And here it is for real!

We, of course, went to Sephora where my mom bought be some birthday presents.

We listened to a short lecture about before the opera.

The Chicago Opera House is beautiful.

My sister and mom all dressed up.

Me and my sister.

The art on the wall in our hotel room was a photo of an x-ray of a violin.

On Sunday, we saw the world's largest Tiffany Dome which is in the Chicago Cultural Center (previously the Chicago Public Library).

Great photo of my dad (and me) at breakfast!

We had a wonderful time!

EotD with Fyrinnae and Urban Decay

Fyrinnae Mystical Hedgehog in action.  So so pretty.

I also used Urban Decay shadow in Asphyxia above the crease.

From left: Urban Decay Asphyxia, Fyrinnae loose eyeshadow in Mystical Hedgehog

daylight bulb

flash

Another rather short post... Ah well.  Have a gorgeous day!