Lucky Packs from innocent+twisted alchemy come around only a few times per year. They include five full-sized shadows, selected at random from Innocent & Twisted Alchemy’s previous monthly collections.
Last week, I bought this makeup organizer. I’ve never owned anything like that before, and the 12 year old Lindsay in JNCOs and a “Bad Cop, No Donut” sweatshirt would be horrified at the thought. The main reason I bought it is because 2016 left me with more than a bad taste in my mouth, it left me with an addiction to indie eyeshadows. Being that my first indie shadows were from a limited edition Lucky Pack from Innocent & Twisted Alchemy, it’s only appropriate that they get their own post.
When I saw Lucky Packs become available around the holiday shopping season, I jumped on it. You know, for science.
About 25% of the reason I get so excited when these are available is the packaging. (No one who regularly reads my blog is surprised.)
They came securely packaged in an adorable, decorative, Ziploc-style plastic bag in a size I’ve never seen before. That probably isn’t important to everyone, but as a packaging nerd, I am delighted by it.
The jars are sealed with some of the cutest washi tape I’ve ever seen instead of heat-activated shrink wrap. Little details like this really set them apart from other beauty brands, indie or not.
All six jars have their own unique labels. Each monthly collection (which you can receive automatically as a subscription, btw) has a new theme. The owner of innocent+twisted alchemy, Linda Wan, is an artist as well as cosmetic maven, and she frequently contributes her own custom artwork to represent each month’s collection.
A lot of the shadows are vegan, but the label on the bottom of the jar will always tell you. All but one of the eyeshadows I received were vegan.
Despite the fact that the shadows in the Lucky Packs are selected at random, the six I received went together incredibly well.
After all of the hype around orange and red warm toned eyeshadows over the last year, it’s exciting to see all of these cool tones. I’m also deep into a glitter-philia phase and can’t seem to get enough sparkly in my life. Fortunately, there isn’t a matte shadow for miles, and all of these have at least a smattering of glitter in them.
Duochrome eyeshadows are also a weakness of mine, and there are at least three shadows in this Lucky Pack that have a beautiful shift. The only non-vegan shadow actually has the strongest shift. (It’s the one that looks dark purple. Spoiler alert: there’s no purple in that eyeshadow. I know.)
What’s Inside the innocent+twisted alchemy Lucky Pack?!
I actually received six eyeshadows because it’s customary for Innocent + Twisted Alchemy to include a (very generous) sample with nearly every order. This time, my sample was Snowy Honeydew from this month’s collection, Bubble Dreams.
I’m… pretty sure that this “sample” is full sized. It’s the same shape as the rest of my containers, and it seems to be just as full. Um, OKAY! Thank you, I+TA!
The idea of a snowy honeydew conjures up suuuuch a pretty color in my head, and this shadow does a pretty good job mimicking it. It’s a “spearmint green” base, which is like mint but even more icy, with a golden green duochrome.
The lightest shadow in the pack was Frankenstein Complex from March 2016’s AHS: Murder House collection.
I’m told that it’s white on the IT+A website, but I swear it looks like it has a pink tint. It could just be the pink sparkles standing out, which they do. The website also says it just has a golden sheen. Maybe it’s just the name, but I see a monster-green shift in there… Maybe it’s just my imagination. You tell me after you see the swatches.
The other beautiful blue-green shade in my Lucky Pack is Lady of the Lake from the December 2016 collection inspired by the legend of King Arthur.
The deep teal base has a bright green duochrome effect and multicolored glitter. I think the pink glitter sparks really stand out, and as green and pink is my favorite color combination, this is one of my favorites in the bunch.
As for “shadows I’m not really sure how I’m going to use yet, but still love,” we have Out of Time from the January 2016 collection inspired by Alice in Wonderland.
The base is a beautiful, sheer, pale yellow and the IT&A website says there should be a copper sheen, but mine just has a shiny, silver-ish shift which is also beautiful. My favorite part, though, are the bright pink sparkles that stand out among the yellow.
I’m not sure which shadow is my favorite, but the one I have the biggest crush on is Noel, from the June 2016 collection inspired by Final Fantasy XIII.
I’ve taken so many photos of this shadow, both in the jar and on… stuff. The base is a steely lavender with a silver sheen and lots of glitter. I notice the aqua blue and gold gltter the most, which goes with it so well. I really like this shade, but also noticed that some chunks of red pigment were bunching up in the shadow.
This happens sometimes due to interactions between colors and binders. It’s totally not a big deal. Oh, and if any of you want 500 macro pictures of this eyeshadow, just let me know.
Last but not least, the most alluring and least vegan shadow, Coulrophobia from the Phobophobia Collection.
This color is described as having a burgundy base, but even after rabidly swatching it on my skin and over glitter primers, I still can’t fully see it. It has an extremely strong aqua blue and green duochrome. You can see how much aqua is packed into the shadow just by looking at it in the jar.
PS – Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns. I am pretty sure I have a mild-to-moderate case of it.
L-R: Snowy Honeydew, Out of Time, Noel, Coulrophobia, Frankenstein Complex, Lady of the Lake
Each one of these shadows has a beautiful, unique combination of colors to show off. It’s shadows like these that are the basis of my duochrome fixation. I want four colors in one, and with some of these shadows, I can actually have that.
Look at that Frankentstein Complex swatch – do you see a green reflect? I swear I notice one when I look at the shadow on my skin. Am I crazy?
Obligatory comment about how freaking shiny Noel is.
My Lucky Pack rules. For $10, I’m so completely happy with what I received. Once again, innocent+twisted alchemy gives me another fix to subdue my glitter addiction. I can’t wait to incorporate these into all of my daytime looks! (Just kidding.) (Kind of.)
Visit innocent+twisted alchemy to see all of the available shades from the 2016 collections as well as the January 2017 collection, Bubble Dreams.