Siren Song's The Grimmerie Collection

I'm diggin' this label art.

I'm so sorry, blog - I'm such a neglectful parent. ;_; I've stretched myself a bit thin, it seems - party planning, Christmas shopping, crafts upon crafts. I don't know why I do this to myself, ha ha. Good news though! I passed my very first college class in seven years with an A+! Yaaay! No time to celebrate however, there are blog posts to write!

Today I've got Siren Song Cosmetics' Grimmerie collection based off of the musical Wicked (which I've never seen, I'm so sorry). The owner of Siren Song sent this collection to me for swatching and while it was meant to be a Halloween release it didn't quite make it in time and was instead released about a week into November. A situation with which I'm all too familiar. (I'm so sorry Sol Invictus! You're next, I promise~)  I've kept you waiting long enough however so enough of my blabbing - it's swatchin' time!

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

Chistery

A blackened bronzey pumpkin orange.

I'm super into rusty reds at the moment and Chistery really fits the bill. (I'm in such a ninties mood, I think.) It'll pair super well with a lot of the shades in Shiro's Halloween collection also so if those really got your boat a-floatin' I'd be giving this color a try.

ETA: I wore this today all over the lid blended out with Garnet from the Lorac Pro Palette. Perf.

Defying Gravity

A magically bright green.

A bright, shimmery grass green with golden tones. It's lovely but I just have the hardest times wearing true greens. One of these days I'll figure it out! *Fist shaking.*

Enchanted Footwear

A shimmery silver.

Enchanted Footwear seems more sparkle than base, I think. Without a sticky primer it would be a lot more sheer. It'll be good for a pop of silver or to add sparkle to a look but a bit harder to work with all on its own.

For Good

A purple toned taupe with golden duochrome.

*Sensually bites lip.*

One of my favorites! If Shiro's Yzma's Essence of Llama and HW's Catticus Finch drunkenly hooked up at a frat party then For Good would most definitely be the result. Patting over a sticky primer will really bring out that gold/copper sheen but otherwise it has that lovely mauve base which looks amazing buffed out.

Popular

A soft flamingo-ish pink with subtle shimmer.

When I first looked in the jar Popular looked extremely similar to The Sending from the Distant Worlds collection but swatched they're completely different. Popular has a softer, satin finish without all the bells and whistles of The Sending. (To be honest, I definitely prefer The Sending over Popular. Though part of that may be because FFX.) Bright bubblegum pinks are another family of color I have a hard time pulling off but perhaps I'll use this to MacGyver a Barbie-pink lip. Yeah, something like that.

Something Bad

A sparkly chestnut brown.

Something Bad is a deep, murky brown with gorgeous shimmer and I'm in love with it. It's perfect for the lazy, one color looks I've been doing lately. Careful though! If you build it too much it may cake up a bit.

Swankified

A blackened blue full of shimmering blue, gold, and teal sparks.

Another shade that threw me off a bit - it's quite similar to Our Story but comparing the swatches shows a few differences. The blackened blue base of Swankified is darker than Our Story's navy and the sparkles, while similar, are different enough between the two for my tastes. Perhaps not different enough for someone else's though - a lot of people would be completely satisfied with only one dark blue glitter bomb in their arsenal and that's definitely understandable. Personally, my dragon hoard can't get enough.

Witch Hunters

A taupe with a strong red and copper glow.

Red shift!

Copper Shift!

Witch Hunters! Another favorite! It's definitely different but for those of you who missed out on Shiro's Zero this last Halloween then Witch Hunters may just be close enough to fill that emptiness inside of you.

Wizomaniac

A deep matte black.

Over Too Faced Shadow Insurance

I have such a hard time photographing black. (Levels!!) But here it is! Wizomaniac - super dark and black and matte. It's got great pigmentation and isn't terribly hard to work with like mattes can be. There's a bit of shimmer in my swatch though and I can't figure out if it's from my brush, the shadow itself or if it was just floating around in the air.  (My apartment's sunbeams are so lovely on swatching day~) Just something to make note of!

Overall, Grimmerie has some shades I love (For Good & Witch Hunters!) and a few meh shades (Enchanted Footwear & Popular) but most fall into the "Oh yes, I like this." category. The collection as a whole doesn't sit as close to my heart as Distant Worlds of course but I've already gotten a good bit of use from it!

Anyway, it's been forever since I last posted and I've been working on this particular post on and off for so very long that it's giving me anxiety so I'm just going to wrap this up real brisk like! See ya later~

xxx

Siren Song's Distant Worlds Collection

Today's post is something different! Something new! Today, I'm reviewing the Distant Worlds collection from the fairly new company Siren Song Cosmetics! The shop was opened sometime in May, I believe, and to my everlasting delight offered not just a general Final Fantasy collection but a specifically Final Fantasy X collection. Which is everything I've always dreamed of.

When I placed my order there weren't any sets listed so I had to add each eyeshadow one by one to my cart - not the biggest pain but I'm happy to see that full and sample sets have both been added to the site for most of the collections. Sample sizes come in plastic clamshells - this is my first time with clamshells so it was a bit intimidating! They're nerve wracking to open and to snap shut (which is accompanied by the smallest poof of pigment) but over all I didn't have too many problems with them. (Well, one problem... But it was my own fault.) The information for each shade is printed on the clamshells but I do think the ingredients list could be a bit darker/more legible.

Product-wise I'm very pleased! Let's jump into these swatches already!

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

Disgraced Monk

Deep crimson red with a subtle shimmer.

Over Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Nearly matte, deep, warm red. What other color would be best suited to our dear, dear Auron? That lovable, gruff son of a bitch.

Thunderstruck

Shimmery copper brown with a pink shift and gold sparkle.

Super metallic and just generally lovely, this shade is perfect for those of you who want to blend in with the fall foliage. Like some fabulous autumn camouflage.

The Sending

Looks like a vibrant coral in the jar, but swatches as sparkling sunset pink with a violet shift!

The description for The Sending is spot on. I don't even know how I'm going to wear this but goddamit, it's gonna happen. Also, side note: For my fellow FFX veterans, did anybody else keep that first save in Kilika just so they could go back and watch the sending cut scene over and over? I did. No shame.

The Fayth

An ancient metallic bronze toned gold.

Another lovely autumnal shade! It reminds me of a Hello Waffle shade but I can't for the life of me remember which one. D:<

Forbidden Machina

Rustic bronze-gold.

I'd probably say this is more of a golden olive. I'm hella in love with it though. One of my favorites from the bunch.

Sin

Dark shimmering grey with red undertones.

This color is a perfect representation of Sin. (The monster, not the concept.) I like it but I can't say I'm wowed by it.

Our Story

Prussian blue with powerful gold and blue sparkle.

Talkin' about WOW: Glitterbomb! This is absolutely fabulous. You'll need a sticky base for sure with this one. Q&A time: Would I wear this on my eyes? Yeah. Would I wear this all over my face? YEAH. Would I swim through it while sharing tender embraces with my lover? HELL YEAH.

Summoner

Deep purple-blue with pink undertones.

Swatches of this shade pull awfully blue but Summoner is in fact purple. It's satin with fine shimmer throughout and I want to wear it as humongous winged liner that would let me take flight. Can you tell I love colored liner?

Black Magic Beauty

Orchid purple with a subtle pink and red glittery shift.

I don't get much of a shift from this one - just consistent shimmer. It's pretty! But it seems a bit lighthearted for Lulu. Maybe that's just me though.

Moonflow

Byzantine purple with a copper glow.

Oooooooh! As gorgeous as it's namesake! I'm tempted to try very lightly dusting this over a similarly toned pink blush. 

Loyal Lionheart

Pearly near matte azure blue.

Over Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Kimahri Ronso! This is a nice, mostly matte blue - pure and simple!

I will point out that a few of these shades have some bits of unblended pigment?/base? (whatever those white blips happen to be) which are most visible in my shot of Loyal Lionheart's clamshell above. I haven't noticed any effect on application but I did want to make note of it.

Brotherhood

Strong electric blue with a pop of sparkle.

I light, watery blue with tons of lovely shimmer! This also happens to be the shade I spilled all over my brand new beige/white striped rug! Hooray! Luckily enough, I had some Goo Gone-brand wine remover my sister and I got as a Christmas gift from my grandma (It's not the strangest gift if you know anything about my sister~) and that took it right out.

Eternal Calm

Mint green with a soft sparkle.

Oh god, oh god, oh god - I love mint green! My swatch leans a tad bright but it is in fact a gloriously soft, shimmery pastel mint. You can see it in action here! (On the inner half of my lid.)

Pyreflies

Soft pearly white base with a pink shine and pink/blue sparkle.

Delicate and ethereal - words to describe both pyreflies themselves and this eyeshadow. I've been using it as an occasional inner corner highlight but I'll have to try this over NYX Milk on the lid sometime and see how much it pops!

That's all for swatches! There are definitely a few shades here that I'd love to have in a full size. Our Story, Eternal Calm, The Fayth and The Sending simultaneously float all of my boats. Currently, the art for the full size jars is a redraw of the FFX official art which some have pointed out is legally... questionable. I have seen the owner make mention that it's just a place holder as she's in the process of commissioning artists so I hope to see that remedied sometime in the future!

Over all, I'm happy with what I've tried so far! The company has an Attack on Titan collection I'd love to try and pressed blush compacts that are absolutely adorable. Suffice it to say, this isn't my last encounter with Siren Song!

xxx