after her visit, i went home and checked out the site. it is called TKB Trading and has been around since the early 90's. my friend, who works in the shipping department, told me how far their business ranges all over the world, all the way from here to Australia.
the site is extremely user friendly and easy to navigate. there are a variety of things to take a look at from DIY mineral make up kits, to ready made eyeshadows, lipsticks, bath salts and dyes, etc. since my main attraction was the make up, i immediately maneuvered myself over the "Colored Micas" under the makeup tab. they have over 200 different eyeshadows, ranging from vibrant to muted shimmers, and enough sparkles to assuage any make up junkies next fix. after poring through the pages and pages of colored shadows, i finally came up with 14 shadows that i decided i had to have. TKBs Pop! Collection in Raspberry Pop, Strawberry Pop, Tangerine Pop, Lemon Drop Pop, Apple Green Pop, Blueberry Pop and Grape Pop. Then some metallic as well as some soft shimmers in Crucible Gold, Crucible Red, Sagittaire Mica, China Jade, Smokey XXX, Copper Basics and a beautiful brown red shadow with blue interference called Chameleon Fine.
14 shadows for only -get this- $1.50 per sample. and each sample consists of about 1 full tablespoon (approx. 15 grams)! shipping was only $3.25 and it took 4 days from when i initially placed my order. so for loads of product, cheap AND fast shipping, i only spent a little less than $25.00! sounds almost too good to be true, right? well, yeah, it does. there had to be something that wasn't adding up. so, naturally came the next question, "how does it show up on the skin?"
being a darker skinned girl, i usually have issues with shadows that aren't as vibrant on my skin as i'd like them to be without some kind of mixing medium. especially those that are yellow and purple based shadows. so i did what any make up junkie would do.
First up: Raspberry Pop, Strawberry Pop, Lemon Drop Pop and Grape Pop.
Dry w/ flash:
Wet (using MAC's Studio Fix +) w/ flash:
Next: Apple Green Pop, Blueberry Pop, Chameleon Fine, Smokey XXX and Sagittaire
Dry w/ flash:
Wet (using MAC's SF+) w/ flash:
Last: Crucible Gold, Copper Basics, Crucible Red, China Jade and Patagonia Purple (the sample given to me by my dear friend, Nancy!)
Dry w/ flash:
Wet (using MACs SF+) w/ flash:
As you can see, the color pay off is really good, especially foiled using Studio Fix + or any other type of mixing medium.
I also wondered about durability, so I decided to try out one of the shadows to a reception I was attending this past weekend. I chose Copper Basics for my eyeshadow over Urban Decay's Primer Potion and using MAC's Studio Fix + to set it.
Beginning of the night (please don't mind the wolf-woman brows, lol):
Copper Basics on lid, Urban Decay's Smog and Grifter in crease and Sin on brow bone.
I love how the copper shows up so vibrantly on my skin. so far so good!
End of the night after dancing and partying hard with my friends:
as you can see, the shadow stayed in place very nicely even though i'd sweat underneath it from all the dancing i had been doing. if anything, the only issue was my eyeliner which had run slightly into the corners of my eyes. there was minimal creasing and it was still as vibrant as when i'd walked out of the house some 8 hours earlier. the shadow was also very easy to remove with some make up remover wipes and didn't leave any stains or irritation.
so i can easily say that i am very pleased with this product and will more than likely be shopping at this site again!
Thanks for the heads up, Nancy!
