Hello Waffle's Painted Flowers Collection

I am a terrible blogger, I know. Do you know what get's me off my ass and working on all my posts? Being an even worse student. I wrote most of this last Thursday while procrastinating on a 4-5 page paper that was due that very evening. But whuuuutever, we're dealing with important stuff here: Eyeshadows!

Today, I've got some super cool (and kind of old) news! A while ago Christine from Hello Waffle contacted me and asked if I'd like to provide swatches for her website! Having developed an unhealthy obsession with all things Hello Waffle, I obviously said yes. I also annoyed everyone I know with my excited wiggling. We worked out all the details, I sent her a bunch of swatches of the sets I already had (and was then compensated for) and she sent me her Painted Flowers collection (the only one I didn't have at the time) and the new (!) Catssic Literature collection! Suffice to say, I was super excited to play with all of it!

This post is going to focus on Hello Waffle's Painted Flowers collection - previously the Tea Party collection. Based on Alice in Wonderland, the collection faced the same snafu as the Persinette and Snedronningen collections. Thus, names of the eyeshadows along with the name of the collection itself were changed to line up more with the novels than the new Disney movie. (The novels being within the public domain.) I've included the old names alongside the new for convenience's sake.

*All swatches are done over Too Faced Glitter Glue in indoor, indirect natural light.*

Animate Chess-piece (The White Queen)

Pale dusty pink sheen with a touch of violet.

Animate Chess-piece is a lovely, muted pastel pink. I know with pink eyeshadow some people can be a bit wary but with the blue/violet sheen I think this one works to be quite brightening. I'll pop it on the inner third of my lid and pair it with a lot of neutrals/greys.

Beneath Oxfordshire (Wonderland)

Vibrant green shimmer.

This is a vibrant foresty cool toned green with some seemingly barely-there brown undertones. I think it'll pair really nicely with Locked Doors - swatched further down the post.

Deepest Fears (Blood of the Jabberwocky)

Dark gunmetal purple.

Hello Waffle's got a talent for purples, if you didn't know. This one is much cooler in tone compared to all the purples of the Persinette collection if you found those too warm for your tastes.

Dormouse (Twins)

Pale sparkly taupe.

An indie favorite! Dormouse is a really light, sparkly beige/taupe. Super neutral and easy to wear. This is a great "I'm too lazy to wear a whole eye look but I also don't want to look dead" sort of eyeshadow. Just slap it on for an instant zombie cure.

Eat Me (White Roses)

Light satin white with a pink sheen.

Eh heh heh.

A lovely highlight shade with a very lightly pink sheen. It's a teeny bit like Femme Fatale's Tea Partying Is Hard but more sheer with a subtler sheen and satin where Tea Partying's matte. It may compare to Shiro's Angry Cuccos as well - I have a sample tucked away somewhere but I haven't swatched it yet so I can't say for sure! (I'm a failure.)

Golden Afternoon (Proper)

Sparkly golden yellow.

Hello Waffle's other golds lean much more metallic so it's nice to see something like this goldenrod shade. It's still sparkle-tastic but much better for the days you want to be bright and gold but you don't want to look like you've just gilded your eyes in preparations for some sort of sensual ceremony/sacrifice. (That's not to say days like that aren't necessary, of course.)

Gryphon (Bandersnatch)

Muted bluish-gray taupe.

Another super lovely neutral that'd be great for lazy days much like Dormouse but with a more sultry vibe. I think the next time I use it I'll try it patted over Maybelline's Bad to the Bronze and smoked out around the edges. No liner, just lashes. Oh yeah.

Later: I wore this yesterday all over the lid with Shiro's Hodor buffed around the edges and Hello Waffle's Portrait of Purrian Gray (reviews/swatches forthcoming!) in the inner corner. Added a dark lip and I was gooood to go.

Hearts (The Red Queen)

Blackened red with purple undertones.

Deep and rich, Hearts is a perfect burgundy-esque shade for winged liner. Pop that on along with leggings and furry boots and you've got all your fall essentials. (I'm not even being sarcastic. I love leggings and furry boots.)

Locked Doors (Rabbit Hole) 

Neutral brown with golden highlights.

Locked Doors is a chocolate brown with gold sparkles. Not a wow shade but definitely useful for adding a bit of depth to most of the looks you can create with this collection.

Mad (Hatter)

Shimmery orange peach that leans copper with a gold undertone.

Ahh, it's so pretty! If Christine ever gets into the custom gloss business this may be my first go-to.

Mad as a March Hare (March Hare)

Reddish brown shimmer.

A browner version of Hearts, Mad as a March Hare would also make a great liner.

Moonlit Grin (Cheshire)

Medium blue-green shimmer.

Throwing some blue into the mix - a shimmery aqua! For those of you who missed out on Shiro's Augustus Waters, Moonlit Grin makes a decent enough dupe though it does lack the gold sparkles. (I'm sure some of you could rig up a close Franken-shadow, though.) And for those who were tempted by Augustus Waters but were thrown off by the loads of glitter - then this is the shade for you!

Pool of Tears (Alice)

Light blue with a hint of green and golden shimmer.

If there was such a thing as fairy mermaids then they would be this color. No doubt in my mind - it's just science. In the jar Moonlit Grin and Pool of Tears may look fairly similar but swatching Pool of Tears really brings out that green/gold sheen from the blue base. It's gorgeous. I wore it today with Archean Earth and a touch of Snow Bees - perfection.

Rule 42 (Vorpal Sword)

Dark gunmetal grey that leans blue.

And to top of the collection - a cool, dark metallic grey. Good for those looking to create a cool toned smoky eye. (Pair it with Gryphon for an A+.) Also, if you look closely, you can catch tiny, hypnotic blue shimmers. @_@

That wraps up the swatches! There are a lot of really pretty shades in this collection. A few "eh" shades perhaps, but no duds. Hooowwever, only the most popular shades are available at the moment. Due to what I believe was just general collection overload, Christine took the Painted Flowers, Snedronningen and Persinette collections and made them seasonal. Persinette will be available in the summer; Snedronningen in the winter (obviously); and Painted Flowers will come rolling back around in the spring. I would say that spring is the perfect choice - this collection is full of muted and pastel shades and is just generally very reminiscent of "spring flowers". I'll definitely be wearing them whenever I damn well please, though. Seasons can't tell me what to do. Also, as a side note: I did see a comment on Hello Waffle's Facebook page mentioning that there may be a few new shades added to this collection the next time it's available! Woooo~

Coming up sometime in the near future: Hello Waffle's Alternate Universe and Catssic Literature collections and the first Visage Box, Shiro's The Notebook collection and various bits and bobs, and sooo many perfume reviews I've fallen terribly behind on. Thankfully this semester's almost over so I'll have more time for bloggin'! Yay!

xxx