Hey everyone! Proving once again that they know their audience better than we know ourselves, the Shiro Cosmetics team has released two very special mini collections of face and lip products for Valentine's Day. These collections are, of course, based on two of the most prominent '90s boy bands: *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. I won't reveal any details about my tween interest in these bands (some secrets are best lost to time) but I would love to share swatches and reviews of each of the products in these two collections!
It's my understanding this collection is permanent, but whichever collection has sold the most by February 14 (today!) will have a limited edition eyeshadow added to it. Each collection currently contains two glosses, two blushes, and one highlighting powder. Each product is named after a member of the band, usually in the form of a terrible pun. For reference, my skin is roughly NC15 in MAC terms or Sleek Korat in Meow Cosmetics terms; I am reasonably pale and warm-toned. Let's get started!
Kristin adds: The results are in!
Final results for Battle of the Boy Bands: *NSYNC pulled through with an even 53% of votes versus Backstreet Boys' 47%. The special eye shadow color for *NSYNC will be launched this Monday! Hope everyone is having a great Valentine's / Cat Appreciation / Eating Chocolates Alone Day!
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I Want It That Way collection inspired by The Backstreet Boys
From the website: Warm-toned highlight with the most subtle shimmer. Littrell-y the best!
Ingredients: serecite mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide. Lip- and Eye-safe!
Personal Comments: I'm delighted that the Shiro team continues to expand their highlight powder range! If Curaga is too bold and Think. It's the New Sexy. is too matte for your tastes, you might consider a sample of this new shade. It's got just enough sheen to softly catch the light, but it's subtle enough that you don't need to be terrified of accidentally turning your cheekbones into beacons. I think this would be a great option for newcomers to highlighting - it is very, very hard to overdo it. Although it is indeed warm-toned, I suspect this might work equally well for cool-toned folks, as I didn't notice any real color change when I applied it. It also works well on the eyes; I put a wash of it over my lids and added a matte brown to my crease for a simple but flattering neutral eye look.
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From the website: Soft matte warm blushy beige. A.J.ust gorgeous addition to your gorgeous face!
Ingredients: serecite mica, red #40, iron oxide. Lip- and Eye-safe!
Personal Comments: This is a pretty, neutral blush in a similar vein to the very popular Tarte blush in Exposed (though less red). It worked nicely on my skin tone with my normal blush brush - no stippling brush, feather-light application, or sacrifices to the pigmentation gods were needed to prevent an overly heavy application. Given its great performance and its compatibility with my light, warm skin tone, this is my top blush pick of the two boy band collections.
All swatches over bare skin. All photos taken in partial sunlight.
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From the website: Deep warm rose with barely-there shimmer. Howie could anyone live without it?!
Ingredients: serecite mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, copper powder, red #40, silicon dioxide. Lip- and Eye-safe!
Personal Comments: I've tried this blush on a few times now, and at this point I think I feel comfortable saying it's not a good match for my skin tone. The description of warm rose sounds lovely, but on my cheeks it just looks like a muddy brown with just a touch of shimmer. It performed just fine, but I didn't find it flattering. Since this is a more unusual blush color, I'm not certain who to recommend it to, but I think folks with light-medium to medium skin tones will likely have better luck with it. If you're closer to the pale end of the spectrum and are looking for a neutral, earthy blush, I think You Can McLean On Me is a much better option.
All swatches over bare skin. All photos taken in partial sunlight.
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From the website: Rich fuschia-toned pink gloss with a soft golden shimmer. Slightly more than moderate opacity. Someone must have Nick’d my heart, because I’m bleeding love!
Flavor: Sweet peppy strawberry.
Ingredients: hydrogenated polyisobutene, ethylene/propylene/styrene copolymer, butylene/ethylene/styrene copolymer, meadowfoam seed oil, cocoa butter, kaolin clay, red #27, red #33, mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, castor oil, vitamin E, flavor.
Personal Comments: This is a really fun color! It's a seriously bright fuchsia pink. And when I say bright, what I mean we're getting close to neon here. This is not a color for the timid. The gold shimmer looks gorgeous in the clamshell, but on the lips it translates to a very shiny finish. It catches the light really well, but doesn't look gold to my eyes. It left a pink stain on my lips after I wiped it off. I didn't notice a big difference between one and two layers, so I put a photo of the post-removal stain in the collage above in place of a two-layer swatch.
Caitlin gave me a heads up that some of my samples might arrive without flavor oil, and I believe this was one of them. I've heard some people say Shiro's unflavored glosses smell off-putting, but mine smells lightly of inoffensive cocoa butter.
All swatches over bare skin. All photos taken in partial sunlight.
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From the website: Deep Dragon-styled red in a wearably moderate opacity. Now I know there is a Kevin, because I’m wearing it!
Flavor: Our very own take on spiceberry. Contains a very small amount of cinnamon oil; please be aware of sensitivities/allergies!
Ingredients: hydrogenated polyisobutene, ethylene/propylene/styrene copolymer, butylene/ethylene/styrene copolymer, meadowfoam seed oil, cocoa butter, red #40, red #30, red #21, iron oxide, castor oil, vitamin E, flavor.
Personal Comments: It looks like the Shiro team modeled this color after the beloved, discontinued Chanel lip lacquer in the shade Dragon. Between the perfect shade name and my weakness for deep reds, I think this is my favorite product from the boy band collections. One thin layer yields a red that's a couple shades darker than classic red, and an additional layer makes for a stunning deep red that's still got some brightness to it. It's glossy and gorgeous. It's got a sweet cinnamon scent (reminiscent of Red Hots candy) and a noticeable, lasting tingle on my lips due to the cinnamon oil. I'm somewhat sensitive to cinnamon oil in lip products, but I didn't have any trouble wearing this gloss. I did notice the effect felt stronger when I applied the gloss with a lip brush and really worked the first layer into my lips, for what it's worth. I also want to mention this product left a pink stain on my lips, even after wearing it only briefly to get a lip swatch photo.
I noticed a drawback on heavier application, which you might be able to spot in the heavy lip swatch above. There were some uneven darker areas on the inner portion of my lips when I put on a second layer of product. It's standing out a little more in the photo than it did in real life, but it's worth mentioning. Even when I applied it carefully with a lip brush, I noticed some darker horizontal lines appearing where my lips met. It wasn't a deal breaker for me, but I think I'll stick to wearing it with a light or moderate application for best performance.
All swatches over bare skin. All photos taken in partial sunlight.
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Tearin' Up My Heart collection inspired by *NSYNC
From the website: Cool pink-toned lightly shimmery highlight. Like a Lance through the heart!
Ingredients: serecite mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide. Lip- and Eye-safe!
Personal Comments: I hate to say it, but I think this highlighter is a bit of an under performer. It's so subtle that it rounds down to pretty much invisible on my skin. I went so far as to apply it heavily to one cheekbone and leave the other bare, and the difference between them was very small. However, I have been wondering whether this might work well as a subtly brightening face powder either under or over foundation. I won't have a chance to test it out before this post goes live, which means I can't check whether it's finely milled enough to work like this, so take that suggestion with a big grain of salt! If you're in the market for a highlighter, though, I'd recommend skipping this one in favor of I Have a Littrell Crush on You.
All swatches over bare skin. All photos taken in partial sunlight.
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From the website: Ultra-vivid cool matte pink! Brings Joey to your heart!
Ingredients: serecite mica, kaolin clay, red #27. Lip-safe, NOT Eye-safe!
Personal Comments: Ultra-vivid is right! This is a very bright and pigmented blush. I would definitely recommend that paler folks pull out a stippling brush and keep your foundation brush nearby when applying this to tone it down as needed. That said, I'm thinking this will be a great option for cool-toned folks with medium and darker skin tones. I felt it clashed with my warm-toned skin, but of course that's personal preference and didn't affect the good performance of this blush.
All swatches over bare skin. All photos taken in partial sunlight.
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From the website: Bright mid-toned matte red! Kapow!
Ingredients: serecite mica, red #40, red #7. Lip-safe, NOT Eye-safe!
Personal Comments: As with I'll Fatone for my Sins, this is a seriously pigmented blush, so many of my comments will be similar for this one! I believe this one is even more pigmented, so any pale newcomers to the blush world might want to avoid it for now. For everyone else, keep your stippling brush on hand and tread carefully. As with the previous shade, I think folks with darker skin tones might find this works well for them. For unknown reasons (which may or may not include denial) I find cool-toned reds a lot easier to pull off on my warm-toned skin than cool pinks, so I was perfectly happy wearing this shade.
All swatches over bare skin. All photos taken in partial sunlight.
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From the website: Mid-toned sheer/moderate bubblegum pink! A color worth Chasezing down.
Flavor: Flirty bubblegum, of course!
Ingredients: hydrogenated polyisobutene, ethylene/propylene/styrene copolymer, butylene/ethylene/styrene copolymer, meadowfoam seed oil, cocoa butter, kaolin clay, red #40, red #7, iron oxide, vitamin E, flavor.
Personal Comments: True facts: I have worn blue lipstick in public, but my nightmares consist of bubblegum pinks like this. Fortunately, this cool-toned pink didn't clash with my warm skin tone quite as much as I expected. One thin layer of gloss was surprisingly flattering - it brightened up my face without adding a ton of color. A second layer of gloss brought a much bigger color payoff to the party, though it didn't get quite as opaque as it looked in the clamshell (true to the site description of sheer/moderate). Lovers of bubblegum pink lip products should be delighted with this shade. I believe this sample also did not contain its flavor oil, so I can't comment on the scent.
If any of my fellow warm-toned people absolutely need a tube of lip gloss named after Mr. Chasez but aren't sure about the color, I'd say, pick up a sample clamshell and try a light application. You might be pleasantly surprised.
All swatches over bare skin. All photos taken in partial sunlight.
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From the website: The perfect warm ultra-opaque T-Swift polished red. It’s going down, I’m yelling Timber(lake)!
Flavor: Mild sweet french vanilla.
Ingredients: hydrogenated polyisobutene, ethylene/propylene/styrene copolymer, butylene/ethylene/styrene copolymer, meadowfoam seed oil, cocoa butter, kaolin clay, red #7, red #30, red #40, castor oil, vitamin E, flavor.
Personal Comments: The collection wraps up with another very bold lip shade! One layer is a bright pink-red, two layers is a seriously bright and punchy red. This one's an attention-getter for sure. The formula is thicker and more opaque than the other glosses, perhaps halfway between a gloss and a lacquer. It smells like very sweet frosting to my nose.
Justin Time is a tricky product to apply because it's very opaque and it stains on contact. It's a good candidate for a steady hand, a lip brush, lip liner, concealer around the border of your lips, or any other tricks you can think of for getting a perfect lip application. The instant staining power means it looks really messy around lip edges if you accidentally paint outside your lip lines (ask me how I know this!). I'm working out of a clamshell so I can't speak to whether it's easier to apply with the full size tube's doe foot applicator, but I'd recommend keeping a lip brush nearby just in case.
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I had a chance to get some comparison swatches between the two red glosses and some of my other lip products. Have a look:
From top to bottom, these are: Shiro Seven Minutes in Kevin, Fyrinnae Dragon's Blood, Shiro Red Wedding, Hourglass Icon, Shiro Who Swallowed A Star, Shiro Justin Time.
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I have a few general formula notes which apply across both collections. I suspect I'm somewhat prone to lip products feathering, but I believe I noticed slight feathering with all of these glosses shortly after application. From what I've read, I believe feathering is not unexpected in darker or more opaque glosses, so I don't count it as a terrible flaw in Shiro's formula. An anti-feathering pencil or a border of concealer around your lips should keep the glosses in line if you experience any problems. I always apply lip swatches over bare lips with no liner, concealer, or other tricks (unless clearly stated otherwise!) so you can always see exactly how each product performs without assistance.
I had a chance to do a proper wear test on A Chris For Good Luck. The blush looked great for a full workday, but I did notice some fading around the 9 hour mark. I'm assuming the other blushes will perform similarly, with the exception of I'll Fatone For Your Sins. It contains oil-absorbing kaolin clay, so my working theory is it should have better staying power than the other blushes. As for the glosses, I generally get 2-3 hours of wear out of Shiro's gloss formula, which I find perfectly respectable considering I can't go five minutes without eating or drinking.
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That's a wrap on the two boy band collections! I recommend checking out Shiro's Facebook page for today's announcement about which band has swept the Valentine's Day sales race - the winning band will have a limited edition eyeshadow added to its collection.
What do you think about these two collections? Which Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC song is stuck in your head right now?
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pretty love it
ReplyDeleteThis just solidified my order even more :)
ReplyDelete