Saturday, August 9, 2014

Swatch Saturday: Álög Cosmetics Nebula

Álög Cosmetics is pretty new to the indie scene, so I'm happy to be sharing about it today. The shop started out with a selection of unique, fun lipstick colours and carries quite a few now, from the traditionally wearable to the...bright metallic teal-blue, haha. Nebula falls somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.

Spoiler alert: I'm so far really loving this lipstick.

Obligatory bit about customer service: I ordered this lipstick on July 30th, it shipped on July 31st, and I received it in the mail August 7th. Bam. That's beyond fast. That's a turn-around time of less than 24 hours and a week to ship--and I live in Canada and Álög is in Iceland. Indie magic. I didn't contact the owner since everything went smoothly.

Packaging: The shipping was extremely cheap--I paid $4.93 CAD--and everything arrived in pristine condition. There's not much packaging here, but I expect it's because you can buy an optional shipping upgrade.


The lipstick and samples were wrapped in some paper towel and came in a large envelope. The lipstick tube feels very solid and the sample pods are made out of thick plastic, so I don't think these items need much packaging to hold up in the mail. This didn't arrive with a receipt/any branding material, though, so that was too bad--I hoard indie business cards.

I received two samples in my order, which I think was quite generous. They'll clearly be good for quite a few uses--but I am still pretty iffy with a lip brush, so I'll have to work on those skills to swatch these for you. Kitten is a pinky-red and Sky at Night is a shimmery black (this excites me).


I had to include a better picture of this lipstick tube (square...package?) because I really like it. It's red, it's shiny, it's solid, it stands out in my drawer. Props. That said, though, I think the labelling/branding could be stronger as Álög moves forward. (And I'm sorry for the old nail polish.)

Swatch time? Swatch time.

In the title description for Nebula, Álög describes this lipstick as "violet lipstick with golden sheen."

Bare lips for reference
Two swipes of Nebula
Yep, violet lipstick with golden sheen. This one's not far off the web swatch though I do think that picture was probably taken in slightly dimmer lighting; I find Nebula is a little warmer, lighter on me but I get a lot of sunshine here.

A blurry, sunlit angle
Forgive the artsy blur, but this might illustrate more clearly how this lipstick lights up like a Christmas tree in direct sun.

Review: Pictures of Nebula don't really do it justice in my opinion, since it really glows in person. But hopefully you can tell why I dig it--it's gorgeous, unique, and oddly wearable for a sparkly purple.

This glides on, but the colour is not full coverage in one swipe. It's not hard to build, though, and this is only two. You may need more product depending on how pigmented your lips are.

It felt moisturizing at first, though my lips were a bit papery after a wear test. My lips are the most dry of all the lips, so this is about as good as it gets for me when it comes to actual lipstick--so for a normal person, this is probably a non-drying or even moisturizing option. I find this fades off fairly evenly without leaving strange rings or flaky lips and it doesn't move around.

Longevity of wear isn't normally one of my considerations because putting lipstick on makes me thirsty or something, but this doesn't totally come off on my straws and looks okay after fried chicken so it's aces in my book.

I would definitely purchase from Álög Cosmetics again based on this experience. Phoenix is next on my list.

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