Quick comparison: Shiro vs. Fyrinnae

By the way, that "vs." is not meant as "which one is better" just so we're clear :)

I mainly wanted Damn Paladins so I could compare it with Detective: they're both meant to be taupe with blue duochrome.

Swatches over Pixie Epoxy, L-R: Detective, Damn Paladins; direct sunlight, no flash

Swatches of five Fyrinnae eyeshadows

These are some assorted new additions to my Fyrinnae stash, and unfortunately Cuddlefish, a free sample, got lost somewhere in my bedroom and is not included here :/ If I ever find it ... I'll swatch it!

My order came wrapped in panda tissue paper!

Having recently developed an obsession with taupe eyeshadows, more specifically the ones with duochromes, I felt a need to get my hands on Damn Paladins and Envy Me, as well as a couple others too xD

Quick comparison: Meow vs. Sassy

Here is an example of how hard it is for every single indie makeup company to have 100% unique shades that no other company has already made.

L-R: Midnight Kiss, Gasoline Rainbow

On the left: Midnight Kiss from Meow Cosmetics' Ghost of Xmas Past collection. On the right: Gasoline Rainbow from Sassy Minerals' Eye Candy Liners.

UK/ Europe hauling again

My wonderful guy was here for three weeks, and he brought me ... quite a few things I had wanted from England and Europe :)

February UK haul

Wow, it's a lot of nail polish, isn't it? Fair warning: this post is very pic-heavy after the jump ^_^;

Quick swatches of some beautiful orange glosses

Orange lips are still a major trend, luckily - since I bought a ton of orange lippies last year ^_^

L-R: Glory Box Cosmetics "Prince of Parties," Venomous Cosmetics "Dazed," Darling Girl Cosmetics "Hot in the City," Darling Girl Cosmetics "Still Your Sunshine," Revlon Colorburst "Papaya"

I even did these swatches before Pantone deemed Tangerine Tango the color of 2012. These are my top five orange/ coral glosses!

Shiro Cosmetics in action!

This FOTD has the interesting combination of lack of photo-watermarking, hardly any info on what was on my face (since my hard drive has basically imploded and that info was stored on my computer) I recovered all my files, YAY, and a super-derpy look on my face.

Sneaky-looking eye of the day, October 11, 2011, blurred to show sparkle

If that doesn't scare you off, keep reading after the jump xD

Swatches of four Shiro eyeshadows

Just a few more samples I've collected from Shiro Cosmetics! Each baggie holds SO much product - I always transfer them to jars and they almost fill 3g jars.

Samples from Shiro Cosmetics, L-R: Detective, More Sugar

I heard about Detective (from the Death Note collection) and was super excited. Taupe with blue duochrome? Must have! But I wanted to wait until I had seen swatches, and the blog posts I saw had very different opinions on whether or not Detective is a true duochrome. So finally I just ordered the sample ($1, instead of a $3 mini or $5 full jar).

Some recent jewelry acquisitions (and one polish)

I've got some new jewelry items that may show up in a FOTD or two or a lot of them actually, so I thought I better post about them first :)

Rainbow Heart Necklace and "Blue/ Green" nail polish from Forever 21

I got this adorable rainbow heart necklace at Forever 21 for just $2.80 - before anyone asks, there is no significance, other than that I looooooove rainbows ^_^ That epic-looking multichrome nail polish turned out to be a bit disappointing though.

Duping Zoya Zara

Once upon a time, I saw swatch pictures of Zoya Zara and fell deeply in love. But, unwilling and unable to pay the hefty $8-plus-shipping price, I was forced to ignore my love and move on with my life.

L-R: Zoya Zara, Sinful Colors Shausha; artificial lighting, no flash

I can no longer find the blog post where someone suggested Sinful Colors Shausha was a dupe for Zara, but once I saw it I became obsessed with owning Shausha, which is not part of the Sinful Colors core collection (at least nowhere I've seen). I finally found it during a sale at Cherry Culture (currently out of stock) and ordered it with joy. A few months later I found and purchased Zara on the cheap in a blogsale, so here is the comparison!

Bright blue and green eye of the day

Here's a FOTD using one of the Rimmel London Colour Mousse eyeshadows I reviewed here. It didn't go as well as I'd hoped T__T And yyyyyyyyyyyeah ... this is from October of last year. I have a bunch of FOTD to post and I'm not really doing them in order!

Eye of the day, October 12, 2011. I don't know why there was a bald spot at the outer corner.

I tried to use the bright turquoise Colour Mousse, Mermaid, as a base and it was really finicky! I was trying to get a thick enough layer on that it wouldn't look patchy, blend it, and pat Faerie Knoll (swatched here) on top, all before it dried and set - that was a challenge - plus, once it did dry and set, it got this weird, wrinkly lizardy look to it. I have no idea if it lasts 8 hours - I washed it off after a few hours of running errands. It just looked too weird.

Swatches of seventeen Innocent + Twisted Alchemy eyeshadows

As is so often the case, my first Innocent + Twisted Alchemy order was prompted by the lem-inducing Luna of Toxid Lotus and her beautiful swatches T__T This company is very new yet has already garnered rave reviews, and .... this may be one more of them :)

Cutest packaging ever!

 Adorable Little Twin Stars mailer and Keroppi envelope make for some very cheery packaging! Linda, the owner and creator, also happens to be an amazing artist whose beautiful drawings make up the graphics, logo and branding for I+T. She included a pamphlet with ingredient lists and her art on it, and a postcard of one of her drawings, in my order.

Swatches of twelve Persephone Minerals eyeshadows

The first part of this Persephone Minerals swatchfest is from the Black Friday sale!! A bit overdue ...

Black Friday order with cute Christmas packaging

During that sale I ordered the set of five Sailor Senshi samples in baggies (normally $6.25). Victoria also included two extra samples for free (and some super festive confetti and a jingle bell and the invoice). Warning - the rest of this post is very long and picture-heavy :)