Hi, all!

I find myself needing a break from exhausting amounts of time sludging through balance sheets and accounting cycles and income statements, so here I am with some new swatches for all of you!

This is something a bit new for me. I don’t usually immediately order from new indie companies when they open. I’m that kid who immediately puts everything in my cart, empties it out, agonizes over it all for awhile, moves things around, lurks around waiting for swatches, agonizes some more, refills/re-empties the cart who knows how many times, and then finally, months later, makes an order. To be fair, I do this with established indies that are new to me as well. I guess it’s how I keep myself in check, but some days I wish I were a bit less ridiculous about it.

Insert Mad Lab Cosmetics here. Once again, I stumbled across a post in IMAM about a new company. This one, based out of LA, had just released their very first collection, the Semi-Precious Collection, and I. Was. Sold. Most kids my age collected beanie babies and Troll Dolls and all things Lisa Frank. I collected rocks. I kid you not. I still have my collection, part of which can be seen in the picture above (you better believe I dug that shit back out just for this)!

Now that I’ve successfully showed off a bit of my childhood rock collection, ON TO THE SWATCHES!

OPAL:

The sun was playing hide and seek today, so this picture ended up being taken in natural light, but in cloudy conditions. On the website, Opal is described as follows:

“The stone of October, the opal, carries a history as colorful as its own fire. Associated with both luck and love, and death and ill fortune, the opal has grown to be a true match to the beauty and dark humor that characterize the month of October.

White Opal is bright translucent white that bursts with green duochrome and violet sparkle.” I was planning on only including the color description, but I liked the whole thing so here we are. I don’t get any violet from this shadow (maybe I would have if the clouds weren’t being stubborn) but the green shift is very strong in this one, and leans a little bit yellow. I can see myself using this very often as a highlight! PEARL:

This picture was also taken in cloudy conditions. From the site:

“A pale cream with a satin/matte finish that provides all the subtlety of a matte finish with the elegance of the finest pearl. The perfect everyday eyeshadow to create a soft brow highlight or a concentrated inner highlight.”

I can see myself using this one a lot, as well. It presents itself as a cream almost-skin-tone color with a satin shimmer and the tiniest bit of a pink sheen to it.

PYRITE:

From Mad Lab Cosmetics:

“A rich, intensely yellow gold with warm hints of copper sparkle and a muted metallic finish. Apply it wet for a burnished effect.”

I’ll be honest, I didn’t try applying this wet, but now I’m curious. So…. that’ll probably happen immediately after I’m done with this! I apply my swatches with a pretty heavy hand, but I was still impressed with how opaque this color got without any base under it! It’s going to be a fun yellow-gold to play with!

SANDSTONE:

From Mad Lab Cosmetics:

“An extremely warm, medium-light, burnt orange. Never chalky, this smooth eyeshadow is a true matte, free of shimmer or sparkle. Its earthy tones make this a versatile addiction for anyone looking to add some warmth and color to the most work-friendly routines or some softness and contrast to the boldest copper and orange looks.”

This color is gorgeous! After looking at shimmers, satins, and sparkles for awhile it’s nice to see a simple, beautiful matte shade. And this color immediately makes me think of Antelope Canyon, which is on my bucket list of places to visit! And as you can see, it’s almost as opaque over bare skin as it is over a base. This means this will be a good shadow for many of my lazy days to come!

CINNABAR:

From Mad Lab Cosmetics:

“A rich red-pink bordering on ruby with a the slightest hint of berry. Graced with a glowing, metallic finish, apply it wet to create a truly rich foil effect. Neutral enough to be paired with browns for an everyday rose inspired look, yet bold enough to create a color statement all on its own.”

I probably won’t wear this often, if only because I have so many pinks and I rarely wear brighter pinks. It is a beautiful color, though! If you’re the variety of person who loves pink, this is straight up for you!

….maybe I’ll wear it on Wednesdays….

AVENTURINE:

From Mad Lab Cosmetics:

“Deep grass green over a green-black base. Applied over bare skin it can be blended down to a nearly matte black; while applied wet over over a sticky base, the rich green shimmer brings a glowing finish.”

JUST LOOK AT THIS COLOR! IT’S FREAKING GORGEOUS! This was the color I was second-most looking forward to. I wasn’t sure what Aventurine was (I just liked how the rocks looked as a kid, I didn’t research them overly much) but have since realized I have a few of these! This color is definitely going to be used in a green/yellow look in the very, very, very near future (like… tomorrow).

Alright, dears, you know me. Save the best for last, right?! Well, here it is (as far as the eyeshadows go):

LABRADORITE:

From Mad Lab Cosmetics:

“An ethereal shot of turquoise iridescence over a pitch black base. Matte with shimmer over bare skin, blossoms into shimmering duochrome over a sticky base or when applied wet.”

Let us just start this out by understanding how obsessed I am with Labradorite in general! I stumbled on a picture of it a couple of years ago and have since been an absolute mad woman about this stone! So of course, I NEEDED THIS COLOR! This is probably the biggest reason it was so easy for me to pull the trigger on this order. And look at it! It’s amazing! Cathy also suggests layering this over Cinnabar for a multidimensional purple and I have EVERY intention of trying that soon!

BONUS TIME!

DAWN ILLUMINATING POWDER:

Dawn Illuminating Powder is an upcoming product from Cathy’s Mad Lab. I haven’t gotten to play with it much – lately, if I have time to even fill my eyebrows and throw mascara on, I consider it a small miracle. Hopefully I’ll get to play around with this some! I still have a bit of learning to do where powders like these are concerned but I’m sure I’ll get there! In the bag, the color of this is very similar to Pearl, maybe more pearl mixed with Opal. It’s a beautiful color!

Overall, this purchase was well worth it! I hope there are eventual plans to expand the Semi-Precious collection, because I am all over this idea! I would love to see colors for Liddicoatite or black opal!