Fyrinnae Swatches, Part II

And here's the second part of my Fyrinnae order! You can find part one here. These are all Arcane Magic shadows, which are duochrome, so naturally I had to get a few. I don't even want to talk about how long it took me to narrow down which ones to order...

The rightmost 3 are featured in this post: Evocation, Sorceress, and Raven's Prophecy.

Evocation was a natural pick, since hello, it's DUOCHROME TAUPE! *flails* It's a neutral taupe base that color shifts from rose to green. It is awesome. The duochrome shift isn't crazy dramatic, so it doesn't swamp the taupiness of the shadow, but it is still there, giving a bit of a kick. This is the one shade that I've actually tried to wear on my eyes; it's...still a work in progress (see below).

Evocation looking rosy and very similar to Koala (I had a dickens of a time figuring out which swatch was which!)...

Fyrinnae Swatches, Part I

Welp, I finally got around to swatching all of the Fyrinnae samples from my order. I'm sorry it took so long! I had some issues figuring out how to best get Pixie Epoxy to work (more on that in a bit), and I had to get enough work done to feel like I had the time to slather my arm in pigments. But the long-awaited day has finally arrived! Confetti! Cheers! Alcohol!

Left to right: Nijiro, Rapunzel Had Extensions, Platinum, Koala, Arcane Magic Evocation, Arcane Magic Sorceress, Arcane Magic Raven's Prophecy

I've decided to break the shadows into at least two posts (considering a third on Pixie Epoxy), so this first batch is the non-Arcane Magic shadows, aka the first 4 from the left in the picture above.

My First Fyrinnae Order!

Okay, I really don't have time to be posting this, but I'm just so excited I can't help it. I ordered from Fyrinnae last week, and expected to get my order next month (their home page says to give them 35-45 days to ship your order), so imagine my surprise when it shipped a couple days after I placed it! If the USPS had been working properly, I would have had this Monday, but as it is it didn't arrive until today. But still: a week to get my (carefully wrapped) order? Certainly can't complain! That's faster than Sephora orders get here...

Anyways. I can't rationalize doing swatches or actually playing around with my new lovelies (waaah), but I did get some quick pictures of them in their little jars. My camera was on the verge of dying, so I tried to get them done as quickly as possible, so some of them aren't the greatest pictures. I apologize that I don't have more for you today, but I promise I will do a full review-swatch-picture fest next week and then we can forget this pathetic post ever existed. For now, enjoy! And let me know what shades of theirs are your favorites :-)

My haul; click to see better detail

 My free sample, Nijiro, "ivory with rainbow sparkle". Ignore the peach bits; I accidentally pfloofed a little Rapunzel Had Extensions into it (whoops).

Rapunzel Had Extensions, "pale pink with a stunning brilliant light gold highlight".

Meow Wildcats in Puma and Snow Leopard Mini Review and Swatches

Wildcats are loose mineral powders intended to be used all over your body to add shimmer and shine.  I'm not really one to wear glitter anywhere beyond my eyes (and perhaps my cheeks for a special occasion), but I got these as free samples with past orders and thought I should at least share them with you!  They're very glittery and shimmery and festive, and seem like an amped-up Glow powder (which also comes in tinted forms, which I definitely need to check out), similar to Bobbi Brown Shimmerbricks.  Definitely not low-key or natural, but it's not intended to be!

Wildcats in Snow Leopard (left) and Puma (right); applied wet (top) and dry (bottom), in sunlight

Meow Cosmetics Eye Shadow Swatches, Part II

I've gotten a few more samples of Meow eyeshadow (and some Wildcats, review and swatches to come!) since my first swatch post, so I should share them as well.  It was actually sunny yesterday, so I was able to take real pictures!  Wow!

In sunlight, top to bottom, wet (top) and dry (bottom): Claws and Effect, Chaos, Fannie F.

Meow Cosmetics Blush in Spark (from the Firefly Collection) Review and Swatches

Hark!  It's the sound of the last of my Meow blushes!  Described by Meow as a "peach-pink", I would say it's a sheer, golden peach.  Here, my thoughts and some swatches.

Applied with q-tip in sunlight

Meow Cosmetics Blush in Saucy (from the Taboo Collection) Review and Swatches

Over the past couple months, I've learned more about how to use my camera (and its many lighting and flash settings), though Lord knows there's still a shit ton more that I'm not even aware I don't know.  The reason I say this is because I've gradually come to realize how freaking hard it is to accurately photograph these freaking Meow blush samples.  For one thing, what does "accurate" mean?  Accurate in sunlight?  Accurate indoors?  In the shade?  Applied heavily?  Lightly?  Blended?  With a brush?  So many variables!

In past posts, I've tried to choose the pictures that I felt best captured the sense I had of the blush.  But those days are over, folks.  This post is going to be ridiculously pic-heavy, because I have swatches of Saucy in several kinds of light, and applied in several different ways.  So buckle up, and hope that by the end of this swatchfest we'll both have a better idea of what Saucy has to offer.

Meow Cosmetics Eye Shadow Swatches

I don't really do loose eyeshadows, because they're messy and challenging and have to be used wet for maximum color payoff.  However, I have received a few free shadow samples from Meow with my orders, and I've finally decided to get around to swatching them for y'all.  I can't speak to their longevity or ease of use, but I think they're lovely, and if you're the loose shadow wearing type, you should check out Meow's enormous selection!

Meow Cosmetics Blush in Glisten (from the Firefly Collection) Review and Swatches

I think there's only 3 more Meow blushes for me to review!  Then I'll do a big comparison post, and hopefully never buy blush from them again (okay, not for a few months, at least!).  Today's installment: Glisten.

Photo from meowcosmetics.com

Meow Cosmetics Cat Glow Highlighting Powder Review and Swatches

Before I got the Balmbini palette and experienced the joy of Mary-Lou Manizer, I'd ordered a sample of Meow's Cat Glow highlighting powder to experiment with the whole luminizer concept.  Keeping in mind that my skin is very oily/shiny on its own (I've got a whole series of posts devoted to my quest to end oiliness, under the tag "oil control"), and that my glasses obscure much of my upper cheekbone, where luminizer typically goes, it should be pretty clear that luminizer/highlighter isn't something I should wear on a regular basis.  In spite of this, I have still experimented some with this and hopefully my notes will prove useful to you.

Cat Glow highlighting powder heavily swatched

Meow Cosmetics Blush in A Lick and a Promise (from the Lush Blush Collection) Review and Swatches

Because I can never have too many blush samples (or so one would be led to believe), here's another Meow blush for your consideration.  This is from their Lush Blush collection, which they describe as being their "premium line of mineral blushes, featuring a creamy texture and dewy sheen".  I picked A Lick and a Promise to try, which is described as a "cherry/rose", but the lilac shimmer makes it look quite cool in the swatch.

A Lick and a Promise

Meow Cosmetics Concealers in Sleek Siamese Review and Swatches

Meow has three kinds of concealers: Purrrfect Cover concealer, which is intended for use on the face and which has matte, heavy coverage; Undereye Concealer, which (as the name would suggest) is supposed to minimize dark circles under the eyes; and C3: Color Correcting Concealers, which come in various tints (yellow, lavender, green, blue) and in both allover and undereye formulations, to cancel out color imperfections.  I've tried both the Purrrfect and the Undereye concealers, and I will elucidate my thoughts on them!

Meow Cosmetics Blush in Elephant (from the Pink Inc Collection) Review and Swatches

Elephant, a pale shimmery warm pink-peach, was a free sample that Meow sent with one of my orders.

image from meowcosmetics.com
I would never have chosen it for myself, since the swatch and description online ("like an orange dreamsicle dipped in cotton candy pink") do not call out to me, but I'm not sad to have gotten it from them.

Meow Cosmetics Blush in Centerfold (from the Taboo Collection) Review and Swatches

Another Meow blush!  This one, Centerfold, was mentioned in my post on Hot Mama as a comparison, but here's the full review.

Meow Cosmetics Top Cat Luxury Finishing/Setting Powder Review

There are so many good things about Top Cat finishing powder that I'm having trouble picking just one to serve as a hook for this review.  It's weightless, it controls oil, it provides a natural matte-ish finish, I only need a tiny bit to cover my face, it lasts all day, it's invisible...so much awesome!

Meow Cosmetics Foundation Review and Swatches

I'm sorry this review has taken me such an inordinately long time to post!  It's really, really exhaustively long, but I've tried to bold the important parts if you just want to skim.  On the upside, I've had the chance to review another shipment I got from them, so this includes more foundations than it would have originally.  It's quite pic heavy, and I am very verbose, but I hope you find it informative!

Meow Cosmetics is one of the better-known mineral makeup companies online, particularly for their foundations, which I'll be reviewing in this post.  Before I do that, though, I'd like to discuss the Meow shopping experience, because there are some MAJOR flaws.

Meow Cosmetics Blush in Risque (from the Taboo Collection) Review and Swatches

This is the second blush from Meow's Taboo collection that I ordered.  I was feeling very summery, so went with hot pinks and corals, and Risque is a great example of the former (for the latter, see my review of Racy).

Meow Cosmetics Blush in Racy (from the Taboo Collection) Review and Swatches

 The first Meow blush up for review: Racy!  It's also one of three blushes I ordered from the Taboo collection, characterized by intense pigment and a duochrome finish (I'm a sucker for duochrome, what can I say!).

Meow Cosmetics Blush in Bel Air (from the Caribbean Collection) Review and Swatches

I'm waiting on another Meow order, and once I get that I can finally take pictures and finish and post my review of their foundations.  It's been 2 weeks since I ordered, though, and it still hasn't shipped...I understand holiday sales slow down turnover, but seriously!  This is getting ridiculous.  In the meantime, however, I still have some lovely blushes to review!

UPDATED with new photos: Alima Pure Blush Review and Swatches

Over the past few months, I've accumulated quite the collection of Alima blushes.  There are, however, still a ton of colors I want to try, because their blush selection is really, really big.  The online color swatches are not always the most accurate (Freja, for example, looks nothing like its swatch), but the color descriptions are pretty accurate, so I would suggest relying on those rather than the images.