zerowastemakeup – Ms. Mimsy Reviews

Recently Axiology sent a few items to me to try out and review. As always my opinions are completely my own. I was very excited about these products though because one thing I have been trying to do in my life is to reduce waste.

Axiology has more or less the same mission, although on a much grander scale than mine. Enter the Lip to Lid Balmies. A zero waste Multi use cosmetic crayon. I have the two pack or Nude Plum and Rose which is described as…

Lip-to-Lid Balmies are plastic-free, multi-use crayons for eyes, lips and cheeks. Packed with oils, butters, and antioxidants such as hemp, and plum oil to nourish and hydrate skin. 100% vegan, cruelty-free and palm oil-free. Made with 9 natural ingredients.

Ingredients:Ricinus communis (castor) seed oil*, Helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil*, Garcinia indica (kokum) seed butter, Helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed wax, Cannabis sativa (hemp) seed oil*, Sambucus nigra fruit extract, Prunus domestica (plum) seed oil, Tocopherol**, Azadirachta indica seed oil*

I know I normally only talk about ingredients in skincare but these are well worth talking about here. These products are vegan so they use sunflower seed wax instead of beeswax. If you look down the list it is pretty easy to see it is not a bad list of ingredients. I’ll admit I did have to look up kokum seed butter and nigra fruit extract but the others are items I would not mind seeing in my skincare. (and those I wouldn’t mind either I just had to look them up.) In case you were wondering kokum seed butter is an emollient and nigra fruit extract is also known as black elderberry and has antioxidant properties.

And both are more in keeping with skincare than makeup.

Usually.

While I have the two balmies, they do come in trios and even a Super Fan Pack with fourteen of these little crayons. Personally I was quite stunned by the array of colors available. I have been using these for various functions for the past few weeks (almost a month now actually). They are multi use items designed for use on the eye lids, cheeks and lips.

The first thing you notice when they arrive is that the outer packaging is completely recyclable. It is all paper and it quickly breaks down and can be sent off to the recycling no muss np fuss. We actually needed some dry material for our compost (we are a bit heavy on the coffee grounds) and so I tore the packaging into small bits and added it to it. The packaging is no more.

Inside, the container for the balmies is also made of recycled paper and ou yeah, the actually wrapping for the cosmetic crayon? Yup, that’s paper too. As you use the balmie it wears down and you just peel off the paper and keep using it until there is nothing left.

It is quite an interesting design. I imagine those last little bits of product might get a bit messy, but it will take a while to get there and they would only be a mess when it got down to the last little nub as the paper does go all the way to the base of the crayon and so should hold on until the very end if you are careful with your unwrapping.

I will say that while using these I did sort of want a Cruella Deville style cigarette holder to put them in. I think if Axiology ever decides to expand a bamboo holder in that style (without the hole for smoking) would be quite the classy addition. But that might just be me.

First, let’s talk eyes.

I really liked the way that I could draw a line with the product on the outer corner of my eye and then use a finger tip to blend it towards the center. Whether it is the product or these colors I don’t know but with that approach I managed a real natural sort of look. Just a little hint of color to give a little life to the face. I did try to build up the products and I was able to deepen the tone, but in truth when used as shadows these are really on the more natural side than they are the ultra glam side. The color can be deepened but the nude plum and the rose really leaned towards the natural low makeup kind of looks. I will say that while it is easy to blend, once it is in place it stays all day.

The cheeks were interesting.

I think because I so recently used the Axiology Color Cream which I have to be honest is now my standard for cream blushes, this fell a little short. The formula is fine, but the fine point didn’t work as well for me on the cheeks. These products want to draw a line. I did try and draw a circle and then blend, but the trick is you have to move really fast. Once these balmies are in place they want to stay in place. Which is great for makeup longevity but was not the best with the pointed crayon. I did have better success flipping the crayon over and using the flat bottom of the crayon but to use it I had to peel back the paper and so it left product exposed on both sides and that sort of meant it got all over my hand from the back when I went to use the pointy end.

While it can be used as a cheek product, and will look good on the cheeks, I think I am going to stick with the Color Creams for the cheeks. The shape is just better suited for the cheek area.

And finally the lips.

These Balmies were amazing on the lips. they are creamy and pigmented. The shades I have are more in the my lips but better sort of range. Again, that is just for these shades, there might be more dramatic shades in the box. But quite honestly I loved these. On the lips they feel like lip balm rather than lipstick. They don’t have the often waxy texture of a bullet style lipstick, they really just feel like a nice light lip balm. It also lends itself to a more natural look. It is a matte finish, however I found that pretty much any clear gloss will go over them really well and look good. I used the Revolution pout Balm and they looked great.

The one thing they don’t do is cover up any lip damage. if you have a dry spot on your lips then it does kind of show given the lightness of the formula. It will not irritate your lips though even if they are chapped which is nice. It is just not going to give you that super smooth look to your lips. It is not pigmented for that and it isn’t that dense a formula. However the point does allow you to trace your lips well so you don’t need a lip liner. And actually with this set if you are looking to do your liner one shade darker than your lip color and blend a little bit, the plum works well as a liner and the rose for infill.

Over all i was very impressed with Axiology’s Lip to Lid Balmies. They work well for different uses and are easy to use. There is a good amount of product so it will last a long time. The placement of the paper is designed to let you use the entire product with no fuss (unless you peel it back and try to use the back end). For me the cheeks were not my favorite use and that had more to do with the shape pf the product and the cat that I knew Axiology’s Color Cream was just a fantastic cheek product. If you are looking for products (and brands) that provide good products while reducing plastic, metal and other unrecyclable packaging I think that Axiology should be on your list to check out. Personally I will use these two crayons down to nubs and plan to keep them hand this summer when my default makeup look is low to no makeup for most of my week. I think Axiology’s Lip to Lid Balmies are a product I will keep around for a long time to come.

Good afternoon my darlings. I hope you had a fantastic weekend and that Monday is treating you well. This was a interesting weekend for me. Friday was just a hot mess. I didn’t even remotely get a chance to do my Face Mask Friday. A project that I thought was done went super nova and it was all hands on deck.

I have several 3 minute face masks ready to try out though, so I might roll one of them in place of the sheet mask this week so if you are feeling like you missed your face mask fix, stay tuned.

But the fun didn’t stop there. My babydoll is not a fan of crowds at the best of times. He tends to have a set group of people he likes and then he wants the rest of the world to just leave him alone. He is one of those people that very much enjoys social distancing and he is really sort of hoping the distance thing becomes a permanent thing. I love him dearly but he is not a people person.

But for Valentine’s Day, he tries.

Usually it is a bit of a compromise. We tend to go out for Valentines Day but we go out the weekend earlier and then just have a night in on the actual valentine’s day. So since Valentine’s Day is on a Tuesday this year, he reasoned that the weekend of the 11th would be when everyone went out to celebrate. And so we went out this weekend for the dinner out. We had a grand night out actually. We went to a concert and then went out to dinner. He bought me tulip bulbs for the garden as a gift. I am very happy with that actually as I have been talking about expanding our small tulip bed. well area maybe more accurate, but you get the picture. Not only did he get me something I like, but he was actually listening when I talked about the garden. (In case you are wondering I got him a box of his his favorite high end chocolates – he has a far bigger sweet tooth then I ever will – and some kit for his beer making endeavors. he was tickled by the new gear although I have to say I have very little idea what I actually picked up. He keeps a wish list and I saw one of the items was in stock so that’s what I ordered.)

It was a really great night. And then we got food poisoning from the restaurant.

It wasn’t the stomach pumping kind of bad, but it did sort of ruin the rest of the weekend. Nothing else was done. No routine errands or household chores. Nothing. I am now up to Season seven (out of 16) of Criminal Minds thought. with the release of the new season on Paramount + I started at Season 1 and began working through the seasons to reach the current one. I am now about midway through season seven. while I love the show, there is something almost therapeutic watching people take down serial killers when you are curled up under a blanket on the couch with a wonky tummy. I also confess, I like the weird episodes. There was one this weekend where the killer turned people into marionettes. It was a good episode. Anyway Paramount+ has them all so I am working my way through until I get to the current season. And this weekend was a good weekend to do some binge watching.

Because I wasn’t going anywhere or doing anything productive.

While I am better, and need to restock the Pepto Bismol, It wasn’t a restful weekend and it feels like I needed another day. Still the work week arrived as predicted so here we are. I do think I am going to feather in all of the missed chores during the week this week though so I can just collapse next weekend. At least that is the plan.

Today’s Look:

Primer: Pinklipps Soft Matte Primer

Foundation: Bite Beauty Changemaker Foundation (discontinued – from the use up box)

Bronzer: Milk Makeup Bronzing stick (sample size from the Use up box)

Blush: Axiology No Waste Multistick Color Cream in True

Powder: By Terry Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Powder (sample size from the Use up Box)

Eyeshadow: Wander Beauty Wanderess Escape Palette

Mascara: Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real Magnet extreme lengthening Mascara

brows: GrandeBrow-Fill

Lips: Axiology Zero Waste Multisuse Crayon in Nude Plum

Okay my darling’s we will take it from the top, because we have some really interesting things in today’s line up. First is the Pinklipps primer. This is an interesting primer. If used sparingly, it is quite fantastic. It creates a nice softly blurred canvas for the rest of the makeup to sit on. The pink tone helps even things out in my skin tone but I have pink undertones to my skin so if you don’t have that, it might not help. It does give a nice matte look to the skin which I like. However if you use a little too much this formula does tend to feel a little heavy and greasy. So I put just a little bit where i need it most and then blend out. Which seems to work for this primer. i am still playing with it so I’ll keep you posted, but tat the moment that seems to be what is working.

The Bite Foundation is fantastic but discontinued so it is in my use up box. My hope is to finish it out this month so I can let it go. The same holds true for the By Terry Powder. it is good but not my favorite formula so i am using up the sample size I have this month so I can let it go. The Milk Makeup Bronzer also comes from the use up box, however it is there for a different reason. It is a sample size that I want to use up so that I can purchase the full size. While I love samples because they give me a good idea of how the product actually works, if I like it I make myself use up the sample before I purchase the full size. I really like this bronzer, so I am am using up the sample in order to purchase the fill size.

And now we get to the Axiology products. I don’t know if you have heard of this brand but it is well worth looking into. they very kindly sent over a few products for me to try so they will be around for the next few weeks (and probably beyond) while i try them out. They are multiuse products with sustainable packaging. There is no metal or plastic in the packaging. it is all paper and all recyclable. I’ll get into all of the details of that with my fill post of the brand but if sustainability is important to you I recommend checking out their website to see how they are doing things. The links in this post will take you to their site.

But a good idea is only a good idea if it works. And so we start the product testing. Today I use the Multi stick color cream as the blush and the Multi use crayon as my lipstick. For the blush the color I used was True. I dotted it on to my face as I would a stick of cream blush and then blended with a damp makeup sponge. (Currently I am using the Beauty Bakerie Blending eggs for this. They are just the right density. I don’t like my makeup sponges too hard in general, but for this you will also want to avoid the too soft ones. they never seem to work all that well for cream blushes. Other things, yes, but not most cream blushes, so go with a medium density).

I only needed a couple of dots and then it blended into a really nice blush. I really like this shade and actually i think that this is also multi season in shading for me as well. I started with a single dot of product and blended out and it gave me a very light flush. I added a second dot and it blended as well and proved the formula was buildable. As the shade works well with my skin tone I think when the summer sun starts to give me a tan, I will just be able to use a little more to have the perfect summer shade as well. I love a product i can use year round. I won’t know for certain until the summer but this first use was very promising. The lip crayons went on really well also, it was smooth and creamy. It has the consistency on the lips of a creamy bullet style lipstick. It doesn’t dry down which is fine and requires reapplication after eating but i really like the shade and the feel of it on my lips. It was a great first use. Thus far the only issue I see is that I really like this True shade as a blush so I am not sure I am going to want to try using it anywhere else. It just makes such a great blush. Still it is multi use so I will try using it elsewhere.

This was my first use of the Escape Palette, although a while back I had a mini version of this palette I believe. I remember this pink shimmer shade and I am very happy to have it back (the previous palette was used, well loved and then accidentally dropped where three of the six shadows crumbled, in case you were wondering).I love having this pink shimmer back. It was my favorite before and it is so again. It is a subtle shimmer that is perfect for the work day. i went with a general work day look today and I think it came out looking really well.

The Benefit mascara is one of my favorites. I tried the magnet in a sample and loved it enough to purchase full size. Oddly while i love the magnet version of this mascara, i wasn’t as thrilled by the regular They’re real. It was okay but when I used it I preferred Bad Gal Bang from them. I still love the Bad Gal but this Magnet They’re real is a close second. I just find it amusing at the difference between the two versions of They’re real.

And to end I am using the GrandeBrow Fill. As a brow gel it is fantastic. Since my bangs cover most of my brows at the moment I don’t need much in the way of brow products so I am hoping the good things in this brow fill will work on the patchy spots. That will take time to see but i do like it as a brow gel. it keeps everything in place without feeling stiff.

And wo my darlings that is me today. I’ve just begun the Axiology test and am really excited to see how the products perform in the next few weeks. My tummy is feeling better and the panic that was Friday has settled down to something more manageable for the work week. And so I will get back to my paperwork and let you get on with the rest of your day. I hope it is a fabulous one.