Review With Video Swatches: Femme Fatale Cosmetics

Company name: Femme Fatale Cosmetics
Web site: http://femmefatalecosmetics.com.au/ (JUST OPENED) 

The (Facebook) Web Site Itself: X of 5 Stars

I deleted the part of the Facebook Web site store review since Femme Fatale Cosmetics' (FFC) new on-line store just went live :-)  Please see the edit below.

EDIT 03/25/2012: Their new on-line store went live today! Woot! At first glance, it looks great. I don't have time to do a thorough review of it now though, but the layout is good; the product photos are good; and I like the font and, in general, how clean the site looks. For calculation of their final score in this review, I'll leave out the subscore for "The Web Site Itself" portion of review until I have a chance to actually interact with the new site. That way their result won’t be skewed.

Customer Service: 6 of 5 Stars!

Based on that, I almost didn’t try FFC, but curiosity urged me onward. I contacted them by posting on their FB wall, and they got right back to me. I was really impressed with their customer service. First, here’s the sale post I first responded to inquiring how to go about ordering from Australia and the currency exchange:

“Hey everyone . . . [Surprise] Sample Packs are a trio of eyeshadows at $2.50 (shipped free with our sample only order promo - note 2 packs per person) in random complimentary colours . . . Please note we have a $5 min purchase excluding shipping/insurance :)”

Here’s the rest of the post [condensed version] with my questions and their answers:

Femme Fatale: Hi Lisa. We have a maximum of 2 packs per person. I'll send you a quick email and we'll go from there.

Lisa: OK, I got your emails. I was ordering the 3 sets to try to meet your 5AUD minimum requirements. Let me go and try again . . .

Femme Fatale: Hi Lisa. Two sets will meet our $5 minimum :)

Lisa: Oh, OK. On my conversion calculator it came up to something like $5.89, etc, etc, etc! Can you just reinstate the old order but with the number of sample packs changed to 2? Or do I have to place it all over again :-(

Femme Fatale: The order has been cancelled and refunded in full [and it was], so yes it does have to be placed again unfortunately. I know on your end with the currency conversion it may look like it's less or more than $5 but as our pricing is in AUD it adds up on our end :)

Lisa: OK, as long as you are sure that 5 USD will do it . . .

Femme Fatale: Haha yes, it will be fine. The currency conversion may mean you pay less or more than $5 in your own currency (depending on the conversion rate) but since all the products are in AUD once your payment is converted to AUD it adds up on my end as the exact product + shipping amount displayed during checkout in AUD. So the two sample packs at $2.50 will come through as $5AUD on my end, although it may only look like $4.50 (for example) on your end because of the currency conversion rate.

Femme Fatale: Hope that makes sense, it can seem a bit confusing where currency conversion becomes involved. But basically since the store pricing is in AUD, as long as the cart subtotal is $5AUD or over then that's fine, even if you end up paying $4.50USD (for example).

Now, when was the last time you had a lengthy, real-time, social-network exchange with any cosmetic company, either indie or mainstream? They are setting a good example for other companies (of all types) to aspire to. 

Pricing: 5 of 5 Stars

Eyeshadow samples are $1.00 AUD each, and full-sized (FS) jars are $5.00 AUD each. They also carry Chroma Glow Blush and both empty 5- ($1.00 AUD) and 10-gram ($2.00 AUD) cosmetic jars as well as FFC stickers ($.15 AUD) to put on them.

EDIT 03/25/2012: Their sample price went up when the new store opened: Samples are now $1.10 each vs. $1.00. Still, not a bad deal at all considering that shipping of samples is free worldwide. I did not check the full-size prices and will get that on the next review (and there’s sure to be one).

TAT and Shipping: 5 of 5 Stars

Ordered: 02/21/12

Shipped: 02/24/12

TAT: 3 days

Shipping: FREE (although I chose to pay $1.00 for the optional insurance)

Actual shipping: $2.35AU

Shipping email: Yes

DC/tracking: No (foreign shipment)

Invoice: Yes

Packaging/presentation: Large mailing envelope

Sample packaging: The dreaded long zip-lock sample baggies enclosed in a slightly larger zip-lock baggie (3 samples per pack) [I would marry them if they converted to the shorter baggies!]

Extras: Yes (x 1) 

Product: 6 (!) of 5 Stars (LOL) 

Colors Ordered (shop description [my take in italics]) 

General note: I was totally stoked after the fact to find that most, if not all, of FFC’s colors are duochromes! Because I had ordered “surprise” sample packs, I could only state general shade preferences (i.e., pinks, neutrals, etc.). I didn’t read the color descriptions in the photo section at all. I’m really happy that they seem to specialize in duochromesduochrome aspect only shows up over PE or similar primer. As always, swatches are shown, left to right and top to bottom, on my hand in the same order as reviewed below. The swatch video was taken under natural lighting. Favorite colors are bolded below.

FFC swatches under natural light

• Archangel: Translucent yellow-toned ivory with subtle violet duochrome shimmer I love, love, love this as a highlight shade (like I need another highlight shade, LOL; I wish I had a third eye). It’s a well-blended, smooth duochrome. It looks cream-colored in the baggie but has a definite, yet soft, violet shift. I WOULD CONSIDER REPURCHASING THIS SHADE :-)

• Divinity: Pale pink with copper orange duochrome shine Yumminess in an eyeshadow, like gleamy bicolored sherbet that changes color depending on the slant of light. DEFINITELY A POSSIBLE REPURCHASE :-)

• Enchanted: Deep rose red/pink with soft pink duochrome shine Three grand slams right out of the ballpark into the stratosphere! I think this is my favorite lid shade of the bunch. Archangel is definitely too light to wear on my lids, and Divinity can really go either way depending on mode of application (i.e., wet or dry). I WOULD CONSIDER GETTING MORE OF THIS SHADE! :-)

FFC swatches under incandescent light

• Flare: Intense lime yellow/green duochrome shine on a coral red base This color was so bright, I really couldn’t pull it off, even with putting it on the outer lids with a more wearable color on the inner lids. While the description says “coral red,” I think it should be “red coral” because the emphasis is really on the red. And I didn’t really see the lime yellow/green duochrome in this, perhaps because the bright red scared me off? GORGEOUS DUOCHROME IF YOU CAN PULL OFF REDS, BUT NOT A REPURCHASE FOR ME :-(

• Haunt: Bold red duochrome shine over a deep midtone purple base Again, this color was too bold for my liking and casual lifestyle, but I know there are some ladies out there who would love it (I’m looking at you, Amanda, LOL, from The Eyes Have It) UNFORTUNATELY NOT A REPURCHASE :-(

• Shooting Stars (extra): Soft wisteria violet tinged with pink and a striking blue duochrome Although I liked both Shooting Stars and Space Cow (have you ever seen those calendars with cows being beamed up into space crafts?), I preferred Shooting Stars because it leaned more pink than blue, and pink is generally a better color on me NOT SURE THIS IS SPECIAL ENOUGH TO REPURCHASE :-|

• Space Cow: Soft lavender tinged with grey with a muted reddish pink shimmer Please see text above. NOT A REPURCHASE :-(

Would I Buy Again?

Yes, and I’m already planning another order. They just introduced some new shades I want to check out.

Overall Rating: of 5.5 of 5 Stars! (Look for a new score after I have time to review the new store)
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Disclaimer: All products were purchased by me, and all opinions are my own!