Friday, January 29, 2010

Pure Minerals Source Haul and swatches (plus comparison with Aromaleigh)

Even more mineral eyeshadows... and even more greens! :)

Natural "light", flash, contrast added
Natural "light", flash
Natural "light"
Natural "light"
Top row: over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Middle row: UDPP (Urban Decay Primer Potion)
Bottom row: on its own
Natural "light"
Top row: over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Middle row: UDPP
Bottom row: on its own
Natural "light", flash
Top row: over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Middle row: UDPP
Bottom row: on its own

Update/Note: Pixie Epoxy indeed makes the colour more vibrant and intense. It's magical! :)

Shipping for 10 samples (7 USD for 10 samples, 4 USD for 5 g jar) was 3 USD for International (1 USD for US). Quite reasonable, isn't it?

Ordered on 28.12 (Monday), seller contacted me on 5.1 (Tuesday, a week later), received my order on 25.1 (this Monday).

The seller/formulator contacted me on 5.1 regarding supposedly my mistake in ordering (it turned out I "didn't" specify the colours I want). I replied right away stating I did everything right (copy pasted  my list of eyeshadows from the receipt). I got a sweet note (on 25.1) that it was some sort of confusion and it was some other buyer who had problems. I am glad everything turned out fine. :) Btw, I blame cold weather for slow shipping! :)

My initial thoughts:

I've already tried Divinity and Dragonfly (btw, they're my faves from the bunch! Surprised? lol) the other day, and also have already swatched all the products, as you can see from my pictures. :)

The first thing I noticed was the obvious difference in shades from what I see in PMS (what a name abbreviation! lol) Etsy shop (they have pictures only, no colour descriptions). Lets take a look at their Mojito, Magi and Dr. Cara's Rx. To my eyes Mojito appears much golden IRL than olive green gold, Magi is sparkly light orange and very close to Havana Heat - it doesn't look shimmery beige, Dr. Cara's Rx is a total mystery! Light shimmery brown? Nope! It's somewhere in between dark shimmery mauve and violet. Weird, right? I guess it's some kind of colour changing shade... And I wish Gun Smoke to be more of a matte black rather than dark gray...:/

The other negative thing is the fact that these eyeshadows don't blend very well. When I try to blend them they just fade/disappear! Haven't experienced this weirdness before. I have yet to investigate this problem. Pigmentation is pretty decent (before I tried to blend!). Overall, I'm ok with this order (cheap nice shades), but not totally impressed (troubles with blending, shade difference, shipping time)...:/

Have you tried Pure Minerals Source? What are your thoughts?

PS Pure Minerals Source don't repackage. "Chemical free, no animal testing, vegan."

Pure Minerals Source and Aromaleigh greens comparison

When I first saw Divinity and Dragonfly I immediately thought of Aromaleigh Aloe and Loden (which are two of my 4 favourite shades from this brand). I decided to swatch all my favourite colours together just for fun (note: I added Glow just in order to show that it's not that similar to Divinity as it looks, it's more yellow).

 Natural "light"
Top row: over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Middle row: UDPP
Bottom row: on its own

These two indeed look quite similar to Aloe and Loden, Dragonfly and Aloe appear to be lighter, and Divinity is slightly more yellow in tone. It looks to me as if the combination of Aloe and Loden resulted in Dragonfly, Glow + Dragonfly = Divinity, Drama Queen Topaz + Amarante = Loden. Oh my! I guess I just like similar colour tones. :)

PS Strange thing - if you compare PMS greens picture with the last "comparison picture", you can notice that these 2 pairs look very similar (both pictures were taken under the "natural light"). Weird, isn't it? Oh well, I guess the problem is in my camera and lighting. Bear in mind that it's my first attempt to make (what I call) decent swatches. :) IMO they turned to be quite colour accurate.

4 comments:

  1. Whoa - great job, must have taken quite some time to do this post ;) These swatches are not just decent, they are excellent!
    Gorgeous shades - especially the greens and the purples... being the green and purple lover that I am :) And they do seem to really stand out when applied over Pixie Epoxy. Is that the case, or are the pics just fooling me? I'm dying to try the Pixie Epoxy - I've been wanting to buy it for quite some time, but I haven't gotten around to actually ordering it as of yet. I've always used UDPP, I love the product but hate the packaging! So, when I recently ran out of it, I ordered the Too Faced Shadow Insurance, and so far I'm really digging it ;) Have you tried the TFSI, and if so, how does it compare to the PE?
    Have a great weekend!!
    xx

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  2. Thank you! :) I spent more time taking pictures than "painting my hands". :)

    I LOVE greens for my eyes and purples for my nails.:) I wish blues and purples worked for my eyes, but I just look so weird, believe it or not. lol

    Have never tried TFSI. I still have loads of UDPP left. I'll think about the alternative when I'm done with the latest. :)

    Pixie Epoxy (applied over the regular primer) makes a huge difference I'd say. The colour is more vibrant and intense. It works great with glitters and shimmers in particular. The best thing - a little goes a LOOONG way. 1,5 USD for a sample "pot" - how cool is that? :) Definitely worth trying (along with their primers and eye shadows)!

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  3. Guess I'll have to throw in an order, then ;)
    It's been forever since I ordered from Fyrinnae - I've been so busy testing out other brands...lol!

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  4. Go for it! :) Btw, I've just placed my 2nd order for Fyrinnae. Can't wait to get my hands on lip lustres... and more eyeshadows... and more primers! :)

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