When we started rephotographing our swatches last Fall, our most popular collection was the first set that we re-photographed. Little did we know that when we got around to getting the images web-ready, that we would find that the pigments used to created these shadows were discontinued by the manufacturer resulting in our having to discontinue this very special collection.

The Midsummer Night’s Dream frost collection has been on discontinue for a little while now, but I didn’t want these photos to go to waste entirely. I can’t devote 100% time to making them the finalized swatches that I’ve made in other collections because that takes a lot of woman-hours, and this collection is obviously discontinued. So I wanted to share the rough swatches with you. They aren’t perfect, but even these I think, are better than the original swatches that we photographed back in 2003/2004 when this collection came out.

This collection is hard to photograph and capture digitally. It looks dead and flat without flash, and with flash, some colors look totally different than in “real life”.  A lot of the colors have a high interference level. Such as Swoon, for example. This color actually has a black base with an interference highlight. It photographs as a cocoa color. It’s really not possible to make up for the differences between the human eye and the camera. Your eye can differentiate between very subtle differences in color and shading and it is estimated that your eye can perceive up to 10 million variants! The camera can’t even come close to this stunning figure, which is why things just seem so much more in depth, vivid and fascinating “in person”.

Remember- these are rough, unfinished charts. It is very seldom that you will see me present something rough like this for a collection and not as a work in progress, so when I do it’s for a good cause.

I hope this helps many of you with these colors. These colors are priced at 35% off at this time.

xoxo

Miss K

Hi ladies,

We received big shipments this morning from our vendors to update out of stock items!!!

Lots of brushes, skincare, gel eyeliners, you name it… if you’ve been getting an out of stock message for an item? It’s now IN stock…

Just wanted to let you all know!

Happy Shopping!

xoxo

Miss K

Yes, that’s our Miss Emilie getting ready backstage somewhere in Europe… but what color IS she wearing? These secrets and more lay ahead in our future… as even I am not sure exactly which color it is for sure! (I’ve only an inkling based on a glorious box of Aromaleigh which I sent to Emilie before she set out on tour many months ago…)

In case you’re not sure what I’m talking about, Emilie Autumn is a musician that we sponsor here at Aromaleigh. She’s devilishly talented and with a creative vision and style that we think can only be described as wickedly beautiful Victorian Punk Lolita Cool. Sorry, the words aren’t flowing for me today… but it’s a little difficult to describe Emilie Autumn, as she’s so… well, you should probably give her a listen! Her albums Opheliac and Laced/Unlaced are frequent players on my Ipod. Visit her website or MySpace.

Here’s what Miss Emilie says about Aromaleigh!

Aromaleigh Cosmetics (goth girls and boys NEED to know about this stuff…all natural, all sexed up cosmetics…this is the ONLY stuff I put on my face, it’s what I make my cheek-heart with, and it is also the reason why I’ve had perfectly clear skin for the past several years…-EA)

Happy Monday ladies!

Still working hard to update the site with new and improved product swatches… today we have updated swatches for the Coquille Powders. These little gems are kind of a sleeper favorite, perhaps misunderstood… but always loved when tried!

Coquille Illuminating Corrective Powders are finishing powders with a twist.

Ils sont magnifiques!

Based on our very popular Illuminator Powder, Coquille powders also effortlessly hide pores and reveal a soft-focus, very subtle glowing finish. At the same time, mineral pigments and mica enhance and adjust your skintone to reveal a more vibrant, balanced skintone.

Coquille Illuminating Corrective Finishing Powder (wow that was a mouthful!) is on sale this week, so try a sample! Our inspiration for these powders was customer requests, based on the very famous (and expensive!) corrective loose powders by French company T Le Clerc. (note: the Le Clerc product does contain talc).

Enjoy these updated swatches and stay tuned for more!

xoxo

Miss K

Color Queue: Go on a Blue Streak!

• By Kristen Leigh Bell
• AKA aromaleigh

I already know what you’re thinking… blue eyeshadow is so seventies, right? Cheap, not chic? Well read on, because blue is here to stay and there is most definitely a blue eyeshadow, eyeliner or mascara for you!

This season, blue eye makeup was a staple on the runways, practically becoming the new black for many makeup artists, who often used deep indigo eyeliner in lieu of harsher blacks. The result? A softer, more mysterious appeal… which puts your eyes front and center without making them appear overdone. Models at Zac Posen, Tommy Hilfiger and Narisco Rodriguez all sported variations of this look and made it work magnificently with nude, matte red and rosebud pink lips. It’s rumored that wearing a blue eyeliner also makes tired and red eyes look brighter, whiter and more awake. Trust me… it’s true! Kate Hudson and Katie Holmes were recently spotted wearing this trend on their lower lash-lines.

Surf on over to StyleHive and check out the blue makeup slideshow I compiled and leave me a comment if you like what you see, or read! Remember if you comment, that StyleHive is not associated with Aromaleigh, so please comment generally and don’t mention specific Aromaleigh colors and products… Thanks!!!

you’re skin is exfoliated, clean and at it’s absolute best!

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ve heard me talk about the Clarisonic system. We’ve got a lot of devotees of this fabulous ultrasonic skin brush on our community forum, because– it works! I don’t mean to give you all more things to spend your hard-earned cash on… but if it makes your skin better and makes you feel better AND makes your makeup look better? Then I simply have to share it. I use the Clarisonic system daily. I can’t imagine going a day without it.

However, I realize that the Clarisonic system might have a price tag that’s well, a little steep? To put it delicately? Yes… it’s a pretty penny, even if it does only cost the price of 1.5 facials and delivers maximum results.

Thankfully, there’s some less expensive options that are coming out. I have not tried these, but they appear to operate on the same premise as the Clarisonic. At a much cheaper price tag, it certainly doesn’t hurt to try. Best of all? You can pick them up at your drugstore!

Such as the new Neutrogena Wave… palm sized, comes in cute colors, based on sonic technology…

Neutrogena also offers the Healthy Skin Rejuvenator.

Check it out at the link above and take the “Skin Age Test” to see how old your skin REALLY is!!!

I took the quiz and it told me that my real skin age was 37 which is ironically the same as my real age that I had to enter at the beginning of the quiz… Hmmm.

Anyway, the test told me that if I use the Neutrogena product, that I can look 32!!!

It’s kind of funny, I don’t want to look the way I did at “other” ages. I just want to keep my skin in a state of “stasis” and preserve it in it’s best possible state of healthiness and happiness!

xoxo

Miss K

Hello Ladies!

Aromaleigh is OPEN!!! Our brief March respite is over, and this morning I enabled the shopping cart again, so for all of you who have been so patient this week… hanging on to full shopping carts, and eager to place your orders, we’re rested up and ready for you. Heck, I actually took a NAP yesterday! Crazy, no? Can’t remember the last time I did that sort of thing.

I also took my son to see the cartoon movie of the Dr. Seuss classic “Horton Hears a Who” yesterday (his second time seeing it!), and I saw lots of brightly colored cartoon-like hibiscus flowers in the movie, which has inspired me to give you all some beautiful hibiscus blooms on this gloomy and chilly Sunday.

Hibiscus flowers are prominent around here, because they grow wonderfully in our sub-tropical climate and even when ignored (i.e. not watered by me and left to wither in the hot sunlight… they just keep coming back for more!)

They come in gorgeous soft pinks, bright corals and whites, and watching and waiting for them to bloom is a treat. We have several large potted hibiscus by our door. Once we spot a bud, we know that in about a day, we’ll have a beautiful, giant flower waiting for us in the morning. But they disappear as quickly as they bloom, falling off the plant and shriveling up. Their loveliness is so ephemeral…

loganberry, peony, drama queen green, vivelerock, estranged

personalitycrisis, blacksunshine, chloe, ancient gold, delicate gold

xoxo

Miss K

Earth Hour

I just logged in to Google to do a little research for a blog post I’m working on for all of you and I noticed that Google now has a black screen, and the message: “We’ve turned the lights out. Now it’s your turn - Earth Hour.”

 On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

Alright ladies, get out your candles in 45 minutes!!!

Ahhh… my week of playing catch up is down to it’s very last hours and I’m not sure I feel so very caught up. I have so many more things on my “to do” list! So much more inventory to make! There’s just never enough time in each day. How many of you wish you had a bunch of elves who could take over your laptop, or your studio at night while you were sleeping, and magically get all of the work done? I just giggle and fantasize about this…

Anyhoo… here’s another revised color swatch chart. The Pure Blushes… lovely sheer, buildable shades that are gorgeous for pale and medium skintones. You might not notice much color if you have a dark skintone- Pure Rouges are for you if this is the case. Pure Blush was one of the first products that I formulated and these were specifically designed to just give a very natural, light kiss of color to the cheeks. Ladies soon found that if they buffed or rubbed their cheeks they could intensify the color… And Spice looks like the weirdest shade, but it has always been a cult favorite- it warms into a unique soft berry tone on the cheeks! Strange, huh?

Enjoy these new swatches… I’ve got the start programming the new sales that go up tomorrow AM and prep for the store to reopen tomorrow AM. I know so many of you are waiting so very patiently with your carts full, ready to press “submit order”! We’ll be ready for you!!!

xoxo Miss K

Gorgeous Nadja does it again… I think she’d be even more at home on the runway than the model thumbnails I referenced from my lookbook at Style.com! It’s all about the drama! Nadja always has the most picture-perfect red lips… and her dramatic eye looks, in shades of black, deep red and pinks contrast vividly with her luminescent porcelain skin.

Check out these 3 fantastic new looks from Nadja… divine!

Nadja- Black Cherry Torment

Nadja- 2008 Valentine’s Day Look

Nadja- Ebony Eyes