About - Hello Waffle is an indie cosmetics company specializing in beautiful eyeshadow collections, blushes, made by Christine, the owner. Hello Waffle is based in Canada, and currently has collections inspired by Fringe, famous musical composers, cats/literature, and a collection celebrating reaching 1000 Facebook likes. She also offers seasonal fairytale inspired collections that can be purchased in the season they are inspired by.
The other indie company featured this month was Tilt/Shift Cosmetics! I've yet to try this company, but they specialize in eyeshadows and lipsticks inspired by space! The owner, Niamh, provided one of the lipslicks for the Visage this month.
Shipping - This month, my Visage shipped on the 8th of the month instead of the 5th, because it was combined with the Black Friday items I ordered, and arrived 7 days later from Canada to California. I was able to track this one because of the combination of orders, so that was a big plus.
Product Size - The eyeshadows this month were minis, the blushes were mini halfling jars, and the lipstick was full size.
Free Samples - This month's Visage came with a free sample of the Hello Waffle Finishing Powder, which is a new product coming in January.
For all eyeshadow swatches I used Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer, the contour and cheek highlight are over bare skin.
This month's Visage was based on the story 'A Christmas Carol' and was meant to push the boundaries on what we are comfortable with using. With the products this month you could do just a basic neutral look, or do a more adventurous smoky eye with face contour.
Hello Waffle Bah! Humbug! - ($3.25) "Shimmery dark taupe-y brown."
I wouldn't call this shade dark, it was more like a medium brown taupe shade. It was really shimmery, and blended out nicely. I used this shade on the inner third of my lid, and as a transition shade above the crease.
Hello Waffle Ghost of Christmas Past - ($3.25) "Medium gray shimmer with an overload of silver and blue sparkles."
You can pack this on to get a really shimmery silver shade, or do what I did and use it as a highlight. I used this as the brow and inner corner highlight for my look.
Hello Waffle Ghost of Christmas Present - ($3.25) "Soft gold with lively gold shimmer and copper sparkles."
The sparkles in this shade are fairly large, and I was thinking of possibly using this as an eyeliner for my look. Instead, I went with it as a lid highlight, and used it in the middle of my lid to give some depth.
Hello Waffle Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come - ($3.25) "Dark black leaning brown with gold shimmer and a spattering of blue and aqua sparks."
There is a ton of sparkle in this shade, it looks like a whole rainbow in the jar. I was thinking you could use this wet as an eyeliner, use it to create a really dramatic smoky eye, or do what I did and just use it in the outer v and blend up into the crease.
Hello Waffle Marley - ($5.25) "Medium cool-toned contour."
This looks kind of dark in my swatch, but actually just a tiny bit worked really well as a contour for my fair skin. I imagine it would work well for fair to medium skin tones, depending on how heavy you apply it. I haven't done much contouring, but I did it for my look. It doesn't show up as well in the photos, but in person I was almost worried it was too dark. But I blended it out more, and it looked very natural.
Hello Waffle Scrooge - ($5.25) "A light golden-gray highlight."
This is meant to be used as a cheek highlight shade, which is what I did. Applied it very lightly to the tops of my cheek bones, and it looked great in person. Gave a very slight, but natural glow that I really liked.
Tilt/Shift Cosmetics Galactic Lipslick - ($6.50) "Vampy berry/purple.
This is a permanent shade from Tilt/Shift, and is sold year round. It's not a special exclusive shade for this subscription, so if you like this shade it can be purchased at anytime once the shop opens after the holidays. But I am so glad I got it, because I had it on my Secret Santa wishlist, I didn't get it in my gift, and now I have it! I had a hard time getting this as dark as it is shown in my swatch. A lip brush was useless with this, I had to use my finger to warm up the product and get it to actually apply. It was kind of drying, even though my lips were a little dry before hand. It looked nice though, even though it took so many swipes to get it to look that pigmented. It lasted ok through eating, but you'd probably want to reapply after.
Hello Waffle Finishing Powder - ($1.25) "Translucent with the softest glow."
This is a sneak peek of a product coming in January. Unfortunately, I don't have a swatch or photo of this, as my Visage arrived without it! I've already contacted Christine, and she'll be sending me a replacement. I asked her about the effect it would give in photos and she said you probably wouldn't see it, so my look is still mostly complete.
Close up of the look. You can see I didn't use much of Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, just a dab or so on the outer v and blended it inwards.
I really like how well you can see the Ghost of Christmas Past as the brow highlight, but in the photos Marley and Scrooge don't really show up. You can see them much better in person, but I assure you, they're there!
For the look I used:
- Face - Miguhara BP Cream as a face primer and then Clinique Moisture Surge Tinted Moisturizer in Shade 01 applied with a Beauty Blender.
- Brows - Too Faced Brow Envy palette.
- Lips - Galactic applied with my finger. Many many swipes. Just keep swiping. More. Keep going. You're still not done. Ok, now it's as dark as what I did.
- Cheeks - Marley used as a contour, and Scrooge used as a cheek highlight. Applied with an angled blush brush.
- Eyes - Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer used all over lid. Bah! Humbug! used on the inner third of the lid, brought up into the crease and used as the transition shade above the crease. Ghost of Christmas Past used as the brow and inner corner highlight. Ghost of Christmas Present patted on to the middle of the lid. Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come was just barely dabbed onto the outer v, and then blended inwards and up into the crease. Finished off with a coat of Urban Decay Perversion mascara on top and bottom lashes.
Overall, this month's Hello Waffle Visage had a total value of $31.25 including the value of the extra bonus sample we got in this box. I think everything comes together for a beautiful look, and there are so many variations you could do with these products as well. I had higher hopes for the Galactic lip product, it is a nice shade, just a pain to apply. I thought Ghost of Christmas Past looked amazing as a brow highlight, and I will probably use it for a lot of looks. I was also pleasantly surprised by Marley and Scrooge, those will probably make it into a regular rotation for me. They were simple to use as someone who has never really seriously contoured and highlighted before. I will have to remember next time to use Scrooge on my cupid's bow, nose, and forehead. And I showed B the look and he said he really liked it, so I will probably be bringing this whole set over there this weekend. The one thing that my friends mentioned that I can't unsee now, is that the guy on the label art looks like Jesus. I had not made that connection before, and now I will probably never think of it any other way.
Customer Service - I swear, I always have something missing from my orders, it's a curse. This month, I was missing the bonus finishing powder sample, and I emailed Christine. She replied very quickly and offered to mail one off to me. I asked about the look of it in photos, since I wouldn't have it in time for my review, and she said it probably wouldn't show. She automatically combined this with my Black Friday order so that was awesome to get all at once, and it meant I had tracking for the order.
Availability - Because the shop is closed, the individual products this month will go up for sale January 15th after it reopens, along with January's products as well. The Tilt/Shift Cosmetics Galactic Lipslick however, is not exclusive to this subscription, as it is a permanent item. It will be available for purchase when Tilt/Shift reopens.
Overall Satisfaction - I was really surprised by how much I liked everything this month, even if I can't unsee Jesus on the label art. My favorites were Ghost of Christmas Past, Marley, and Scrooge. I will be continuing my Visage subscription, as I think I'm enjoying it even more after this month's products.
About the Visage subscription:
- Contains products for your whole face
- Contains mini and full size products
- $25/month, shipping is included
- Subscriptions open on the 29th, and are shipped on the 5th
- Products to buy separately go up on the 15th and are sold until the end of the month
This is such a cool set! And Christine really is the loveliest.
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