1 Indie Makeup Loss, But Still Many Loves

I'm sorry for the lack of posts, but I I do have several in the works. I had gotten an email from a young lady who had read my previous FDA-and-cosmetics post, asking me specifically about UV-reactive AKA 'neons', and where on the face, some of them are, or are not, approved for safe use. So I am working on a follow-up that will be a bit long and detailed, but, in short, there are NO UV-reactive color additives/pigments approved by the FDA as safe for use on the eye area. I also plan to cover the need for proper labeling of glitter in cosmetics, including both the base material composition, and the color additives.

I am very slowly working my way through swatching my many indie lip product samples, and I do still need to get a daylight bulb, because sunlight gives me migraines and singes my pink skin, even with sunblock powder (still looking for a cream sunscreen/sunblock that does not have liquid silicones), & I think a DL bulb will reflect the colors more accurately. Hopefully I will soon be able to finish my pictures of things like Morgana Cryptoria's 1920s Lipstick Collection and some of her new pigmented lip balms; Dark Heart Designs Lip Slicks; and some more [redacted]. I'm also way behind in my swatching of glosses and pigmented balm from Darling Girl Cosmetics (if you are not allergic to nuts, Susan's pistachio-butter-based, un-tinted, vegan, flavored/sweetened Luscious Lip Balm is a-ma-zing!), as well as some Venomous Cosmetics Lip Poisons and Shiro Cosmetics Intertubes.

To help hold you over a little bit until I can do some full lip swatch posts, here are a just a few:

Miss Jupiter may have been discriminated against in the 1957 Miss Universe Pageant, but she's still got a product endorsement! Morgana Cryptoria's "Miss Jupiter" Lip Balm, taken with a flash:

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Someone in one of my online makeup groups mentioned that it was Miss Pluto who got shafted by having her planet downgraded, so if Stan Freberg or June Foray happen to come across this post, PLEASE consider making another sequel to Miss Jupiter with Miss Pluto!

[Edit, section redacted.]

At some point in the future, after I'm a bit more caught up with lip colors swatches, I'd also like to start posting semi-custom lip colors that I have made using lip-safe eyeshadow from places like Black Rose Minerals and Linnaeus Cosmetics, who both very clearly label which of their eyeshadows are lip-safe. This is Black Rose Minerals in "Bruised" mixed with New York Colors Lip Sliders Tinted Lip Balm in "Sugar Baby" (discontinued; I got mine at a local dollar store); taken with a flash:

If you haven't checked it out yet, Detrivore Cosmetics is having a sale until September 2nd, which includes: 10-for-$20 eyeshadows, 3-for-$10 blushes and face powders, as well as a set of 5 new gorgeous eyeshadow colors for $10. Distorria also has 2 new [liquid silicone-free] eye primers in white, and in black, for $5 each. Now, honestly, I've never had many issues with creasing with much of anything other than straight cream eyeshadow, so I've never had that problem with Detrivore Primer myself, but I have heard a couple people report creasing with the original. It does not have the 'slip' of most other primers, because it doesn't have liquid silicones, but that is a huge plus for me, because it's the one primer that does not give me cystic acne, and it is actually more 'sticky' like a base, so it holds the eyeshadow bits out of my allergy eyes. If you don't have issues with liquid silicones, and want something less sticky and with more slip, [suggestion redacted].

Last week there was a MonsterQuest marathon on the History Channel, and having an affinity for cryptozoology, in honor of it, I made this new eyeshadow swatch set and emoticon:

~ƪⱱ~ᴖ~ⱱ~~   <--------Quasi-Nessie

On a sad note, I will no longer feature any swatches from High Voltage Cosmetics. While I have not done reviews per se, the featuring of swatches infers a de facto condonation, which I can no longer support. There are many reasons for this, but some of the issues for me included; discovering the absence of some colorant ingredients that are obviously in some of the products, but were not printed in the ingredients lists (which I have been trying to kick myself for not noticing sooner, but my wheels make that kind of hard); product inconsistencies and shade misrepresentations; the inability to access most of my Ace High Club "perks"; possible contamination issues that caused mold to grow on a previously unopened HVC eye primer that belonged to another customer (and nothing in the ingredients list points towards anything that would promote the growth of mold in the unopened primer); as well as being misled as to the nature of some of the ingredients in HVC products. Here are posts from some other bloggers who have also withdrawn their support of HVC for a variety of reasons: 
Portrait of Mai: "Places I Won't Shop at Again: High Voltage Cosmetics" 
toxid-lotus: "I withdraw my support of High Voltage Cosmetics" 
karmicdreaming: "Why I will no longer support High Voltage Cosmetics" 
Ki and Makeup: "I no longer support High Voltage Cosmetics" 
kimmiekarmalove: "High Voltage Cosmetics F***ery" 
shatteredshards: "Glitter Hitting the Fan"

One resource that I have found very helpful in learning some of the red flags that may indicate that seller may be untrustworthy, is the GlitterSniffer Complaints blog. If you ever want to know how not to run a makeup company, read that blog from the beginning. They have also done excellent reporting on some indie companies who have been the victims of suppliers' ingredient mislabeling, and how they proactively dealt with the issues, in order to protect their customers, and are examples of how to run a MU company.

As frustrating and scary as it is to discover that I can no longer trust one indie company whose products I had put on my face, I am certainly not going to let that frighten me away from indie cosmetics in general. Heck, in this one post alone, I've listed 9 other indie companies who I feel do deserve my business. For any readers who might also have mild OCD ^ᴗᴥⱷ^, let me round it out to an even 10, by throwing in my favorite indie perfumery, and the creator of Black Magic Soap (which I have ordered 3 times already, but have still not yet gotten to try, due to two young male BMS addicts stalking my orders; each of whom had acne issues until the first time they used it, when their skin began to clear up almost overnight); One Hand Washes The Other

Jedi Anastasia's Mega Super Fun OHWTO review:

Lipsticks and Lightsabers: "Cleanliness Is Next To Godmoddiness" 08/15/2011 

Here are some YouTube video reviews of OHWTO:

kragey (aka @ReneesAnatomy):

"Review: 1 Hand Washes the Other"  08/06/2010

"OHWTO holiday perfumes + FOTD"  12/11/2010

ThePinkLadyJ:

"A Perfume Review of One Hand Washes The Other - Part 1"  03/03/2011

"A Perfume Review of One Hand Washes The Other - Part 2"  03/31/2011

"A Perfume Review of One Hand Washes The Other - Part 3"  04/27/2011

"Review: Black Magic Soap from One Hand Washes The Other"  05/06/2011

FTC: All products were bought by me with my own money, other than free samples made available in general to all customers. I have not received any compensation to mention any company, positively or negatively.

~Miss Jupiter, ^☼ᴥ☼^ Mascara Kitteh, and ~ƪⱱ~ᴖ~ⱱ~~ Quasi-Nessie

ETA: Swatch of  Venomous Cosmetics Lip Poison in "Hysteria"; taken with a flash:

ETA: All blog posts & videos were linked with permission. The indie companies were not; free PR, whether they want it, or not. <;-P

*"Let's be careful out there." - Cosmetic Labeling.

Caution: Long post.

"A cosmetic is misbranded if its labeling is false or misleading, if it does not bear the required labeling information, or if the container is made or filled in a deceptive manner." 

Section 301 Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act, US Code of Federal Regulations Title 21

Note: While the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients requirement for uniform names is, well, international, the Food & Drug Administration information is specific to the United States, so it is best to check with your individual country's consumer protection laws to see if there may be different requirements or exemptions with regards to cosmetic labeling for selling within your country. However, according to the FDA:

"The cosmetics marketed in the United States, whether they are manufactured here or are imported from abroad, must comply with the labeling requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act, the Fair Packaging and Labeling (FP&L) Act, and the regulations published by the Food and Drug Administration under the Authority of these two laws."

While I know there have been several unscrupulous so-called "indie" companies, who have merely been repackers, private label, or who have deliberately sold re-packaged-non-cosmetically-approved-for-anything soap dyes as "eyeshadow," and who have deliberately ignored requirements for FDA and INCI labeling on their cosmetics; I have also come to discover that there are many respected real indie, as well as even well-known higher-end, cosmetics companies who simply appear to be unaware of all of their labeling requirements under FDA regulations and INCI ingredient naming requirements.
So, I thought I would try to gather some information and advice here to try to help fledgling, as well as existing indie companies, who may not be aware that they have to name ingredients in a specific way, or that ingredients lists must be either labeled on each product, or provide a specific set of alternatives to allow for off-package labeling.

"All cosmetic ingredients must be listed using their official INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) names for all cosmetic ingredients. The use of trade or common names is not allowed on cosmetic ingredient lists. INCI names are uniform scientific names. INCI names are mandated on the ingredient statement of every consumer personal care product." 

-International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook

The importance of the INCI naming requirements cannot be overstated, especially with regards to people with severe allergies and other autoimmune disorders. The uniformity of the ingredient names makes it possible for people who know they have allergies to readily identify products with the ingredients to which they are allergic, and using trade or common names can lead a person to not realize that a product actually contains an ingredient to which they are allergic, which could result in anything from minor itching to full-on-get-your-@$$-to-the-hospital-NOW-anaphylactic-shock, which, from personal experience, is one of the scariest things ever to go through, and not something I would ever wish on my worst enemy.

 
For cosmetics in store displays, there is only one allowance for a separate off-product ingredient list pamphlet or flier, and the product must meet all three of these conditions to be allowed to have a ingredient list not attached to each individual product, and there must be enough fliers/pamphlets available for each individual product:

(1)The product is not enclosed in an outer container, AND 

(2)The total package surface area is less than 12 square inches, AND 

(3)The products are held for sale in tightly compartmented trays or racks.

Even in the store, there must be enough pamphlets or fliers so that there is one available for every individual product that meets the 3 exemption requirements, & if the store runs out of the pamphlets/fliers for an item, there must be a sign under where the pamphlets/fliers are removed from the mounted stack, that says, "FEDERAL LAW REQUIRES INGREDIENT LIST TO BE DISPLAYED HERE." 21.CFR701.3(j)

Despite this exemption, and Sephora Brand lipsticks meeting all these criteria, they still put individual "peel here -->" type removable INCI ingredient list stickers on all their in-store lipsticks. Wet-n-Wild lipsticks also usually meet all these exemption requirements when in drugstore displays, yet they still print all their ingredients on their shrink-wrap.

On the other hand, at Victoria's Secret, I purchased some Beauty Rush Cheek Tints that barely met two of exemption conditions, with the printable surface area of the shrink-wrap being 11.14² inches, while laying out on an open, non-compartmentalized display. When I asked where the ingredients list was for the product was, it took 10 minutes of shuffling around behind the counter before a sale associate finally appeared with a list of ingredients for certain Beauty Rush products, including a "Beauty Rush Lip & Cheek Pop," but not any for the "Beauty Rush Cheek Tint."

For comparison, this is the ingredient list I got from the store, for "Beauty Rush Lip & Cheek Pop," that is not broken down by shade, and is not the product that I purchased, which I pointed out to the sales associate, who said that it was the only ingredients list they had:

Water (Aqua, Eau), Propanediol, Glycerin, Sodium Stearate, Flavor (Aroma), Phenoxyethanol, Aluminum Hydroxide, Methylparaben, Hydrated Silica, Butyparaben, Ethylparapen, Isobutylparaben, Propylparaben, Geraniol, MAY CONTAIN (+/-) Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Red 22 (CI 45380), Red 33 (CI 17200), Red 40 (CI 45410), Yellow 6 (CI 15985)

It took 10 days of online searching & contacting VS multiple times, while not wearing or swatching my products until I got a straight answer, before they finally released the actual ingredients for my 3 "Beauty Rush Cheek Tint" colors.

*Beauty Rush Cheek Tint "Just Peachy": Ingredients: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Trimethylolpropane Triisostearate, Hydroxystearic Acid, Isostearyl Isostearate, Diisostearyl Malate, Polyisobutene, Isononyl Isononanoate, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Ceresin, Fragrance (Parfum), 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Mica, Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Red 6 Lake (CI 15850), Yellow 6 Lake (CI 15985). 

*Beauty Rush Cheek Tint "Mon Cherry": Ingredients: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Trimethylolpropane Triisostearate, Hydroxystearic Acid, Isostearyl Isostearate, Diisostearyl Malate, Polyisobutene, Isononyl Isononanoate, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Ceresin, Fragrance (Parfum), 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Red 6 Lake (CI 15850), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850). 

*Beauty Rush Cheek Tint "I Pink I Can": Ingredients: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Trimethylolpropane Triisostearate, Hydroxystearic Acid, Isostearyl Isostearate, Diisostearyl Malate, Polyisobutene, Isononyl Isononanoate, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Ceresin, Fragrance (Parfum), 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Red 6 Lake (CI 15850).

As you can see, the ingredients I was given at the store in no way remotely resemble the ingredients that I had to pry out of VS's customer service. If I had not been so insistent about getting the real ingredients, I would have ended up probably using them as art supplies rather than makeup, as I would have had no idea if one or more of them had the FD&C Red No. 40 (to which I am particularly sensitive) that was listed under the VSL&C Pop ingredients, which would have really sucked, as "Mon Cherry" has become one of my favorite blushes, and the one blush that people compliment me on the most. Also, as you can see, the VSL&C Pops are loaded with parabens, to which some people, especially with autoimmune disorders, have allergic-type reactions, yet the VSCTs have no parabens, or Red 40 for that matter, listed anywhere. So, VS actually did themselves a huge disservice, not only in violating the FDA labeling requirements and "misbranding" their Cheek Tint products, but also likely losing a large number of potential sales of the Cheek Tint product to people who avoid parabens, who might have bought it if the ingredient list provided at the store [for a completely different product, with a slightly similar name] hadn't indicated that it contained 5 different parabens, which I suspect may exceed the RDA for parabens for even healthy people. <;-)

My Birchbox this month contained a full-size Laura Geller Blush-N-Brighten in "Honey Dipped", which is way too dark, shimmery brown for me to use as a blush, and with my nearly albino pale pink complexion, bronzers are just not an option and look completely unnatural on me,  and if they have too much yellow, can make me look oddly jaundiced. There are no ingredients whatsoever listed anywhere on this full-size product that retails for $29.50, and at first I could not find the ingredients listed online either. The only real use I could think of for this color would be as eyeshadow, so I asked Birchbox if they might happen to know if it could possibly be eye-safe, since most blushes I've seen are not, but I was told, yes, it could be used wet or dry, like any baked eyeshadow. Fortunately for my eyes, I finally did find the ingredients for the Laura Geller Blush-N-Brighten products online:

All shades: Talc, Mica, Mineral Oil, Dimethicone, Polysorbate 20, Glyceryl Ethylhexanoate/Stearate/ Adipate, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Polyacrylamide, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Laureth 7, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Isopropyl Myristate, Sorbitan Stearate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Phenoxyethanol, Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Methylparaben, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Isopropyl Palmitate, Lauroyl Lysine, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Butylparaben, BHT, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Chromium Oxide Greens (CI 77288), Carmine (CI 75470), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850).

Red 7 Lake is not FDA-approved for use around the eyes, and it is not in a "May Contain" section, implying that it is in all the shades. I had thought maybe another use could be to scrape some off into a gloss or lip balm base & make a new lip color, but the Chromium Oxide Green and Ultramarines in it preclude its use on the lips as well. This is purely a blusher/bronzer that has colorants that are not FDA-approved for use around the eyes or the lips, and it should not have to take pushiness tenacity, internet access, a moderate knowledge of which colorants are not eye-safe &/or lip-safe, & finally tracking down the ingredients online, to know that it did contain a non-eye-safe colorant, after being told by the distributor that it was eye-safe, when an ingredients list on the product would have answered my question right off. I then asked Birchbox, even though it was a full-size blush, with over 15² inches of label space, if it was some kind of a special edition made specially for Birchbox's sample program, because I was shocked that it had no ingredients on it, or accompanying it. They said it was a regular Laura Geller blush (that is sold in stores like Macy's and Ulta) and the ingredients were online. While samples do not have to have printed ingredients with them, as a full-size product, it should have had the ingredients on/with it. Although, if samples do have ingredients, and especially if they also say whether they are eye and/or lip-safe, and if the shade is vegan, I am much more likely to use the samples, since I don't have to spend time and energy looking them up or emailing to request ingredient lists, and if I use the samples, I am more likely to purchase the full-size product.

While I absolutely prefer it when a seller does post their INCI ingredient lists online, as it is much less of a hassle for both the seller and me, if I don't have to email them to ask for what the ingredients are for a number of different products in which I may be interested; the law has not yet evolved enough to take into account online cosmetics sellers, and while not explicitly required by the Code of Federal Regulations, a lawyer for the FDA, or a consumer protection attorney, could argue that an online ingredients list may be necessary to ensure that the FDA requirement that, "The ingredient declaration must be conspicuous so that it is likely to be read at the time of purchase," is met. If not posted, there should at least be a readily apparent way to contact the seller to ask for an ingredients list. While online ingredient lists can save both you and your customers time and energy from having to individually ask for ingredients lists, and is likely to become a requirement in the future to meet the intent of the FDA's requirements, they are still not a substitute for providing the proper labeling/fliers for the individual products with their INCI ingredient lists.

If a brands like Victoria's Secret and Laura Geller, can fail to meet FDA requirements for even having an ingredients list on/with a full-size product at all, I can only imagine how difficult it could be for a small indie shop, often 1-2 person operations, to keep from making a mistake, and the last thing I want to see is real indie shops getting into trouble, and having my favorite products considered "misbranded" by the FDA, because of a failure to provide INCI ingredients lists for all full-size products in the order, or because of a use of non-INCI names in ingredients lists, because they either missed the specific information, or misinterpreted it, while trying to research the information, which can be very detailed, nuanced, and full of legalize. I also think that the callousness exhibited by the aforementioned few allegedly "indie" companies has scared many consumers, who may be quicker than they would have been previously, to see a mistake like a discrepancy in ingredients, and jump to the conclusion that the company is one-of-they-who-shall-not-be-named.

I would encourage cosmetics companies who exclusively distribute to consumers by direct mail to still label their products as they would be if they were sold in a store, because who knows when your company may catch the eye of a physical store who would like to carry your products right away, and you might miss the opportunity if you have take extra time to design proper labels or affix-able tags. It also would help circumvent the potentially unfortunate consequence of a person making a large order, and then giving some of the products as gifts to friends, creating the likely possibility that one of the buyer's friends may have, or suddenly develop, an allergy to an ingredient, but if they can't see the ingredients on the product, a newly allergic person will have a much more difficult time trying to identify the allergen so that they can avoid it again in the future, and a previously allergic person may be allergic to more than one thing, as well as being even more prone to developing new allergies, and so may also have no idea what the culprit ingredient might have been without access to the ingredients list.

However, the FDA does allow the option of an alternative to the declaration of ingredients on an affixed label or tag, for cosmetics sold exclusively & directly through the mail, provided it meets all of the following requirements:

*The declaration of ingredients may appear in letters not less than1/16of an inch in height in labeling that accompanies and specifically relates to the cosmetic(s) mailed, or in labeling furnished to each consumer for his personal use and from which he orders cosmetics through the mail, e.g., a direct mail sales catalog or brochure, provided all of the following additional requirements are met:

(1) The declarations of ingredients are conspicuous and presented in a way that permits the consumer to identify the declaration of ingredients applicable to each cosmetic.

(2) The package mailed to the consumer is accompanied by a notice located on, or affixed to, the top of the package or on top of the contents inside the package, or on the face of the package platform surrounding and holding the product(s), readily visible to the consumer on opening of the package, and provides the following information in letters not less than 3/16 of an inch in height:

(i) The location of the declarations of ingredients, e.g., in an accompanying brochure, or in a sales catalog used for ordering;

(ii) A statement that a copy of the declaration of ingredients will be mailed promptly to any person requesting it; and

(iii) The name and place of business of the mail order distributor,

(3) The mail order distributor promptly mails a copy of the declaration of ingredients to any person requesting it.

I would personally find this alternative more cumbersome than making a label or an affixed card that doesn't require one to be "on call" to promptly mail ingredients lists when requested, is more likely to help protect the company legally if the cosmetics are given away to someone who has a reaction, but has no access to the ingredients list, and would help prevent the reactions in the first place, at least for people who know what they are allergic to. However, for the time being, it is an allowable alternative.

If designing labels or cards for each product is not your forte, perhaps a fun PR campaign could include having a contest for people to design labels or affix-able ingredients list cards. If you are just a customer and fan of an indie company that you know doesn't have a lot of resources, and you are good at label/card design, perhaps you could volunteer or offer to trade your services for makeup. This would sound silly if I were talking about large corporate makeup companies, but there is a reason that there is a concept of an indie makeup community.

Resources:
*Summary of Color Additives for Use in United States in Foods, Drugs, Cosmetics, and Medical Devices
*A Closer Look at INCI Label Laws
*FDA Cosmetic Labeling Manual - October 1991
*Labeling Regulations Applicable to Cosmetics (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21)
*Summary of Regulatory Requirements for Labeling of Cosmetics Marketed in the United States - October 1991; updated June 18, 2009
*FDA Cosmetics Handbook, including Cosmetic Good Manufacturing Practice Guidelines
*The Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary
*FDA Recall Policy for Cosmetics
*Bad Reaction to Cosmetics? Tell FDA
*Use Eye Cosmetics Safely
*FDA Resources For You: Cosmetics Manufacturers, Packagers & Distributors                                                          
                                                                               

Take this quiz and earn a certificate!

*True or False: How Smart are You About Cosmetics?

*Bonus points if you're old enough to *remember* (looking it up on Google doesn't count, ya cheetahs!) what TV show made the title quote popular. ^~ᴥō^

♥ Miss Jupiter

^☼ᴥ☼^ <---Mascara Kitteh!

Black Rose Minerals - Which Colors are Vegan, Lip-Safe, Both, or Neither?

I often see a beautiful eyeshadow, and think "that would make a gorgeous lip color," but I don't always know if a specific shade is lip-safe. So, while I was looking through  Black Rose Minerals' eyeshadow color listings, I was impressed to see that each color was labeled as to whether it was vegan and/or lip-safe, and started making lists for myself while I was working on placing an order for some samples. It is a bit cumbersome to click on every color's listing to see that information, so I asked Rosa if she thought it would be helpful to post the lists of each color type, to make it easier for customers to zero in on the vegan and/or lip-safe colors they may be looking for, & offered to make this post. These are the colors available on the site as of today, June 14, 2011 (I've noted which colors are additionally available in certain collections, as well as which colors are exclusively available in particular collections):

Upcoming lip color swatches from: Evil Shades, Venomous Cosmetics, Darling Girl Cosmetics, Dark Heart Designs, and more High Voltage Cosmetics & Morgana Cryptoria.

If anyone has any advice on how best to swatch more sheer colored glosses, please let me know in the comments. As my natural lip color varies at times, especially during a swatch series where my lips get redder each time I remove the previous color, I'm wondering if I should white-out my lips first, or if I should just swatch the sheer colors on white paper? Other ideas?

Thanks,

<3 MissJupiter

ETA: Somehow I left out "Starfire", which is vegan & lip-safe...& *very* pretty!  ^ᴗᴥⱷ^

My First Swatch Post: Some Morgana Cryptoria Lipsticks

I saw HovercatMittens post this link on Twitter, but I can't figure out if it's part of a beauty blog, or who put it together. There is a reference to a Gmail address, but no link to it. If anyone knows who put this together, please let me know in the comments. The page has links to the official Morgana Cryptoria site, & beauty blog, swatches of many of her beautiful lipsticks, but I noticed that there were 4 that had no blog swatches, as well as 2 newer shades that had not yet been posted there yet, of which I have samples or full tubes. So I thought I would supplement that list with this post of my swatches:

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Site description: "Gargoyle's Glance - dark grey w/ gold, copper, and red tones - a revamped version of Gargoyle"

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Site description: "Lysette - light grey"

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Site description: "Mistress of Diamonds - exclusive member shade red-purple w/ a violet-red glow & silver sparkles"

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Site description: "Totally Tubular - matte neon pink w/ cheesy 80s name reference - warning: stains like crazy! I suggest an oily scrub to remove the stain."

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Two newest shades:

Site description: "Hot Pants - bright red-pink (a Totally Tubular oops) Replacement for Azalea" 

(* does stain even more than TT!)

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Site description: "Lilliana - lilac pearl with a hint of blue. Similar to the discontinued shade "Lillian"

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Anyone else as excited as me to see Morgana Cryptoria's upcoming "1920s Collection"?

<3 MissJupiter

FTC: All lipsticks & samples were purchased by me.

ETA: All "no flash" shots are taken in compact fluorescent lighting.

ETA: Thank you to @entschielden for putting the Morgana Swatch-fest page together!
ETA: Watermarks on pictures. 

Some Laughs for the Last Day of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month

Thought my new camera would be here today, darn UPS! I *will* have lipstick swatches up ASAP.

Anyway, since it is the last day of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month, I thought we could use a few laughs from fellow EDSer, Darlene Uggen:

"You might have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome if..." 

by Darlene Uggen, ©1996

Do you think you might have Eherls-Danlos Syndrome?
Take this little test. (AKA, You might have EDS if...)

If you can make the sound of one hand clapping, by slapping your right hand against your right arm, you might have EDS.

If you can do an imitation of a pretzel, scratch your ear with your foot, while typing at the computer, you might have EDS.

If you have fragile, see-through skin that's 3 sizes too big, and tears if you look at it sharply, you might have EDS.

If you have days when you need a nap to rest up from the effort of getting out of bed in the morning, you might have EDS.

If you have hitch-hiker, or bug squasher, thumbs and fingers that won't hold things, you might have EDS.

If your body snaps, crackles, and pops, with every little movement, you might have EDS.

If your joints were jewelry, they would be Pop-Beads, you might have EDS.

If you have had 34 doctors give you 34 diagnoses, you might have EDS.

If you ran a fever and couldn't get the thermometer above 98.2, and the nurse couldn't find your pulse, you might have EDS.

If your dentist ever gave you so much Novocaine that his thumb was numb, and you could still feel everything, you might have EDS.

If you have ever amused your friends, or grossed out doctors, by showing off your "double-jointedness," you might have EDS.

If a pillow fight can result in cuts, bruises, scars, dislocations, and pain, you might have EDS.

If you have been called a Klutz for tripping over the patterns in the carpet, you might have EDS.

If your back, hips, shoulders, knees, elbows, and other joints, go out more often than you do, you might have EDS.

If you ever had a school report card that said you were fidgety, uncoordinated, lazy, under-developed, and a complainer, you might have EDS.

If your medical history looks like the Index of a Medical Text Book, you might have EDS.

If someone else's "intolerable pains" would be a relief to you, you might have EDS.

If your OB/GYN complications were a movie, it would be a horror movie, you might have EDS.

What do: Acid Reflux, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Joint Pain, Arthritis, Scoliosis, joint dislocation, cramps, weakness, hyperelasticity, hypermobility, TMJ, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, dysmenorhea, migraines, low temperature and blood pressure, and misdiagnoses have in common? If you know, you PROBABLY have EDS.

&, as if helping us laugh wasn't enough, Darlene also wrote this poem to help those without our condition understand that we are not "wheelchair bound":

"My New Set of Wheels"
by Darlene Uggen, ©1999

 There you stand, and I see you stare

Thinking, poor dear, she's stuck in that chair.

But I'm not sad, I'm very happy because

I haven't forgotten the way it was.

You'd say, "How about a trip to the zoo?

A walk in the park will be good for you."

I was thinking tomorrow, I'll be a wreck,

From my aching feet, to the pain in my neck.

You'd want to go shopping, all over town.

I was thinking but there's no place to sit down.

For you it's a snap, just to go to the store.

But for me the ordeal was more of a chore.

Now I can go wherever I please

I can shop in the mall with newfound ease,

Do all the things that have to be done,

And even go out and have some fun.

So, do you want to know how it really feels,

To be sitting here between these wheels?

Can you remember back that far,

When you got your very first car?

Well, that's how these wheels feel to me.

They don't hold me down, they set me free.

So, don't think all those pitiful things:

These aren't wheels, I think they're my wings.

May is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month

Unfortunately, the camera my friend loaned me doesn't seem to work with my SD media card, so, until I get a new camera, my lipstick swatches will have to wait a bit.

In the meantime, I'd thought I'd do a post on May being Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month. EDS is a group of genetic & congenital connective tissue disorders that is woefully under-diagnosed. Many people, especially adolescent boys, are not diagnosed with Vascular type EDS until autopsy following a stroke or spontaneous aneurysm.

This is the best video on EDS Awareness I have seen yet:

A Medical Zebra is someone with a rare, or under-diagnosed condition, and comes from the saying, "If you hear hoof-beats in Central Park, think horses, not zebras."

ETA: If you think you might have EDS, check out www.ednf.org for more info on types, symptoms, genetic testing & lists of specialists. 

ETA again just to make sure that British YouTuber, misscurlycarrie got proper credit for her phenomenal EDS video.

Brief Intro & Test Post

So, I'd thought I'd try out a test post to see how well it works.

Unless you are a Zazaloff*, then it may not be obvious to you that my online name, Miss Jupiter, as well as my blog title, The Girl With The Shapely Wheels, are references to a radio comedy sketch that Stan Freberg did in 1957 on "The Stan Freberg Show."
I'm not sure how to imbed the archive.org audio player, but Miss Jupiter first appears in the 3rd episode listed here:
http://www.archive.org/details/stan_freberg_show

For those who are Deaf/HOH, my 1st YouTube video has open captions for the dialog for the original Miss Jupiter sketch (there is one mistake where Miss Jupiter, played by June Foray, says, "You know it, they're shapely, & I accidentally captioned it as "You know it, Big Boy." D'oh!) :

*"Zazaloff? What kind of nationality is that?"
"Swiss. That way we don't offend anybody."
<;-)
Zazaloff = Freberg Fan

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So, I am in process of trying to find a decent camera, & I hope in the near future to use [at least part of] this blog to catalog lip swatches of lip colors from indie makeup companies.
You can always tweet me @MissJupiter1957