Last month was, as far as I was concerned, everything’s-on-sale month, thanks to Valentine’s Day. I was feeling a little blue, and for a longer period of time than is usual with me, so I didn’t really know how to handle it. So! I fell for the sweet bliss that is retail therapy… and I still can’t say I really regret it.

This is one of those hauls! My first order from Innocent+Twisted Alchemy: The Lunar Sacrifice Collection based on the myth of Chang’e, “Kiss Mint” which was one of the colors from her December 2013 subscription set, and I also received a free sample of “Insatiable” in a clamshell.

About

(Please note: the site is currently down at the time of writing.)

IT+A shadows up the ante with a “twist” on almost all of their shadows – they are full of unexpectedly-colored sparkles or sheens that don’t necessarily match the base color. The end result? A collection of some extremely unique-looking shadows that pack a hell of a sparkly punch. Add in the fact that all the original artwork on the site and on the packaging is her own, it’s no wonder everyone’s jumping on IT+A’s subscription wagon.

I just wish more of her collections are complete (many colors are sold out) and come in full sizes. I would have loved the Battle Royale-themed one!

Packaging

What a mother lode! If there’s one thing I truly enjoy, it’s opening packages… and the more there is to take out, the happier I am. Even if it’s just an invoice and a short handwritten thank you, it goes a long way in making me smile. IT+A went above and beyond that with a handwritten invoice (and with printing I wish I could perfect), a photo print of the Chang’e artwork on the jar labels, and a card.

The deco tape sealing the bubble mailer envelope was also a nice touch.



Inside, the shadows came packaged in two baggies, and then wrapped again in this little bag with the invoice and Lunar Sacrifice ingredients info sheet.

Minor gripe: Each of the shadows were then individually taped with Red Riding Hood deco tape. This was unique but a little messy looking and would not come off the jars cleanly, so I simply had to stop and scrape off all the tape bits for another ten minutes.

I’ve read that other people have complained about the same issue though, and she will be using something else to seal the jars in the future – she’s simply using up her stock of deco tape. If it’s getting changed, I really don’t think it’s that big a deal in the meantime.

Swatches

And what about the colors? Here they are, one by one.

These were swatched dry on the left, and wet on the right without primer. With the primer that I use, the colors show up about the same as when applied wet but without that distinct “foiled” look. These were retaken in direct sunlight without any editing because the colors showed up truest to life on my monitor (although with significantly less sparkle).

Lunar Sacrifice Collection

“Banished by the Sun” is an extremely sparkly creamsicle orange that starts to look more like a deep gold as you layer it on with some unexpected purple sparkles. You get pretty decent color payoff from the first swipe, even dry.

“Chang*e” goes on sheer as a super light pink with a light, minty green sheen. For those of you who were missing Geek Chic‘s discontinued “Dreams of Large Women” this makes for a pretty decent dupe although it is a slightly warmer pink and the mint sparkle is more subtle.

“Elixir of Immortality” is a pale lavender with a gold sheen and subtle irridescent sparkle – it goes incredibly sheer when dry (the sheerest out of all the colors in the collection, in fact) even when you layer it on. This should be put on wet or on a primer base in order to show up.

“Ascent to Heaven” is an extremely light, frosty blue with purple sparkles and slight lavender sheen. When applied wet it becomes exponentially deeper in color and the lavender shift becomes more pronounced.

“Descent Into the Garden” is a dark gray with deep green iridescent sparkles. When applied wet, it makes an excellent color for the outer corner of your eye.

“Spirit of the Moon” is a much lighter gray compared to “Descent Into the Garden” and is quite possibly my favorite color out of the bunch simply to look at it in its jar. It is packed with iridescent sparkle, the most obvious ones are very fine blue and red/pink glitters.

Other

“Kiss Mint” from the December 2013 subscription is a lovely mint color with a purple sheen and purple/gold sparkles. I could not resist such a gorgeous color on the website and it proved to be exactly what it looked like in the pictures.

“Insatiable” is a bright lemony yellow that shows up darker when applied to skin and applies quite sheer, sprinkled with dark green sparkles. Unfortunately the sparkles don’t really spread very evenly so the end result makes the shadow look somewhat smudgy (most noticeable when wet).

Minor gripe: I wasn’t such a fan of this last one or of its clamshell (eyeshadow poofs everywhere, no matter how careful I try to be!) but I was very impressed with the amount of shadow that was included in the sample. I also didn’t really like the translucent top labels on the Lunar Sacrifice colors. Since IT+A uses clear square jars, I don’t think the shadows needed the extra visibility of the translucent label, and the artwork suffered somewhat from being almost invisible compared to the opaque “Kiss Mint” label.

Of the shadows that I ordered, I absolutely loved every single one – and they are all pale enough to be worn perfectly respectably to the office. Yay!

Shipping & TAT

I made my order on February 13, and it shipped out on the 18th. I don’t remember the date I actually received it since I just deleted the original photos and their timestamps off my phone today, but it arrived sometime around the 21st. It did not take long at all, and considering it was in the middle of a sale (and also the fact that I live in Canada), I was super impressed.

~*~

All in all, I was quite happy with this order and the gripes were minimal. The colors were well-represented on the website, went on smoothly, were easy to blend, and lasted throughout the day without any fading. I’ve always been quite interested in IT+A’s unique twist on the monthly subscription model, so I was really happy to take a look at some of her shadows before I decided on jumping right in.

These were purchased during her Valentine’s Day sale for 30% off and this is an unsolicited review of my experiences. I have had no contact with this seller aside from automated notifications.

Thanks for reading! If you think I’ve missed anything, please feel free to let me know.