Colors Received for Review (my take in italics [favorites in bold text]): Colors shown in photos were swatched over ELF primer and Fyrinnae PE and appear in the order shown below.
DEC V-Day Collection in natural light
• Be Mine: Color-shifting shade runs from pink to coral, to gold with a greenish cast My absolute favorite of the bunch. It leans orange, but not too orange, so an overall coral, although not super-coral, shade appears. As always with Dawn’s creations, it glitters like sunlight on still water. Yummo! WILL DEFINITELY BE GETTING MORE OF THIS SHADE :-)!
• Candy Kiss: Whites, bright whites, silvery whites, gleaming whites . . . glitter, purple one way, pink another, then blue . . . brilliant golden sparks I really think that brow bone highlights can make or break a lid shade, so I like to have a full arsenal of them on hand, including this one. A lovely glittery and gleaming white-based iridescent shade, it sets off cool lid shades nicely. WILL DEFINITELY BE GETTING MORE OF THIS SHADE :-)! (Candy Kiss look very gray in these photos, but it goes on true white.)
DEC V-Day Collection in indoor light
• Mi Amore: Light purple which shifts blue to lavender to pink and then pink to gold . . . enhanced with sparkles of blue to purple to pink and pink to gold. Purples can go either way on me depending on the undertone, and luckily this one is neutral enough that it looks great on me. Think neutral purple with a slight cornflower blue undertone. DESPITE ITS BEAUTY, I’M NOT SURE IF I’LL GET MORE OF THIS COLOR :-|
• Red Red Rose: Deep vibrant red pearl, with a matching matte undertone and a color shifting glitter that ranges blue/green/pink. Reds throw me for a loop. They usually make me look like I’ve been crying. This one is fairly warm-toned, though, so I gave it a try. Put on the outer lid with Be Mine in the inner lid, I was able to pull it off, and together they had a absolutely gleaming finish, which I LOVE! I was truly stunned when I checked myself in the mirror several hours later JWILL DEFINITELY BE GETTING MORE OF THIS SHADE :-)!
DEC V-Day Collection in natural light
• Sweetness and Light: Color shifter ranging from pale blue to sweet lavender to pale pink to bright pink to coral gold Although this shade is gorgeous, I’m not quite sure how to wear it. It’s far too light for my lids. In fact, when I tried it, my lids looked “Day-Glo”! And it’s way too pigmented for a brow-bone highlight (unless I want them to look like they’re in headlights, LOL). If you can pull of light, bright shades, go for it! I DON’T THINK I WILL GET ANY MORE OF THIS GORGEOUS, ALBEIT UNWEARABLE-FOR-ME COLOR :-(
This photo really shows the color-shifting quality of Sweetness and Light (bottom right)!
Would I Buy Again?
Yes, I’d definitely buy several of the shades again before they disappear after Valentine’s Day:-) ____________________ Please note that all of the tested samples, as well as the prizes, were provided to me by the company owner for review/contest prize purposes.
GIVEAWAY! DAWN HAS GENEROUSLY GIVEN ME TWO SAMPLES SETS OF THE VALENTINE’S DAY 2012 LE COLLECTION TO GIVE TO TWO LUCKY WINNERS. SEE THE RAFFLECOPTER BELOW FOR EASY INSTRUCTIONS TO ENTER!
The owner of Lucky 107 Cosmetics, Rebecca Masters, asked me to do a review of her shop because I "was so thorough"! Glad what I'm aiming for is coming to pass. Anyway, I am just beside myself with excitement. I've swatched all the colors on the back of my hand so far, and the results were scrumpdillyicious! Stand by for a new review as soon as I get some good light here for photographing. I can show you the wrapping and containers and such, but what sort of fun would that be without swatches? There will be a Lucky 107 giveaway, too :-)
I owe Dawn an apology for taking so long to write this review. I've had the product for several weeks but had a really hard time photographing it. I finally decided to do videos (yes, it's the dreaded "stump hand" plus background noises), which meant I had to learn how to use my camera's video feature and upload videos for the first time on YouTube. Please be gentle with me, y'all :-)
So as not to reiterate, you can see my review of the Dawn Eyes Cosmetics Web site here. As far as I can tell, the only thing different is that raw photos of LE collections are grouped together in one pop-up window so you don’t have to open a window for each color. I like this feature, and I still use it to select which colors I plan to buy. It’s invaluable!
Pricing: 5 of 5 Stars
Again, nothing has changed from my initial review except there is a now a paltry $2.00 shipping charge (for orders <$10.00) after having had free shipping since DEC opened. Shipping rates for international orders have increased by $1.00 for all categories. Orders >$10 (USD) will continue to be shipped for free in the United States. This does not apply to priority mail shipping or international shipping. However, the site does not say if there is free or reduced shipping on orders >$10 going overseas. Can’t complain about anything here! It’s about time Dawn started charging shipping to deliver her lovely goodies to our doorsteps:-)
TAT and Shipping: 5 of 5 Stars
Ordered: NA since it was sent to me free of charge for review purposes
Shipped: NA (ibid)
TAT: NA (ibid)
Shipping: $2.00 (for orders <$10.00)
Actual shipping: Not shown on package (but I know from shipping my own 2-oz. US packages that PayPal shipping with DC is $1.75, so Dawn’s price is entirely reasonable)
Shipping email: Yes
DC/tracking: Yes
Invoice: Yes
Packaging/presentation: My samples were all contained in a slightly larger zip-lock sample baggie, which was wrapped in pretty tissue paper (marbled pattern in red, orange, and gold shades)
Sample packaging: Very small (cute!) zip-lock sample baggies
Extras: Yes (x 3)
Product: 5 of 5 Stars
Colors Received/Ordered (my take in italics withfavorites bolded) (the Chrome Collection was sent to me free of charge for review purposes, but – as Dawn already knows – all opinions are my own!)
GENERAL CAVEAT FOR THE CHROME COLLECTION: All of the shades in this collection are dramatic and complex and thus defied my capacity for description. Unfortunately, in most cases, the shades were (1) either too pale or too bright for my pale alabaster/pink coloring and/or (2) way too pigmented for me to use as a brow-bone highlight. I did not have the vision, the lighting, and/or the camera finesse to see (or capture) the trichrome nature of the shadows as descried below per the Dawn Eyes Cosmetics Web site. Pity for me because they are truly stunning. Depending on your skin tone, your mileage may vary wildly (I hope).
• Chrome no. 01: Blue to gold to green I generally can’t pull off any blue shades (with very few exceptions), and this color was not the exception unfortunately. It’s brightly chameleon-colored though, if you can wear those shades. NOT A REBUY :-(
• Chrome no. 02: Pink to lavender to blue to green I loved this color so much I ordered more of it despite my current no-buy! It’s pale, but it was in my range of color preferences/suitability. ALREADY REBOUGHT :-)
• Chrome no. 03: Green to pink to lavender Way too light and/or bright for me. Just showed up bright light green without the pink and lavender (to my eye anyway). NOT A REBUY :-(
• Chrome no. 04: Coral to lavender to bright green I couldn’t see the coral at all in this shade (and I was hoping it would work for me because I adore corals) plus it was way too bright for me. I even tried it two times over different bases, and I still couldn’t get it to work with my coloring. NOT A REBUY :-(
• Chrome no. 05: Lavender to pale orange to blue I would have thought this one would work for me given the particular trichrome color range, but alas, it didn’t. It mainly showed up light bright blue on my lids. NOT A REBUY :-(
• Chrome no. 06: Light blue with traces of lavender Way too light (that darn blue again) and/or bright for me. NOT A REBUY :-(
• Chrome no. 07: Medium blue undertone, purple mid-tone, pink/gold overtoneNow we’re talking, Dawn! This is the exact saturation level I need. These (nos. 7 through 9) were the only mid-tones in the bunch (too bad for me, huh?) If I had my druthers, Dawn would remake all of the other shades to be in this range. ALREADY REBOUGHT :-)
• Chrome no. 08: Bright pink overtone, deep fuchsia undertoneI don’t know how I missed ordering more of this scrumptious shade on my first go ‘round (perhaps the word “fuchsia” in the description scared me off [I usually can’t wear anything with cool undertones]), so I just ordered more during the current sale (which has been extended to 01/06/1012 BTW). It’s neutral enough that I can pull it off. ALREADY REBOUGHT :-)
• Chrome no. 09: Bright copper with a rose overtone and a green/gold undertoneLove, love, love this shade. It’s right up my alley with lots of warm pink/copper tones. ALREADY REBOUGHT :-)
• Chrome no. 10: Fawn undertone with brilliant blue/teal overtone Again, this shade pulled mainly blue on me. I’m starting to wonder if it has something to do with skin pH or other chemistry? I’m also not entirely sure that the fawn counts as part of the duochrome description because I couldn’t see if in the applied color at all (just in the baggie). NOT A REBUY :-(
• Chrome no. 11: Fawn undertone with brilliant green overtone If you want a dominant bright grass green duochrome, this color is for you! Unfortunately, it made my fair/pink skin look sallow. NOT A REBUY :-(
• Chrome no. 12: Medium blue undertone with golden overtone (ordered more)This color worked on me despite the fact that I can’t usually wear blues shades. I think it was the generous helping of gold shimmer. So, of course, I promptly ordered more(no-by be damned)! ALREADY REBOUGHT :-)
• Chrome no. 13: Light blue to lavender to bright pink I wanted to like this shade so much because of the description, but it showed up mostly blue on me, so I nixed it. NOT A REBUY :-(
• Chrome no. 14: Light bright pink/lavender to copper/orange to coral Oddly enough, this was the one shade in the collection I can wear as a brow-bone highlight if I really sheer it out. ALREADY REBOUGHT :-)
Would I Buy Again? Heck, yeah, as I stated above ;-) I don’t just willy-nilly break a no-buy for just any old cosmetics company. I’m trying to convince Dawn to keep this collection in the permanent lineup, so if you’ve tried it and want it to be permanent, too, don’t hesitate to leave a comment here, and I’ll pass it on to Dawn.
Overall Rating: 5 of 5 Stars ____________________ Please note that all of these samples were provided to me by the company owner for review purposes.
Although the Dawn Eyes Cosmetics (DEC) Web site doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles and sophisticated styling, it showcases something most essential: good swatches of beautifully crafted eyeshadows that have excellent depth, pigmentation, and loads of sparkle. I have not yet met one DEC shadow that I did not respect let alone fall wildly in love with! Not all of the shades I ordered worked for me, but that wasn’t for lack of color-matching opportunity on the DEC site. It has a couple of really good things going for it above and beyond other cosmetic sites. The things I really like are:
The “raw” photos (at a link under each respective color swatch), which are actually numerous photos of the product in different lights and different angles so you can get an excellent feel for the color, texture, pigmentation, and sparkle/sheen level of the shadow.
The fact that some of the raw photos are blurred on purpose, which better allows you to see the sparkles and their color before buying. I think it’s a stellar way to present swatches and makes purchasing less of the guessing game that can happen on other cosmetic Web sites. For these two facts alone, I give the site 4/5 stars; if those two features weren’t there, it would be a score of 3/5 stars. The only thing lacking in my opinion is a better way of showcasing the initial swatches, but that’s just “packaging.” So, order without hesitation (although getting samples first is always a good idea) because what you see is almost definitely what you get on the DEC site!
The top navigation bar has the following clickable links: “All About Ingredients,” “All About Us,” “Eye Shadow Colors,” “Gallery,” “Blog,” and “Contact Us.” DEC carries only eyeshadows right now, but I’m sure that more products will come as her reputation grows. The only thing she doesn’t communicate that I would like to see is her average TAT. However, Dawn has stated on the DEC Facebook page that if you submit an order by 2:00 pm, it will mail out the same day, which is the best TAT I’ve ever seen. That will probably change, though, as the company grows, and I just hope that she’ll keep the current TAT updated on the home page.
Pricing: 5 of 5 Stars
Fair and actually a little better than average in terms of FS jars: $6.00 for a 5-g jar (1.2- to 1.5-g net weight) and $1 for 1/8-t samples in the smaller (easier-to-handle) 1.5” x 1.5” baggies. There is no minimum order, and as of this writing, shipping within the United States is free! One sample of your choice is included with every $10 of product purchased, and you can note your color choice in PayPal’s “note to seller” section. It’s a nice touch than you can choose your extra sample color rather than randomly getting something you know won’t work for you (which is a waste of this marketing technique IMHO).
TAT and Shipping: 5 of 5 Stars
Ordered: NA for this particular batch of samples; I received these colors for review Shipped: Again, NA, but when I do order, I receive my package in <5 days total TAT: If you get your order in by 2:00 pm, TAT is 1 day; otherwise it might be 2 days (excellent TAT) Shipping: Free (for now) Actual shipping: It really IS free :-) Order confirmation: Yes Shipping confirmation: Yes Separate personal shipping email: No DC/tracking: Yes Package invoice: Yes Packaging/presentation: Extremely well wrapped, almost too much so (lots of tape) Extras: Yes (1 with each $10 ordered)
Product: 5 of 5 Stars
This is where the really fun part comes in. First, you should know my method of applying DEC shadows: I always pat them over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, which is applied over Urban Decay or E.L.F. Primer Potion. I achieve the best sparkle adherence and “show” when I use this method. I don’t go to all that trouble for most shadows, but DEC colors are extra sparkly and so deserve this special treatment! I have had a fair amount of fall-out with DEC shadows, so I just do my foundation after I’ve applied them instead of the other way around, which is my usual way. It’s no biggie for the amount of eye beautification you get.
Applied in this manner, DEC shadows take on a spectacular smooth metallic gleam, which happens to be my favorite finish. I’ve even likened them to Laura Mercier Metallic Crème Eye Colour. If you don’t care for a metallic finish, just apply them over a matte “dry” primer, i.e., E.L.F. Mineral primer or UDPP. Because of the high amount of sparkle, I definitely recommend some type of primer!
Colors Ordered/Received (My Take in Italics)
Conch (top row left; unreleased color [no DEC color description yet]): To my eye, Conch applied evenly peach as pink, but if foiled with Fyrinnae PE, it definitely takes on a lovely pale peach sheen. I plan to use this shade as a gorgeous neutral brow-bone highlight. I can’t wear such a light color on my lids (I’m very pale), but if you can, I definitely recommend trying it that way or as a highlighter. For those who are more adventurous than I am, it might even work as an all-over face highlighter, too. DEFINITE REPURCHASE!
Crème Brulee (top row right; unreleased color [no DEC color description yet]): This color name is the only misnomer in the bunch. It applied with a thick, rich texture and had definite yellow-gold/subtle green tones, like you would find in a color with “Old World” or “antique” in the name. I tempted to rename it “Gilded Moss” or “Tortoise,” although the original name did make me drool a little, LOL
Glacier (bottom row left): “Pearly white with a subtle green/blue shift and sparkling with tiny blue glimmers” (DEC description): Very accurate and more pigmented than I had expected; can be sheered out though. DEFINITE REPURCHASE!
Wild Strawberry (bottom row middle): Strawberry pink with strong green highlight and loaded with seed-sparks of pink and green (DEC description): Very accurate, although I would have liked the green seed-sparks to be more evident; this was a little too pale and matte satin-finish for me, even over Fyrinnae PE, so I won’t rebuy.
Fresh Earth: “A goldish and slightly greenish medium brown, which takes on a frosty sheen over primer, accented with tiny sparks of blue, green, and silver” (DEC description): More neutral than it sounds; very accurate; actually reminds me of Aromaleigh Concrete Jungle but just a bit darker (see last photo for a better look at it). DEFINITE REPURCHASE!
Would I Buy Again?
Um, do bears crap in the woods, LOL?
OVERALL RATING 5 OF 5 STARS!
____________________
Please note that allof these samples were provided to me prerelease by the company owner to obtain my opinions of the colors and for eventual review purposes.
Nice review, Lisa! I don't follow any "makeup blogs," so I wasn't sure of some of the abbreviations (e.g., TAT and some of the product abbreviations). But I think your review is descriptive and genuine and would definitely help guide a potential buyer.
Shelby, I think an abbreviations list would be very helpful! @Cassie: Thanks for reading and commenting on my first review! I had fun writing it, appreciate your comments
Wow, Lisa, that's a very good, comprehensive review! I don't ever follow ANY blogs, but yours is well thought out, well organized, and very descriptive (I, also, don't know what TAT means, though). Great job!!!!
TAT is an abbreviation for "turn around time".Basically, the time between when you ordered, and when your order was shipped.I'm glad you enjoyed Lisa's review!
Lisa, this was VERY informative. I'm proud to say I figured out what TAT meant after you used it the second time in the review (context clues, I guess!). Dawn should be thrilled that you gave her such a stellar recommendation. As a writer, I liked your use of descriptive words and phrases. I don't think you needed to have the disclaimers about your lack of camera experience & the "boring" life. Your photos were clear & vivid, and since I know you outside of the blog, I maintain that your life is interesting and varied. So there! Keep up the great work!
