Shiro's Seven Kingdoms Collection: A Romance

WARNING: Probably spoilers. Probably.

The Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire franchise is the type that burrows into your bones and poisons all of your thoughts. In the most magical way, of course. When I first read the novels it was all I could think about. It was the main topic of conversation between my friends 'in the know'. I even got my sister hooked. (To show how great a feat that was, she's the type of girl who normally only reads books about horses and cancer.) So, of course, Shiro came out with a Song of Ice and Fire inspired collection and I needed it. My loins burned for it. But I held off. It was more money than I was wanting to spend at the time and I figured I'd get around to it eventually. That brings us to a couple months ago: Caitlin contacted me for swatches and I let her know I'd be cool with makeup as compensation. She offered up the Seven Kingdoms collection and I proceeded to explode. No further explanation needed.

I have gotten quite a bit of use out of these shadows and I haven't even made a dent in them. Mostly because I have too much makeup to ever make a dent in anything. I figured, while they were still in presentable condition, I'd put together some swatches for ya'll. Because I'm feeling benevolent. Enjoy!

*All eyeshadow swatches are over Too Faced Glitter Glue in indoor, indirect afternoon light unless otherwise noted.*

Climbing Chaos

Rich velvety brown with a warm metallic copper-bronze shine.

Still waiting to get a read on this sneaky bastard.

Aiden Gillen makes for a fabulous Petyr Baelish. Aside from that fuckin' Batman thing he does with his voice. The monologue from which "climbing chaos" derides was probably one of my most favorite scenes in the show. All that tension and build up - perfection. You know what else is perfection? This eyeshadow. It's neutral but dramatic all at once and everything a girl could ask for. Perfect as a crease color, I'll also wear it all over the lid from time to time.

Gift of Mercy

Blackened plate-steel grey shot through with hints of orange fire.

I love how much thought Caitlin put into these shadows. The sparks of fire in Gift of Mercy just make it. 

Here I Stand

Rich earthy brown-black shimmering with the green of House Mormont.

Here I Stand In The Friendzone.

A gorgeous deep, dark brown shot through with cool green shimmer. It's the Andes Mint of eyeshadows.

Hodor

Medium near-matte taupe.

Hodor.

I Loved a Maid

Green-shifting gold shining out over a base of softened Lannister crimson.

Just like everybody's favorite imp, I Loved A Maid is easily the favorite of pretty much everybody. I'm convinced it's soul mates with Hello Waffle's Sloth - they make the most beautiful magic together. It also makes for a pretty nice gloss! The green/gold shimmer is toned down quite a bit on the lip but there's enough there to make a small statement.

Little Bird

Delicate matte mauve/beige pink.

Swatched over Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Not only does Little Bird make a pretty eyeshadow but people have had it made into a lovely custom gloss and I've even heard talk of it being used as blush. A real multitasker, I tell ya whut. I wouldn't say that it's pure matte - it does seem to have a very soft satin finish. This doesn't really effect the eyeshadow much but it does seem to lend a bit of frostiness to any custom gloss from what I've heard.

Maiden Queen

The brilliant emerald of Highgarden, with bright aqua shimmer and golden-rose sparks.

Unf, that's what I'm talking about. I like to imagine Highgarden as some sort of beautiful utopia where everything is beautiful and sparkling. (Who knows though, with the way G.R.R.M. likes to do things.) This eyeshadow fits my image of Highgarden to a tee. It works brilliantly as a pop of color with neutral or dark, smoky looks. And for those of you who missed out on Shiro's Augustus Waters, I wouldn't consider Maiden Queen a dupe as it's much greener but it does have that same mermaid quality.

Master of Whispers

Soft golden shimmer shining through pale lilac silk.

Master of Whisper glows like its full of secrets. It's complexity is difficult to capture on camera but hot damn. It's quite sheer so it's perfect as a highlight but a white base will help it pop if you're looking to wear it on the lid. Unless you don't want it to pop - that's cool too. My experiment with it as a gloss was... less than stellar. It has so much potential though! If you do give it a try I recommend anything but opaque.

Mother of Dragons

Silvered royal purple over a blood-red base.

I can't get over Mother of Dragons. It's purple with a fantastic silver sheen but blending it brings out a deep red base.  Here's an imgur album of a look that I've done that shows it in action! 

No Men Like Me

Gold-burnished plate cloaked in ashy white.

You see that transformation? A perfect representation of our dear, dear Kingslayer. Metallic yet still matte, the ashy white base will show more without a sticky base. It can be a bit finicky - sometimes I apply it and everything's gold except for one patch of the matte base (usually right in the center of my lid ):<) that wont blend out or anything. A little extra glitter glue + another layer of No Men Like Me usually clears that right up. It's also lip safe so I'm curious to see how it'd turn out as a gloss. Hmmm...

Queensguard

The matte orange-brown of House Selmy, softened with gentle cream shimmer.

Swatched over Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Barristan Selmy is not a flashy man which makes this eyeshadow a perfect representation of him. The cream shimmer's very soft and a bit hard to detect. I find this is a perfect crease color/complement to many of the shadows in this collection. Classic Selmy, always the advisor, never the hero. But that's how we like you, Barry.

Salt and Stone

Blackened green of House Baratheon, shining with the red light of R'hllor.

Lord of Light all up in this bitch.

Stannis the Mannis ain't normally my cup of tea. Honestly, I think he's a bit of a wiener. But this shadow. Unnngg, this shadow. It's gorgeous. As far as I know, House Baratheon's colors are gold and black. The blackened green works though so I approve.

Valar Morghulis

Pure black shining with metallic white overlay.

Valar dohaeris.

If there's somebody you don't want to run afoul of in a dark alley, it's this little preteen nugget. The white on black is absolutely perfect seeing where Arya currently finds herself. (At least, at the time this post was written.)

Women's Weapons

Strong red wine with soft golden shimmer.

Oh Cersei, you nutty bitch. Wine and blood and sex and gold to represent our Queen Regent. I love the gold shimmers and was hoping they'd translate a bit better into a gloss but the results were still pretty fabulous.

You Know Nothing

Cold wintery grey-white with bright icy shimmer.

I've swatched this before hoping for something opaque. I was a bit disappointed at the time but know better now. You Know Nothing is a beautiful, sheer, iridescent icy white - the antithesis to the You Snow Nothing COTM. It's beautiful as a highlight and I'm really itching to try it as a sheer gloss.

Red Wedding

Very opaque blood red.

Ahhh, Red Wedding. I've reviewed this gloss in this post here but decided I'd include it for the sake of solidarity. Still gorgeous. Still heartbreaking. Some things never stop hurting.

And that brings us to the end of another overly lengthy post! To conclude, the Seven Kingdoms collection is everything a girl like me could ask for. For a more versatile collection there could have been a few more bright pops of color included but I feel the color range suites the Song of Ice and Fire universe perfectly. Good work, Shiro! May all your weddings be murder-free.

xxx