Edit: We've now seen all the colors in "The Upside Down" and I am in LOVE!!! Buy ALL the things!
It's that time of year again, when everyone is having a sale in hopes of getting some of your holiday dollars. I've had several PMs about NM since I began hyping her Black Friday sale. To be clear, I'm simply a fan of Carrie's because I feel she's a makeup GENIUS!
If you're new to the brand, it can be a little daunting. If you're new to loose eye shadows in general, it's absolutely overwhelming. What do I buy now and how do I use this stuff?!? Never fear, I can help you!
Good brushes and a good primer are essential. The best brushes I've found for applying her shadows are a flat brush. It allows you to really pack on the color. Tap it, don't swipe! If you swipe you'll lose all that lovely sparkle. For shadow primer, Urban Decay primer potion is my go-to, but Ulta's Nude Matte primer is also a good choice. Whatever works for you, go with it!
Before you do anything, go over and sign up for an account. Carrie has a rewards program and you'll get 50 points just for making said account. Use the same email you use for Facebook/Instagram then click on the "Rewards" tab at the bottom and do those things! Also, put your birth date there (it has to be at least a month before your birthday to get 250! points). Beyond that, you'll get a point for every dollar spent (except for the Vanishing Cabinet).
Speaking of, just go ahead and sign up for the Vanishing Cabinet wait list. Right now it's about a month to go from wait list to active subscription. The VC is a monthly subscription and an incredibly affordable way ($13.25 with shipping) to try out products. It's a monthly themed release. 4 products, usually. Shadows and highlighters are usually monthly. But sometimes, she will include a Mystic Matte and there was a month where we got an exclusive Changeling top coat. I've only been signed up since September but the themes so far were: Death Becomes Her, Nightmare on "NM" Street, and this month was Charmed. There's also a cabinet card with info, a clue for next months cabinet and a code for 25% off. Sometimes she does monthly trials, but with Black Friday orders, I wouldn't count on one.
You're going to need a sticky base to get the most out of these shadows. Carrie sells Shadow Bind and it's absolutely amazing. She'll have it back in stock Tuesday, so it'll be there for Black Friday. The steps to getting that color pop and amazing color shift are as follows:
Eye Shadow Primer
A matte shade that's close to the color you're using (or you can use the same color, if you so choose)
Then get your tube of Shadow Bind and dab the tiniest little bit, using your ring finger, over it. This is going to make that color absolutely shine.
Finally, apply your NM shadows by tapping over the Shadow Bind with a short, flat brush. Play with this a little bit, because you can build the color as much as you want.
So what to buy during the big sale? EVERYTHING! OK, so maybe that's just me. ;) Her BF sale is 35% off, except for sets and BF LE's, cause they're already discounted. Every order will come with a free Slumber Salve in "Carl Poppa"which is Chocolate Pudding.
The must-haves are ANYTHING Limited Edition or COTM/CCCOTM. The CotM is formulated for any number of reasons by Carrie. The CCCOTM is chosen by one of Carrie's many customers. Ideas are submitted and then run through a randomizer to pick the winner. November's COTM was Sally's Song eye shadow and if you don't buy that, you're nuts! It's absolutely fucking gorgeous. The CCCOTM for Nov/Dec is Pleasant Nightmares Cosmic Gloss. This will be part of my BF order.
We're also getting at least a couple of new Mystic Matte lipsticks. "Awful Good Girl" is an AMAZING metallic purple. A purple that I've been dying for my whole life and Carrie did it! This one is LE, so yes, buy it for the love of all the Gods! There's also another releasing called "Night Divine", a color shifting blue! I'm not sure if it's an LE but you NEED it!
Then, there's "The Upside Down" LE collection, based on Stranger Things! All we know right now is it's 4 shadows and 1 Mystic Matte lippie. It will also come in two waves. The 1st wave will come with a % off coupon for the whole year. When Wave 1 sells out, the 2nd wave will come with a Gift Card. If you want one of the % off coupons, better be quick. I hear wave one sold out in 5 minutes last year.
Shadow Bind is a given, unless you already have a sticky base to use. Also, check out her Night Kiss Lip Balms. In the drying winter months they're a necessity and for the price, you can't go wrong! Krampus Kissers Lip Balms, which are holiday themed, will be up for purchase on BF! Another Slumber Salve in a different flavor wouldn't be a bad idea either. My 7 year old daughter just got over a sinus infection. After all the nose blowing her poor little nose was awful. Two days using the Slumber Salve on it and it was all healed up.
Druidess Mystic Matte is the only red I've ever been able to pull off (besides one other of Carrie's that was a LE for September). Everyone I've seen wearing it looks AMAZING in it. I adore it so much, I bought a FS in it on Halloween (I bought the entire Burnt Flowers Fallen collection in Duowands in September, cause Type O Negative!). If you aren't sure, buy duowands. It lets you pick 2 colors in a double ended applicator. At 8 bucks they're a steal, at 35% off I feel like I'm robbing her., Trust me on this, you are going to want a full size of Druidess for sure.
I've tried MANY of the lipsticks that claim 24 hour wear and in 30 minutes they're gone. Mystic Mattes last at least 6 hours on me and for many of the other girls they get much longer wear. While they are a Matte formula, they aren't terribly drying and feel good on. I usually forget I'm even wearing them. If you must reapply, they don't get that ball-y mess that other mattes do.
As far as eye shadows go, she has a whole range of mattes (Slay Me collection). Just because you think you can only wear certain colors, doesn't mean that's true! If you like the color on your screen, buy it. Chances are you'll find it more wearable than you thought. They can be incredibly multi-purpose too. She has listed on each product page if a shadow is lip safe or not. If it is, combine it with the Mystic Matte of the day and see what happens! If you use primer they're incredibly long wearing. And the new Semi-loose formula some shadows now come in, I've found, don't always need a primer. If I'm in a rush and grab the semi-loose shadows I have, I still get incredible payoff even without priming. When I use primer and shadow bind, this stuff doesn't budge.
I also own several of her Highlighters and Blushes. The formula is so comfortable to wear. Changeling topcoats are worn over your chosen Mystic Matte shade and totally change the look by adding a sheer coat of a different color.
She has some gift sets that are coming too. We don't know much about them yet but if you're new to the brand, they're definitely worth checking out!
Also, Carrie allows combining of orders with code "combineme". So if you order and then forget to add something to it, you can go back, buy it and use that code at checkout Then you aren't charged double shipping. We know that some past LE MM and shadows are making an appearance and there'll be flash sales all weekend long!
Whew! I think I covered everything. If you have any questions, send 'em my way and I'll help all I can. :)
I hope you have a safe holiday season. Filled with the love of those you adore and plenty of laughter. Oh, and lots and LOTS of sparkle!! I'm going to leave you with my daughters wish she put on a wishing tree the other night. May we all be as loving and selfless as this little girl.
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