Sunday, November 7, 2010

Glamour Doll Eyes

There are all sorts of reasons I hadn't placed an order from Glamour Doll Eyes sooner. I've known about the company for awhile now, but the amount of unblended shades always threw me off.

The unblended shades are marked with an * but I think if you have someone colour blind (not literally of course) they'll just go barreling in buying up what they can not knowing these shades are available elsewhere. Kinda like I did with Lime Crime glitter. Big fail on my part, and GDE's prices weren't jacked up to $12 either, so right there, GDE is already better than that place. And Lime Crime's repacked stuff was never marked or admitted even. Say what you want with the shadows that still exist but the glitter WAS repacked. She didn't have a magical unicorn shitting glitter out back. But this isn't about that sort of evil... I'm still angered that I went way off topic here, but this could also explain why I'm hesitant when I do see re-packed items.

A while back I clicked on the full size jars on GDE's site and out of the top 10 best sellers, only 1 was unique to GDE, Tattooed. I know it's not their fault if people chose one colour over another, but I still found it odd.

I think to make it perfectly clear that the shades are not unique, it would be an awesome idea to make them a separate link like her Twi-shadows and 80's Child shadows.

Doing a google search for Dino Spotz (youtube "guru" in header goes on and on about it) I found someone gushing on how unique this colour was. I know I've seen this shade before and going back to GDE, it is a shade with the *. So I know right there, people have no idea what unblended means, or that they can get this shade elsewhere if they really do think this shade is unique. A video using this colour even says "unique" in the video name. And a commentor says the colour is close to an Urban Decay shade and the guru says "But the bonus is that Dinospotz is 6 dollars and UD is like 22 here"
I think the bigger bonus is that it's $1.50 from TKB but whatever.

And popping through my mega makeup cart I did find I already had this shade. I bought it from Aromaleigh, back when Kristen decided to get rid of all the pure hues (which did have it's own section, and clearly said, they were not her creations) It was called Cocoa Mauve.



I do feel a bit silly having 2 jars now, I can't believe I forgot I had it already :/

But I got this shade in the "Natasha" tower stack.

In the stack were Oddity, a green shade, Trophy Wife, a repacked but often gushed about gold, Pistol Pistol, a cool sparkly grey that's not re-packed, and Dino Spotz.

I only paid about $11, I bought it through Phyrra's affiliate link when there was a sale on making everything %15 off to re-do labels. A sale was the only way I was going to order 50% re-packs but happy I did, so now I know.

And basic math made me smirk a little inside. 10% off an item that is already %15 off doesn't not make said item 25% off.



Ummm, no. I graduated with a 52% in math, and if I could see the error in this, it's not right! They were eventually marked down to an actual 25% off, but the update is still on the fb page and nobody else noticed the flaw.

I can see Vanessa is trying to improve GDE by her 80's Child collection, these shadows are all GDE's creations



So muy excellente there.

The other reason I'm not too fond, the overuse of "gurus" on the main page or in my order. 3 cards and a sticker with some chicks face on it I do not know. I know 1 card was Vanessa herself so I didn't mind, but I don't much care for the others. Unless Phyrra was on a card. Cuz Phyrra is awesome and deserves cards EBERWHERE! On the site though? 7 people! And one I'm not too fond of (not the chickie in the header, although I do know some people don't like her) I'm talking about the other Canuck on the page.

I know it has nothing to do with GDE or her company but when I see this chickie plastered on the from page, yep, I'm gonna be annoyed.

Reason for annoyance? Annabelle Cosmetics (awesome Canadian company) held an "Ultimate Makeup Junkie" contest. Some of you may remember, you were awesome possums and tried to help me out with votes. My big irkness, youtubers seemed to bank the most votes because they were more widely known than bloggers or just the really cool talented gal next door who just loves makeup but doesn't have that extra medium to get it out there and make it known.

Others were peeved as well so I let my thoughts me known (after all, change never happens when you stay silent. I'm not one to stay silent)



I wasn't even directly thinking about her when I commented, she's the one who chose to take it personally. It wasn't a "who can make a better youtube video" contest.

But after that I did unsubscribe. She can take that personally, I don't give a shit. Lose the diva attitude.

But all I've seem to do so far is bitch about stuff, lets get on to the EOTD!

I used the whole Natasha stack. It turned out a bit Christmassy but I liked it!

TFSI
Oddity inner third
Trophy Wife middle third
Dino Spotz outter and crease
Pistol Pistol lower lashline
Suds N Sass Cemetery Gates browbone highlight







At the moment I do not wish to place another Glamour Doll Eyes order. The 80's child theme is cool but I was born half way through so I'm more a 90's child, so I don't have that bit of nostalgia there.
I would need more swatches to decide. They don't have sample sizes for the collection so I'm not dropping $9 on a shadow that may not meet my crazy high expectations.

The tower stacks are an awesome idea. My shadows are stored on their sides anyway and these fit right in with my AL jars. I would like there to be more unique shades in the towers though and not half or more unblended shades.

But this is all MY personal opinion. If you wish to go and buy the whole lot and love it to death, that's cool! I'm not telling people not to like something, just letting it be known why I'm not in lurve in case someone's like "YOUSHOULDTOTALLYBUYGDE".

22 comments:

  1. I love you so much for posting this! 1st-it's a rad look! 2nd-I wanted AL's Cocoa Mauve *sooooo* badly and missed out on it, and now I know I can get it from TKB (and for hella cheap), woot! 3rd-OMFG, when people are like "x% off a y% discounted item means (x+y)% off total!" it irks the holy hell out of me, and you get it!

    Also, I gave you a blog award. Obviously extremely deserved.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I totally understand how you feel about GDE. The whole "sponsorship" thing with youtube 'gurus' is kind of annoying. I mean, I can see having a couple but they have tons and tons. It kind of puts me off too. I do like their stuff, though. I make it a point only to get the ones that are original. At least they are letting us know which ones are unblended..of the ones you mentioned here I have Pistol Pistol and I like it a lot! It's probably my favorite of the ones I've tried.
    Your look is really pretty, the color combination looks so good with your eye color. :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree wih you on a lot of your sentiments! They do seem...demanding about the sponsorship issue.

    I think the product should stand for itself versus making them review it within 2 months. If it's great then they'll do a review but sending product out with the intention of getting a review is just meh for me.

    Don't like the gurus, it seems like they're just trying to pick up on the trend.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for your about GDE. I'm not a fan. Don't care for their site and marketing techniques. I'm just glad to know I'm not the only one. And I will not order from them.

    But your EOTD looks awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, that's one guru I'm unsubscribing to! What a twat!

    Anyway... Gorgeous EOTD! Very autumnal, me likey!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bwahahaha I love you! And I'm so glad someone else has a little rant over GDE as well. I ordered samples and yeah, the cards and paraphernalia outweighed everything I ordered! It was sort of overkill and I thought Vanessa was one of them until I went to her YT page and it was sort of like "uh...who are you?" Awkward. Overpriced in my opinion, colors are easily better from other Indie companies and just too much "branding" and not enough product quality. You don't see Fyrinnae for example going overboard with their website, it's very very very simple but does the trick.

    I was so in love with Dino Spotz when I got it initially but then when I learned it really isn't GDE's own I sort of...well it was very disappointing and I haven't touched it since.

    I hate how snappy YT gurus can get. I know they get attacked a lot but honestly to take it to the extremes and just defend themselves when it's not entirely necessary is a bit silly. It's the ones who do that that just revel in the attention/hating/etc. they get. The golden gurus never care about negative opinions/comments, they just ignore it - intelligent option!

    Whew. Sorry, too much rambling.

    I LOVE those colors on you, especially Oddity. And thank you for giving me a way to use Pistol Pistol, I got it and was pretty disappointed with how blah it was. I reckon I'll use it up as a liner.

    xoxxx

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely look ;) I am glad about one thing though, they are re-packagin yes, but at least they aren't doing it on Etsy & claiming it as theirs. That sh** is starting to drive me crazy!

    ReplyDelete
  8. GDE...meh...I've tried to get into their products and thought about ordering a couple of times...but something about them just turns me off. I'm having a hard time figuring out what exactly it is, but it must be a lot of the things you mentioned in your post. I figure I'll order when they get more original colors in their line.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yeah I have coco Mauve and it is pretty, but definitely an unblended.

    I'm not a guru, so I'm not on a card :P

    I do like GDE, and the main reason is Vee herself. I've seen her change and improve. She takes constructive criticism and fixes things. When she found out about repackaging, she had no idea people didn't already understand that those were unblended, so she marked things as unblended and made a youtube video to explain that, rather than hide it like some companies did. I completely respect her for this :)

    I think Oddity is gorgeous! I'm glad Vee is having more confidence in herself and blending more colors. Her Halloween LE collection was awesome. I loved her blending in her Twi-Collection.

    I may try and buy some of the 80s collection so I can swatch it.

    I LOVE the look you came up with. Pistol Pistol is really cool along the lower lash line. I like how Trophy Wife and Dino Spotz blend together on your lid.

    And I also love you for sharing your thoughts on GDE. I totally respect them!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That person seems a bit...defensive. You weren't slamming on her, you weren't saying that she didn't work hard, you didn't say that she didn't deserve to win.

    Being a blogger is a lot of work, as well. They have to edit their videos, we have to edit our templates (and even the bogstandard Blogger templates allow for some editing) and write up the posts. Neither side has it "easier" or "harder". Different people respond differently to each medium - I actually prefer blogs, because if someone writes well I feel like I get a better handle on them. Videos...some folks may come off more glib, or I've got to also deal with the distractions of their kinetics, their surroundings, the lighting level, ambient background noise (on the video and in my room, possibly overriding the words that they're saying), et cetera et cetera. I personally relate far better to the written word. (So what am I doing blogging in a field that's very visually-oriented, like beauty? I never claimed I was consistent or logical.)

    GDE's marketing seems a bit too...hard-sell. They're trying to use some of the marketing rules-of-thumb, including "let others do the talking" and capitalizing multiple ways of getting the word out; but it seems like they're trying too hard. Like the overeager puppy who's so very proud that they just learned how to sit and roll over on command, or the deathly earnest frosh in trigenometry who calculates everything out to the eleventh decimal place.

    I like your look - to me it looks autumnal-tropical, rather than Christmassy. The colors are just a touch too warm for XMas...or maybe it's just my monitor :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh and if you're looking for swatches, I just remembered that I saw that Zoffe got some to swatch:
    http://zoffe.blogspot.com/2010/11/80s-child-from-glamour-doll-eyes.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. Gooooorgeous look. It's in such holiday spirit!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I used to think that CaseyB chick did nice looks but I'm totally unsubscribing to her - what a bitch!

    I think GDE are going overboard with the marketing to the point where it's making them look like desperate try hards. Sedona Lace are doing the same thing too (although I have their brush set and love it).

    I agree with that commenter up there who says it's too much branding and not enough quality. It's like they read a marketing textbook and decided to put every single concept into practice at once. It was honestly overkill before with the gurus, and now that they're doing twitter giveaways every 2 seconds it's ridic.

    I think the blanket coverage is probably causing major ad wearout - which happened to me with Eyeko and seeing 945876938 posts on my dashboard about them everytime they bring out a new product.

    /rantover

    The look is gorgeous, and Trophy Wife is hot on you ;]

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am super relieved nobody jumped down my throat for this review. Thank you!! :D
    And also relieved to know I'm not the only one who feels the way I do.

    @Kathy Thanks lady!! I did the math like 4 times each just to make sure I was right so I didn't look like a dummy lol

    @Annamax Thank you! I really liked Pistol Pistol, I'd use it over Pixie Epoxy for extra SHABAM! lol

    @Mai agreed! I think people should have the time to see if they love something or not. After all, it's free friggin advertising, they could always slather it on their own faces to sell it! :D

    @The Peach thanks lady!! :D

    @Robyn Thank you and lmao @ twat!! So you see something asshole-y with that comment she made also yes? I wasn't just over exaggerating? :)

    @Suki no worries! I love ramblings!! It lets me know I'm not the only one who feels this way :D I wasn't sure who Vee was until I saw the indie spotlight on Phyrra's blog.

    @Persephone yeppers, I don't even browse for makeup on Etsy anymore unless someone else has reviewed it. I can't get TKB (shipping insane) so I count on others to compare their micas for me :)
    The same goes for perfumes. So many pefumes on etsy are just stock frangrance oils stuck in a wax base, no attempt at mixing or trying to create a unique scent was even made :s I don't mind when a shop has a few and has many of their own blends, but it's the ones why only have 1 note scents with the price jacked up. Yeah, not coo! It could also be because I have 2 aunts that had their own soap companies so I know how little the oils actually cost lol

    ReplyDelete
  15. @femputer yeppers, that's when I'll make my next order I think. The uber sale wasn't even enough to get me to order more and I NEVER place an order under $15. I'm a compulsive shopper! Little orders aren't satisfying! :)

    @Phyrra thanks lady!! :D I also like how she's moving in the right direction. And you totally need a card. Your card would be the only one I'd keep :) I'm just glad I didn't get that diva on a card, I would have tossed it in my oil burner lol.
    I did see some of Zoffe's swatches and they were pretty but not sure I'd still pay $9. I wanted more bam! lol
    Although the yellow looks pretty durn awesome :D

    @LiAnn regarding videos to blogs, exactly! I used to look up videos, I saw them before blogs but I would get annoyed with all the distractions or how the person came off as. I mucho prefer blogs. Posts are much easier to find, and you don't have to listen to 5 minutes of jabber to get the info you want.
    Regarding marketing, yes!! It's kind of overwhelming. And it's worse to see people go on and on about how wonderful a shade is and they obviously didn't do their homework, they just make the video and push push push. One "guru" made a video of her top 20 shades and kept pushing her friggin affiliate link below, not even mentioning why she wanted people to head on over from that link only. I like how Phyrra isn't afraid to mention when her links are affiliate links.
    Regarding look, thank you :D Autumnal tropical sounds way more awesome than christmassy so I'll take it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. @ladyinatophat thank you!!! :)

    @Silhouette, yay!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one who found that bitchy :D
    It's like, dude, you are not an actual celebrity, & I wouldn't kiss your ass if you were!
    And you reminded me I even got a Sedona Lace card in the order also lol.
    It may have been twitter where I first saw that awesome display of math!
    And thanks lady!! It would be a gold you would RAWK!!!! :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. *kisskiss* I think you rock and that's all that matters. MUAHAHAHAAHAH!

    ReplyDelete
  18. "She didn't have a magical unicorn shitting glitter out back."

    That made me choke on my water. But it was worth it.

    Sorry about the YouTube thing. People take that shit so seriously. I mean, some people DO get paid to make videos and everything, but that's just ridiculous.

    ReplyDelete
  19. lmao! It was a pretty sweet picture in my head at the time :D

    ReplyDelete
  20. Totally agree with everything you said... exactly why I'm not really a fan of theirs. Also, $9 for a shadow from an indie company is fucking expensive! This is one of my favorite EOTDs from you :3

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks lady!!! :) At least one good thing came out of it lol

    ReplyDelete