Makeup Withdrawal

Shiro Cosmetics Review & Swatches

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Each order comes with a handwritten snippet, a red pouch
and a few samples!

When I saw Sirvanya's video review on Shiro Cosmetics and she mentioned that one of the collections was Pokémon themed, I freaked out a little on the inside. "Mimi," I thought to myself, "why didn't you know about this sooner?" Most of my 3rd grade after school hours were spent cramming in as many Pokemon episodes as possible, I had so many Pokemon cards too! Not to mention how near and dear to my heart the Pokemon Silver game for Gameboy was (good times, I should find my Gameboy and see if it still works). Anways, I hopped right over to the Shiro site (which is kind of a work in progress at the moment) and ordered a few samples and a mini sized shadow.

Sir Nigel, culprit.

It was pretty much the greatest moment of my life when I got my first order, followed shortly by the worst moment when I accidentally left it within reach of Sir Nigel and he chomped up the padded envelope my package was in (don't worry, he didn't ingest anything, just managed to destroy it). Luckily, I was able to salvage a mini sized S.S. Anne. Does anyone else see the irony of the dog, that I cut into my makeup budget to adopt, eating my makeup? I do. Well, he does have great taste in cosmetics!

Back to the makeup- I made a second order, this time five mini jars. To clarify, Shiro Cosmetics has loose shadows that come in three sizes, 1/4 teaspoon in baggies ($1), 3gram jars packed full of product ($3) and full 5gram jars ($5). These five Pokemon shadows were so great, that I ordered another five from the Legends collection!

Here's some swatches, all taken out doors with no flash:

Pokemon Collection

SS Anne is a very soft golden beige shimmer packed with sparkles
Charmander is a high shimmer yellow orange
Sudowoodo is a woody brown shimmer with a hint of... olive?
Weepinbell is a yellow high shimmer with a tinge of lime
Poliwrath is navy blue packed with dimensional multicolored sparkles
Rattata is a striking purple with sparkles

Legend Collection

Moosh is a cerulean blue with multicolored sparkles
Ocarina is an icy light blue high shimmer
Farore's Wind is a minty high shimmer
Link is a leafy rich green with sparkles (my favorite!)
Rupee is a yellow green shimmer
Kokiri Forest is an olive shimmer

Legend Collection

Subrosia is a satin brick shade with a touch of sparkle
Hearts is a vibrant red with shimmer
Majora's Mask is a medium indigo with multicolored sparkles

The colors I like the most are the bright POW! ones, like Hearts, Moosh, Rattata and Link.
The thing that I like about Shiro shadows is the vibrancy of the pigments, the smoothness (both of the shadow texture itself and the blending quality) and their lasting power on my lids. They lasted all day long on me, over Urban Decay Primer Potion. One thing that I did notice was that they liked to be first chair, not second fiddle. Meaning, if I applied any of the shadows on top of another shadow (for instance, I tried using Rattata over Rock & Republic Paranoid shadow), it would fade really quickly. Stick it directly over the primer though, and you should have no problems.
Should you buy these? Heck yes! I high recommend getting either a whole bunch of mini sized or sample sized (if you don't mind baggies) to try a whole array of colors. The mini sized were generously portioned (actually, packed with so much product that it was hard to get out! Had to remove the sifter), shipping was very reasonable ($2.50, if I remember correctly)so you really can't go wrong. I absolutely can't wait to order more and for future geeky themed collections. If there ever was a World of Warcraft set, I'd probably wet myself!
Edit: Forgot to mention, the shadows are vegan!
Go check out the Etsy page here! There's also very helpful swatches that should make ordering a snap.

All products were purchased by me, for my own use.

NOTD: Sparklng Red Maple

Monday, November 1, 2010

My favorite season is fall, especially when the maples turn that vibrant scarlet. I tried to do a nail gradient to reflect that stunning color change, only sparkly (of course). I did these nails while in the dark, trying to watch old episodes of Eureka, and I definitely learned my mistake. When I turned on the lights, I noticed that the gold around my cuticle wasn't sponged on very evenly! Whoops.
I used Orly Top 2 Bottom as the base coat, Ulta Deck the Halls as the base color and sponged Hard Candy Lava onto the tips as well as China Glaze GR8 on the other side. Used a bit of Sally Hansen Prisms Golden Tourmaline stamped between the two to blend it out.

What's your favorite thing about fall? My other fall favorites include apple cider, apple cider donuts, Turkey Gobblers from Wawa, cranberry sauce, going hiking in the crisp air and pumpkin pie. As you can see, most of my favorites have to do with food and only one has to do with exercise. No wonder I gain weight every year at this season!

Crackle, Snapple, Pop- Barry M Instant Effects Polish

Sunday, October 31, 2010

2x Wet'n'Wild French White Creme, 1x Instant Effects

When nail bloggers from the UK first started to blog about this polish, I was blown away. I know crackle polish isn't exactly super new (BYS has been making some for a while) but I'd never seen anything so cool. Luckily, at the time I was in the midst of arranging a swap with Jess from Blogger Fae Glasgae and managed to get my hands on a bottle.
Barry M Instant Effects did not disappoint. It's fascinating to put on, and almost instantly the cracking begins. The whole process finishes pretty much within a minute.

Same mani, with one more coat of Instant Effects. Pre- cleanup!

Now, for the best crackle effect it's important to follow the directions- put one smooth coat on over another color (or clear base coat) and don't go back and retouch if you've missed a spot because that area will be thicker and not crackle as well. If you'd like to intensify the black crackle to under color ratio, wait a minute for the process to finish, and put on a second coat. The neat thing is that it cracks in the same areas, leading me to think that the lacquer pulls away from the places where the attachment to the surface underneath it is the weakest.
I haven't tried a whole lot of combinations of color with crackle pairings yet, but I think that bright, neon colors provide the most amount of contrast with the matte black crackle to provide the most interesting look. A girl in my class suggested I do neon pink next time underneath Instant Effects, and I think I'll definitely do that!
I don't remember exactly how much Barry M Instant Effects was (believe it was under £5) but if you're wondering where to get it on this side of the pound, have no fear. It's rumored that the Katy Perry OPI collection will feature a crackle polish. My cool crackle polished fingers are crossed in hope that it's true!

What do you think of crackle coats? Are you like me, thinking it's the coolest thing since sliced bread and can't wait to see it in more colors, or is this trend a pass for you?

Product was obtained in mutually beneficial swap.

FOTD: Fancy Feathered Halloween Eye

Saturday, October 30, 2010

I didn't really feel like dressing up this year for Halloween. This is mostly because when I went to the costume store, all I saw were skimpy women's outfits that weren't really creative. In fact, at first I thought I had wondered into an adult themed store by mistake (sexy nurse outfit, sexy cop outfit, sexy school girl outfit, gross Snooki outfit, etc). It really put a damper on any Halloween spirit I may have had. Buuuuut, I did feel like doing something a little special to school on Friday.

This was a pair of fancy feathered lashes I picked up at the Halloween store for about $6, I think. They're made by Fantasy Makers (aka Wet'n'Wild). The quality wasn't too great- when I first took them out of the package and was trying to peel off that gummy backing that keeps it attached to the box all the feathers came off of the right lash band. I had to glue them back. They wore pretty well though, with just DUO Lash Adhesive. I brought the tube to school just in case I'd need it for touch ups, but didn't end up needing it. I also used:
Brows: Maybelline Define-A-Brow
Eyes: LORAC Behind The Scenes Primer, Sleek iDivine Storm Palette, Rock & Republic Fatalistic, LORAC Beige

The lashes didn't really bother me, but maybe it's because I'm used to wearing falsies. All I noticed was that my lids were a little heavier (work those eye lid muscles) and that there was a bit off blue fuzz at the corner of my vision. I got a lot of comments all day, but the funniest was "You look like a pretty little bird that just flew into my life." (I didn't say it wasn't also cheesy).

What are your plans for Halloween? Are you dressing up? Can I see?

NARS Holiday 2010: Mélusine Duo

Friday, October 29, 2010

I remember when I first saw pictures of this duo leaked onto the internet- I wasn't sure if this duo would be for me since it looked just like an ordinary silver paired with a dark matte purple.
How foolish I was to think that the silver was ordinary! Melusine's shimmery side is as FAR from ordinary as you can possibly get. First off, it's not your typical silver shade- it's more of a soft pewter with a slight lavender-pink sheen. This opalescent effect is just so unbelievably beautiful (it'd be like if MAC Seedy Pearl had a baby with Bobbi Brown Chrome Pewter) and subtle.

Outdoors, direct sunlight, no flash. Picture taken late in the afternoon,
so the lighting is a bit on the warm side.

The deep matte purple is actually the problem child in this duo. It's very finely milled, in fact- it almost feels liquid when you touch the pan. However, it's really, really dry feeling. Without a primer, it doesn't stick to skin at all (it even skipped like crazy when I took swatch pics) and is really hard to work with. But with a primer like UDPP or LORAC Behind The Scenes, it becomes blendable and a great matte shadow.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this 2010 Holiday Collection duo, NARS presents us with a unique shade, and both sides of the duo are quite pigmented. This duo is $32, but if you act fast- you can still order it from the Sephora Friends & Family 20% off sale (Code is FF2010).
I did a EOTD with it the other day, but it mostly shows off the purple side, not so much the pewter (click here if you missed it).

Product was purchased by me, for my own use.