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Femme Fatale Cosmetics recently launched their own bi-monthly indie makeup subscription and I was thrilled to be asked to review and share it with you guys! In case you haven't heard of Femme Fatale, they're an Australia-based indie beauty online store with their own house brand and a comprehensive range of cosmetics, nail polish, perfumes, body care and more. Regular readers know I'm a big fan of Femme Fatale already but this new subscription has me super excited to sample more of the brands they carry. Here's the rundown on the subscription:
- 6 boxes per annum.
- Loosely themed for fun, though wearability is priority (this month's theme is space!).
- Automatic subscription service, you can sign up/cancel whenever you like without any cancellation fees.
- Billed every 2 months, 1 month in advance of the ship-date.
- Each box is valued at $35AUD, shipping is charged additionally.
- All items are vegan-friendly; no products are tested on animals.
- All guest makers are small businesses (indie).
- All items are either exclusive to Femme Fatale or a pre-release of items that the maker will be making available at a later date (so you essentially have 'early access').
- Additionally, contributing brands may include vouchers/discounts for their shop.
- Boxes are not currently customisable and items cannot be changed/returned.
- If you enjoy a sample of an exclusive in the box, you can join our premium membership tier The Beauty Collective to have access to our annual May sale where the exclusives are available in full sizes.
- Add-on packs (like mini expansions) are available twice per year, if you're a member of The Beauty Collective (Premium) you will have early access to secure an add-on to your box, in addition to gaining 30% off your first Emporium Box.
(More information can be found at femmefatalecosmetics.com.au/the_beauty_collective
Phew! That's a lot of info, but for me, the standout is the opportunity to buy full-size versions of the exclusives that you especially enjoy with The Beauty Collective program. It really sucks when you fall in love with a product you can't repurchase! I know the fact that all the products are vegan and cruelty-free is a big tick for a lot of you, too.
As I mentioned, the theme for the first box is space (*Kirk voice* the final frontier...) which has made for a generally cool-toned and very sparkly selection of products. I was thrilled to see some old favourites in this box (Notoriously Morbid, Femme Fatale Cosmetics and Innocent + Twisted Alchemy), a few that I've tried before but want to get better acquainted with (Corvus Cosmetics, The Chequered Lily and Glamour Doll Eyes) while others are brand new to me (One Hand Washes The Other, Epically Epic Soaps, Geek Fire Labs). Let's dive in!
Swatch notes:
Eyeshadows are swatched twice: on the left, they are shown on bare skin and on the right over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, which is an adhesive base designed to maximise colour payoff and sparkle. There are many similar products out there from the various indie brands and in my opinion, having a sticky base is a must-have to get the most from your indie shadows.
The blush and highlighter are swatched heavily on the left and sheered out on the right, with no base used. I take all my photos using daylight bulbs.
The box is absolutely jampacked with packaging to keep everything snug during transit and all ten items arrived unscathed. I liked that the box arrived in a plastic post bag, so there weren't any mailing labels marring the exterior, should I wish to repurpose it.
And here's the loot! Many of the jars were shrinkwrapped to prevent leakage and the Innocent + Twisted Alchemy eyeshadow and Geek Fire Labs perfume oil were also sealed in plastic baggies to further minimise this. I really appreciated this as it's always a bit of a buzzkill to open an eagerly awaited parcel to a cloud of sparkly but wasted product.
Glamour Doll Eyes Solar Flares
Kicking things off is a blush sample from Glamour Doll Eyes, Solar Flares. I really appreciate that a lot of thought has been given to putting together a selection of products you can create a cohesive makeup look with but it is quite a cool-toned set and Solar Flares is the touch of warmth needed to keep things balanced for my skin tone. It's described as a 'soft mauve base with a red to orange shift and a dab of golden sparkle' but I can't detect any mauve, Solar Flares is a coral-pink on me and quite shimmery, although not a glitter bomb. The formula applies and blends out easily and all in all, it was a nice introduction to Glamour Doll Eyes' other products (I've only tried the eyeshadows before).
Corvus Cosmetics Ganymede
Moving onto what is probably my favourite product in this box: a perfectly ethereal highlighter, Ganymede by Corvus Cosmetics. It's described as a 'silvery violet base with a strong turquoise shift'. I LOVE a duochrome highlight (okay, anything duochrome but especially for highlighting), so this is right up my alley. It's also eye and lip safe so I can get my highlight on anywhere I choose, making it perfect for rounding out the eyeshadow look I created with this box. It's buildable with a visible colour shift and is very easy to blend. Corvus is another brand I've only used eye products from before, so I'm thrilled with this introduction and will absolutely be checking out more from them (in fact, I've already had a wee browse). The information sheet mentions a discount code being included with this product, but I may have missed it or accidentally thrown it away, as I couldn't find it.
I've used Glamour Doll Eyes Solar Flares blush, Corvus Cosmetics Ganymede highlighter and the Essence Ready, Set Peach! Contour Kit here.
Innocent + Twisted Alchemy Bolide
Moving onto the eyeshadows, Innocent + Twisted Alchemy Bolide is a bittersweet inclusion as Linda from Innocent + Twisted Alchemy recently announced that she is going to be closing up shop in the near future. I'm glad to see I+TA popping up here, it feels a bit like a last hurrah! Bolide is described as 'a silvery grey with a golden green duochrome and subtle red shift'. Although I didn't pick up on the red shift, the golden green overlay is very visible and really helps tie it together with the other eyeshadows included.
Notoriously Morbid Chromosphere
Notoriously Morbid Chromosphere is next up, a 'plum base with teal green shimmer and rainbow sparkle'. It's no secret that Notoriously Morbid is one of my favourite indies so I was pumped for this inclusion! I used it over smoked out black liner on the lower lashline in the makeup look I came up with which obscured the pretty plum base, so I'll have to use it as the main feature of a look soon. The formula is soft and easy to blend, as always.
Femme Fatale Spotting Satellites
The final eyeshadow is Femme Fatale Cosmetics Spotting Satellites and it's every bit as complex and sparkly as I've come to expect from FF. 'A deeper base gives way to a prominent bright blue sheen which shifts to a purple and angle; scattered throughout are glints of silver stars'. It's incredibly vivid in person, my pictures don't do Spotting Satellites justice!
For this look, I've used Innocent + Twisted Alchemy Bolide on the inner half of the lid, Femme Fatale Spotting Satellites on the outer half of the lid and Corvus Cosmetics Ganymede on the inner corner. From Notoriously Morbid, I've used Chromosphere on the lower lashline (over smudged out liner), Rayne Brings Ripper on the crease, He's Going Through Changes for the transition and It's the White Hats on the browbone. The lashes are these ones in the style A15.
Epically Epic Lip Balm - Cosmic Crisp
We're moving away from the colour cosmetics now with not one but two lip balms! I always have a lip balm on hand and I'm enjoying slathering on this Epically Epic Lip Balm at the moment. The scent, Cosmic Crisp, is described as 'a new apple breed from Washington State, U.S., a cross between the Enterprise and Honeycrisp apple. It's a sweet, tart, crisp red apple flavour'. This is a pretty authentic apple scent, to the point where I'm almost thrown by it not smelling like the artificial apple fragrance you come across in cosmetics and hair products sometimes! It's sweet with a bit of bite, per the fragrance description and the balm itself glides on smoothly and feels wonderfully hydrating. I'm eagerly browsing the other Epically Epic Soaps products on offer at Femme Fatale right now, the Argan Oil Mist sounds like something I need in my life!
The other lip balm included is a Night Kiss Balm from Notoriously Morbid. I love this lip balm formula, so much so that I have upwards of twenty of the suckers in my house at the moment! This flavour, Absolute Zero (raspberry mint) is exclusive to the Emporium Beauty Box and smells like summer cocktails. I highly recommend these lip balms, they feel great, are very hydrating and they're well priced. Plus, the huge range of flavours invokes the same gotta catch em 'all mentality I had for Bonne Bell Lip Smackers as a kid.
This soap from The Chequered Lily is almost too pretty to use! It's a facial soap with aloe, activated charcoal and calendula for a soothing cleansing experience that shouldn't dry out skin. I haven't tested mine yet but I'm looking forward to it.
There are two fragrance samples this month and this was really the only let down for me, purely on a personal level. I would have preferred to see a lip colour over one of the perfume samples for a more complete 'look in a box', but admittedly, I'm not a big wearer of perfume (my husband has a sensitive nose). The first scent is by One Hand Washes The Other (OHWTO), a brand I've heard my friends rave about enthusiastically. Andromeda is described as 'galactic gorgeousness: blackberry, strawberries, chocolate, musk and orange'. I mostly pick up the orange and blackberry at first whiff but solid perfumes generally aren't long-lived enough on me to pick out all the layers of fragrance. Andromeda is a fragrance exclusive to Femme Fatale Cosmetics and can be purchased in either solid stick or perfume oil.
Geek Fire Labs Moon Bunny Perfume Oil is more up my alley. Although the fragrance is described as 'a fragrant tea from sweet red lychee berries... with delicate moonflower petals... perfectly toasted marshmallow', my nose keeps picking up a hint of papaya that reminds me of a little art gallery on Great Barrier Island, I'm not sure why! Isn't it scent memory funny? Perfume oil is known for being long lasting and close-wearing on the skin, both of which are preferences of mine in fragrance, so I'm not sure how I've never tried a perfume oil before! I'm definitely sold now though and I see more purchases in my future.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with my first experience with the Emporium Beauty Box! It's literally impossible to guarantee you'll like every product or that everything will work for you in services like this but for me, there were way more hits than misses and I got to try products I probably wouldn't have considered otherwise, like the perfume oil. You can sign up for the Emporium Beauty Box here.
What do you think about this subscription service? Would you try it?
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Lani
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