Tag Archives: purple eyeshadow

Wet n Wild Walking the Red Carpet & Flirting at the After Party Spring 2014 Eyeshadow Palettes: Review & Swatches

Purchased – No Affiliate Links

Wet n Wild recently released a limited edition collection for Spring 2014, called “The Style Award Goes To . . .” The collection includes six Megalast nail polishes (I swatched two of them) and two 8-pan eyeshadow palettes, which I have for you today.

Frankly, I hesitated to buy these. Wet n Wild used to have a fantastic eyeshadow formula, but many of their latest released (such as the permanent 5-pan eyeshadow palettes) were not up to par. However, after posting a  on Instagram and receiving several comments that these eyeshadows are the old, good quality formula, I caved. And I’m glad I did! I don’t think these eyeshadows are  as good as the best of Wet n Wild, but they’re decent palettes with a few stand-out shades.

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Essence 3D Eyeshadows – Swatches & Quick Review

Purchased Affiliate Links

A little while ago, I spotted a new product in Ulta’s Essence display – the 3D Eyeshadow, which has a raised (one might even say 3D) section and a flat section.  I was intrigued, so I bought two shades. Ulta online shows six shades, and that’s what I saw in-store, so I think that’s what they carry – however, -->this blog post --> (which is in German) shows nine shades, so it looks like Ulta doesn’t have the full range – not surprising! They sell for $3.49 each.

I bought the shades Irresistible Purr-ple and Irresistible Caramel Cream. All the shade names start with “Irresistible.”

Essence 3D Eyeshadow Irresistible Purr-ple

Irresistible Purr-ple

Irresistible Caramel Cream

Here is each shade swatched without primer, as I normally swatch. The colors are pretty, but the pigmentation is not great; it’s a bit uneven, a bit sheer, and there’s some fallout (especially from the purple shade on the far left). The darker shade from Caramel Cream performs best – it’s the smoothest and the most pigmented. Without primer, I’d say that Purr-ple’s performance is poor, and Caramel Cream’s performance is mediocre.

Essence 3D Eyeshadow Swatches

Irresistible Purr-ple // Irresistible Caramel Cream

So, I also swatched them over primer (NYX HD).  For these, I swatched each shade individually, but also layered the two colors from each duo – the lighter shade over the darker shade.

Irresistable Purr-ple – over primer

Over primer, the darker shade from Purr-ple is still somewhat difficult; a bit fallout prone and somewhat patchy. The lighter shade performs fairly well, and overall, I’d say the duo is adequate. But, there are better purple duos out there, and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you happen to fall in love with the colors.

Essence 3D Eyeshadow Caramel Cream Swatches

Irresistible Caramel Cream – over primer

Over primer, Caramel Cream performs beautifully – both shades are lovely alone, and I especially love them together. I would recommend this one for sure, especially for the price!

As an aside, I know posting has been less frequent than usual this week; I’m out of town, and although I prepared plenty of photos in advance, I just haven’t had time to write up the posts to go with them! Regular (every day) posting should resume on Monday or Tuesday.

*I purchased the product(s) featured in this post.   This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Fyrinnae Loose Eyeshadow: Part Two — Swatches

Fyrinnae Mystical Hedgehog, Immortality, Witchy Woodland Creatures

This is the second part of my two-part Fyrinnae photos & swatchfest – the swatches! Part One, the photos of the eyeshadows in the jar, is here.

I normally swatch eyeshadow without any primer or base, but I find that loose eyeshadows don’t show up very well on bare skin.  So, I’ve swatched these two different ways; the first set of swatches (on the left in each photo) is over NYX HD primer, and the second set (on the right in each photo) is over Fyrinnae’s own Pixie Epoxie.  I found that the color shows up nicely over just primer, but the glitter needs a sticky base, like Pixie Epoxie, to adhere.

I’ve left these photos larger than usual to better show the complexity of the shades – please do click to enlarge, these eyeshadows are really lovely up close!

Fyrinnae Mystical Hedgehog, Cuddlefish, Immortality

With flash: Mystical Hedgehog, Cuddlefish, Immortality

click to enlarge

Full sun: Mystical Hedgehog, Cuddlefish, Immortality

I’m terrible at describing this type of complex color, so I’ve borrowed Fyrinnae’s own descriptions.

Mystical Hedgehog: Appears as a vibrant, shimmering purple with a turquoise-green highlight at a distance, but changes to a warmer purple to pink at an angle or close to light.

Cuddlefish: A vibrant violet, loaded with varying hues of purple and blue-violet sparkle.

Immortality: A rainbow of sparkle in soft black

Fyrinnae Witchy Woodland Creatures, Shenanigans, Book of the Dead

With flash: Witchy Woodland Creatures, Shenanigans, Book of the Dead

Full sun: Witchy Woodland Creatures, Shenanigans, Book of the Dead

Witchy Woodland Creatures: Glimmering, multi-faceted cocoa taupe. Shades of copper and silver, with hints of pink, gold, and green shimmer on a neutral taupe-brown base make this shadow suitable for a wide range of skintones.

Shenanigans: A rainbow of sparkle fills rich, metallic gold over a dark base

Book of the Dead: A slightly aged gleaming, sparkling beige-gold, fit for Osiris himself (we could hope!), graced with flashes of sparkle in varying hues. Neutral tone, not yellow.

Fyrinnae Koala, Kurisumasu!, Moon Child, Nijiro

With flash: Koala, Kurisumasu!, Moon Child, Nijiro

Full sun: Koala, Kurisumasu!, Moon Child, Nijiro

Koala: A medium rosy taupe, this shade has a satin finish.

Kurisumasu!: Versatile satiny rosy beige shade with subtle flashes of sparkle. Great for a highlight or all-over basic shade that can suit many skintones.

Moon Child: Soft glimmering ivory shade with just the right amount of shimmer and sparkle and a touch of coppery highlight.

Nijiro: Ivory with rainbow sparkles.

Fyrinnae products can only be purchased online. Fyrinnae usually has quite a long turn around time stated on their website, but I’ve ordered from them three times now, and my order has always shipped within a week or so.

MUA Shade 9, 13 Pearl Eyeshadow Swatches & Quick Review

MUA Makeup Academy eyeshadows -- 13 Pearl, 9 Pearl

MUA Makeup Academy eyeshadows — 13 Pearl, 9 Pearl

I purchased some products from MUA (Makeup Academy, a UK drugstore brand) mid-November, received them mid-December, and still haven’t posted about them! In order to get moving, I’m going to post some swatches today, along with quick reviews and initial impressions.

First, eyeshadows! I purchased two pearl eyeshadows – 13 Pearl is a blackened purple, and 9 Pearl is a iridescent purple.  I guess I was feeling the purple that day! Each eyeshadow is generously sized at 2g (a MAC eyeshadow is 1.5g), and only £1 (around $1.60; cheaper than Wet n Wild!).

As always, these swatches are done with a sponge tip applicator on clean, dry skin without primer.  Shade 13, the blackened one, took several swipes to build up to the level of pigmentation you see, and Shade 9 took about 2-3 swipes.  The third swatch is both layered, just because I thought it would be pretty!

MUA eyeshadow - Shade 9, Shade 13 swatches

MUA eyeshadow – Shade 9, Shade 13, both layered – natural light

MUA eyeshadow - Shade 9, Shade 13 swatches

MUA eyeshadow – Shade 9, Shade 13, both layered – flash

I think both shades are lovely on their own, especially 13, and even better together! I’m really pleased with the pigmentation level. Although it does need to be built up if they’re not used over primer, it is buildable without chalkiness or fallout, and of course the eyeshadows perform better over primer.   I judge these eyeshadows as fantastic for the price, and definitely would recommend them!

Later today I’ll have quick reviews of some other MUA products!