A few Lumiere blush swatches...

Here are a few swatches of the samples I got from Lumiere... so much prettier in person!

Autumn is a classic light rose-pink. The swatch on Lumiere's website shows a more pigmented shade, but it's much lighter in person. Cherry Blossom looks like a soft pink color with a touch of brown and a lovely subtle sheen. Hibiscus (my favorite here) is a gorgeous berry-pink with some plum undertones. Neutral Pink looks like a pale pink with a slight brown undertone and some shimmer. Ruby is a pretty pigmented brilliant pink with a gorgeous sheen.



I'm going to wear them for a few days, see which ones I like, then order a full-size when Lumiere holds a new special/discount.

Samples are pretty in pink jars...

I started decanting the samples I got into 5g jars yesterday. Lumiere's samples came up to about half a jar, which is reasonably generous... while Joppa's samples contained very little product (about 1/8 of a jar... looks about 1/16 of a teaspoon to me).



So far, I really like Aromaleigh's blushes. They are all so pretty and unique! Lumiere's blushes are really nice too. Joppa's blushes look okay, but I don't like the lack of email support or customer service. I've tried emailing them to ask about the size of their blushes (the website only says $10 for small and $15 for medium), but I've gotten no response. I guess my question wasn't that important, but sizes vary from company to company, and I want to know how much product is in a "small" or "medium" size before I purchase anything. I don't want to guess or assume (like I assumed their samples are as generous as other MMU companies'). Joppa is also a little more expensive than the other brands I've tried, so I don't know if I'll be ordering from them any time soon (or ever again) as there are many other things I want to buy from Aromaleigh and Lumiere... plus, I want to try Meow too!

Meow is having a 20% off discount for Halloween, so I placed a huge order of sample blushes and a few sample foundation shades.

Speaking of samples... I recently got these cute little pink jars for my samples. :)

Size and price comparison...

Up until recently, I've only used Everyday Minerals and nothing else. However, since EDM started discontinuing a lot of products, I decided to try other MMU companies. After all, I do like a variety! ;)

After having received several packages this week, I thought I should do a size and price comparison.

The photo below shows how much larger (circumference-wise) Everyday Minerals is. I also have a jar of Anytime blush (received in swap), which is supposed to be an old full-size 20g jar. It's about the same size as Lumiere, AL, and Joppa.



If you'll look at the height of the jars, EDM is slightly shorter than the others, but the labels show a net weight of 5.5g for EDM, 4g for Lumiere, and 5.2g for Joppa. (AL doesn't show a net weight... just a net volume.)



Let's look at the prices.

Everyday Minerals - $8.00
Lumiere - $12.00
AL - $14.50
Joppa - $15.00

Everyday Minerals is still the most affordable and the best value for your money.

My 1st Joppa haul!

A package from Joppa arrived today. (I placed 2 orders earlier this week, but they were combined and shipped together.)

My First Order:

A Mystery Grab Bag containing... 2 full-size blushes (Savannah and Desert Night)... 4 eyeshadows (Dusk, Think Spring, Maxine, and Tranquility)... a small blush/bronzer (Back from the Beach)... and a sample Glycolic Facial Cleanser.



A 6-Piece Sampler Kit with Praline SR foundation, Khaki SR foundation, Medium SR finishing silk, Yellow concealer, Delightful blush, and Just Blush blush.



My Second Order:

I ordered another Mystery Grab Bag since they were on sale! I received a full-size jar of Medium # 2 (Full Coverage)... another Desert Night blush... 3 eyeshadows (Courtney, Pearl, and Espresso)... a sample Simple Radiance Yellow (a pigment adjusting base, I think)... and 4 sample finishing silk powders (Medium, Mocha, Rosey, and Dewey Tan).



Another 6-Piece Sampler Kit! What? They were only a PENNY! I decided to try Medium #2.5 FC foundation, Medium #3 FC foundation, Rosey Original finishing silk, Medium concealer, Blushing Bride blush, and Island Rose blush.



And of course I couldn't resist but order a few more sample blushes... Raspberry Ice, Tickle Me Pink, Crazy In Love, Makayla, Earthen Rose, Savannah, Plumeria, Hush, Spiceberry, and Carribean.



They also included 2 free sample baggies of Medium concealer and Sunset eyeshadow.



I'm happy with my mystery grab bags even though I got two of Desert Nights... okay, maybe a little disappointed. I mean they knew they were going to the same person! :P

My pretty pink brushes!

These just arrived today! They are 100% synthetic bristles (vegan preferred)! These brushes are the "Ultimate" brand and are SUPER SOFT! I purchased them from Forever Female. They have super fast shipping, excellent customer service, and reasonable prices. :)

From L to R: Fiber Optic Powder Brush, Fiber Optic Blush Brush, Long Flat Top Buffer, Short Flat Top Large Bristle Head, Blush Brush, Powder Buffer, and Face Powder Brush.



From L to R: Fiber Optic Fan Brush, Foundation Brush, Full Cover Concealer, Concealer/Contour Brush, Eye Shadow Brush, Angled Eye Shadow Brush & Eye Liner, Wet Dry Eye Shadow Brush, Crease Eye Shadow Brush, and 2 Fine Point Eye Liner Brush.



From L to R: Kabuki Brush, Flat Top Kabuki, and Baby Kabuki.



And all of them together in a pink makeup bag...



Link: www.foreverfemale.com

My 1st Lumiere haul!

I received a package from Lumiere with the blushes Ditto "O" (a gorgeous peachy pink with a soft golden shimmer; a dupe of Nars Orgasm), Fresh Roses (a lovely rosy pink shade with a silky and glowy finish), and Mauvelous (a beautiful berry pink color tinged with plum)... and blush samples of Autumn, Cherry Blossom, Hibiscus, Neutral Pink, and Ruby.

My 1st Aromaleigh haul!

I just received my very first Aromaleigh package! I ordered a few blushes... Corset (a beautiful natural warm red color with a subtle sheen), Dolly (a lovely fresh pink with a soft shimmer), and Rococo (a gorgeous peachy pink with a hint of sparkle)... together with free e/s samples of Aqua Nightmare, Purple Princess, and Little Craving... plus a free sample of their Color Infusion Botanical Lipstick Gala. It's a nice berry shade with a subtle shimmer and a yummy cocoa orange scent.

My 1st haul in over a year!

I haven't purchased any mineral makeup in... 14 months! WOW! I used to order a Super Personal Custom Kit (12 full-size items) from Everyday Minerals every time they had a special. How I managed to stay in "no-buy mode" for over a year... I don't really know. LOL!

I ordered quite a few stuff from different MMU companies this week... and guess what I got in the mail today? A package from Everyday Minerals containing 13 full-size blushes and 3 sample blushes!



Here's my free gift... the new exclusive blush... Wishing Well.



Sand Cherry, New Mom, Time Share, Sprung, and (of course) Wishing Well are all new to me. (The rest I've already owned before... but I recently lost 15 full-size jars of EDM blushes somehow... so I reordered the ones that are still available from EDM.) Anyway, here are the swatches in natural lighting...



Sand Cherry looks like a pretty peach/coral blush with lots of sparkles. It's a lot similar to New Car Smell. New Mom appears a nice deep warm red blush without any sparkle or sheen. It needs to be used sparingly with a light hand or a fiber optic brush. Time Share... I love this one! It's a lovely matte pink that looks a lot like Best Friends. Sprung is a gorgeous berry-pink shade with a subtle sheen. Wishing Well (to me) is a beautiful rosey shade of pink with a hint of berry... and maybe a tiny bit of peach? As you can see, it looks a lot like Apple and Sprung.

A brief introduction...

My name is Jennifer. I go by Jen. I'm a Filipino-American, living in Columbus, Ohio. I'm a mineral makeup addict. I love MMU, and I love to play with it. So, this will most likely be my beauty blog, featuring haul pics, swatches, and reviews.

The first MMU I've ever tried is L'Oreal Bare Naturale, which I hated. It had talc and bismuth oxychloride, which made my face itch and burn. Fortunately, I found Everyday Minerals. It was affordable and 100% all-natural. I wear their Buttered Tan foundation in intensive formula. I also love some of their blushes. Chit Chat and Siesta are two of my favorites... too bad they've been discontinued.

I've recently decided to try other MMU companies like AL, Lumiere, and Joppa... just waiting for my packages. I also plan to try Meow, Silk Naturals, and others later. That is, once they have a good sale or special because who doesn't like discounts and free gifts? Plus, there's no reason to feel guilty when you're getting such great deals, right? Yep, that's what I keep telling myself. LOL!