Make-Up Monday: Morgana Cryptoria Package and First Looks!

I may have gone a bit nuts during the Christmas sale. But I do love her stuff and I really like supporting her business since she's got great customer service, good products and seems like a lovely person. So Obviously I ordered this on 12/25, the shop then closed for the holidays for a bit so I got my package on 1/26. Considering the holiday break, how popular her stuff is and how it is an indie brand this isn't that bad. My Evil Shades order is still working its way to me (ordered 1/10) so yeah.

RED Spy is in the base (blocking my shipping address on a box)!

This is the box it came in. I was kind of surprised I got a box actually. Also, it took about twenty minutes to open. You could probably give it to an angry tiger and not have to worry about the contents.

I will find a way to re-use these. Somehow! No not the make-up...

It came in two little baggies which is a cute touch. And I like cute touches. She also wrote a thank you note and answered some questions/notes on the invoice which was nice.

Or maybe she just wanted to shut me up...

And here is what I got. She was an absolute amazing person and sent me that tube of 24k Pumpkin after I asked (okay a couple times) if she happened to have a tube or two left over of the discontinued Pumpkin lipsticks. This kind of sweetness is amazing, it is over and above what I'm expecting from a business. Needless to say I've got nothing but glowing things to say about her customer service.
I was super excited as I ordered some new things to try out, I'm trying to be more adventurous with make-up (and expand my woefully tiny eye shadow stash). Before this I had only tried her lipsticks (which still rank in the top tiers of all lipsticks I've used ever). I've actually been putting off this review because I didn't want it to be less stellar and I am glad I did. When not using her lipsticks, which she is known for, let's just say there is a learning curve, at least for someone who isn't a total make-up maven. Let me say now my experience with all products is positive, there's just an asterix on that.

Eyeshadows

On the website they are such pretty colors and in their little jars they are pretty too. The jars feel a little tiny but I'm not sure why I was thinking the shadows would come in jars the size of the lip gloss ones. I was super excited I had gotten the box before putting my make-up on for the day so I figured why not use my new shadows. I didn't have too much time since I had to leave for work pretty quickly but I can do my eyes in like two minutes normally. This shadow is greatly different from the commercial shadows I've used, all of them including pressed and loose. I thought it would be like some other loose ones I have and applied primer and went about my business. I was kind of horrified by how they applied.

And I've got 24k Pumpkin on my lips.

I've got Pyramid Scheme to the top and tried to blend it to Harbringer at the bottom in a smokey eye (since that's my everyday look). But I was out of time so I had to roll with it. It isn't too horrible and I'd still love Harbringer even like that but it wasn't what I was expecting. Luckily when I got home I noticed the color I was hoping for happened to happen on top of my eye liner. So I got to thinking if maybe I didn't rub my primer in like a lotion (like what works best for every other make up) and purposely left my eyes a little gooey...

Why yes that does look kinda like the darkest shade from Chanel's Copper Temptation eye quad now that you mention it.

That this would happen. This is what I was expecting. And now I'm in love. So moral of this story is don't panic if something doesn't seem to be working right, just try out some different ways of using it. This is an important moral. You'll see why later. But for Harbringer I'm in love. I'll probably get a jar every time I order so hopefully I never run out. I decided to keep playing around and did an eye with Alexandria and Harbringer and then tried out the 11th Hour gel lipstick for a slightly Riddler-y look.

This is where that don't panic, try something else comes in. The gel lipsticks are... a bit of a pain. The colors are lovely and the formula is as moisturizing as most balms I own but it is hard to get a nice even coat on the lips. It is also kind of like a mousse and as others have said only twist up the product a tiny bit, you can't twist it back down. But there is a trick to getting them to play nice...er. Basically apply to the lips them rub it in with your finger. I guess treat it more like a lipstain kind of product? I used the bit left on my finger from that to rub on my cheeks as a blush which it is wonderful as. As for Alexandria, it is a GORGEOUS shade and just like the website says...

Normally I have to be at some emotional extreme for green eyes!

It really compliments green in the eyes. Again, with the know-how it works lovely. Lastly I tried one of the glosses.

If I ever need to do forest fairy make up I think I can.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this product, I've never done a highly pigmented regular gloss before, just the long wear ones. I like the formula other than my bangs stick to my lips occasionally (but that happens with all glosses). Now that I've done full day wears of the gloss I can tell you one application can keep your lips hydrated all day. Need to do some minor touch ups if you eat as most of us are wont to do but I liked it. I wasn't expecting this color when I ordered Fallen Leaves though. I guess I was expecting more green glow/shift and more of a red undertone than a brown one. It still is very pretty though. Also I got the chai scent on one of my glosses. Don't choose that one. It smells kind of like dirt. Not in a horrible way but it certainly is odd.

And that's it for now. I've been doing full day tests of everything so expect those posts in the coming weeks. Just thought I would give my thoughts on the general products themselves and let you guys lol at my having to figure out just how this new fangled make-up stuff works.

But in brief:

Customer Service/Shopping/Shipping: All wonderful. Seriously.

Eyeshadows: Lovely colors, decent amount for the price. Make sure your lids are sticky with base/primer when using these shadows. Also the eyeshadows appear much pinker on the website than they are, at least for me. Harbringer is a reddish/plumish brown and not a brownish eggplant. Pyramid Scheme is a dusty pink not a... pink pink (not the light pink in the Copper Temptation quad I was hoping for). Magic Plum is spot on though.

Gel Lipsticks: Lovely colors, decent amount for the price but a bit of a bear to use. Rub it into your lips with your finger after applying for best results. Is great for travelling when you need double duty products, 11th Hour makes a good blush and Persephone is actually the best under eye concealer I've ever used (figured that out after these pictures btw). Barring a really amazing looking color I probably won't buy any more of these though. I really do prefer the regular lipsticks. Also, they appear much darker on the website than in real life because pictures have a hard time getting just how luminous they are across. As I said, Persephone which is almost a midtone pink on the site works as an under eye concealer for this girl who uses the lightest shade of warm foundation available (L'Oreal w1 aka Porcelain).

Lipglosses: Pretty colors, super moisturizing and apply well. The clear base slightly collects under the bottom lip a little bit but that's a gloss for you. I'm glad she's doing smaller (so cheaper yeah?) tubes as that will make them portable (the pot is not something to throw in your purse). Like the gel lipsticks these appear darker on the site than they really are (I've browsed on my phone and computer and it is the same on both). I'll definately be buying more once she get's the smaller tubes in. The pot could easily last half a year of regular use, the current tube could probably last years.