Weekend Looks: City Color Cosmetics and Fyrinnae

I mentioned in my post last week that I placed another Fyrinnae order because I wanted to get the Pixie Epoxy that is supposed to be used under many Fyrinnae shadows, and I also purchased a few additional shadows in the order because I had enjoyed the other shadows so much. 

Apart from these new singles, I realized that I had gone through all the individually packaged singles in my collection. There are, of course, many single Makeup Geek shadows that are in custom palettes, but I have pretty much gone through all my singles. The only one really left was one from City Color Cosmetics that I hadn't been able to use yet. 

So, for the weekend, I decided to use that and a new shadow from Fyrinnae. 

Below are the two looks I did this weekend.

Look 1: City Color Cosmetics Beach Cottage

Beach Cottage on the lid and Juvia's Place Zobo blended into the crease

Look 2: Fyrinnae Serendipity

Serendipity on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy), Becca Ombre Rouge 3 blended into the crease, and Fyrinnae Saharan Princess padded onto the outer corner. 

City Color Cosmetics Beach Cottage

Status: Keep, for now

A while back, I bought four of the City Color Cosmetics Shimmer Shadows, and I absolutely love them. Considering that these are $5 each for foiled shadows, my expectations were pretty low, despite the fact that Temptalia has given most of the shades an "A" rating. I have been blown away by the quality of these shadows, and if I didn't have a stupidly large eyeshadow collection as is, I would definitely be tempted to purchase more. 

I really loved how Beach Cottage looked and performed on the lid, but I have it in the "keep, for now" category because, while I love it, I also have two other golden green foiled shadows. And really, how many of that specific kind of color does someone need? I swatched all three of the shadows in question to see how similar they are:

From left: City Color Cosmetics Beach Cottage, Juvia's Place Mali (from the Masquerade palette), and Makeup Geek Typhoon. 

To me, Beach Cottage looks like the combination of Typhoon and Mali. I like all three shades, and I do feel they are all different enough for me to keep. I will, however, pay attention to how often these shadows are used and will eliminate some if I don't feel I am using them enough. 

I paired Beach Cottage with Zobo because Zobo is one of the prettiest shadows ever, I think, and works exceptionally well in the crease with strong green, blue, and purple shadows. I really enjoyed the combination and thought the look was pretty. 

Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Before I discuss Serendipity, I want to talk about Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy. I have a few thoughts on this. One, and I just have to say this, I don't really like that I needed to buy a second product to make some Fyrinnae shadows work. I feel like if another product is required for the first product to work, then that crucial product should be included in the order at no additional charge. I use a primer whenever I wear eyeshadow, so it does feel high maintenance to add another step just to make Fyrinnae shadows work. 

With that said, I was very pleased with the results of this product. I've read that it can be used as a mixing medium to "foil" other shadows as well. I've never really been a foiling person or a person who uses shadows wet. I'm just way too lazy for that. I much prefer when a shadow works just fine as is, over primer, and applied with a brush. 

I used Pixie Epoxy as recommended by one of my readers. I put a tiny dab on the center of each eyelid after priming and smoothed it over the part of the lid I knew I would apply the shadow. For me, that was the just the lid. I then waited a few seconds until the product was a little tacky and applied the shadow. 

The effect was really beautiful and I am glad that I have the Pixie Epoxy as well as the Fyrinnae shadows. But, I can see how this would be a bit high maintenance for others and not really worth it. 

Fyrinnae Serendipity

Status: Love

When researching which Fyrinnae shadows were universally loved, I heard about Serendipity probably a little more than Rapunzel Had Extensions. And when I looked up swatches, I thought, "... So?" I just didn't get it. It looked like any normal bronze shadow to me. And while I am a person who generally likes to ignore/dispel hype, there was something about the hype around this indie shadow from a brand that I don't hear most mainstream people on YouTube talk about that really piqued my interest. What I mean is that Makeup Geek, Morphe, Juvia's Place, Coloured Raine, Violet Voss, Costal Scents, Colourpop, etc. are all technically "indie" makeup brands. But they are widely talked about on YouTube and many makeup blogs. Fyrinnae is a brand that I have heard about only in discussions about indie makeup outside of the "mainstream" brands I listed above. So, this isn't Too Faced or Tarte or Anastasia Beverly Hills hype, this is something totally different. And that was interesting to me. 

When Serendipity arrived and I swatched it on the back of my hand with no primer or Pixie Epoxy, I could see that the color was not what I thought it would be (and not at all what it looked like in the pictures I had seen), but it was also pretty sheer and therefore not that interesting. I was feeling a little doubtful as I applied the Pixie Epoxy onto my lids and went to apply Serendipity, but man, was I pleased with the result. 

The color of this shadow is unlike anything that I have seen before, but it is also very neutral. I feel I could wear this to work with no problem. It is just lovely. And I have to say, after using this shadow, I have to laugh at all the crap that gets hyped in the beauty community. Sweet Peach, Modern Renaissance, Master Palette by Mario, anything by Kylie Cosmetics—they just don't hold a candle to how I feel about the shadows I have tried from Fyrinnae. The colors are just so interesting, and in all those palettes, I feel like the only thing interesting is the combination of colors, packaging, and the name. There is something so refreshing about a makeup company that is under the radar for the most part and just puts out cool, beautiful shadows. No gimmicks. No manufactured hype. No paying people to shill their stuff. Just good products at normal prices. It's sad that it seems so novel to me. But I like it.