Their website. They sell over 200 coloured micas, which you can use on their own, or mix with one of their base powders to create a more blendable shade.
Le Gothique, a truly awesome make up blog, gives a great little tutorial on where to start with them, as well as reviews of make up companies in which she compares them to TKB minerals, and states whether or not she thinks they have been repackaged. I highly recommend you check her out.
I ordered a few samples from TKB a few months ago, as well as a few different bases to experiment with, and here is my review.
POP! Sampler:
I think this was a good place for me to start, since I was finding all the choices a little overwhelming, and I didn't have much money to waste on a whole lot of things I wasn't sure I would like. They're all very shimmery, and very very bright. The texture is smooth and fine, with no grit or heavy feeling when it's applied. It's worth knowing the strawberry and raspberry pop colours are both quite pink. There are no reds in this collection. The strawberry pop is a very bright peachy pink, and the raspberry is a bright Barbie pink with a hint of blue when it hits the light. I've used the strawberry very sparingly (with no base) as a blush, and it worked nicely. Sort of a pinker version of NARS Orgasm. I think on the right skin tone the raspberry would work well, but it's a bit too blue toned for me. The other shades are true to their descriptions on the site, and true to their pictures, although the green apple is slightly blue to my eyes, kind of a very bright cool mint. I'm really upset that I lost the blueberry pop, since it was one of my favourites in the collection, and it blended beautifully without a base. It looked awesome over a creamy black base (something like a paint pot, although I always just smudged a whole lot of creamy eyeliner all over my lids). Overall they apply quite nicely, and blend well with or without adding a base to them, and you can't possibly get more pigmentation then pure pigment. I'm really excited to try more colours next time I order.
C-Smax: I would definitely recommend this as an eyeshadow base. It didn't effect the intensity of the colours unless I used a lot of it, but made the shadows much easier to apply and blend.
Versagel I am in love with this stuff. It feels VERY similar to MAC lipglass, or a less sticky version of Elizabeth Arden's Shine Pops. It doesn't feel gooey or sticky, but it stays put for ages, and leaves your lips feeling soft afterwards. You can use it clear, or add your own pigment, and just a tiny bit of colour goes a loooong way. The downside to making your own lipgloss is that unless you feel like buying some empty tubes with doefoot applicators, and a syringe for filling them, you're stuck carrying around a tiny pot and a lipstick brush in your bag. That doesn't particularly bother me, since I usually have a small make-up bag with me for touch ups anyway, but if you're a little more low maintenance, you might want to stick to store bought stuff. It is an amazingly good quality lipgloss for very little money, which you can make in just about any colour, though.
Silica Microspheres Oh my God, this stuff has changed my face. I bought it because someone on Le Gothique said it was almost exactly the same as Make Up Forever's HD Microfinish Powder. The sample they gave me was HUGE, enough to fill a standard sized loose powder pot (I had an old empty one that I cleaned out, I think it was .030oz) as well as a little sample pot that I keep in my touch-ups bag. It's crazy to think I got more in that $1.50 sample bag than I probably would have if I bought a full-sized pot of HD Microfinish powder! I've never tried the MUFE stuff, so I can't compare, but I do really love this product as a finishing powder. It's super lightweight, sets foundation well, keeps me from getting too oily, and best of all gives a really polished, poreless look to my make-up. It's got a slightly light reflecting quality, but not in a glittery way. Just gives the skin a luminous finish. You only need the tiniest little bit, too much and you'll look white and patchy.
I also ordered the matte texture base, although I can't seem to find the link to it at the moment. On the whole I was pretty underwhelmed by it. It seemed like it took a lot to actually make the micas matte, which ended up dulling down the colours quite a bit. I also found it made them hard to wetline. When I started blending my own colours, I found the ones that used a lot of the matte texture base would look beautiful in the pot, but once I put them on my skin they showed up quite white.
Swatches! They were taken in my living room, where the lighting isn't the best, so I apologize. All of them were done over Makeup and Glow Primer, and the wet-lining was just done with water. Left side wet, right side dry.
You can see there isn't much difference in the colour between the bases, although the matte texture base made the purple a tiny bit lighter. It mostly changes the way they blend. I feel like I get a better colour payoff from the C-Smax than either the matte base or just the micas on their own, and it makes things easier to apply and blend, and a little nicer to apply wet.
Some of the lip glosses I've made:
What happens when you tip half a teaspoon of mica into a cheap bottle of top-coat?
Overall, I'm really pleased I bought from them. I definitely think a little more carefully before I buy cosmetics, and I'll probably never buy eyeshadows again, since I know I can make them myself for much cheaper. It's made me really skeptical of companies like Lime Crime and GlamorDoll, and I find myself constantly reading the ingredients on products I like to see if I can replicate them. There is something to be said for buying a nice, pressed shadow in a cute package though. If you're on a budget, or are motivated enough to test and blend, this is a great way to get some expensive looking eyeshadows.
When I buy from them again, I'll still get sample sizes of all the pigments, but I'll buy a larger amount of the C-Smax to mix them all with. I'm also just going to go ahead and get a massive amount of containers from them. I thought I could get them cheaper from somewhere else, and it seemed silly to pay shipping on a whole lot of empty plastic containers, but they're really inexpensive, and I couldn't find any where I live that were as practical as the few I got from TKB.
If anyone has any other questions, or if you want swatches of anything else, just let me know.
beautiful colors, i ordered from them last week, im tierd of paying a lump some of money for MAC
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