Saturday, November 30, 2013

Collection Spotlight! WTF by My Pretty Zombie!

Purchased


From the website description page:
So my dear sweet innocent mom thought WTF meant "Wednesday Thursday Friday"
In honor of how awesomely cute that is, I created this set of neutrals. Perfect for your mom (who probably thinks the same thing) or any other sweet non eff word dropping lady in your life!
Awwwwwww. I think this is adorable!


This is a small set but the colors are all gorgeous and they complement each other beautifully. T ("Tuesday") is the "main color" and the other colors are described in comparison with W being the "lighter version" and F being the "darkest shade." 


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From the website:  the lighter version

Eye Shadow Ingredients: mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, yellow no 5 lake, hydrogenated polyisobutene, palmitic acid, carbon black, copper powder, silicon dioxide, magnesium myristrate

Vegan!

Personal Comments: A gorgeous light beige with a slight shimmer. This shade is suggested as a highlight or browbone color. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.


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From the website: a warm brown. 

Eye Shadow Ingredients: mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, yellow no 5 lake, hydrogenated polyisobutene, palmitic acid, carbon black, copper powder, silicon dioxide, magnesium myristrate

Vegan!

Personal Comments: The "main" shade. T is a light orange-y brown. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.


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From the website: the darkest shade 

Eye Shadow Ingredients: mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, yellow no 5 lake, hydrogenated polyisobutene, palmitic acid, carbon black, copper powder, silicon dioxide, magnesium myristrate

Vegan!

Personal Comments: A darker steel-toned silver. There's a brown undertone in this color that comes out in the right light. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.


Friday, November 29, 2013

Swatch Post! Darling Girl Cosmetics : Bubbles, Honey Pot, Untamed, and Zombie Queen!

From the website: Sheer pinky beige with shifts of varying blues and greens and a smattering of color shifting glitter for added depth and complexity and SPARKLE! 

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Carnauba Wax, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide, Silica, Iron Oxide(s) and Manganese Violet.

Personal Comments: Bubbles is a really pretty eyeshadow and it's honestly really hard to describe. It's a sheer eyeshadow that looks like it "glows" with different colors depending on the angle. Head on, it's more of an orange-y beige but it also reflects with a blue green shimmer. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.


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From the website: Loud mouth orange-y gold!

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide, Iron Oxide, Magnesium Stearate and Ferric Ferrocyanide.

Personal Comments: A vivid orange based gold with a metallic finish. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.


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From the website: Bright happy teal with turquoise flash and a subtle violet shift that gives it a more periwinkle hue.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Carnauba Wax, Chromium Oxide Green, Ultramarines, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide and Silica.  

NOT Lip Approved. 

Personal Comments: A light blue shade with added blue shimmer. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.


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From the website: Pale mint green with purple shift and lavender and purple sparkles.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Boron Nitride, Mica, Myristic Acid, Magnesium Hydroxide, Titanium Dioxide, Tin Oxide, Synthetic Fluorophylogopite, Silica, , CI 19140 Yellow #5 FD&C lake CAS 12225-21-7 and Ultramarines.  

NOT Lip Safe.

Personal Comments: A gorgeous duo-chrome. It's a sheer pinky color but the strong purple comes out when applied over a black base. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. This picture was taken outside in natural light.




Thursday, November 28, 2013

Company Overview: Black Violet

Black Violet will have you smelling lovely every step of the way.

It's the perfect storm for purchasing: a new shop, an appealing list of fragrances, and a coupon code. So when Black Violet arrived on the scene and hit all three points, how could I say no? 

Happy Holidays!



Happy Holidays to everyone!

We're so thankful for our readers and for the chance to share our love for the indie world! Be merry and get ready for all of those indie sales tomorrow!

Head over to Toxid Lotus for sale listings!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Swatch Post! Little Sparrow Cosmetics Lip Jellies and Lipsticks


Hi everyone! Today I'd like to show you swatches of products by Little Sparrow Cosmetics, a new US-based Etsy shop specializing in lip and cheek swatches. As disclosure, please know I purchased some of these items and Little Sparrow's owner Jessica kindly provided the rest as press samples. This post contains only my honest opinions of the products.

Exciting note: My fellow Indie Know bloggers kindly let me jump ahead in the posting schedule so I could rush these swatches out before Little Sparrow's Black Friday sale. At the risk of spoiling this post and my upcoming review, I LOVE these products, and I cannot recommend them enough. They're already a steal at their normal price of $5.50 each, so if any of these look appealing to you, there's no reason you shouldn't pick them up during the shop's 25% off sale. The sale starts on Thanksgiving (Nov. 28, 2013) at 8pm EST and runs through Black Friday (Nov. 29, 2013). 

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Let's begin with the Lip Jellies. I'll save the full review for the upcoming Company Overview, but suffice it to say these look and feel amazing on my lips and cheeks alike, and I have been raving about them ever since I received them. 


From the website: Plum Brandy is a medium-dark purple color. It is a bit more pigmented than most of the other lip jellies.

Lip Jelly Ingredients: Avocado oil, Candelilla wax, Shea butter, Red 7, Blue 1, Red 30, Iron oxide, Castor Oil

Personal Comments: This might be my favorite Lip Jelly for cheeks. It looks kind of scary in the swatch, but it's a great mix of natural and a little unusual on my pale skin. It's perfect for fall! Swatches done over bare skin. Photos taken outside in indirect sunlight.

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From the website: Oh My Papaya is a red-orange color, almost coral. It's my personal favorite color out of the lip jellies, and it's the one I use as a blush the most often.

Lip Jelly Ingredients: Avocado oil, Candelilla wax, Shea butter, Red 6, Yellow 5, Orange 5, Castor oil

Personal Comments: Oh My Papaya is a bright and fun orange that looks just like its namesake. I think this is the most approachable color for my fellow pale folks who might be a little nervous about using cheek tints. 

If you take a look at the tube photo in the collage, you'll see my only complaint about the specific tube of product I received. I believe an air bubble must have gotten into the product while it was cooling after being poured, so the top of this Lip Jelly was concave when I received it. The product was otherwise perfect, but I needed to wear down the "edges" on the back of my hand before applying it to get a smooth application. None of my other tubes had this issue, so I believe it was a fluke. Swatches done over bare skin. Photos taken outside in indirect sunlight.

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From the website: Raspberry Tart is a bright, berry-toned pink. It's a brighter, bolder, not-toned-down version of Guava Smoothie.

Lip Jelly Ingredients: Avocado oil, Candelilla wax, Shea butter, Red 27, Red 21, Castor oil

Personal Comments: This is a lovely pink! I expect this color will be another popular option for pale-skinned folks in search of a very natural cheek tint. Swatches done over bare skin. Photos taken outside in indirect sunlight.

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From the website: Cherry Pop is a medium blue-toned berry red color. 

Lip Jelly Ingredients: Avocado oil, Candelilla wax, Shea butter, Red 40, Red 21, Red 7, Castor oil

Personal Comments: Cherry Pop is beautiful and very bright! My fellow pale people may need to use a slightly lighter hand with Cherry Pop when using it on cheeks to avoid a sunburn effect. Swatches done over bare skin. Photos taken outside in indirect sunlight.

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From the website: Guava Smoothie is the sheerest color out of all the lip jellies, and requires a little more building to get to medium coverage. It's a light pink, basically Raspberry Tart's more demure younger sister.

Lip Jelly Ingredients: Avocado oil, Candelilla wax, Shea butter, Titanium dioxide, Red 27, Red 21, Castor Oil

Personal Comments: Though it's a lovely, pale-friendly pink, Guava Smoothie is the oddball of the Lip Jellies, and the only product in this post I would not recommend at this time. The texture is notably drier and less glossy than the other Lip Jelly colors, so it drags a bit on my dry lips and doesn't have the same natural glow on my cheeks as the other shades. Swatches done over bare skin. Photos taken outside in indirect sunlight.

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Next, let's look at the lipsticks. Once again I'll save the full review for the Company Overview, but in brief: these feel fantastic on my dry lips and can be built to full opacity in one or two swipes. If you're in the market for a lovely fall lip color, give these a try!


From the website: Mocha Red is a dark, brown-tinted red.

Lipstick Ingredients: Avocado Oil, Shea Butter, Candelilla wax, Iron Oxide, Yellow 5, Castor Oil

Personal Comments: If you're still on the hunt for a great fall lip color, this rusty red is an excellent contender. It's dark and dramatic without being over the top. Swatches done over bare skin. Photos taken outside in indirect sunlight.

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From the website: Rust is a dark, orange-tinted red. It's a bit lighter than my “Mocha Red” color.

Lipstick Ingredients: Avocado Oil, Shea Butter, Candelilla wax, Iron Oxide, Yellow 6, Castor Oil

Personal Comments: Rust is another gorgeous fall color that reminds me of autumn leaves. It's showing up a little brighter and more orange in my swatches than it did in person. Swatches done over bare skin. Photos taken outside in indirect sunlight.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Perfume Review - OHWTO's Apple Spice Cake

OHWTO's Apple Spice Cake
Depending on where you live, it might be getting pretty cold this time of year. You also may or may not be gearing up for a holiday or two that involves copious amounts of food and family. If this applies to you, I hope you can understand that I've had apples on the brain for the past couple of weeks (and if it doesn't apply to you, apples are still marvelous so it's a win-win, right?) - all I want to do is eat, cook, and bake apples.

I felt like I had to preface this post with my apple disclaimer because the fragrance I want to talk about is from a 4th of July release, and it is definitely not the 4th of July anymore. I guess this is already kind of an American-centric post (American holidays and all), but there's always time for apples.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Swatch Post! Madd Style Cosmetics : Face of Boe, I Think You Call Me...Sexy, K9, and Pandorica!




From the website: FACE OF BOE is a dark brown matte shadow.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Iron Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Magnesium Myristate.

This shadow is approved for use on eyes, lips and face. 

Personal Comments: Part of the Dr Who Mattes collection. Face of Boe is a completely matte, chocolately brown. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion. This picture was taken outside in natural light.


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From the website: I THINK YOU CALL ME... SEXY is a matte pinky lavender.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Iron Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Ultramarines, Magnesium Myristate.

This shadow is approved for use on eyes and face. 
This shadow is not approved for use on the lips. 

Personal Comments: Part of the Dr Who Mattes collection. A very light pink shade. Completely matte. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion. This picture was taken outside in natural light.



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Note: Oops just "K9," no dash.

From the website: K9 is a saffron/gold matte shadow.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Magnesium Myristate.

This shadow is approved for use on eyes, lips and face. 

Personal Comments: Part of the Dr Who Mattes collection. A bright orange, bold goldenrod color. K9 is completely matte. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion. This picture was taken outside in natural light.


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From the website: PANDORICA is a deep teal.

Eye Shadow Ingredients: Mica, Iron Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Magnesium Myristate.

This shadow is approved for use on eyes and face. 
This shadow is not approved for use on lips. 

Personal Comments: Part of the Dr Who Mattes collection. I didn't see any of the blue notes that usually make up a teal shade. To me, Pandorica seemed more like a darker green color. Completely matte. Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion. This picture was taken outside in natural light.




Saturday, November 23, 2013

Collection Spotlight: The Seven Kingdoms by Shiro Cosmetics

Hi everyone! Today I'd like to show you a truly exciting new collection from Shiro Cosmetics. It consists of fifteen eyeshadows and one lip gloss. I purchased samples of each eyeshadow and a full sized gloss, and I'll be showing you all of them today. Here's what owner Caitlin has to say about the Seven Kingdoms Collection:
"This collection is inspired by George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, which is currently being translated into a really excellent TV series by HBO. 
I've been planning this collection for years, since before I released the Legends Collection way back in October 2010. It's a delight to finally make it available, and I hope you all love it as much as I do! For those who aren't caught up with the series or who haven't read the books, I've done my best to avoid spoilers in the descriptions. 
The full sizes from this set feature original art by the incredible Robert Hendrickson."
Though I didn't buy any full-sized jars, I have to point out the beautiful, understated art Robert Hendrickson created for this collection. Each shade is inspired by a different character, and each shade's full-sized jar boasts a sketch of its character's face on the lid. Rather than attempting to capture author George R. R. Martin's sweeping battle scenes, magnificent feasts, or towering castles, Hendrickson instead created a series of monochromatic portraits in what looks almost like careful watercolor to my eye. The portraits are clearly modeled after the actors in the television series, so fans of the book who haven't seen the show may not identify as strongly with the art as devotees of the TV adaptation.

Without further ado, let's look at these gorgeous shades! Following Caitlin's lead, I will avoid spoilers as best I can.

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From the website: Chaos isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail, and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, but refuse. They cling to the realm, or love, or the gods. Illusions. Only the ladder is real.

The climb is all there is.


Rich velvety brown with a warm metallic copper-bronze shine. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide

Personal Comments: "Climbing Chaos" is based on Littlefinger, otherwise known as Lord Petyr Baelish. Shiro's description for this shade is spot on. I have to say, though Shiro is probably best known for their glitterbombs, I am consistently impressed with the brand's metallics. Most or all of the metallics I have from Shiro are beautifully smooth and have the most gorgeous sheen. If "Climbing Chaos" is right up your alley, check out "Remake" and "Mockingjay" from Shiro's Tributes collection (here's a link to our review) for more metallic goodness.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Maybe some real wolves will find you. Maybe they'll smell you when the sun goes down. Then you'll learn what wolves do to dogs.

Blackened plate-steel grey shot through with hints of orange fire. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide

Personal Comments: "Gift of Mercy" is based on The Hound, otherwise known as Sandor Clegane. This is a very dark charcoal grey with, to my eye, rainbow glitter. It reminds me of Fyrinnae's "Immortality", and I'll try to update this post with a side-by-side swatch of the two shades.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Does loyalty mean nothing to you?

Rich earthy brown-black shimmering with the green of House Mormont. Not lip-safe.

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, ferric ferrocyanide, chromium oxide

Personal Comments: "Here I Stand" is based on Ser Jorah Mormont. Shiro's color description is pretty close to what I see, though the sparkles are more teal than green to my eye. 

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: "Hodor," hodored Hodor. "Hodor hodor hodor!"
"HODOR, STOP HODORING."

Medium near-matte taupe. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, zinc oxide, methicone

Personal Comments: "Hodor." is based on Hodor. It's a rosey, taupe-y shade with a strong silver sheen when the light catches it. I'm a big fan of Shiro's neutral shades, because they almost always have some kind of interesting twist to them.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: I loved a maid as fair as summer, with the sunlight in her hair. She was a crofter's daughter. And she loved me.

Green-shifting gold shining out over a base of softened Lannister crimson. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide

Personal Comments: "I Loved A Maid" is based on Tyrion Lannister. This is goooorgeous. To me it's a rusty orange with a strong, sparkly yellow-green shift that's quite obvious when it hits the light. This is one of my top picks from this collection.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Only a little bird, repeating the words they taught me.

Delicate matte mauve/beige pink. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, red 40, methicone

Personal Comments: "Little Bird" is based on Sansa Stark. Shiro's description of this color perfectly describes what I see. I'm really excited to see Shiro branching out with more mattes!

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Aye, Queen you shall be. Until there comes another, younger and more beautiful...

The brilliant emerald of Highgarden, with bright aqua shimmer and golden-rose sparks. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, calcium aluminum borosilicate, yellow 5 lake, blue 5 lake, silica

Personal Comments: "Maiden Queen" is based on Margaery Tyrell. Every time I open this collection's landing page, my eye goes straight to this amazing shade. Once again, Shiro's description is spot on. This is another of my top picks from this collection.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Power resides where men believe it resides. It's a trick. A shadow on the wall. 

And a very small man can cast a very large shadow.

Soft golden shimmer shining through pale lilac silk. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide

Personal Comments: "Master of Whispers" is based on "The Spider", otherwise known as Lord Varys. As Shiro says, this shade's base comes across as a pale lilac, but the bright overlay is almost a pastel coral to my eyes. It's so gorgeous, but it reminded me of Shiro's limited edition Halloween 2013 shade in "Zero". I'll see what I can do to update this post with side-by-side comparison swatches, but for now, know that "Zero" is darker, more opaque, and has a stronger pink sheen. They're easy to tell apart when they're side by side, but I'm not certain you need both. If you missed out on Shiro's Halloween Collection, this shade is an excellent stand in for "Zero". Either way, it's another of my top picks from this collection.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons.

Silvered royal purple over a blood-red base. Not lip-safe.

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, aluminum powder, silica

Personal Comments: "Mother of Dragons" is based on Daenerys Targaryen. This is another stunner. It looks like a dark blood red in the sample bag, as you can see, but swatches as an amazing deep purple covered in silver shimmer. This is another of my top picks from this collection.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: There are no men like me. 

Only me.

Gold-burnished plate cloaked in ashy white. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, bronze powder, silica, zinc oxide, methicone

Personal Comments: "No Men Like Me" is based on Jaime Lannister. This one was a little odd. I swatched it four times in three different ways to try to figure out what was going on. 

Applied dry over silicone primer and Pixie Epoxy, it looked kind of like I swatched a mustard colored shadow with a satin finish, then patted on a thin layer of off-white powder in random patches. I found the off-white overlay was more likely to show up if I packed on a thick layer of shadow all at once, and more likely to be absent if I applied just a small amount of shadow in a thin layer. 

Let's look at some alternative swatches:



Applied wet over silicone primer and Pixie Epoxy, it's like a completely different eyeshadow. The off-white overlay disappears entirely, and you're left with the most gorgeous bronzey gold with a near metallic sheen. It's not at all patchy and it doesn't change appearance as it dries. You can see some textural issues in the swatch, but I believe that's due to me adding a bit too much water.

Finally, I tried applying it over bare skin, just to see what would happen. I believe the result is closest to Shiro's official description of "gold-burnished plate cloaked in ashy white". I can see the same bronzey gold as the wet swatch, but its color and sheen are muted by what I can only describe as a subtle mist of ashy overlay. It's a subtle effect, but it's unique and interesting.

In brief - this is a weird one, and it might take a bit of experimentation to figure out what application method yields a look you prefer. I'm not a fan of how it looks applied dry over primer and Pixie Epoxy, but when applied wet or over bare skin, it becomes much more appealing.

First set of swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Alternative swatches done as described on the collage. All photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: I am a knight. I shall die a knight.

The matte orange-brown of House Selmy, softened with gentle cream shimmer. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, silica

Personal Comments: "Queensguard" is based on Barristan Selmy. I see a reddish brown, but I don't see too much of the cream shimmer. When I patted this on in a thicker layer, I found the chocolate brown came out a little more.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: The prince that was promised, born amidst salt and smoke to wake dragons from stone.

Blackened green of House Baratheon, shining with the red light of R'hllor. Not lip-safe.

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, copper powder, silica, chromium oxide

Personal Comments: "Salt and Stone" is based on Stannis Baratheon. This is a forest green with a sparkly red sheen. I had some trouble getting the red sheen to show up consistently through the shadow, so it might take a bit of fussing to get a uniform effect. I recommend enlarging the photo to get a better look at how the red sheen appeared for me. Regardless, this is a unique shade and will likely be worth any fuss if the color appeals to you.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: All men must serve. And all men must die.

Pure black shining with metallic white overlay. Not lip-safe.

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, aluminum powder, silica

Personal Comments: "Valar Morghulis" is based on Arya Stark. This is a light black shade with a ton of silver sparkles.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs. 

Purchase Link

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From the website: Cersei knows that tears and seduction are more useful than nipples on a breastplate.

Strong red wine with soft golden shimmer. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, bronze powder, silica

Personal Comments: "Women's Weapons" is based on Cersei Lannister. Shiro calls it a red wine shade, and I think that's a great way to describe it. I see some copper sparkles and a few rainbow sparkles, but the base color dominates.

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: John Snuh knows nothing, except for the Lord's Kiss, and what a castle looks like.

Cold wintery grey-white with bright icy shimmer. Lip-safe!

Ingredients: mica, carnauba wax, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, methicone

Personal Comments: "You Know Nothing" is based on Jon Snow. This was the first one I swatched, and the moment I put it on my arm, it instantly reminded me of the fake snow you see all over Christmas decorations. Have you ever picked up an extraordinarily glittery ornament and had a ton of the white glitter with teal sparkles fly all over the place? That's exactly what this eyeshadow reminds me of. I expect this will be a popular choice for Shiro's custom glosses, if the immense love for Moon Prism Power in gloss form is any indication. 

Swatches done over Urban Decay Primer Potion and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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From the website: Heh.

Very opaque blood-red.
Flavored with cheerful fruity cranberry!

Samples are available in a clamshell; full sizes are in a tube with doefoot applicator.

Ingredients: hydrogenated polyisobutene, ethylene/propylene/styrene copolymer, butylene/ethylene/styrene copolymer, meadowfoam seed oil, red 40, iron oxide, cocoa butter, castor oil, vitamin E, flavor

Personal Comments: "Red Wedding" is not based on a character (and that's all you'll get out of me). The label art portrays the Iron Throne in all its pointy majesty. And friends... this is my favorite Shiro gloss yet. It's a deep red and it's gorgeous. It builds up beautifully as well, which is a relief after my disappointment with the last Shiro gloss I tried (Halloween 2013's "Something In The Wind"). One layer is more than enough for a lovely red lip, but two layers makes the color a bit deeper, richer and more opaque. My sole complaint is that this particular color smells of artificial fruit punch, which is not really my thing. Thankfully, the scent fades quickly.

I'm enamored with this gloss, and I think it's one of the must-haves of the collection. For those who haven't yet heard me rave about Shiro's gloss formula, suffice it to say it is non-sticky and very comfortable to wear, and is the product that finally made me a believer in lip gloss.

Since my favorite lip product of all time is also a deep red, I pulled it out for a comparison swatch. Here you'll see Red Wedding and Fyrinnae's Lip Lustre in Dragon's Blood side by side. Dragon's Blood is a stunning color that makes me feel like Snow White, but I was shocked to see it looks downright fuchsia next to Red Wedding:



If I've piqued your curiosity about Fyrinnae's Lip Lustres, you can read our review for details and swatches.

Swatches done over bare skin. Photos taken inside under daylight bulbs.

Purchase Link

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Overall, this is another beautiful, inspired collection from Shiro. According to Caitlin, this collection was three years in the making - my congratulations to her for bringing it to life!

What do you think of the shades in this collection? Do you agree with my top picks? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!