Guest Review: La Coquette Cosmetics

Hello Ladies!  Today's post is a guest review done by Lisa from http://wholenesswithoutsugar.blogspot.com/.  She reviewed a Mineral Makeup company in full detail and depth!  Please enjoy :)

Company name: LA COQUETTE COSMETICS (with 20% reader discount!) Web site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaCoquetteCosmetics

Web Site Itself: 4 of 5 stars

La Coquette Cosmetics has a sweet little etsy shop. They are also on Artfire and have an independent Web site, but this review is on the etsy shop only. The owner sells loose mineral eyeshadows, pressed mineral eyeshadows (rare for a MMU company!), nail polish (also rare!), and an adorable Antoinette-themed palette (magnetized four-pan). The eyeshadow colors are contained on three swatch charts for a total of 32 shades, which each have both a number and a name. Because the shop is so small, the site is easy to navigate; this might change if they continue to offer a wider range of products. They do say on the site that lip balms and lip gloss will be added in the “next few weeks” (although this message is not dated).

White Antoinette-themed palette

The owner states clearly on the shop banner that products are made to order unless otherwise noted and are made by hand and not rebranded. They will also do custom orders. On the page for the loose eyeshadows, the ingredients are clearly listed by color number. The owner should put this on the page for the pressed eyeshadows, too :) There is also a link to the color charts on the loose-eyeshadow page, which should also be placed on the pressed eyeshadow page. Eyeshadow and nail-polish colors that are not vegan-friendly are listed at www.lacoquettecosmetics.com. I think these carmine-containing shades should be on the etsy site so you don’t have to go to another site to find them! The nail polishes do not contain toluene, formaldehyde, or dibutyl phthalate. The pressed-shadow page says that you’ll receive a 10%-off coupon for your next purchase, but this is not stated on any of the other pages I looked at. Three of the newest colors (Lamia, Persephone, and Titiana) are on the ingredient listing but not on the color chart, but I have photos and descriptions of them below.

Pricing: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent prices, probably the lowest I’ve seen for handcrafted MMU, plus there is a discount code for readers (LISAROCKS20) for 20% off, which is good for 3 months from this posting):

• Samples: As of this writing, there is no sample listing on etsy, although it is stated on the company Web site that “samples are $0.25 each and the cost includes shipping. Samples are .30 of loose powder packaged in 2x2 sample bag.” Hopefully the owner will get a sample listing up on etsy soon.
• One jar of loose eyeshadow (1.5 g of product) with a sifter cap (although you must request the sifter [no extra charge]): $3.50/4 jars for $11.50
• Pressed pan (26 mm): $2.50
• Two “baby” bottles (5 mL) of nail polish (w/ free bottle of top coat): 2 bottles for $5/4 bottles for $10
• White Antoinette-Themed Palette w/ 4 pressed eyeshadows: $17 (this is shown in pink, too, but I couldn’t find a listing for it).

TAT, Shipping, and Packaging: 4 of 5 stars

Ordered: 06/19/11

Shipped: 06/19/11

TAT: Less than 1 day! (excellent!)

Shipping: $1.75

Actual shipping: $.64

Confirmation email: Yes

Personal shipping email: No

DC/Tracking: No

Invoice: No, but an extensive ingredient list was included with my order

Packaging/presentation: Eyeshadow samples (numbered, not named) in individual baggies, which were then wrapped in tissue paper (not re-bagged together in another larger baggie)

Extras: Yes (because I told her I had started guest blogging; I don’t know if she usually includes them)

Packaging: Business-size envelope

Product: 5 of 5 stars

Colors Ordered/Received

All colors were smooth and pigmented over Urban Decay Primer Potion and (in some cases) Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. I rarely had to build the colors up, they were that pigmented. I would describe most of the colors, with some exceptions as noted, to be a satin finish. The shadows are listed in appearance on my hand (first four)/arm (remaining seven) from left to right, top to bottom. My favorite colors are bolded below.

Natural lighting colors 1 through 4

Natural lighting colors 5 through 11

1. Titiana [NEW]: glittery silver packed with sparkles (accurate description)
2. Silk Stockings: shimmery taupe (more peachy-pink than taupe but pretty   nonetheless)
3. Strawberries and Champagne: pale pink w/ gold undertones (accurate description and my third favorite of the bunch)
4. Lamia [NEW]: spring pink w/ hints of silver sparkle (more raspberry pink and one of the prettiest shades in the bunch)
5.  Nefertiti: smoky olive gold (accurate description)
6. Boudoir: shimmery champagne (accurate description)
7.  Chocolate au Lait: rich milk chocolate w/ gold undertones (lighter than milk chocolate but still quite pretty)
8. Lillith: autumn-leaf brown w/ chocolate shimmer (pretty accurate description, although I saw some green in it)
9. Persephone [NEW]: deep brown w/ pomegranate shift (i.e., duochrome) and hints of green and gold (accurate description)
10.  Port Royale: vibrant jewel-toned purple (accurate description and another favorite in the bunch)
11. Absinthe: vibrant apple green w/ gold undertones (accurate description)

Indoor lighting colors 1 through 4

Indoor lighting colors 5 through 11

Customer Service/Communication: 5 of 5 stars

I was really impressed with the owner’s responsible and thorough communication about my purchase! Just a few hours after I ordered, she emailed me to clarify something I had written in the PayPal notes to seller. After that we exchanged a couple of emails about the store and my review, and she offered me extra samples to review as well as a customer discount code for me to give you all (see Pricing section above)! All in all, I felt well attended to and cared about, which are fine and rare qualities to find in a retailer these days :)

Summary

Pros

• Handcrafted, not rebranded cosmetics

• Non-vegan colors indicated as such

• Will do custom orders

• Excellent TAT

• Low prices plus reader discount (see Pricing section above)

• Accurate color descriptions

• Smooth, pigmented shades

• Excellent communication and customer service!

Cons

• Some inconsistencies between product pages on Web site

• Sample baggies labeled with number, no color name

• Sample baggies not enclosed in a larger baggie and kept falling out of envelope during storage

Overall Rating: 4.6 of 5 stars!

I highly recommend trying La Coquette Cosmetics, especially with the reader discount being offered (20%; see Pricing section above)!