To me, the premise of the Visage box is truly what ignited my love for indie makeup. Sure, there are mainstream makeup companies that make beautiful products and are loosely tied with inspiration from film and literature. However, indie makeup companies produce products that you experience - whether it be someone's hair color, or a play on words, or the fog in a setting from a novel - the attention to detail, sensation, and general aura is something that I love and wish to create in my own life, through makeup or otherwise. To be receiving (and paying for grumblegrumble) a Visage in the mail every month is truly a blessing, so thank you, Christine!
My boyfriend and I recently joined the Disney Movie Club, and sat down one war-torn Sunday afternoon to decide (read: battle) over what movies to choose for our introductory free offer. Needless to say, my inner Okkoto came out a few times. We struggled through a couple hours of "how much is this on Amazon" versus "but how much do you really want Captain America" versus "BUT THE SLEEPING BEAUTY DIAMOND EDITION BOX OMG PLS WE HAVE TO" before we finally came to a decision. Luckily, Princess Mononoke was among our choices and it was the first of the movies that we watched out of the bunch.
But I digress. Onto the goodies!
The package made the trip from Canada all the way to me in a bubble mailer and when I opened it, I was greeted by this lovely ball of fluff, an angel Susuwatari, if you will. imsorryijustlovemiyazakisomuchok
Then, when I further undressed my package, it was neatly packed in this white box with a signature Hello Waffle sticker.
Here's what it looked like immediately upon opening...
... and after a little more organizing!
This month's guest star was Preen Cosmetics, an avian-based company which just opened and, for now, sells lip products. I personally did not place an order with Preen directly, as I felt none of the shades they carry currently are best suited for my skin tone. However, I was very excited to try their formula in the Visage.
Included was a description of the products and what each was based on, as well as a short description of the intentions and theme of the box in general. It also came with a description of Princess Mononoke's plot line, which personally I felt was unnecessary, as it should really be appreciated as a film and not as a plot line on a piece of paper, but I can see why it would be helpful for a complete understanding of the theme for those who have not seen it. But really. Do yourself a favor and go see it pls.
This month's Visage included three full sized eyeshadows, a halfling of blush, and a full size lipstick from Preen.
The descriptions in bold below are directly copied from the Visage description list from Hello Waffle. As per usual, they are swatched on my NC30 skin tone with strong yellow undertones leaning slightly olive-bronze. Swatches were done over Too Faced Shadow Insurance on the left and Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy over Too Faced Shadow Insurance on the right.
1) Passage Through the Forest - A white-green with a stronger forest-green sheen and a twinkle of red and white. I struggle a lot with white eyeshadows. More times than not, they end up looking chalky, literally like I smeared chalk over my eyes. This is most certainly not the case with this one! The formula is buttery and lovely, and I even was able to use it as an inner corner highlight, which I am pretty scared to do with white eyeshadows, especially with my medium skin tone. I personally did not get a lot of the forest green that was in the description, but as a white eyeshadow, definitely top notch.
2) A God of Life and Death - A dark taupe leaning purple with a red shift. Look closely and you might find some blue and turquoise. This really shifts purple on me, especially on my arm (but as a purple hoarder I don't mind at all). I get a lot of blue and turquoise in little mini sparks, and I feel like this shade is versatile. The taupe makes it wearable as a crease shade, but the purple gives it enough pizazz to wear as an all-over lid shade.
3) Neither Wolf nor Human - Dark burgundy with a lighter orange/red sheen and a sparkle of midnight blue. I am at an impasse with red eyeshadow. Some make me look like I was in a bar fight, and others make me look like Carmen Sandiego (who I adore). This red is really lovely and does not give me a conjunctivitis kind of look. I don't get much of the orange on me, and it actually looks a little purpley, which I like, because orange and I, we don't get along too well.
Blush: The Days of Gods and Demons - Rusty blood red blush with pink undertones. Not eye safe. This blush was truly terrifying for me. I am a blender outter of blush (and a poor applicator of blush, at that) and I did a LOT of blending here because it was soooo pigmented, which is a good thing! I need to somehow figure out how to use it in looks because usually I go for more earthy, neutral blushes that make me look like I am lightly flushed. This is extremely vibrant and extremely pigmented!
Here is a full look that I did with all the products in the box! I used Passage Through the Forest as an inner corner highlight, A God of Life and Death all over the lid, and Neither Wolf nor Human in my crease. I also used the blush and the lip product in their regular intended places.
Here's a better look at how the blush appears on my skin, as well as the eye products (and for the love of God, please excuse my eyebrows!).
