Depotting Urban Decay Eyeshadows

Today, I've just got some fun pictures to show you of the eyeshadow depotting process!

I purchased a 15-pan MAC Eyeshadow Palette - the empty one that comes with an insert! Unfortunately, I have the old style pan without the clear see-through lid which is annoying because now, I've got more eyeshadows that need depotting, the old style is discontinued, and my OCD won't let me have 2 different kinds. So the poor eyeshadow tokens are just chillin and taking up tons of space in my drawers for now.

I'm not even watermarking these pictures because I'm not terribly concerned with them. I'll make a quick note of the process underneath and can provide a detailed step-by-step tutorial if people express any interest! Seriously, if even one person sks to see how I did it, I'll show ya!

THE PROCESS ------

1. Prepare your materials
• Hair Straightener (There are many other methods. I used my hair straightener)
• Wax Paper - so you don't get glue on the straightener. Skip this step if you're using an old one you don't care about
• Tweezers or Exacto Knife - Or something else to pry the plastic insert out of the token, and the metal pan out of the insert
• Gloves if you're afraid of singed fingers
2. Take the plastic insert out of the token. For the new UD eyeshadows, you can pop the insert out with no hassle, they are made that way. For the older tokens, you need tweezers or the edge of a blade to gently prod the insert out of the token
3. Head the plastic insert on your hair straightener, with optional wax paper underneath. Do not overheat - I had a very crappy straightener that didn't get too hot, so I kept it on for about 1 minute
4. If the glue for the label is soft, use your tweezers to pry off an edge and then carefully remove the label. Set aside for later
5. Begin trying to pry metal pan out of plastic insert. To do this, test how soft the plastic is getting. I actually manhandled my insert and let it get really hot & soft. Then I took facial scissors with a blunt edge and began pushing the metal pan out of the plastic insert from the bottom. If you look at the pictures, that's why there are giant craters in the plastic. I just dug right through em to push the metal pan out
6. METAL PAN IS SUPER DUPER HOT SO BE CAREFUL. YOU CAN'T TOUCH IT WITH YOUR FINGERS YET.
7. Hopefully you're using gloves to handle this or protecting yourself from the heat somehow. While metal pan is still hot with some melted glue residue, stick a piece of magnet (Those magnetic calendars or ads you get to stick on your fridge work just fine) onto the bottom of the metal pan.
8. Stick your sticky label over the magnet if it's still sticky. Or you can create your own label. Choice is yours.
9. Enjoy your depotted eyeshadows! And store them much more conveniently than their clunky original packaging!

BFTE Cosmetics - Yellows and Golds

Hey you guys! A while ago, Beauty from the Earth Cosmetics (BFTE Cosmetics) had a laaaarge sale going on. Prices on sample jars were knocked down to $1 each and if you spent a certain amount, you had an additional 40% (Or so. I don't remember exactly) off your entire order. A great deal is, of course, an opportunity that I cannot pass up.


I picked up a ton of eyeshadows, mostly the matte shades, because I was on a matte eyeshadow kick that particular point in time but also because I thought it'd be a great way to pick up some quality makeup cheap and then feature it on my blog. The swatches have been sitting around on my camera for FARRR too long, so here it goes!

Check out the swatches & review underneath the jump!

Victorian Disco Cosmetics: House Points Collection Swatches & Review

Click me to buy the pretty eyeshadows

My opening act for this brand will be with the House Points collection. Made up of only four eyeshadows, it was the quickest post for me to prepare (After this, I'm going to work on putting up the Sailor Moon collection in 2 parts), and something I already had most of the photos for. The collection is GORGEOUS and I hope to incorporate the eyeshadows into some awesome Harry Potter themed eye looks later. No lies though, I'm very amateur when it comes to all that, so don't expect any amazing macro eye shots later. It is what it is. Moving on though, the four shades in this collection are representative of the four founders of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They are Godric, Salazar, Rowena, & Helga  (In no particular preferential order). I bought full-sized Rowena and Godric ($4.50 each), and minis of Salazar & Helga ($2.00 each)

1. Godric

Godric Gryffindor - He is one of the four founders, the Gryffindor house is named after him :) 

VDC's description: Rust red with a golden sheen and shimmer

Over primer, zoomed in so you see the pretty shimmer

When worn alone, Godric can easily be sheered out. I had to make several passes to build the color as much as I did in the swatches where it is alone. To build it's intensity, I'd recommend first priming your eyes and then patting it onto the lids with your eyeshadow brush. You can also experiment by patting this on over a cream eyeshadow base - I used NYX Milk over Urban Decy Primer Potion (UDPP) when I used it on my lids. Over UD PP, Godric really comes to life and gives off a beautiful sheen.

It is not super pigmented, but this gives it added versatility, and the color is definitely buildable with the help of a tacky primer or cream eyeshadow underneath. It's a lovely rusty color, but I feel like the "golden sheen and shimmer" translated to just sparkles once on my lid. It was sparkly and shimmery, but I didn't see a distinctive gold sheen. It looks lovely on my skintone though :) (I'm Indian, so medium/warm skintone with yellow undertones)

Great lasting power as long as you've got primer underneath. The eyeshadows didn't crease on me until I took them off, so I'd give them a good 8 hours. Maybe more, but I removed them. 

2. Salazar

Salazar Slytherin: Was once friends with Godric, obvsly House Slytherin is named after him

VDC's description: Shamrock green with bright silver shimmers

Slightly blurred + zoomed in to show you the shimmer!

Salazar is a beautiful seafoam green eyeshadow packed with silvery, almost iridescent sparkles. Make sure to use primer or a cream eyeshadow base in order to minimize glitter fallout with this beauty.

When I swatched Salazar alone, my skintone showed up underneath, so again, the pigmentation is similar to Godric: Sheer, but buildable. When I put Salazar over primer + NYX Milk, the BEAUUUUTIFUL seafoam base color shows up loaded with the silvery shimmer. It's breathtaking and magical and I love it. On darker lids like mine, it's hard to get that seafoam color without a white eyeshadow base underneath, but on lighter lids, you should have an easier time of it. What I love about Salazar is that when swatched without the white base, you get a very mermaid/scale-like effect which I love. 

No issues on creasing, and fallout was minimal. Remember to pat the eyeshadow on and pack it onto your lid rather than use the windshield wiper motion.

3. Rowena 

Rowena Ravenclaw: One of the greatest witches of her age. She is rumored to have named Hogwarts ;)

VDC's description: Bright slate blue with silver sparkles and shimmer

Swatched over NYX Milk, Rowena comes to life. Kin to Salazar, but different base color

Rowena has to be my favorite of the House Points quad. Rather than call it a slate blue, I'd label this shade a beautiful cornflower blue. It's a beautiful azure shade with the same silvery shimmer that you see in Salazar. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't show you the base color difference as discerningly as it would be in person. Make sure to check out VDC's own swatches on the website, they are very color-accurate!

Rowena was the most pigmented for me, and I was quite surprised by that. Application is beautiful, and I sound like a broken record when I issue the same advice: Use primer or a cream eyeliner base, and make sure to pack the eyeshadow on rather than swipe it around on your lid. The latter will cause glitter fallout and sheer out the color very quickly. 

It's such a pretty color and I can't wait to rock it all the time this Spring and summer. I'm thinking of gradienting this with Salazar, with a brown smoky eyeliner. In my head, it's great, ha.

4. Helga

Helga Hufflepuff: Welcomes those who are loyal, fair, and hard-working to her House

VDC's Description: Deep dusty golden color with a blackish undertone

Towards the ends of my swatch, you can see the blackish undertones!

My amazingly powerful imaginary dragon would have scales this color. Helga is a BEEAUTIFUL olive-gold shade. That's the best way I can describe it. When you google image Olive gold, you'll see how right I am, I promise. It's gorgeous, looks best over primer or a cream eyeshadow base. I used NYX milk, which you can still see around the edges of the zoomed in swatch. Probably my second favorite.

Helga's got this inner glow that comes from the gold sheen overlaid on the darker undertones. It's one of those lit-from-within colors, but in eyeshadow form instead of nail polish. If Thomas Kinkade created eyeshadows, he would approve of this shade. 

Also, this shade is a blessing to my Indian skintone. I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW YOU GUYS THE EYE LOOKS I'VE DONE!

IN CONCLUSION - GET THIS COLLECTION NAO. [X]

New love: Victorian Disco Cosmetics

Facebook | Shop

I've always had a penchant for brand loyalty. Once I discover a brand that is consistent in delivering innovative quality products, I stand by it. (Consider Urban Decay and OPI to be but two examples)

Well, I've now got a new brand to add to that loyalty list, and it is a small indie one-woman-shop that goes by the name of Victorian Disco Cosmetics

Independently run by Ashley, Victorian Disco Cosmetics, or VDC hereafter, initially caught my eye when I saw Unique-Desire's post on VDC's Sailor Moon eyeshadow collection. I am obsessed with most things Sailor Moon; it's a show I grew up on as a young child. So it reminds me of my childhood, a completely trouble-free time before college even existed in my mind. Ahh, I was so young.

So anyway, I was HOOKED. That above post was written a year ago, and when I came across the post, VDC's shop was on hiatus. I don't recall the exact reasons why, but Ashley must have been prioritizing other things and closed down shop. So I moved on and sort of...well...forgot about them.

BUT THEN as I was looking for Sailor Moon themed things several months later for a friend's birthday present, I remembered this eyeshadow collection, dug up that post, looked up the shop and voila, it was back open. I didn't place an order right then and there, but liked the company's FB page and sort of stalked updates and reviews to make sure the shop was open and running.

Of course, as a FB follower, I also had updates on deals, sales, coupon codes, etc. I love the creative concepts behind each VDC collection :) The slight hint of nerdiness behind each collection is what has me hook, line, and sinker.

To share this love via my blog, I've been purchasing the Blogger Package option monthly since January. I've used it to amass most of the collections I want (I've completed Sailor Moon and Harry Potter already! Working on Star Wars and Azeroth next), and will spend the next few weeks featuring mostly VDC swatches, reviews, fan art, and love.

She works hard to develop this product, and I'm going to show it some love!

The blogger package option I have been purchasing monthly costs $11 (After shipping) for 1 full-size, 1 mini, and 7 sample size eyeshadows, all of your choice.