Subscription Box & Swatches: Hello Waffle Dec 2014 Visage Box

I finally got around swatching my December Hello Waffle Visage box! I'm not sure when it arrived since it arrived while I was in LA between Dec 20-Jan 6. Check out how pretty it is!

So much thought in the wrapping!

Yeah, the labels are a bit more haphazard than what I'm used to for HW's quality, but it was a busy holiday month.

So here's what's in this month's box:

• Eyeshadow Minis:
• Ghost of Christmas Past
• Ghost of Christmas Present
• Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
• Bah! Humbug

• Highlighter: Scrooge 

• Bronzer: Marley

• Lipstick: Galactic by Tilt/Shift Cosmetics 

Quick note on the mini jars, despite Christine's best efforts (check out the cute sticker!), they still leak a bit. It's very, very minimal leakage and I barely lost any product, but I thought it's worth noting for people who may be thinking of taking the mini jars traveling –they may leak during the trip.

You can see traces of shimmer on my fingers from handling the jars.

Anyway, this is unfortunately my last subscription box. While I'll miss the feeling of getting a "present" once a month, it makes sense to cancel my subscription box because:

• I've realized that the guest indies mean that I may inadvertently support unethical companies that I just cannot support. For example, January's guest indie was Victorian Disco, a company I personally believe is bordering on being a scam. I've written a post documenting my harrowing experience with this company in this previous post, which also contains links to many, many accounts from other people suffering the same exact issues as me.

• I have too much make up so I run a high risk of getting dupes of what I already have

Anyway, here are swatches of this month's goods!

Eyeshadow Swatches

Yeah, Ghost of Christmas Present unfortunately totally falls off bare skin, but it looks sooo gorgeous foiled with water!

Galactica Lipstick Swatches

All under natural light

These lipsticks are lightly flavoured with peppermint. They're pretty buildable, and as you can see from the swatches, it takes about 3-4 swipes to reach full opacity.

UPDATE Jan 2015: They got waxier and harder with time, and by now they're unusable. Very disappointed.

UPDATE July 2015: Here's the reply from the owner:

Bronzer & Highlighter Swatches

Under natural light. My arm got a bit more tanned from my dive trip.

Marley is now my favourite bronzer, it's such a great colour for paler skin tones since it's so light! Unfortunately, I can see it disappearing on darker skin tones.

The grey in Scrooge is supposed to be subtle, but it's not as subtle as it seems and definitely shows up as grey on my face. It's not too obvious in my FOTDs below, but er....today is the 2nd day I'm wearing it and one of the security guards in my office building got all concerned, pulled me aside, and asked me if I was trying to hide bruises on my cheeks. I'm going to have to make sure I don't wear it tomorrow to prove that it's make up.


So here are the FOTDs:

FOTD #1: 

Sorry for the pissed expression. I just returned to Jakarta the night before and was still feeling slightly floaty after being on a boat for 4 days. I'm still not sure if I'm still adjusting or I'm ignoring a bunch of earthquakes.

Eye close up:

Monolid lining ftw!
Bah! Humbug

FOTD #2: 

Eye close up:

Eyeshadows used: Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Ghost of Christmas Past

Product List:

• Dior Hydralife BB Cream (Luminous Beige)
• Sana Brow Mascara & Pencil (CB1) (FOTD #2)
• Make Up Store Cover All
• Fiberwig mascara
• Maybelline Falsies mascara
• Eyeshadows:
• Ghost of Christmas Past
• Ghost of Christmas Present
• Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
• Bah! Humbug
• HW Highlighter (Scrooge)
• HW Bronzer (Marley)
• Tilt/Shift Cosmetics' lipstick (Galactic)
• Primer: UDPP (FOTD #1), NYX White Eyeshadow Base (FOTD #2)