We have come to the end of our Colors of the Rainbow series, finishing off with violet!
Valentine's pick - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's Bruised Violet Compound
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's Bruised Violet Compound is part of their Pharmacopoeia collection (labeled in fine print, for the wise guys, morons, and slip-and-fall lawyers, "Not to be taken internally") and advertises itself thusly: Promotes vigor in undeath and relieves the discomforts and complaints so common to incorporeal spirits! The learned and eminent scholar Alessandro Cagliastro once remarked “Long experience has taught me to prize Doctor Constantine's Compounds above all others!”
Its notes are crushed violets, red currant, patchouli root and spanish moss.
Violets are one of my favorite scents--I adore the horrifically soapy-floral C. Howard's Violet Mints. This violet scent takes a different tack from most other violet scents I've come across, though; instead of a Victorian-tinged, sugared-violet feminine concoction, it takes more of a classic chypre approach, muddying the violet with huge helpings of earthy, dirty oakmoss, a bit of patchouli, and with tangy, almost fizzy redcurrant brightening up the top of the scent. I love the contrast of the dark basenotes and the sweet floral/tart fruit overlay. It's not something I reach for often, but every so often, it does relieve the discomforts and complaints of my (still-corporeally-bound) spirits.
AG's pick - DreamWorld Hermetica's Kiss of Midnight
I've recently rediscovered my DreamWorld blushes, which I received when I did a swap with shop owner Ellie. Since I've heartily embraced the purple blush trend, the deep purple called Kiss of Midnight is one of my favorites. It's a rich matte purple base with some added sparkles, and it blends out beautifully to give you softly purple cheeks. I love pairing purple blushes like this with a dark purple lip color for a dramatic look!
Lisa's pick - One Hand Washes The Other's Stolen Bouquet
OHWTO's overtly purple floral Stolen Bouquet raises a lot of questions. It's described as, "Purple blooms sneakily gathered from the gardens of others while nobody was looking- lilacs and violets, accented with orchids, with a dash of powdery vanilla added to ground the scent." But why was the bouquet stolen? Why did the thief specifically only snag violet-hued flowers? What were they thinking sprinkling powdery vanilla over their pilfered loot? Maybe it was like the story of Rapunzel, except instead of sneaking into the witch's garden for spinach, his pregnant wife absolutely needs every purple and violet flower.
Either way, Stolen Bouquet is a curious fragrance. I often have difficulty with violet notes, and many times they quickly flatten into something reminiscent of Play-Doh on my skin. Stolen Bouquet tries its darndest not to let that happen though. The opening notes are gloriously damp - flowers picked straight from the garden still covered in dripping morning dew.
After they "dry off" (which is usually an hour or so after application) there's a bragging competition waging between the lilac and violet notes. Both want the spotlight and are desperate for attention. The violet eventually wins out and the only thing I imagine keeping this from becoming Eau de Play-Doh is that sprinkling of vanilla. I do wish there was a bit of tuberose in this blend to take the edge off all the violet, or maybe a bit more vanilla to smooth it out into something a bit creamier. I usually get a good 6 hours of wear, although silage in the beginning is a bit potent so take care when applying.
Jeannie's pick - Femme Fatale Cosmetics' Exorcism
I can never have enough purple eyeshadows, and Exorcism was one of my first jar-sized purchases from Femme Fatale Cosmetics (pictured is a 3g mini jar with a sifter). It is described on the website as "a medium toned purple with a stunning colour shifting shimmer which alternates between a complimentary purple and a sea green depending on the angle of the light." On me, the green shift has to hit the light at just the right angle to be seen and I find the pinky purple shimmer to be more noticeable in direct sunlight. Since this is such a bold colour, I like to use it as an all-over lid shade with a light brown to blend out the crease.
Kristin's pick - Darling Girl Cosmetics' Zombie Queen
My favorite Violet is actually a duo-chrome by Darling Girl Cosmetics. Zombie Queen is a sheer pink with a slight pale green hint straight on but when applied over a dark base, it turns into a deep purple shade. We featured this eyeshadow in a swatch post late last year but it's one of those shades that I could look at over and over.
What are your favorite indie violets? Let us know below in the comments!
I looove Exorcism!!! Femme Fatale also has this new amazing series out called Post Apocolyptic and I love their Floating Gems from thsi collection. I also find that BFTE's Sugar plum is a purple I turn to over and over. And although a duochrome- I also love BFTE's Dewdrop which is a purple/pink duo shift (My Little Pony from darling Girl I think is very similar to this shade).
ReplyDeleteI saw swatches of the Post Apocalyptic collection on Femme Fatale's Facebook page, they all look AMAZING! All your violet eyeshadow picks sound awesome, I can never have too many duochromes :)
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