The Chequered Lily Apothecary Sample Haul!

I'm literally addicted to independent cosmetics brands. Its official. I've been able to find some of the most unique colors at incredible prices by going the indie route. It started with Darling Girl and now I just can't stop.

I was able to find this shop - The Chequered Lily Apothecary on Etsy - through a blog that I read, Portrait of Mai. She actually has a whole tab dedicated to Indie Cosmetics swatches! Check it out!

I actually had a hard time narrowing down my choices as to what I wanted to order from CLA - there were so many shades I wanted to try! Not to mention, the customer service was PHENOMENAL. Very quick shipping for an indie brand, hand written thank you on my receipt and great communication! I'm telling you - there's a reason that I keep buying indie; I'd much rather spend my hard earned money somewhere where I not only know its appreciated - but I'm shown  that its appreciated!

So for the main event, this is what my little haul consisted of!

There's something quite satisfying about a pile of sample baggies! I chose the blogger kit, which allowed me to choose 7 shades to try out, as well as an extra shade thrown in as a free sample by the seller. I also picked up a trio of shades that benefits victims of domestic violence - and I HAD to be part of that!

These are the 8 samples that I chose! I tend to hoard me some neutrals, but I found that a lot of these more "non neutral" shades were really wearable!

Some preliminary swatches - dry swatches with no base or primer! From left to right, the top row is; Invocation, Snow Glass Apples, A Dustland Fairytale, Stormbreak and Charlotte - and the bottom row is; Captain Jack, Haute Cocoa and The Penny Arcade. Nothing truly neutral and I just can't wait to start playing with them!!

These three shades are part of a set that donates $1 of the very palatable purchase price to victims of domestic violence. I'm not entirely sure what specific charity that it is, but I'll definitely let you all know when the seller's store is back up, as they're on vacation until tentatively the end of September. I'm assuming that it is a charity based out of the shop's hometown of San Diego, CA.

The three shades in this set, from left to right are; Brand New Day, New Beginnings and Moving On. I didn't notice it when I bought it, but these three could totally be used for a full look. Coincidence? Probably not, I'm just probably not all to observant. Again, these had no help or primer in the swatches!

At my own first impression, these seem like they're going to be pretty great to work with - they don't need to seem to need a lot of help to get color payoff, which is sometimes difficult to do with loose pigments. The colors are great and the customer service rocked - so I cannot wait to start testing and reviewing these!