Weekend Looks: Fyrinnae, Shiro, and Notoriously Morbid

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I found out yesterday that a Racked article I was interviewed for was published, which was really cool. I think it's really great that anti-hauls and project pans are really picking up steam, and hopefully this will produce a new wave in the beauty industry where we are not constantly inundated with new products and people on YouTube trying to sell us stuff. 

The sun is out in New York City today, which seems to be a rare thing, so I am in a pretty good mood sitting with my coffee. As far as makeup, I'm still using indie shadows—no surprise there. 

Here are the looks I did this weekend. 

Look 1: Fyrinnae Abandoned Hotel 

Abandoned Hotel on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy) and Melt Rust Stack blended into the crease. 

Look 2: Notoriously Morbid Silent Samurai and Shiro Cosmetics Little Bird

Silent Samurai on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy), Little Bird blended into the crease, and Viseart Dark Matte padded onto the outer corner and blended into the crease.

Fyrinnae Abandoned Hotel

Status: Undecided

I absolutely love this color and thought it was stunning, especially when paired with the Melt Rust Stack. I love how it was equal parts green and gold and pulled some of the green tones in my eye color. The only reason that this is marked as an "undecided" shadow instead of a "favorite" shadow is because, on the eye, it looks very similar to Fyrinnae Aztec Gold:

Aztec Gold

Abandoned Hotel

(As a side note, for those of you who are trying to identify duplicate shades in your collection, taking a picture of your makeup is an incredibly helpful tool.)

When I swatch both of these colors on the back of my hand, they look totally different. But on the eye, especially paired with similar colors, I think they look pretty close. I'm still undecided, however, because I do feel Abandoned Hotel is a little less patina than Aztec Gold, and I really love both colors. 

Notoriously Morbid Silent Samurai

Status: Keep

This is a really pretty blue shadow that is almost periwinkle. I paired it will Little Bird, which is a soft pink shade, and a dark blue shadow from Viseart Dark Matte, and I really like how the look turned out. This is one of those looks that, while colorful, still feels really neutral to me. And maybe that's because my definition of neutral has become more liberal since discovering my love of color, but I feel this color is just a step beyond some taupe shades. I've already talked about Little Bird in a previous post, but I'll reiterate to say that this is a really pretty shade, is smooth, and blends really well. Overall, I just really like this look. 

This Week's Looks: Femme Fatale, Notoriously Morbid, Hello Waffle, and Shiro Cosmetics

This was the last full week of indie month. I have not grown fatigued at all with using indie shadows, and in fact, this is the most fun I have had with makeup in a long time. For one, single shadows are totally my preference (a fact I did not know about myself until I started my one week, one palette project), and two, the colors are so unique and special. 

With every new release that has come out, I find myself thinking that all of those shadows don't hold a candle to my collection of single shadows, especially indie shadows. And for this revelation, I am grateful. I love feeling in control when a new palette releases and thinking that most of everything is an easy pass. 

And that's really interesting for me because when I watch a lot of people's makeup collection videos or declutter videos, I've noticed that most people don't have a ton of single shadows. Or they say how they never use their singles because palettes are just so much better. And I wonder if that phenomenon happens because most people genuinely feel that way or if it's because we continue to hear people hype palettes. When's the last time you heard about a collection of single shadows be hyped? And not in the sense that you can buy a ton of them and pop them into a custom palette. So, this excludes MAC, Makeup Geek, Make Up For Ever, Colourpop pressed shadows, etc. When's the last time people seriously hyped a single shadow that came in it's own distinct packaging? 

Or is the reason that singles are not hyped because we all have become so conscientious of saving space and putting everything into palettes because we have all accumulated so much?

Whatever it is, I'm happy I found singles again and am even happier I have a beautiful collection of unique indie shadows. 

Here are five looks I did this week. 

Look 1: Femme Fatale Faerie Fire and Shiro Cosmetics There's No Such Thing As Magic

Faerie Fire on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy) and There's No Such Thing As Magic blended into the crease.

Look 2: Shiro Cosmetics He Loves His Hammer

He Loves His Hammer on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy) and Kat Von D Shade and Light Quad in Plum blended into the crease. 

Look 3: Hello Waffle Furry Godmewther and Shiro Cosmetics Little Bird

Furry Godmother on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy) and Little Bird blended into the crease. 

Look 4: Femme Fatale Candied Apple

Candied Apple on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy) and Melt Rust Stack blended into the crease. 

Look 5: Notoriously Morbid Fight for Beauty

Fight for Beauty on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy) and Kat Von D Meow blended into the crease. 

Femme Fatale Faerie Fire

Status: Keep

I enjoyed this shadow, I just think that I am a bit over the duochromes that mainly look white or gold on the lid. I do like those shadows, but I have used a lot of them in this indie month challenge, and they are not always all that flattering on me. With this color, it looks so pink in the pot, but when applied to my eyes, it was lime green. It was a really cool color, and I'm glad that the camera picked up the duochrome of it. I think for work, it wasn't my favorite color, but it is certainly a color that I will wear again and enjoy. 

Shiro Cosmetics There's No Such Thing As Magic

Status: Love

I paired Faerie Fire with this shadow, and I really loved it. This was a lovely pink satin color that looked more matte than satin. I don't have a ton to say about nice mattes other than they are nice and I enjoy using them. And that's how I feel about this shadow. I don't think this is a "must have" if you have other mattes in your collection that you enjoy, but it is certainly a nice shadow. 

Shiro Cosmetics He Loves His Hammer

Status: Love

This color really took me by surprise. I have mentioned a lot during indie month that many of the colors in the pot have surprised me when applied to the lid, but it is usually in a slightly negative way. The opposite was true for this color. I actually avoided using this color for a long while because it looked so gray and dark in the pot. I just wasn't excited to use it. I finally forced myself to use it this week, and holy cow, was I surprised. It is a gorgeous taupe purple color, and may be one of my favorite taupes in my entire collection. 

Hello Waffle Furry Godmewther

Status: Love

I just love this color. This is definitely one of the best performing shadows from Hello Waffle that I've tried. It is a bit cool-toned for me, but I still love it. I think it gives that perfect soft, pretty color. I paired it with a pink in my crease, and I thought the look was really pretty. I would love to try this color with some of the shades in my Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye Quad in Plum as well as some of the purple shadows from the Viseart Dark Matte palette. And I really appreciate that this shadow is one that can be versatile in that way while still being very unique. 

Shiro Cosmetics Little Bird

Status: Love

I liked this color a little more than There's No Such Thing As Magic, but I think both are really great. This was a shadow that was highly recommended, and I can see why. I have a few matte pinks in my collection, but they payoff is not as good as from this shadow. I thought it paired so beautifully with the shadow from Hello Waffle, and I imagine since it is a satin finish, that it would also be very lovely all over the lid. 

Femme Fatale Candied Apple
Status: Favorite

This was the biggest surprise of not only this week, but probably all of indie month for me. When I was researching which colors I wanted to buy in exploring these different indie brands, I kept hearing about this shadow from Femme Fatale. And I actually ordered it in a large size (most of the shadows I've purchased have been mini sizes) because of all the glowing recommendations. When it arrived and I swatched it on my hand, I was so, so disappointed. It looked just like any green-brown duochrome shadow, like MAC Club or the shadow from Wet N Wild Comfort Zone. And as I've mentioned before, I am actually not a huge fan of that kind of shadow. I think it looks interesting when swatched, but I just don't like how it looks on my warm olive skin. I was so sure that I was going to declutter this shadow, and it was also one that I put off wearing. I finally decided that I had to wear it in the last week and that I could just live with wearing a shadow that I didn't really like for one day.

But, oh my gosh, I was so wrong. I love this shadow. I think what's so special about it is that it is really soft, bight, and shiny. I don't know how else to describe it. The "brown" undertone in it is essentially not brown at all, and is more pink. And I guess that's what I didn't see when I swatched it for the first time. This shadow reminds me a lot of the concept of Femme Fatale Faerie Fire, but is much more successful (in my opinion) in application. I love this shadow and I could not be happier that I have it in my collection.

Notoriously Morbid Fight for Beauty

Status: Enjoy

This shadow was the one I was most looking forward to using this week. When I swatched it on my hand, I couldn't believe how stunning it was. It was a perfect light blue and pink duochrome that didn't seem to sacrifice on either color the way I feel a lot of duochomes do (like Faerie Fire). However, when I applied it onto my lid over Pixie Epoxy, It came of very heavily blue, but the concentration of color was also quite patchy, if that makes sense. It wasn't a smooth duochrome. Some areas looked blue and others looked pink instead of the color shifting. I don't know it that was due to user error, and maybe this is a shadow that doesn't work with Pixie Epoxy. I'm not sure. I liked it enough that I am happy to keep it in my collection, but I didn't fall as hard for it as I was expecting, and that is always a little disappointing. 

Weekend Looks: Notoriously Morbid and Shiro Cosmetics

This was an unintentional weekend of potential dupes. Something that I've found with some of these indie duochrome shadows is that it is kind of difficult to figure out what the color will be based on what it looks like in the pot. I wasn't anticipating either of these shadows to look like what they did, and I certainly didn't think the colors might be similar to each other. 

Here are the looks I did this weekend. 

Look 1: Notoriously Morbid Chaos Reigns

Chaos Reigns on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy), Viseart Dark Matte 5 blended into the crease, and Viseart Dark Matte 9 padded onto the outer corner.

Look 2: Shiro Cosmetics I Understood That Reference

I Understood That Reference on the lid (over Pixie Epoxy) and Viseart Dark Matte 1 blended into the crease. 

Notoriously Morbid Chaos Reigns

Status: Keep, for now

This shadow reminds me a lot of Fyrinnae Mephisto, but potentially bluer? Something interesting about it was that it applied different to each eye and therefore looked different.

Right eye

Left eye

As you can see, the right eye applied more blue, and the left eye applied more purple. I kind of like this and kind of didn't. I liked that the shadow is diverse and love how it paired with Dark Matte, but I also think it's a little problematic if an eyeshadow inherently does't look the same when you apply it. Of these two, I like Mephisto better, and if it comes to decluttering, I will lose this one to keep Mephisto. But I haven't worn Mephisto in a while, so until I can, I'll keep Chaos Reigns. 

Shiro Cosmetics I Understood That Reference
Status: Keep, for now

I feel similarly to this shadow as I do to Chaos Reigns. This shadow is really similar to Chaos Reigns, but much more blue. It is really pretty, and I could have easily paired it with the blue or purple tones in Dark Matte, but I chose to pair it with one of the brown shades. I really like the way the look turned out, and I can certainly see myself wearing this color more, but I don't know how much use I would get out of three shadows like this. Had I known all three were so similar, I would not have purchased two of them, so that makes me wonder if I should keep all three as well. For now, I do really enjoy the shadow, and I'll be keeping.

This Week's Looks: Fyrinnae, Hello Waffle, Shiro Cosmetics, and Notoriously Morbid

My shadow choices this week were interesting. I can't say that there was a reason as to why I made the choices I did, and I can't say I really liked how all of the looks turned out. This was also a hard week for me personally. Things are really picking up at work, and I've been struggling with a health issue. So, maybe that was why I wasn't crazy about my shadow this week. Or, maybe, I used some colors that just aren't really my style. 

Here are five looks I did this week. 

Look 1: Fyrinnae Illusionary 

Illusionary (over Pixie Epoxy) and Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye quad in Plum

Look 2: Notoriously Morbid Visions

Visions (over Pixie Epoxy) and Melt Rust Stack

Look 3: Hello Waffle Mendelssohn 

Mendelssohn (over Pixie Epoxy) and Lime Crime Venus

Look 4: Shiro Cosmetics The Largest Moon of Still Not a Planet

The Largest Moon of Still Not a Planet (over Pixie Epoxy), Coloured Raine Moments, and Viseart Dark Matte

Look 5: Fyrinnae Predjama Castle

Predjama Castle (over Pixie Epoxy) and MAC C'est Chic

Fyrinnae Illusionary 

Status: Favorite 

This shadow is like the cool-toned sister of what might be my favorite Fyrinnae shadow, Serendipity. I absolutely love this shadow. The pictures don't really do this justice (no surprise there, I feel like I say that every week), but this shadow was just so, so pretty. It's purple, pink, taupe, and gray. It's such a unique, complex color while still being entirely wearable. These are the kind of shadows that I think Fyrinnae does best. I paired it with the Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye quad in Plum, which is a quad that I have really loved using. I think the look came out beautifully, and it was one that I really loved wearing. 

Notoriously Morbid Visions

Status: Really enjoy

I wasn't sure I was going to like this shadow when I first saw it because it's an orange with a green shimmer. I felt it had the opportunity to be really pretty and complement my eye color, or it could make me look a bit sickly. Happily, it was the former. I paired it with the Melt Rust Stack, which again, is another complete favorite of mine. Visions is pretty, and it's certainly a shadow that I will keep and enjoy wearing, but I don't think the effect is significantly different from other orange shimmery shadows. I would say this might be in the top two of my favorite orange shadows, but I think if you have something similar, this isn't a shadow you need. 

Hello Waffle Mendelssohn

Status: Keep

This is a shadow that I changed my mind about as I wore it throughout the day. When I first put it on, I was a little disappointed. It was very sheer and required a few layers to build it up to something I was happy with. This was a shadow I was really looking forward to wearing as the swatches on the website are really beautiful. On the whole, I've found that I haven't been as happy with my shadows from Hello Waffle as I have been from other indie brands. The shadows are not bad by any stretch, but they just don't have the same oomph as others. Frankly, this color did not live up to what the swatches looked like on the website. With that said, I do think this is a pretty shadow, and as I caught glimpses of my makeup throughout the day, I enjoyed it. However, I can see this being a shadow that I might declutter later, when I have the opportunity to see how it compares to shadows already in my collection. 

Shiro Cosmetics The Largest Moon of Still Not a Planet

Status: Keep, for now

I don't remember what color I thought this shadow was when I bought it, but it wasn't the color that it is. It reminds me of the blue-brown and green-brown duochromes, like MAC Club, MAC Blue Brown pigment, Make Up Geek Insomnia, and the many other shadows like that. It's not quite as blue/brown as some of those other shadows, but it is in the same ballpark. I paired it with a mauve/brown shadow since I was going to work and needed to make it semi-wearable, but I think it could pair really nicely with colors from Viseart Dark Matte. I enjoyed wearing it, but it wasn't my favorite look I've done. I'd like to wear it again with some other colors, but this might be one that I declutter. 

Fyrinnae Predjama Castle
Status: Decluttered

I hate adding this shadow to my declutter pile, but I really had to be honest with myself in asking how often I would wear it. This shadow is beautiful, but it looks a lot different and darker in the container than it does applied to my eyes. On my eyes, this looked chrome or silver. I thought it was going to be more of a darker taupe than a silver. Even so, I would have kept this shadow if I didn't have a silver/chrome shadow from Natasha Denona, but I certainly don't need two of them. The shadow from Natasha Denona is lighter, but I also think it is more flattering on me. As I saw my makeup throughout the day, I just didn't like the way it looked. And maybe that's because I paired it with gray and black shadows and tried to make a wearable (ha!) smoky eye to wear at work. I have warm olive skin, and while a lot of cool shadows work for me, I haven't found a way to make versions of gray look good. So, while I would absolutely recommend this shadow for people who like silvers, I know that it is just not a shadow that I will reach for, so there's no reason to keep it in my collection.