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Last May I decided to sign up for the Innocent + Twisted Alchemy I+T Alchemists subscription as a birthday treat to myself. And I've been getting it ever since and loving it, but I haven't been blogging about it because I have really struggled with eyeshadows the past year! I buy them, I swatch them, but my routine has become such that I tend to stick to neutrals for swatching sessions so that I know that the twenty or so lip products I swatch in one of those sessions will likely go with them. Meanwhile, the rest went neglected. I'd become so ingrained in my routine that I'd entirely forgotten that it was a bed of my own making! My swatching sessions began when my children were smaller and far less independent, so I'd try and do a bunch at once a few times a week, usually after they'd gone to bed. They're now at ages where I can actually sit down and put on makeup each day if I want to but still it's taken me a stupidly long time to realise it! But the penny has finally dropped and that means a lot of catching up, so you'll see a lot more eyeshadow features going forward.
I+T Alchemists is a monthly subscription from one of my favourite indie brands, Innocent + Twisted Alchemy. It comes with three Innocent + Twisted shades which are exclusive to the subscription (although overstock is occasionally sold in the store for anyone who missed out) and a surprise selection of bonuses from guest indie brands. Whether you're a fan of the brand or just want to try out a bunch of indies, it's a really a fun subscription service which delivers great value and I look forward to it each month!
The sample size (which is what I have) is $12USD per month within the US or $16USD internationally. There's also a full size version which is $18USD per month in the US or $22USD internationally. All of those prices include shipping, so it's a pretty sweet deal, particularly when the additional samples are often very generous.
The theme for the May 2015 subscription is the Alien movie franchise, which as someone who is perpetually terrible with horror movies, I have limited experience with. In fact, the only time I've seen an Alien movie was when Alien VS Predator was in theatres way back in 2004. I went with my crush and his friend in an effort to seem cool and totally not at all scared of horror movies, or at least go for the "I'm scared, can I hold your hand?" move. It didn't work at all, I was far too busy hiding behind my hands from the gorefest! I'm just not cut out for horror movies, to my husband's equal chagrin and delight (it's an endless source of teasing). But that hasn't stopped me enjoying the shades in this wee collection! And before you think I'm too mean showing you these, all three of the Innocent + Twisted shades are still available on the website.
Linda, the owner of Innocent + Twisted Alchemy, does a lot of the artwork for her labels herself, which I really love. For this theme however she turned to her brother to draw the Alien design and it came out very cool! The sample jars are packed full in 3g jars.
The Innocent + Twisted formula is one of the best ones around; while some indies apply sheerly alone and really need a sticky base to pop, Innocent + Twisted Alchemy eyeshadows are wonderfully pigmented and easy to work with on their own. I do still like to use a sticky base most of the time for maximum sparkle and duochrome action, but it's nice to know that they can be hastily swept on the lids as you're running out the door and they're still going to look good.
All eyeshadow swatches in this post are done two ways: applied on bare skin on the left hand side and over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, a sticky eyeshadow base which maximises colour intensity and sparkle, on the right. This is so you can see how they perform both ways. I take all of my photos with daylight bulbs for colour accuracy.
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Face Hugger
Face Hugger is a soft golden brown with subtle green sheen and red sparks. The base colour is warm, but when you see it on the lid, as I've used it before, the green shimmer gives it a slightly cooler, lemon hue. It's quite the chameleon!
Ripley
Ripley is described as a warm brown with green sheen, and it definitely blends out that way even though it looks quite cool in my arm swatch. I must pull this out again and try it as a lid shade.
I paired Ripley and Face Hugger together for this look, on the crease and lid respectively, with Ripley also used on the lower lashline. The LORAC Pro palette was used for the rest and the lashes are Ardell #110s.
Drone
Drone is a charcoal grey with green shimmer which gives it a dark teal look overall. Super shimmery and very well pigmented, this is a nice one for lining or for smokey eyes.
I used Drone on the lower lashine here with Breaking Down (from the June subscription) on the lid and Chirp Cosmetics Rainbow Bit (July bonus item) on the inner corner. The Chi Chi Extravaganza palette was used for the rest.
Siren Song - Our Story
Siren Song Cosmetics isn't a brand I'd heard of before (and sadly it's now closed up shop!) so I was curious and excited to try Our Story out. It's a dark blue with green undertones and a heap of rainbow sparkles which make it absolutely mesmerising over a sticky base. Unfortunately something about some blue and green pigments make them stain the skin horribly if you apply them over sticky bases and Our Story definitely suffered from this - you can kind of see that the edges of the swatch on the right are blurred. That's the stain peeking through! I had a teal stripe on my arm for about a week after swatching this, so I wasn't really game to encourage that on my eyes, sparkle or no sparkle. Instead I applied it without any primer or base on the lower lashline in the look below and it still held up well in terms of colour pay off and blendability. Shame about all that wasted pretty glitter though!
Here I've used Siren Song Our Story on the lower lashline, with Innocent + Twisted Alchemy Tragic Chord (no longer available) on the lid and the LORAC Pro Palette for the rest. The lashes are these ones from Born Pretty Store.
Femme Fatale Xenomorph
One of my other all time favourite indies appearing in my first I+T Alchemists subs definitely felt like a sign from the universe! :D Femme Fatale Xenomorph is a shade that was created exclusively for this subscription and is no longer available, but Night in Werewolf Woods, another Femme Fatale shade is very similar. It's a dark indigo purple with a strong copper shift and a thin but blendable texture. I puzzled over how to wear this for the longest time before I finally grabbed a bunch of shades and just threw them on with very little planning. I should let loose more often because this wound up being one of my favourite eye looks I did in 2015!
I used Xenomorph on the outer third of the lid, lightly along the outer V and then over smudged out black liner on the lower lashline here. I also used Innocent + Twisted Alchemy Movie Fun (October 2015 sub) on the centre of the lid and Notoriously Morbid Gasoline. Blow Torch. No Problem. on the inner half of the lid. Blending and highlighting shades were all from the LORAC Pro palette and the lashes are Ardell Wispies.
Aromaleigh Quarantine
Not sure why that first swatch looks so weird, sorry! The second one is more colour accurate. Aromaleigh Quarantine is also a shade exclusively created for the May 2015 subscription and it's a beautiful tarnished olive with strong shimmer and golden sparkles. Again, no complaints about texture and opacity here! It may look a little subdued in the bare skin swatch on the left but I wore it without any primers or bases on the lower lashline in the makeup look below and it held its own perfectly.
Here I've used Aromaleigh Quarantine on the outer half of the lid and lower lashline and Femme Fatale Hall of Images on the inner half of the lid. I used Chirp Cosmetics Rainbow Bit (July bonus item) lightly on the inner corner and the LORAC Nude Skinny palette for the rest.
Limnit Extraterrestrial
Limnit Lipsticks Extraterrestrial is a warm brown semi matte shade with a name perfectly suited to the theme for the May subscription. I've been really digging these warm nineties brown lipsticks shades over the past year or so and I hadn't tried Limnit prior, so I was quite excited to try this. The formula is lightly creamy and super opaque, requiring minimal effort to apply, even when using a lip brush and the jar version. Speaking of these little jars, they retail for $4.60USD for 0.07oz from Limnit's Etsy store, plus there are full size tubes available too. I'm definitely keen to try more shades now!
If you're keen on trying out the I+T Alchemists subscription, you can sign up here, or check the store for one month trial subscriptions. I also recommend joining the Innocent + Twisted Atelier Facebook group for sneak peeks and news.
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Lani
Gifs via giphy.com
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