Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Aromaleigh Haul. Vol. 2&3. Lipsticks (samples). And extra.

I had these hauls "documented" for quite a while. I just didn't have time to organise them all this time. That being said, here is what I got with my 2nd order:
Natural light, flash

Natural light, contrast added

Noreservation rocks! sonic lips sample was a freebie.

Not pictured: sample baggies of Silk Powder (2 USD), Pure Cover mineral concealer in shade Nr. 9 (vert/green) (2 USD), Nocturne Overnight mineral treatment (2,25 USD), "Smoothy" Premium Flocked Sponge for Mineral Makeup (4,5 USD).

International shipping was 5 USD. Ordered on 5.2 (Friday), order was shipped on 8.2 (Monday), arrived 15.2 (Monday). Impressive! One of the fastest companies! Yay!

My initial thoughts:

Have yet to try Silk Powder and Pure Cover concealer in action. Yep, I have them for almost 1,5 month and haven't worn yet! I just "swatched" this green concealer on my face once. I have to figure out how to work with colour correctors. I still don't get how to cover them with foundation when they're on. And, overall, why on Earth concealers can cover everything, foundation can cover concealer, BUT not everything!? Do you get my point? lol

I read so many good things about Nocturne Overnight mineral treatment, so I decided to give it a go. I've been using it for more than one month. I'm not sure if it works, or if it's just my imagination again, but I can definitely see some slight favourable changes in my skin condition (less breakouts! yay!). Some minor negative things: you have to literally stop breathing when applying it as you surely don't want it to get into your nose. It's an extremely unpleasant feeling, believe me! :) The scent (i.e. how it naturally smells) is quite annoying too... Remember, I'm quite sensitive to some scents! :) The sample baggie lasted only for about two weeks (had to skip several nights before the full size jar arrived). I had to order at least 2, or 3 samples to see if it really works. I learned my lesson! :) And last but not least, it's quite expensive (28 USD at the time of ordering). Oh well, if it works, who cares, right? :) And, the jar is huge (14 g)! Let's wait how it'll go!

Sponge is ok, nothing special though.

As always eyeshadows are gorgeous! Pretty shades and great pigmentation!  Tapestry is a very interesting shade of black. It's silky metallic-looking black with smooth holographic (it reflects different lights, but it only could be my imagination lol) shimmer. Oh my, does my explanation make any sense? lol Other shades are green, so no comments here! :)

Noreservation looks very bright in the baggie. And you probably know that I'm not a fan of bright lip colours. So you can only imagine how surprised I was when I tried it on. It is very sheer and looks very natural and pretty. Feels like a balm, smells great too (chocolate). It was at that time I "suddenly" decided to look for perfect'n'healthy lip products, especially lipsticks. So, I decided to place my 3rd order:

Sunlight, flash (yep, it was on the same day I took pictures of my Silk Naturals Haul. Hence, it was a great combo of sunshine & flash. lol)

Sunlight, contrast added (tiny-tiny contrast! :) )

Sunlight, flash
Nocturne Overnight mineral treatment (28 USD), Rocks! eyeshadow in Moonagedaydream (4,23 USD, but got it for free as my order was >40 USD), aromatherapy lip balm in Gingersnap (4,85 USD)

International shipping was 5 USD. Ordered on 25.2 (Friday), order was shipped the same day (how great is that?), arrived 9.3 (Tuesday). Impressive!

My initial thoughts:

Check my short initial review on Nocturne Overnight mineral treatment above.

Eyeshadow are, once again, pretty! I'm totally in love with Italian Ice!

Lipbalm in Gingersnap. I got a baggie sample of it with my first order. I really liked the scent (kind of vanilla with mint/spice/ginger), but wasn't very much impressed with the texture, but decided to give this lip balm a chance and ordered a full size. Ironically, it seems the opposite now. I really like the texture and how it feels on my lips, but the scent appears different. It's not that sweet as I remember it was back then, it is much spicier and more sour. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. My hubby liked the scent of the sample I got, but says this full size version is indeed kind of spicy and sour with a tiny hint of a ginger cookie sweet scent. I guess it's a natural variation in scents due to the handmade nature of the product. Oh well, at least I don't have any problems with my lips now! :) I don't even need to apply it in the morning, my lips feel so good!

Onto the lipsticks:

Sunlight, flash

Sunlight

Not pictured: freebie - Wallflower lipstick. Baggie samples cost 1 USD.

Lipsticks. I really like the texture of these lipsticks. They feel balm-like: light, creamy and moisturising. All of them except Wallflower are sheer. Due to their creamy texture it's quite difficult to build the colour (i.e. making it more opaque), as it starts to feel a little bit too greasy. You know the feeling, don't you? :) Oh! The scents are fantastic! Orange and chocolate! Yummy! 

These are all pretty and wearable shades. They give a slight tint to your lips. Gossamer looks similar to Coquette, Rosebud to Darling. I was debating whether I should go for Rosebud or Darling. But then my Silk Naturals order came, and I decided I don't need any more sheer colours right now. Besides, as you might know, natural handmade lip products have shorter shelf life (6-12 months), and I don't want to end up with a bunch of spoiled lip stuff. I hate not using products. I'd better give them away "to a better home" and be sure that they'll bring some joy to another person. :)

Yep, I ordered a sample of Wallflower and got it as a freebie. Ironically (again), this colour is my least favourite of the bunch (btw, it's the most opaque of them!). I just don't like how this shade looks on me. It looks pretty in the baggie though. :)

And I am not complaining, I just wish that they added another shade for me to try. I'd have more choice options then, right? :) Btw, I placed my order just a few days before Aromaleight announced their sad news about discontinuing lip products. How lucky am I with this discontinuation "trend" when I am almost one step from finding my HG?.. :/ :) 

What are you thoughts? Have you tried Aromaleigh lip products?

PS I really like Aromaleigh's product pictures, they're very true to what you see irl! :)

DRAMA

Now onto some nasty stuff. I couldn't even imagine everything could turn that way! But I just have to share, as this shocked me so much yesterday. Jen from Jennifae's Beauty Blog posted her awesome recent Aromaleigh lipsticks haul with a statement that got my attention: "However, with the changes in sales/promos, rewards points, and the attitude (not the best customer service in my opinion), I highly doubt I will order from Aromaleigh again." I commented about my experience with lipstick samples telling her that "I really like the scent (orange) and consistency (soft, silky, like a lip balm), I won't buy them because they're too sheer and too similar to each other. And the main reason - I already have too many lippies. Plus Aromaleigh ones are "supposed" to go bad in 6-12 months. :/" and asked about the bad attitude.

Jen replied that "The customer service is not bad, but it could be better. <...> I like Aromaleigh's products, but I'd rather order from those who have equally great products (if not better) AND doesn't make me feel like answering my questions and concerns is a complete waste of time, y'know?" This is the main point! She didn't mean the service was bad (not bad and bad are different things, don't you think?), all she meant that attitude was hmmm... a bit rough in her opinion? It's not fun when a seller or, what's most frustrating, the person who you admire, eventhough trying to be polite, makes you feel you're wasting his/her time, right? Moreover, everyone has his/her own opinions and standards on what the good or bad, or not bad customer service is, right? Please, take a look at the comments section. 

Miss K is very nice in her copy-pasted letters, making it feel that Jen is "seeing things". Here is what Jen says: "What Kristen failed to mention/post is the email response I was referring to. The one that made me feel like answering my emails were a waste of time." Check it out! Now you clearly can understand why Jen became frustrated. Check also my comment. It's not perfect, but it can clear up some things about some certain things. E.g., everyone's time is precious! Service is not just about giving discounts, it's about the attitude too. Making a customer feel he/she is not worth spending a precious time is not a good tone, for sure.

Now, tell me where is "slamming" (i.e. attacking)? Why calling dishonest, unappreciative, greedy and nasty? Why calling names? Why wishing "may karma treat you well"? It's SO sad, I can't even express what I felt the moment I read it! Why am I taking it so personally you might ask? Because I feel it was my fault to some extent, as I became that "fuel for the fire". Plus, I feel that Miss K misunderstood the whole thing and took it all wrong. I really admire Aromaleigh and Miss K, but this "accident" just seem so unreal! It kind of reminds me 2 dramas over Coastal Scents and Lime Crime. SAD, very sad! :(

Jen, I really hope everything will be ok! Take care! *hugs*

Do you see what I see? What are your thoughts, girls?

20 comments:

  1. Wow, I didn't care for Aromaleigh before, and now I definitely won't be placing an order with them anytime soon. I was going to say some of those samples looked pretty, but not anymore. Jen could've been the biggest asshole in the world, and Miss K's response STILL reads as incredibly vicious and irrational =/

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's a good point! I just don't know what to think, as Miss K always looked so nice and caring! But accusing a customer (who chose your company and who decided to spend OWN money, i.e. hundreds of USD in Jen's case) for "RUINING kind, generous people" and for being... you got the point... is beyond my understanding. :(

    I doubted whether or not to post this haul stuff, but as I spent MY time and money before this whole drama, I just decided to edit it a little bit. It wouldn't be fair for me just to stay away.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my God! Those comments by Miss K are some of the nastiest things I've ever seen! How dare she call Jen greedy and nasty and dishonest? And what kind of a company owner says, "I don't want you as my customer"?

    I'm speechless. If this is the way she treats people, I don't know if I'll order from Aromaleigh again. Fortunately I've only ordered from them once, and while the products I got are pretty, I didn't get hooked.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My god.
    Thank you for posting about this. I've bought a lot of Aromaleigh products in the past (nowhere near as much as Jen but still probably around $200 worth) and now i feel a bit... cheated?
    I don't know, i really like the products but Miss K seemed like such a kind, caring person and her response to Jen is just awful! Jen didn't say anything really bad at all in my opinion but Miss K's reply was just so hostile. Banning Jen from shopping again because she posted a bad review? That's just shocking behaviour.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm speechless too. :( The greatest misunderstanding ever!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lillian, and it wasn't even that bad review after all, right? Jen just said that "not bad, but it could be better" and explained her feeling, she never said that customer service nor products were bad. And I didn't "detect" any "unappreciative, dishonest, etc" behaviour. You're welcome, hon. Honestly, I hesitated bringing this issue on, but those comments and the whole story just speak for themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for posting this, HeavenNRJ. I'm not an active blogger, and I don't have many readers, so I really appreciate you saying something about this. Also, if you don't mind, I would like to post a link to this on Chanty's forum?

    P.S. Here's a similar issue. (I just hope I don't get flamed/bashed like what happened to this lady who posted a negative review.)

    http://www.makeuptalk.com/forums/f128/hi-im-new-aromaleigh-drama-100797.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is horrible :( It makes me very sad as I consider Aromaleigh to be one of the best companies I buy from. I always feel like her shades are so complex and different. While I will continue to use all the colors I have from Aromaleigh, seeing this makes me think I will never order again. This makes me very sad as probably 1/2 of all my 150+ shadows are Aromaleigh. What a disappointment :(

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jen, you are welcome! I am happy you got a support from these wonderful girls!

    Never heard of Chanty's forum. :/ Have to check it out some day. :) I don't mind, as it's your story.

    I read this girl's thread. Links don't work anymore in her posts, so I can't have a full clear picture, but I see there was some serious problem too. SAD! :(

    Heather, I was shocked too! :( And I already had all the pictures and text ready waiting for the final edition... I feel I kind of wasted my time writing the whole review before the Drama "chapter". But products are not guilty! They're great. :/

    ReplyDelete
  10. Harmi vain, että kyseinen tyttö oli jättänyt tiettyjä pätkiä omasta kirjeenvaihdostaan pois... Ja sen, että on kirjoittanut todella ilkeitä asioita eri foorumeille Aromaleighsta.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi, I'm the girl from the thread... The links don't work anymore b.c. when the forum was moved to LiveCloud you now need an account to read posts. I also read tidbits (what I could gather, not being able to have an aromaleigh forum account myself) that Kristen has since deleted the forum posts which I linked to...

    I don't know whether to repost the information in my broken links into an epinions review or just leave it alone (I saved the emails she sent me in November and the discussion from which I pulled quotes in August, when I initially wrote the review). The drama really tore me up for a while. What do you think I should do about the broken links? Post the 3 page long emails she sent me and the long forum posts where she was ranting in August? Re-kindle the drama? I don't know. I didn't save the nastiness that was written about me on the AL forum after leakings of my review in November b.c. I was too afraid to read it in full.


    This is exactly why I posted that epinions review, to save people from this nastiness.

    And I love her products. Every week I mourn the fact that I cannot buy her eyeshadows anymore :(

    I'm so sorry someone else got attacked. My best advice to you is not to try to defend yourself on the aromaleigh forum like I did. You'll just get bashed. LEAVE THE FORUM as fast as you can. I hung on because I had been attached to the forum and didn't want people to think I was a bad person, silly to do in retrospect.

    In retrospect, maybe we both overreacted. I think we both have overly dramatic personalities. But the difference is I don't own a business and handle customer service issues! The big bad start of the bashing occurred when I posted onto the aromaleigh forum the 3 page long email Kristen sent to me complaining about my epinions review. Was that overreacting? Maybe, but I was hurt and felt I had to leave the forum and wanted people to know why.

    Heck, whatever, yes, I am reposting the information and fixing the broken links.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm doing that tomorrow, that is. It's late!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, I thought you were talking about my actual review and not the makeuptalk post. In case you hadn't seen the actual review, here it is:

    http://www.viewpoints.com/Aromaleigh-com-review-c1c91

    ReplyDelete
  14. My BFF gave me some Aromaleigh as a Christmas present. I liked it until Kristen sent her the nastiest e-mail I have ever seen. Now, I won't even use the stuff. She called my BFF a greedy bitch and a racial slur I can't even bring myself to type. I saw the e-mail my BFF sent and it was very pleasant. She received an order with a wrong color and wanted to get an exchange/refund/credit, whatever was easiest as she ordered all the time. Kristen said she didn't make mistakes and accused her of wanting free products and trying to scam her. I think the nice act is all to lure people in....then if there's ever a problem, watch out. This woman is crazy, unethical and unprofessional.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oops, typo I meant "I didn't save the nastiness that was written about me on the AL forum after Kristen leaked out her hatred of my epinions review in August (the review I had written in November) b.c. I was too afraid to read it in full.
    "

    not "I didn't save the nastiness that was written about me on the AL forum after leakings of my review in November b.c. I was too afraid to read it in full. "

    Wahine in Dixie, you should really post your experience to epinions or viewpoints. Others need to be warned

    ReplyDelete
  16. Everyone:

    Once again, it's not about possibly edited letters (can't see nothing really bad in Miss K's words anyway, just that the tone&attitude seem not very friendly! Jen had a full right to feel they were frustrating! Wouldn't you feel the same?), it's about Miss K's COMMENTS! Or could it be it wasn't her who posted those? Someone might have edited those comments too?!

    Let's all relax for a while. And let's hope everything will be ok!

    Have a nice Easter!

    ReplyDelete
  17. One more thing just in case. The chronology:

    Posted: Friday, March 19, 2010

    My reply: March 20, 2010 4:07 AM

    Jen's reply: March 20, 2010 10:58 AM

    Miss K's: March 23, 2010 1:20 AM, 1:29, 1:33, 1:34

    Jen's: March 29, 2010 4:14 PM, 4:15

    After this all comments are being moderated by the author. Meaning that prior to Jen's latest 2 posts you could freely say whatever you want. Jen is not a daily blog user. Hence, her reaction came 6 days later.

    My comment: March 30, 2010 3:27 AM

    Your comment: starting from March 31.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Duuuuude. What. The. Eff.

    The way she commented on her blog was sooo unprofessional. That was in no-way cool or ok or anything.

    Horrible.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi HeavenNRJ! Thanks to Jennifae's blog, I now have been introduced to yours :)

    What a wonderful, dear friend you are to Jennifae for cross posting about what she went through and sticking up for her!! Her experiance is rather unfortunate but not surprising. I will mirror a few things that I said on Jennifae's blog here. I explained that Tally here was only one of MANY innocents placed on the chopping block of the owner in question. Whether the scorn happened publicly, privately, both, and the infamous group bullying that Tally was made to endure (and endured with much grace I might add!), that Jennifae is NOT alone.

    For those who want a stronger voice to say the truth without fear of being group bullied and scorned, I'm sharing a newly found web blog that I highly recommend rant4theugly.wordpress.com It looks to be one of the rare safe places you may speak your mind and review about ANY MMU company, as long as the comments there do not include name calling and person attacks. You know, the way real grow-ups talk to one another and deal with issues, with respect <3

    ReplyDelete
  20. Julissa, yep, hon, it's horrible indeed. :(

    Mermista_of_Salineas, I was following Jen for one month only before this "accident" happened, and I really enjoyed (and still enjoy) reading her posts. But this whole story shocked me so much, I just had to interfere. Let's hope for the best.

    ReplyDelete