My Blogger Confessions

I recently started trawling the interwebs for bloggers who write about nerdy fashion, in order to get some ideas on how to promote my jewellery. Among a veritable treasure trove of awesome people, I came across The Nerdy Girlie, a very fun US blogger. She started a fun little game where she encouraged bloggers to make a confession post, and I figured I might as well join in. To be honest, there's not a lot I hold back from you guys, but I managed to come up with a few things that might count as Blogger Confessions of note.

Glamour Doll Eyes - Indie Shadow Review

Over the last couple of months, I've been spending a lot of my downtime trawling a little Reddit community called Indie Makeup And More, because apparently I didn't have enough places to throw my limited cash at. Reddit as a whole has a pretty bad name for being...well, all around icky, but my experience with IMAM has so far been very educational. I've discovered more indie cosmetics makers than I ever dreamed existed, and I was lucky enough to be asked to review some products from a new-to-me company, Glamour Doll Eyes.

I'm such a sucker for a good pun

Glamour Doll Eyes are based in the US, and like so many other indie cosmetic brands are a one-woman show. They're very active in the beauty blogger community, and even have a whole sponsorship program in place! I love this kind of community building on the part of indie companies - it's such a great way to promote themselves without just spamming everyone endlessly.
Having such a great impression of the company off the bat, I was pretty impatient for my goodies to get here! Considering the perilous trevails of international shipping, the turnaround time was great, and everything was beautifully presented in perfect condition.

All my pretties in a neat little row!

I'm trying to do this thing with my eyeshadows at the moment where I at least ATTEMPT to balance out the brilliant purples and inky blacks with something resembling neutrals, so I requested a couple of shades I wouldn't normally have gravitated towards, as well as my favourite blue palette. Glamour Doll Eyes sent me (from left to right) RoxxCandy, Dusk, Celestial Crow, Heedless Heart, Undercover, and Brown Eyed Girl. Now, I'm not nearly as skilled as the bloggers Glamour Doll Eyes usually have to show off their products, but I put a few looks together anyway to show you what they look like in the hands of an enthusiastic amateur.

This is Heedless Heart all over the lid, with a touch of Brown Eyed Girl in the crease just to darken it up a bit. I honestly didn't think I'd like Heedless Heart that much, given that it looks rather pink in the jar. It's still pretty pink on the lid, but there is a delightful gold shimmer to it that really tones down the girlishness and makes it look rather sophisticated.

Swatch of Heedless Heart over Femme Fatale Shadow Magic

I also noticed that unlike a lot of lighter shadows I didn't need to put a pale base under Heedless Heart to get a nice, bright colour. It reminds me a lot of Hot Cross Bunnies from Hello Waffle, except slightly pinker and less gold.

This is an astonishingly worksafe look for me, but I actually kind of dig it. I used Undercover all over the lid, with Brown Eyed Girl in the corner and crease again. Undercover is a quite grey toned taupe, so I wasn't sure how it would look with my skin. But it also has a very slight golden sheen that helps warm it up a little bit, and while it doesn't suit me quite as much as Heedless Heart, it's still very easy to wear.

Undercover swatch over Femme Fatale Shadow Magic

Unlike Heedless Heart, I can't think of any other indie shadows I've seen that are quite the same as Undercover, so I'd definitely recommend this as a must have if you're trying to branch out from the Naked2 palette into something a bit more interesting.

Brown Eyed Girl swatch over Femme Fatale Shadow Magic

Brown Eyed Girl is a warm, sparkly mid brown, and it blends out really nicely. It has a slight pinkish sheen in it, that reminds me really strongly of chocolate milk. But there are at least five dupes I can think of for this colour off the top of my head - three of which I own. If you've been looking for a mid toned brown, and you're headed to Glamour Doll Eyes anyway, by all means pop it in the cart - but it's not really original enough to inspire a special trip.

RoxxCandy, however, as seen here with a little Dusk in the corners and crease, is ABSOLUTELY worth a special trip over to Glamour Doll Eyes. It's got all the sparkle and icy blue shimmer I was hoping for when I got Diamond Dust from Geek Chic Cosmetics, but with none of the irritating downsides. Diamond Dust was falling in my eyes in noticeable clumps within an hour of applying, even if I used a sticky base, but RoxxCandy on the other hand stayed put perfectly all day over just a normal primer. As with Heedless Heart, it also shows up nice and bright without the need for a white base.

RoxxCandy over Femme Fatale Shadow Magic

It barely even creased, and my eyeshadow usually creases as soon as I blink! It's probably too sparkly for ordinary everyday, but I don't even care, I've worn it three times to the office already. It's just too darn pretty to save for a rainy day!

Dusk is, like Brown Eyed Girl, fine but not exactly mindblowing. If you're getting RoxxCandy (and you should), it's a perfect match in terms of putting a look together. There's a veeeery slight shimmer to it, but it's more or less just a nice navy blue.

I did notice this colour goes on rather more sheer than I was expecting, given it looks extremely dark in the jar. For me, this was a little frustrating because I had to go back a couple of times to get the depth I wanted. However, if you're more colour shy than me, this could be a huge advantage for you - you can smoosh it on quite generously and not end up looking like you've been punched.

Celestial Crow however, is the exact opposite in terms of intensity. I was pretty excited by this one, given that I have a terrible weakness for teal and duochromes, but it just didn't live up to my first impression.

Celestial Crow swatched over Femme Fatale Shadow Magic

Initially I tried using it as a crease colour, but the results were honestly so awful I'd feel bad sharing them here - it went EVERYWHERE, and yet somehow ended up patchy at the same time. So I went back and did another look, using Celestial Crow mixed with water as an eyeliner instead.

This look is RoxxCandy all over the lid, a TINY bit of Celestial Crow in the crease, with eyeliner made from Celestial Crow mixed with sealant. You can see the green duochrome sparkle comes up pretty nicely when you apply it this way. When washing the mixture of shadow and sealant off the back of my hand though, I did notice it left a rather prominent green stain on the skin. Makeup remover and a couple of soap washings more or less got rid of it, and I didn't notice any major discolouration on my eyes at the end of the day, but something to keep in mind especially if your skin is prone to staining.

I'd heard a lot of good things about Glamour Doll Eyes, and I was really glad not to be disappointed. Heedless Heart, Brown Eyed Girl, and Undercover offer an excellent indie alternative to mainstream worksafe mainstays like Urban Decay's Naked palettes, and Roxx Candy is an absolute must have for anyone with blue eyes who wants to make them really jump out. Celestial Crow would probably look much better in more skilled hands, and I will probably pick up a full size of Dusk at some stage to go with all my lovely light blues.

You can get Glamour Doll Eyes from their site, and shipping to Australia is very reasonably priced and quick.