Has Anything Disappointed You Lately?

As much as I love reading about favorites, I think it's also helpful to hear about disappointments so one knows to steer clear! I've had a few lately:

• Ellis Faas Milky Eyes- really for the packaging more than the product. Wednesday morning I had the migraine to end all migraines. Like one of those "call your mother to tell her you love her just in case migraines." Luckily and coincidentally I had an appointment with my migraine specialist for that morning but I had to get myself up and dressed so that I could go there and then to work. I thought that Milky Eyes 203 would make for a quick, polished eye so I took it out (I store it applicator down) and turn the dial. Nothing. And again. Nothing. I must have done this 7 times and nothing came out so I put it down, walked away for 5 minutes and came back and turned it. Nothing. I thought I'd turn it one last time and lo and behold, enough for 5 uses came pouring out. I have no patience for this kind of thing when I'm spending $36 a product. The Milky Lips has the same issue but not nearly as bad. As pretty as the blush and some of the other products look, I'm done with this line.
• MAC Technokohl in Photograuvre- I love this color. It's a dark brown with a lot of black, or a soft browned black. Either way, it's not too harsh but gives a very defined line. Unfortunately the product drags and skips along my lash line. It's just not soft enough. Maybe I am just spoiled by my Laura Mercier Kohls and UD 24/7 liners.
• Aromatherapy Personals- this line of aromatherapeutic roll ons has a variety for seemingly every need from anxiety to crave control. Unfortunately the scents don't last more than a few seconds on the skin, rendering them useless. For a similar de-stress elixir, Origins Peace of Mind works wonderfully.
• Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo and Conditioner- hello, dry, straw-like hair!
• L'Oreal- I've written before about how badly the Healthy Hair Creme Gloss Color destroyed my hair. I sent an email to L'Oreal customer service about it and never received a response, yet I keep receiving email surveys from them asking me to rate the helpfulness of their reply. And these emails are sent from an unattended mailbox so I can't reply to them, letting them know that their advice was beyond useless since they simply ignored me. Frustrating!

Has anything disappointed you lately?

My Spirit Beauty Lounge Order

I first learned about Spirit Beauty Lounge from some of the wonderful posters on Emakemeup's Grapevine. Spirit Beauty Lounge was offering 15% off over the Memorial Day Weekend and I took advantage and placed an order!

I love organic and natural beauty lines and am so excited to have found this amazing purveyor of chic, organic and natural products! The site carries a range of brands including Vapour Beauty, RMS Beauty, Alima, Intelligent Nutrients, Revolution Organics, Priti, Yarok and more. One of the coolest offerings is the ability to purchase samples of any 9 products, makeup included, for $15. Everything came beautifully wrapped, tied with pretty pink bows, and they included many extra free samples.
Free Samples:

The first item I ordered is Vapour Organic Beauty Aura Radiant Blush in Intrigue, a shimmery peachy pink blush stick shot through with gold shimmer. The ingredients are 70& organic, the other 30% being minerals, pigments, and vitamins not available as certified organic. This is a beautiful product that you can feel good about putting on your skin.

It may sound silly but even the box this comes in is lovely--right down to the hot pink lining. The tube is a shimmery blue plastic. The product itself has a very dewy texture and the blush is not heavily pigmented and blends well. All of the products have a light passion fruit scent but I don't find it overwhelming and it dissipated almost immediately once applied. These are $28 each. I really look forward to trying more from this line.
Here is Intrigue in the stick:
And swatched:
Next up is Priti Nail Polish in Firecandle. Priti polishes ($12.50) are non-toxic and free of toluene, formaldehyde and DPBs. Firecandle is a bright hot pink with shimmer, perfect for summer!
The color up close:
I also ordered a Sweet Beauty Lip Balm in Taste. These all natural skin and body products are infused with real fine chocolate and blended with superfoods and antioxidants. Taste ($5.50) is said to have a hint of color but goes on virtually clear. As you can see in the swatch, there is barely any pigment. It smells absolutely delicious and the good-for-you-ingredients mean you don't have to feel bad if you give in and lick some off of your lips!

Ingredients:
Beeswax, Babassu Seed Oil, Sweet Cherry Oil, Organic Fair Trade Certified Chocolate, Aloe Vera Oil, Avocado Oil, Meadowfoam Oil, Cranberry Seed Oil, Black and Red Raspberry Seed Oil, Pomegranate Seed Oil, Cocoa Absolute, Rosemary Extract, Vitamin E T-50
Swatched:
Alima Pure Luminous Shimmer Eye Shadow in Paris ($9.00) is a super shimmery sandy golden taupe. I need another eye shadow like I need a hole in my head but this one really is beautiful and I think I'll get a lot of use out of it.

I was so excited to order my customized sample kit! Clockwise from top upper left I received:
Vapour Beauty Elixir Lip Gloss in Sultry (now totally on my wishlist. It's gorgeous), RMS Beauty Lip2Cheek in Promise, Vapour Beauty Mesmerize Eye Color in Flash, Organic Apoteke Detox Mask, Vapour Beauty Siren Lipstick in Hint, Vapour Beauty Stratus Instant Skin Perfector, RMS Beauty Living Luminizer and Vapour Beauty Solar Bronzer in Mirage. Click on the picture to enlarge it and you can get a better view of the colors.

Look how adorably they all came packaged:

The final item I ordered is the only one that disappointed. Aromatherapy Personals Anxiety Relief sounded fabulous--a nourishing elixir you roll on pulse points containing essential oils known to help reduce anxiety and promote inner calm, including lavender, chamomile, rosewood and sweet orange. I find that Origins Peace of Mind helps with my migraines and also with work-related stress, and this aromatherapeutic equivalent of Xanax seemed like just the thing to tuck into my purse for those moments when it seems like everything that can go wrong is going wrong. Here's the problem: for the whole aromatherapy thing to work, you have to be able to actually smell the product! This scent fades away almost immediately rendering it totally ineffective. At $17 I was expecting more and can't recommend this. I don't know if I received one from a bad batch or if all of the different blends have this issue. For now I guess I'll just open it up and try to smell it from the bottle in trying times!

Overall I'm super pleased with my Spirit Beauty Lounge experience and totally recommend them. My order was placed over a holiday weekend and shipped right out on Monday. The offer free shipping on orders over $100 and I received a coupon when I signed up to receive their emails.