Have you seen how many subscription boxes there are now? I actually had an email advertising a subscription box for girls “who don’t paint their faces” and it went to a website (with no female models anywhere btw) that offers various levels of “survival subscriptions”. Yep. That’s how far we’ve gone. For the low low price of $34.95 (made that up…can’t remember the actual prices. Although, they were not cheap) you too can get a monthly supply of MRE’s, rope and flashlights. Score!
Sorry, I forgot why were here for a minute. So in the vast land of subscription boxes, I signed up for the Notoriously Morbid monthly subscription called “Vanishing Cabinet”. The subscription is currently wait listed but if you’re interested you can get on that list via the NM website. Included in the subscription are 4-5 products, normally mini sized (NM mini sizes are pretty darn generous) but with an occasional full size product. Each month has a pop culture theme.
This month the theme is Nightmare on Elm Street. In the interest of maintaining honesty here, I have to admit that I’m a total wuss. I can’t handle horror movies and I’ve never seen Nightmare on Elm Street. I saw part of it way back in college but I was able to strike up a very deep conversation with a stoner in the room and therefore didn’t have to actually watch the movie. Even having never seen this film, it’s one of those films that is so ingrained into pop culture and our collective psyche that I feel like I’ve actually seen it. Isn’t it weird how that happens?
Again with the rambling! I apologize!
So let’s get down to it! Finally.
This month we have a full size Mystic Matte liquid lipstick and what I assume are mini sizes (but again, these could be full size, it’s a lot of product) of a highlight and an eyeshadow. Apparently there was also a lip gloss but there were some production issues so it will go out in next month’s sub. All in all, this is a good deal monetarily, the Mystic Matte lipstick is $12.00 on its own.
Now let’s take a look at the actual products! Woo hoo!
Mystic Matte lipstick “Never Sleep Again”
Described as “A warm mid toned brown…with copper sparkles.”
Swatched this is the color of melted chocolate. It’s really a gorgeous color! Not necessarily a color I would pick out on my own as a lipstick, but a pretty color.
This is the second Mystic Matte that I’ve tried and I have to say I love the formula. It applied really smoothly, no patchiness, I didn’t have to work to get a crisp line, it’s basically a dream. It does not dry down to a true matte, maybe more of a satin finish? It also isn’t completely transfer proof although I don’t have too much issue with smudging. It’s also very comfortable. It never felt dry or drying. I did only wear this for around 3 hours total so this is more a first impressions as opposed to a full on review.
This reads almost as a black lipstick once it’s been applied.
This doesn’t claim to be transfer proof, and it’s not, but, it doesn’t fair too poorly either.
It’s Only A Dream Highlighter
Described as “A beige highlight with gold and a slight red shift.”
Man, taking photos of highlighter on my face is uncomfortable and strange. For you too? Maybe I’ll give that up in future.
The highlight though is nice! It’s a similar consistency to Osteomancy highlight. It’s more of a shimmer than a sheen but there aren’t chunks of glitter or anything. It’s pretty!
Freddy’s Coming For You Eyeshadow
“A dirty metallic gray mingled with red sparkles like the legendary glove itself.”
Holy glitter bomb. Not in a bad or obnoxious way, but definitely a good time to break out the glitter glue. I feel like in the indie world most companies have a thing that they do better than other companies. For Notoriously Morbid, that thing is shimmery sparkle glitter shades. Seriously. They do a great job with glitter!
That being said, I feel like this particular shade is one I’ve seen before from NM.
High School Hell Cat (from the May VC) is a little bit darker swatched but gives a very similar effect on the eye. (I can’t find an eye photo…sorry)
Then this is Spray Paint from September’s VC:
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty color! But all three of the VC’s I’ve received have had a similar shade so it’s starting to feel very repetitive.
Overall I think that for the price ($13.25), there’s a generous amount of product. As with all subscriptions, it may not end up being a good value if you receive products that you’ll never use but I enjoy having the surprise factor and being encouraged to use colors I wouldn’t normally reach for. I don’t know that I’ll stay subscribed for all of eternity, but for the time being this is a really fun subscription!
If you stuck through this post, thank you. I’m not sure why I’m rambling so much today. Do you have any monthly subscription boxes? Have you tried the food or fitness boxes? I’m so fascinated with this whole phenomenon of everyone buying themselves a monthly surprise gift. It’s great and kind of weird all at the same time.
Tidbits:
- We’re having our first “cold snap” (64 degrees currently) of the season and Gray Cat is running around like a maniac. Seriously, he will jump up and zip around the house every so often then go crashing through his cat door only to come crashing back in 15 minutes later. I’m not sure why but animals love it when the weather gets cooler. I used to work as a vet tech and that first cooler week was absolute bedlam in the office.
- I finally remembered that there’s an unwatched season of Doctor Who in my Amazon Prime watchlist! I’m on the third episode of season “901” and I’m falling more in love with Peter Capaldi by the minute.
- I’m also falling in love the the Celestial Seasonings Caramel Apple tea. It’s a perfect sweet treat in the evenings.
- I finished C25K on Friday! I didn’t actually end up running 3.1 miles but it was close. I’ll start the c210K tomorrow or Monday.
Gym Bag Makeup 
Hey, don’t knock MREs… my SO and I have been stocking up on them! 😛 Never know when the might be a zombie apocalypse…
Not bad for $13.25.
Holy crap, that Never Sleep Again lipstick looks like varnish. For the walls. 😮 It looks great on you though. I guess you’d have to be SUPER precise in your application with something like that!
It’s near impossible to photograph highlighter and contours – which is a GOOD thing. Because they’re not supposed to look like warpaint.
I don’t suscribe to anything. I used to, to a jewellery making box – my friend got me the first one as a gift and I kept it up for 6 months before I realized I was only interested in about 25% of the projects. I think that’s what would happen with makeup subscriptions too. I’m psyched though, I just subscribed to the magazine “Allure” which is all about beauty – I always like taking a peek at it on the newsstand and now I can read it in the comfort of my home / toilet. 😀 😆
Why DO cats tear around like lunatics? They. All. Do. That. 😕
In middle school my best friend and I somehow got ahold of a bunch of MRE’s and we would sneak snacks in between meals. We basically thought they were the coolest thing ever lol.
This lipstick DOES kind of look like actual varnish!
I think we should start some sort of PSA program to let folks know about the whole “Contour and highlight =/= warpaint or racing stripes” thing. There are some folks that didn’t get the memo 🙂 I guess to each their own right!
I like Allure! I haven’t read a magazine in quite a while but I used to always make a point of buying the Allure Best Of Beauty edition each year.
I think the lunatic cat thing is some sort of software glitch or something. It’s definitely A Thing and it’s definitely weird.