So .. I've been on this big .. small independent business supporter kick lately. So before Christmas, I decided I wanted to do some hunts for up and coming cosmetic companies on etsy. I found a few, and Carina Dolci was one of them.
Carina Dolci specializes in eye shadows/pigments, but they also sell their eye primer, lip gloss, and some brushes.
I must admit that one thing that totally attracted me to them was how they package their pots. They wrap them in cellophane like pieces of candy. It's absolutely adorable and awesome.
I'm one of those people who love to get a huge selection for my money so .. I'm a huge sucker for samples. Of course, being a company that I own nothing of .. I want to be able to see all the colors in person before comiting to full sized pots. Also .. for the holiday season, they had special 12 days of Christmas colors. Full sized pots that were a little cheaper than their normal ones, in awesome limited time colors.
So what i got was:
15 samples for $10
3 pots of Christmas colors for $12
Deluxe Starry Eyes Serum for $4
So here's how everything came. See the adorable candy pots? Yay! The samples were a lot smaller than I was expecting, but everybody samples differently. Those arrived in a little lavender colored mesh drawstring bag. The serum/primer comes in a little lip gloss tube.
Shipping:
Fast shipping considering it was right around Christmas. Everything arrived in a small bubble mailer. Better than a plain, thin, yellow envelope that allows for accidents/spillage like some others send their makeup.
First impressions:
Samples: Like I said, slightly smaller than I was expecting. Although, once i opened the little baggies and started sampling .. I realized they have a teeny bit more than they look from the outside. Somehow .. one of my samples actually seemed to have arrived completely empty. I have no idea what happened. there's a teeny coat of shimmer on the inside of the bag but that's it. Looks like it had a sample in it .. and then poured out. It was a little bizarre .. because the package was completely clean so it's not like it somehow got out during shipping. So the fact that one of my samples arrived empty kind of sucked but .. that was the only major issue.
Where did my sample go? =(
Pots: Perfect. Arrived wrapped all cute. A a clear label with the logo on top and another with the color name on the bottom. Sealed. No leaks or spillage. No complaints.
Serum: I saw this and was like, "What the hell?". Looks like water in a lip gloss tube. Put a little on the back of my hand and rubbed it in and still .. felt like it was just a bunch of water in a tube. Felt very .. "eh" about it.
Swatches:
As you can see, the colors I ordered were:
Marshmallow, Naughty Mrs. Claus, Candy Cane, Cherry, Strawberry, Angel Wings, Birthday Cake, Sweet Tart, Orange, Lemon, Key Lime Pie, Lime, Christmas Tree, Hanukkah, Blueberry Pie, Gumdrop, Lollipop, Grape Pop Rocks, Grape, Iced Mocha, Hot Cocoa, Hazelnut Coffee, Gingerbread, and Black Licorice.
The rows on the swatches go as followed: No primer/base, Primer, Starry Eyes Serum, White Base
All I have to say is this serum .. wow. Absolutely blew my mind away. I have no idea what makes this amazing concoction that looks like pure water, but it works like magic. Any shimmer that any of the colors had came out amazingly with the serum. Shimmer adhered better to the serum than to the primer I used and the white base. Colors were just more vibrant and amazing over the serum. It's .. just amazing.
The colors are absolutely beautiful. First time I will ever say I absolutely love the browns/nudes I got. They're gorgeous. All the colors are.
I did not have crazy amounts of pigment falling everywhere .. and they don't put obnoxious amounts of glitter in their colors like some other companies do .. which is always a plus for me.
As you can kind of see .. the colors don't show up too well without a primer or base. So, if you purchase these .. I suggest investing in a primer if you don't already have one. Better yet, invest in the starry eyes serum! It works great with these pigments. The pigments definitely need something to help them adhere.
Now .. with the serum .. I noticed that the pigments adhere to it so well .. that I was afraid it would effect the blending. Was afraid the pigment would stick to it too much, that it wouldn't be able to move around and blend well. So .. I put it to the test and .. it actually appears to help the blending.
Durability:
I decided to put it up to a few little tests to see how the pigments actually hold up. I swatched these colors on my arm around 3pm. Put on a hoodie and continued with my day. Now, it's 10pm and my arm looks like this.
Keep in mind, i'm wearing a tank top and a hoodie .. so constant rubbing of the sleeve on my arm.
As you can see, the row without a primer/base is completely gone with the exception of the hint of a couple colors. You can't really see too many detail due to the crappy lighting. The row with the primer is slightly faded, so is the row with the white base. The row with the starry eyes serum however, is still there .. shimmery and metallic-y. Awesome.
I also threw some Gumdrop on my eyes. One without anything underneath it, and the other .. with the Starry Eyes Serum. The eye with plain pigment is pretty much faded completely. The other eye, I will admit, I can see a hint of creasing. Nothing major that's really that noticeable, but .. it's there. I'll have to play with the serum a little more. It's possible that I used slightly too much, not sure. Like I said .. I'll have to play with it. It's nothing so major that I'd never use it again. I'll make it work. I'm pretty sure that it is that I used too much because lightly touching it now .. it does feel almost moist. Like there was too much so it didn't get to dry completely .. hence the reason it'd crease. So .. don't use too much. A little bit definitely goes a long way. ^_^
It all does wash off very easily, so it's no where near waterproof. That's fine though, because it's not advertised as such. Just don't get caught in too much rain. =P Before cleaning my arm, I ran it under the faucet and lightly rubbed it and it came off without a problem. Once again, not something that totally turns me off. I never worry about buying waterproof makeup.
My Conclusion:
Pros:
-Fast shipping
-Ultra, super, mega, cute packaging (motto is, "Pretty enough to eat!")
-Awesome, super pretty colors. Go on very smooth. Not chalky like some others. Not too much glitter
-Colors are super blendable
-Starry Eyes Serum is absolutely amazing
-Everything is extremely affordable
-The owner is an absolute sweetheart
Cons:
-Very small samples
-One sample arrived as an empty baggie
-Colors need to be applied over a primer or a base or else they fade very fast
-It's easy to apply too much of the serum and that could very well be what led to my slight creasing.
My Verdict:
I will most definitely recommend this company. I will for sure be ordering more and this time, I'd like to try some of their lip glosses and whatnot (don't worry, I will definitely do another review! =P). The company's fast, friendly, and super cute. Product is wonderful. ^_^
Has anybody else had any experience with Carina Dolci? If so, let me know and tell me what you thought! ^_^
