35th Birthday Giveaway

Sunday is my 35th Birthday and I thought that holding my first blog giveaway would be an awesome way to celebrate.

One winner will be selected at random to receive a few of my favourite things:
1 - White Chocolate Popcorn solid lotion from Epically Epic Soap
1 - Stars Beneath Glass shadow from My Pretty Zombie
1 - Basket Case shadow from Glamour Doll Eyes
1 - Bunny Trail shadow from Glamour Doll Eyes
1 - S&M May OTM shadow from Glamour Doll Eyes

Please note that this contest is only open to residents of continental US and Canada.  Giveaway runs from May 1 - 31st.  You can enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. a Rafflecopter giveaway

*All items are new, unused and purchased by me. 

Glamour Doll Eyes May Promotion

May is Vee's birthday month and to celebrate she is running a special promotion.  For every $10 spent, customers will be given a ticket for a special drawing.  On June 3rd, there will be a drawing and one lucky winner will win the entire GDE shadow collection.  Yes, the ENTIRE COLLECTION!  Full size!  That is 141 different shadows, an amazing prize worth over $800!!  Vee will also be drawing two tickets for a sample baggie set of the entire collection (worth nearly $200).  So if you are looking for some kick ass colours and would love a chance to win an AMAZING prize, head over to the GDE website starting May 1.

Glamour Doll Eyes Matte2 Collection, Set 1 - Masculine

Remember a few posts ago when I highlighted the Glamour Doll Eyes Easter 2013 colours and said that I had won a special prize in the Easter Egg Hunt, well this collection was my prize.  It was also the second collection Vee was asking for bloggers to review.  Matte² Masculine Collection is a 10 colour set of shadows with matte bases.  Each shade also has a sheen/shift to it, similar to Unveil from the Halo Collection.  Without further ado, here is the new collection:

Top L-R: Arrogant, Chivalrous; Middle L-R: Inconsiderate, Reckless; Bottom: Courageous

From the GDE website:

Courageous - matte gray/slight blue with orange sheen

Reckless - matte orange with blue sheen

Inconsiderate - matte beige with red sheen

Chivalrous - matte red with orange sheen

Arrogant - matte dark greenish teal with blue sheen

Top L-R: Fearless, Facade; Middle L-R: Irrational, Thoughtless; Bottom: Presumptuous

From the GDE website:

Fearless - matte dark blue with purple sheen

Presumptuous - matte yellow with purple sheen

Facade - mate burgundy/maroon with red sheen

Irrational - matte green with lots of gold sheen

Thoughtless - matte medium blue with copper sheen

Swatches (indoor, with flash, bare skin)

L-R: Courageous, Reckless, Inconsiderate, Chivalrous, Arrogant

L-R: Fearless, Presumptuous, Facade, Irrational, Thoughtless

Matte² Collection will officially be released on June 21, 2013.  Once released, this collection will only be available for 6 months.  After that, 10 Feminine colours will be released for an additional six months.  Vee will then hold a pole and the top five from each of the two collections (10 colours total) will be added to the permanent GDE shadow collection.

Please note: since these colours are matte, it is recommended that a good primer be used prior to applying them to achieve maximum colour and sheen.

Courageous, Inconsiderate and Facade are my favourites of this collection, how about you?

Glamour Doll Eyes - Born Of Illusion Collection

A while back, Vee posted a message on Facebook asking if any bloggers were interested in reviewing a couple of upcoming collections.  I was lucky enough to score one of the new collections, the Born of Illusion Collection.  Born of Illusion is a three colour set created in collaboration with author Teri Brown for the release of her new book titled, you guessed it, Born Of Illusion.  This Collection is special edition and will only be sold as a full sized set.

From the GDE website:

Illusion - pearlescent white

Levitation - dark royal blue

Deception - dark almost black gray with mulit-coloured shimmers

These colours are extremely beautiful and full of sparkles!

Top: Illusion, Left - Levitation, Right - Deception

L-R: Illusion, Levitation, Deception

Glamour Doll Eyes - Born of Illusion Collection - available May 15, 2013.

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown will be released in hard cover June 11, 2013.

Here are some of Teri Brown's links:

http://teribrownbooks.com
http://twitter.com/teribrownwrites

*All photos taken indoors with flash, swatches on bare skin.

Darling Girl Cosmetics Review

A couple of weeks back, I ordered a blogger review package from Susan at Darling Girl Cosmetics.  In it, I requested samples of four shadows and one lip balm: Black Moon, Beast, Miss You Too, Silver Lining and Stay Beautiful.

Black Moon: green brown with a pink shift

Beast: brown with a pink shift, similar to Black Moon

Miss You Too: lilac purple with aqua sparkle

Silver Lining: pearly white with silver sparkle

Blue Blood - periwinkle blue with purple shift and silver sparkle (freebie)

Stay Beautiful: bright coral

From the Darling Girl Website:

Black Moon - sooty green base with orange red flash and a shift to golden green

Beast - From the Throwing Stones collection - midtonal grey brown with red sheen and gold iridescence

Miss You Too: From the Throwing Stones collection - light orchid purple with a silver blue undertone and colour shifting shimmer

Silver Lining - light grey with soft golden glow

Blue Blood - deep periwinkle with gold and pink colour shifting shimmer

Stay Beautiful - color rich lip balm - orange coral with violet undertones 

L-R: Black Moon, Silver Lining, Beast, Miss You Too, Blue Blood, Stay Beautiful

All of the colours have a lot of sparkle and I will definitely be purchasing all of them in full size.  So beautiful!!

*All photos taken with indoor light, flash and swatched on bare skin.

Glamour Doll Eyes - April OTM

Today, my April OTM from Glamour Doll Eyes came in.  As always, Vee does not disappoint!  Glamour Doll Eyes shadows always have a great colour pay off and are long wear, even without primer.  I also find that they have very little fall out (with the exception of the really glittery shades).

April's OTM - Fellas Love Yella

From the OTM card - Fellas Love Yella - A pale marigold yellow with golden/copper shimmer.  In the pot it looks similar in colour to gold leaf, very pretty!

New OTM spots open up on the 8th of each month at 11 AM PST and go extremely fast.  Literally they are sold out in minutes of the spots being posted.  So if you are interested, mark your calendars for May 8!  May is Vee's birthday month, which usually means it will be an extra month based on last year's OTM.  I am very excited to see what she has in store for us for May!

*All images taken indoors with flash.

Glamour Doll Eyes - Easter 2013 Colours

Third post of the day....Easter Colours from Glamour Doll Eyes.  A few weeks ago, while waiting at the hospital for my Aunt's tests to be completed, I managed to snag all six of the limited edition Easter colours from Glamour Doll Eyes.  Vee released four "known" colours and two" mystery" colours.  Included in this year's Easter collection were three pastel mattes - Peep Show, Bunny Trail and Hippity Hop; and three shimmers - Basket Case, Cake Walk and Sugar High.

 L-R: Peep Show, Bunny Trail, Hippity Hop

Peep Show - matte baby blue

Bunny Trail - matte pale yellow

Hippity Hop - matte mint green (mystery colour)

L-R:  Basket Case, Cake Walk, Sugar High

Basket Case - shimmery mint green

Cake Walk - shimmery pale purple

Sugar High - shimmery  pale pink (mystery colour)

Vee also had an "Easter Egg' hunt with the mystery colours, as some of the jars had a winning number printed on the bottom.  I was lucky enough to receive a winning jar with my order and my prize was pretty epic (can we say new collection....).  Look for my post coming soon. 

If you are interested in any of these shadows, two of them are still available on the GDE website as of this morning: Basket Case and Bunny Trail.  They are limited stock and are 25% off - $4.50/jar.  Get them quick before they are gone! GDE - Easter2013


*All photos taken indoors with flash.

BFTE - Zach's Friends LE Eye shadow Set

Crystal at Beauty from the Earth has also recently re-released a tribute shadow set, Zach's Friends.  Zach's friends is a two shadow set in honour of her best friend's son, Zach who passed away in April of 2011 after battling depression. Each set comes with two full sized jars and a bracelet (either green or purple) supporting the Zach's friends awareness campaign.  $8.00 of each purchase will also be donated to the awareness campaign. 

Crystal packages each set in a purple organza bag.

 L - R: Zach's Friends, Erase the Stigma

Zach's Friends - shimmery medium magenta purple

Erase the Stigma -  shimmery lime green

If you would like to help out this worthy cause, you can visit www.zachsfriends.org or go to the BFTE website and purchase a set.  Crystal has an extremely fast turn around time and these colours are beautiful, so help support a worthy cause.

*All photos were taken indoors with flash.

My Pretty Zombie Stars Beneath Glass LE Eye Shadow

Happy Monday everyone!  This is the first of three product posts I have for you today...I have been meaning to get these up for the past week or so but moving/painting my new house has gotten in the way.  At any rate, here is the first post, MPZ Stars Beneath Glass LE eye shadow.

I love My Pretty Zombie shadows - Andrea always has the most interesting colours and they wear very nicely.  I also love that all MPZ shadows come in square containers, which makes them easy to find in my vast collection of eye shadow pots.

Stars Beneath Glass LE eye shadow is a colour that Andrea created as a tribute to one of her customers or "dollfaces" as she calls us - Megan.  Megan was a good friend of Andrea's and recently passed away.  All of the proceeds of this colour will be given to Megan's family for her final expenses. 

From the MPZ Etsy shop - Stars Beneath Glass - steely blue with a gold shift  This colour is really beautiful and a very fitting tribute to a friend.  Andrea has an amazing swatch posted of the colour - check it out on her Etsy page here.

This colour is very limited edition and only available until April 23, 2013, so I would suggest getting it quickly before it is gone.  The link to Andrea's Etsy shop, MPZ can be found here.  This colour is really amazing in person, more so than I can describe.  Pick one (or two) up for yourself and help out.

*All photos were taken indoors with flash.

Random Ramblings for the Week

This week already proves to be interesting.  Not only did a bunch of things arrive at the PO Box (packages from GDE, Shiro Cosmetics, AquaBlossom, Fyrinnae...), but we have gotten more snow.  Yes, that's right more snow.  Like a foot of it since around 8pm last night.  With the temperatures below average and the amount of snow we keep getting, it really seems like winter will never end this year.  It is very hard to believe that people were golfing here in the middle of March last year and that the sidewalks were dry/grass was green by mid-April.  That is definitely not going to happen this year, even by the 1st of May!  It shall be an interesting field collection season this year.  I fear my student and I are going to be very cold/wet collecting sign data in a couple weeks time.  Maybe changing from my winter tires to my summer tires this weekend will bring about a change in the weather.  Optimistic?

I don't know about anyone else, but I have been totally engrossed in the first season of Big Brother Canada on Slice.  I have even gotten into watching the live feeds on my phone just to see what is happening now.  Big Brother has even usurped my regularly scheduled NHL.com stalking of the pre-playoff standings.  In fact, as of the writing of this post, I have no clue who is leading or of the placement of my favourite teams (Flyers, Flames, Jets, Leafs).  This week should be really interesting on Big Brother, depending on who Canada votes to bring back into the house.  I am rooting for Alec, but I am pretty sure it will be Gary Glitter who sashays back into the house.  Either or, it shall make for very entertaining television viewing.  I am also not sure who I would like see win, Emmett, Jillian or Andrew.  Andrew should win for sheer whit and sense of humour alone.  I would hate to be on this jury but would love to be in the Big Brother house...maybe a few seasons from now.  At any rate, it would be an interesting way to spend part of my winter and I wouldn't have to unearth my car for work in the early hours of the day....a hundred grand would also be nice.  Food for thought.

Note: After writing the draft of this post, I checked the NHL standings....the Flyers and Flames do not have a hope of making the playoffs, the Jets are just below the line and the Leafs are in...

Guest Post - The Gnarly Whale

I follow several bloggers on Twitter and the lovely Christina aka Lip Balm Wrangler posted about a new company called The Gnarly Whale on ETSY.  When I checked out their shop, they were having a Vitamin C Day promo, so I grabbed myself a couple of lip balms and a beached waves spray to try out.  My order arrived a couple of days ago, along with an Orange face and body scrub and lip balm.  I have tried out everything, and their products are awesome! 

 

If you are interested in some excellent bath and body products, please read the post below from Ashely of The Gnarly Whale.  Stop by and give them some love!

Hello Readers:

I'm Ashely from The Gnarly Whale - an all vegan, eco-friendly minimal-ingredient bath and body shop.  Today trish was gracious enough to let me share our story about our company and our dream and I am SO excited to do so. This business is what I do - day in and day out - and to be able to share something I'm so passionate about is truly a privilege for me.

The Gnarly Whale launched in October 2012 from a dream that I was unsure I would ever fulfill.  I approached my husband about starting it as a hobby, needing something else to focus on while I was designing and consulting.  By the end of the year, we both realized it was never meant to be a hobby.  It was never meant to be a small side project.  Instead, it was meant to change our lives and restructure our dreams.  And that was exactly why I'm here today, sharing our story and even asking for your help after you get to know us.

We're a husband and wife team doing what we love to do and hoping that some day, doing what we love will be enough to financially support our entire family.  Our dream is to someday relocate ourselves and our business to Florida to open up a shop oceanside.  We know that this dream will become our reality as soon as we can afford the cost of relocation and the cost of doing business in Florida where there are much stricter guidelines for cosmetic type businesses.  Until then, we're focusing on growing our brand awareness and our current product lines.

All of our products are 100% vegan and cruelty free.  We're tree huggers ourselves so we made sure that all of the ingredients used in our products are completely vegan and have not been tested on animals.  Final product testing was also done on  humans.  Most of our printed materials (business cards, postcards, etc) come from recycled paper.  We also use reusable packaging when we mail out our orders whenever possible.  Our hope is to leave the Earth a little better than we found it and provide our customers with a way to do the same.  

In the almost seven months we have been open, we already have plans to work with an international retailer to carry our products and will be featured in two celebrity gifting suites this year: The Primetime Emmy's and The Cannes Film Festival.  Our current product line includes: hair detangler, beach waves, body and face scrub, body spray, shampoo, and lip balm.  In the future, we have plans to include a child product line, a pet product line, soap, skin care, and various other hair and body products in the future.  

And here is how you can help us make all of this a reality.  We've asked Intuit to grant our small business a wish and we're hoping we can get enough votes to win the money to expand our product line, purchase better equipment to speed up our manufacturing, and to put towards the cost of relocation.  All you have to do is take a couple of seconds, click the link and vote once a day.  And if you really thing our story is worth it, share it with your friends.  With your readers. With your family.  With your neighbors or co-workers.  Shout it from the rooftops if you like us that much.

Anything you do to help is appreciated.  No matter how big or small of gesture, we're grateful for you even taking the time to get to know us and our dream.  And if you'd like to connect with us further, we'd love to hear from you?  Follow us on Twitter.  Like us on Facebook.  Send us an email and say hello.  Or even stop by our shop.

Thank you in advance for anything that you can do!

- Ashely and Nathan


*All images in the post are courtesy of The Gnarly Whale.