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| YAASSSSS. |
I don't really like superhero movies. I just don't. None of the various incarnations of Spider-Man have appealed to me; I haven't even seen the Iron Man movies; Batman was decent but that's because Christian Bale is a BAMF and Joseph Gorden Levitt is my future husband. (Don't crush my dreams.) When I went and saw The Avengers in theater with some friends I wasn't expecting much but holy crap. Saying I was blown away may be a bit over the top but it's pretty damn close to accurate.
So obviously when Shiro announced the Earth's Mightiest Heroes I figured I needed to get in on that. Okay, I feel the need to get in on all Shiro releases but you catch my drift. Caitlin sent me the gloss to swatch ahead of time but I was quick enough when it came to throwing the rest of the collection in my cart. Cuz, you know, that turn around time can be rough. So here we have it! On to all that swatched up goodness.
*All eyeshadow swatches are over Too Faced Glitter Glue in indoor, indirect afternoon light.*
Deep brown-black with blue duochrome.
Super deep and dark with a bit of blue sparkle, I think A Push in the Right Direction will make a fabulous eyeliner. It'll also look really nice pushed in and smoked out around the lash line. It seems to have a matte base which can make working with a sticky primer a little difficult but bringing out those sparkles is definitely worth it. Also, I'd just like to point out the label art. Not only is it fabulous but I think the detail/image quality this collection is the best I've seen from Shiro so far!
Blackened semi-metallic olive-gold.
Let me give you a minute to oooh and ahhh.
Done? Okay. This has got to be one of my favorites from this whole collection. There's nothing like a rich, complex green/gold to get my motor running. Also, the name. Who wouldn't want to tell people that their eyeshadow is 'burdened with glorious purpose'? I'mma jump on that the first opportunity I get.
Medium burgundy with a strong blue shift.
Cognitive Recalibration is definitely pretty but I'm hankerin' to get my hands on it as a gloss. There have been a few posts here and there on /r/indiemakeupandmore and it is just so tempting. I'm slappin' it on my wishlist for when this pesky no-buy is over. (It's not so bad but you get it.)
Matte green with a purple shift.
Honestly, I don't really like Mark Ruffalo but damn does that man make a good Bruce Banner. As for the eyeshadow, I'm not normally one for grassier greens so it'll take me a bit of imagineering to figure out how I'm going to wear it. I think I may try it as a winged eyeliner first. Yeah, that sounds alright.
Metallic copper-tinted gold with a subtle red shift.
I love how glowy this eyeshadow is! I'm still waiting on The Red Viper COTM and I'm excited to see how the two compare/if they'll make beautiful love together. You know, science.
Muted Tesseract blue with strong golden duochrome.
Have you ever seen black magic? Because I feel like I've just witnessed some straight up voodoo-hoodoo right here. That shimmery goodness just explodes outta nowhere and socks you right in the gob. This eyeshadow is perfect and everyone needs it.
Silvery pewter with complex red tones, very difficult to photograph.
A thing of beauty! Harder than photographing this shadow is just describing it. What color is it? I don't know, just slap it on my face already.
Deep patriotic blue with red duochrome and subtle white sparkles.
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| Hey there, handsome. |
Captain America is super sexy and so is this eyeshadow. I patted/blended it over my sticky base and the red duochrome just took charge. Using a less sticky base doesn't bring out the red as well but you get this gorgeous deep blue. Add in those white sparkles and you've got 'MURICA in a jar. It's gorgeous and will forever be my every Fourth of July eyeshadow.
Dusky twilight indigo with subtle purple duochrome.
A soft, glowy periwinkle/blurple. I think this'll look stunning as a pop of color with a more neutral eye.
Pure black with loads of fine rainbow glitter.
Ain't no party like a rainbow glitter party 'cuz a rainbow glitter party don't stop. Okay, I'm really sorry for that. Not really but whatever. I don't have anything quite like this in my massive makeup hoard and it's definitely a welcome addition!
Blackened mulberry, a slightly darker take on our old Team Buffy color.
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| Over paper. Just because. |
This gloss is so difficult for me to photograph. My camera picks it up as quite red so I had to edit the lighting in the picture above to get it as close to real life as possible. It's a really gorgeous, dark mulberry that leans fairly brown. Along with being dark it is also quite sheer which leads to a few problems: it gathers in lip lines and any unevenness in application will show so it's quite finicky. Happily, the lip lines aren't noticeable from a distance and careful application will help prevent any dark globs of color. It has a "deep fruity black walnut" flavor which, as odd as it seems, I found surprisingly pleasant - though not my favorite. There is an unflavored option available for those with allergies or other sensitivities! An option that would probably do well if applied to the rest of Shiro's gloss catalog. Overall, it's a lovely gloss but it has a few issues that keep it from wowing me.
Translucent green-tinted powder helps counter the appearance of redness caused by sunburn, rosacea, uncontrollable mindless fury, et cetera.
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| Over bare skin; Heavy on the left and blended out towards the right. |
For the first time (that I've seen) this collection includes a finishing powder! Green tinted for you rosy folks! I'm lucky enough to not have too much redness but I do get a bit red around my nose as well as angry red spots every now and again. From a pale girl's perspective this powder can be quite dark. If I'm not careful it can make my face look a bit dirty. I've had success using it along with the Wayne Goss method. After moisturizing/priming, I lightly brush a bit of powder over my redder spots and then conceal (I've been skipping foundation most days.) and finish off with my NYX finishing powder. I've also tried mixing it with a bit of concealer which worked fabulously if you're into that sort of thing. The product isn't scented but there is a light smell to it. Perhaps from the kaolin clay? It reminds me of my Lush Mask of Magnaminty. Whatever it is, I really like it. For those of you concerned, it's not very strong and it fades right away. Also, referring back to the "Always Angry", did that line in the movie give anyone else goosebumps? Uggg, so good.
There you have it! There are a lot of hits among the eyeshadows (Glowstick of Destiny anybody?!) along with a couple nice but "meh" shades. The lip gloss has it's issues but personally I like it for the days I'll have the time to put into it and I think the finishing powder will be amazing for those that fall more heavily into the intended audience. I'm excited to see the types of products included in collections branch out a bit. Maybe someday we'll see collections with blushes or lipsticks or nail polish?! Who knows! It's a big, bright future out there, kiddos.
xxx
A quick aside: We're half way through July and the no-buy's going well! There's a new subreddit, /r/makeuprehab, for those of us attempting to curb spending and approach other various goals. It's small so far but people have already been posting good ideas, fun sounding challenges and what have you. My long term plans/goal are currently in development but I've got good feelings! As for upcoming posts, I have quite a few still needing to be finished but I realized looking over them that I wasn't happy with some of the swatches so I'll being redoing them. Aaahh well. Something to keep me busy, I suppose!
