Company name: Lucky 107 Cosmetics
Web site : http://www.lucky107cosmetics.com/
The Web Site Itself : 3 of 5 Stars
Web site : http://www.lucky107cosmetics.com/
The Web Site Itself : 3 of 5 Stars
Identity Crisis
The owner of Lucky 107 Cosmetics recently told me that she's was redesigning her Web site. My suggestion is that she might want to take care to search out inconsistencies in her store’s marketing and branding “identity.”
First, the store is powered by Storenvy; I recognized it from a previous review I wrote and confirmed it during my recent order. So, it has all of the nice features of such, like great product photos and the cool four-frame divided close-up photos that show you what the product looks like in the pot and when applied. I have no problems with Storenvy! I think it has a great interface from a shopper’s point of view. It clear, provides room for lots of information, and is easy to navigate in terms of both shopping and checking out. The site also groups eyeshadows by color, a feature I particularly like; it would be great if there’s an option to group shadows by finish, too :-) I think these both, especially the latter, make shopping easier and help to further solidify a brand’s identity (i.e., identifies the store as being a major hitter with, say, glittery colors compared another that is strong in mattes, etc.).
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| Sample of Lucky 107 Storenvy product photo |
However, the brand seems to be having a personality crisis regarding of how it’s being marketed. As I clicked from page to page, I was presented with a number of conflicting images. First, the store name, “Lucky 107,” makes me think of ranches out west with cowboys, cowgirls, and cattle, LOL. The home page banner tag line is “homemade goodies made with <3 (heart symbol),” which makes me think of grandma’s baking. It also has a horizontally scrolling series comprising a photo (sexy schoolgirl saying “Let us spoil you on your birthday”) plus two announcements: one for the Ladies of Luck membership-reward program (fantastic idea) and one for an “It Works!” distributorship, which makes me think of housecleaning (as per the description). When you click “Shop” on the top toolbar, a hot rocker chick appears on the banner, which makes me think of partying and rock and roll. Last, a special advertisement appearing on the “Shop” landing page is from December 5th, 2011, and this needs to be updated or removed. Because they are the virtual "store window," storefronts should always be kept current and fresh!
Branding Options
So, I get quite a few competing identities from Lucky 107 Cosmetics: (1) “down on the ranch,” (2) grandma’s cooking–type hominess, (3) sexy schoolgirl, (4) homemaker, and (5) rocker chick. The only thing that carries through brand-wise are the business card (“down on the ranch” theme) and the store’s horseshoe logo (“down on the ranch” theme again), which appears on the Web site, the business card, and the product labels. I think it would be great if Rebecca tied these identities together into one by choosing images that reflect one ”person.” I do like the banner tag line because granny can be on cooking on the ranch as much as anywhere else, but it would be more cohesive to change the sexy schoolgirl to maybe a pretty female ranch-hand in a cowboy hat and the rocker chick to something that ties in more with the homey-ranch theme, too. The “It Works!” distributorship advertisement on the home page is distracting. It looks fine on its “tab” on the top toolbar (although the tab takes me to the ”Shop” page, and this should be fixed), or it could even appear as a “product” button that would give you more information when you clicked on it. If Rebecca wants to keep the different identities, I think she should tie them together with a different logo, home page, and tag line. Identities, themes, and images can be changed; they just need to be consistent in “flavor”!
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| Lucky 107 Cosmetics business card with logo (sorry it's upside down) |
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| Example of comprehensive labeling! |
She’s Got Savvy
Having said all that, Rebecca has one savvy business head on her shoulders. She is the only indie company that I personally know of that has a membership-rewards program (Ladies of Luck), which generates brand loyalty. She also has a “press page,” (something I’ve not seen [or not noticed before] on other indie-cosmetics Web sites) that features beauty-blog reviews of her products. Some of the links are either not available or are open to “invited readers only” (whatever that means), and Rebecca should fix these, but in general having such a page is a very smart move.
Products Sold
Products include full-size eyeshadows is a large amount of colors, eyeshadow samples and sample packs, flavored lip gloss, lotion bars, crème blush, eyeshadow primer, lip “blush,” sugar lip scrub, mineral makeup remover, Lucky 107 T-shirts (with yet another confusing identity of pin-up girl, LOL), reviewer kits, and quite a few gorgeous full-size eyeshadow collections.
Packaging and Presentation: 5 of 5 Stars
Queen of Labeling
Rebecca is the Queen of Labeling as far as my experience goes with indie cosmetics companies. At Lucky 107, every single product is clearly and carefully labeled, from the Web site right down to the tiny sample-pot labels (I hear these are being changed to clamshells by customer request – another point in Rebecca’s favor). I was amazed to see on how tiny a label she could get the ingredients. Sometimes I had to squint to see them, but they were there, LOL. Lip- and eye-safe status, as well as vegan or non-vegan status, is well delineated.
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| Look at those teensy labels! |
Pricing: 5 of 5 Stars
Full-size jars of eyeshadow (pigments are filled by volume, not weight; most contain approximately 0.05 oz, or 1.4 g, of product) are $5.00, and there are several sample-pack options: (1) $4.50 for three shadow samples and a primer sample; (2) $4.50 for 5 shadow samples; and (3) $7.50 for 10 shadow samples. Other product prices can be viewed directly on the Web site :-)
TAT and Shipping: 5 of 5 Stars – Not applicable since Rebecca sent me these products for review. But based on how quickly she got the review products and prizes to me, I’m giving her 5 stars. However, I did recently order a 10-sample pack and will most likely update with TAT, etc., in a separate review.
TAT and Shipping: 5 of 5 Stars – Not applicable since Rebecca sent me these products for review. But based on how quickly she got the review products and prizes to me, I’m giving her 5 stars. However, I did recently order a 10-sample pack and will most likely update with TAT, etc., in a separate review.
Product: 5 of 5 Stars
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| Swatches under natural light |
Items Sent (my take in italics [favorites in bold]; all swatches done over UDPP and Fyrinnae PE [I got the best results with PE]; all swatches listed in alpha order as below)
• Backstabber: Deep purple with purple flecks I loooooved this color! It’s dark but very shimmery, which is probably why I was able to pull it off. It made me think of sugared plums or violets blooming in the shadow of a large tree. DEFINITE REPURCHASE! :-)
• Cliffhanger: Shiny gunmetal gray Super-shiny! Molten even. And this was just over Urban Decay Primer Potion, not anything like Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. I can’t begin to imagine what this color would look like if I actually foiled it. It would probably make my head explode! DEFINITE REPURCHASE! :-)
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| More Lucky 107 goodness under natural light (you can see the moderate sparkle here) |
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| Swatches under incandescent light (although they were more sparkly than seen here) |
• Harkness: Shimmery purple made even more extravagant with a rainbow of glitter Although this color looked very shimmery when I first swatched it on my hand, it came out nearly matte when applied over UDPP. However, when I tried it again over Fyrinnae PE, I got a nice “glowy” satin finish. In any case, I didn’t get any glitter though (unfortunately because I like glitter). I like this color. It’s bright but not OTT. Note: Although not stated on the Web site, I detected a purple-pink duochrome shift in this shade! I MIGHT REPURCHASE IF I EVER RUN OUT OF IT! :-)
• Facepalm: Shimmery, almost white-beige I liked this shade. My eye picked up just the very faintest blush of peach, which makes it different from my mainly pink/white/violet/gray brow bone highlighters. I WOULD REPURCHASE IF I RUN OUT OF IT! :-)
• Maid Service: Shimmery, mahogany brown This color didn’t work for me at all, although swatched on my hand it was deep and rich; very good pigmentation. I just don’t do well with grapey-wine shades (think raisin), which is how it turned out on my lids over both UDPP and PE. UNFORTUNATELY NOT A REPURCHASE L
• mNg: Hot pink with punches of purple, teal, and pink glitter Again, this applied nearly matte over UDPP but became satiny when applied over Fyrinnae PE. I put it in the same finish category as Harkness. Note: Although not stated on the Web site, I detected a pink-purple duochrome quality in this shade from pink to blue/lavender! BTW, this color and Harkness look gorgeous together! WILL VERY POSSIBLY REPURCHASE WHEN I RUN OUT :-)
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| You can see a little color shifting of Harkness here |
• Lotion Bar (vanilla): I've never used a lotion bar before, so I didn't know what to expect. I prefer light, almost runny, lotions because I find them refreshing. The "lotion" in )of?) the bar was heavy, thick, and waxy. It didn't sink into my skin but rather sat on top of it. The scent was fine. However, based on this one experience, I know that ANY lotion bar is not for me, LOL. WOULD NOT REPURCHASE :-(
Overall Impression
Overall Impression
Although Lucky 107 states “glitter” in some of the color descriptions, it’s a relatively small amount of sparkliness. I think this is relative: My glitter “scale” is pretty extreme on one end with just about any brand of matte on the opposite end. From this particular experience with Lucky 107, I would give the “glittered” shadows a score of 4 to 5 on a scale from 1 to 10. However, I recently ordered 10 samples that looked more glittery on the Web site, and I’ll probably do a review of them, too. Here’s hoping!
Would I Buy?
Yes, I recently ordered a 10-sample pack! I can give you deets on the TAT, etc., after I receive them (I’ll probably do a second review). I got the following colors (in case you're curious): Scrum-diddly-umptious, Donna, Old Glory, Frisky, Lover's Quarrel, Single's Awareness Day, Zombie Bitch, Box of Chocolates, Lolli, and By Candlelight.
Overall Rating: 4.6 of 5 Stars!
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Please note that the owner of Lucky 107 Cosmetics personally requested on January 19, 2012, that I review her store and freely sent me products to test, swatch, photograph, and review. Although I said that samples were fine, the owner selected the sizes and colors of the products she sent, some of which were full sizes. When I asked her if she would like to sponsor a contest to go with the post, she replied (and I quote from her FB message): "Oh that sounds awesome!" Read the "Full Disclosure" tab above for more information.
NOW ON TO THE CONTEST!
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