I am a huge fan of Orange Is the New Black and the Black Collection was the first full collection I ever ordered. I ordered right away when it was first released, but never really got around to swatching/reviewing it. Since we’re getting closer to Season 3 and Uzo Aduba just won the SAG Award for Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series (don’t get me started on how OITNB is not a comedy) for her portrayal as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren, and the cast won the SAG for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series, I figured now would be a good time to swatch and review the collection. If you haven’t watched it yet, I don’t know what you’re doing with your life. Or you know, you just aren’t into chick prison drama. I don’t judge.

About the Brand – “Darling Girl Cosmetics is small home based business in Houston Texas. We started our adventure in makeup land in June of 2010 and we are proud to say that with each and every month our customer base and reputation has grown nationally and internationally.” – from Darling Girl’s Facebook page. Darling Girl is owned and operated by Susan, who is a total sweetheart. She offers eyeshadows in petit (1/4 tsp in 3g jar) and full (3/4 tsp in 5g jar w/ sifter) sizes, blushes and bronzers in petit (1/4 tsp in 3 g jar w/ sifter), and full (1 tsp in 10g jar w/sifter) sizes, and a liquid lipstick, Pucker Paints (5 mL w/ doe foot applicator). The prices for eyeshadows and blushes are the same, with petits being $2.50 and full sizes $5.90, and the Pucker Paints are $8 USD.

About the Inspiration – Back in July of 2013, Netflix released the first season of an original series Orange Is the New Black. It quickly became hugely popular and people were hungry for more. Netflix released the second season in July of 2014, which was binge watched by many, and fans (including myself) are crossing their fingers for season three to be released on time in July of 2015. Even though the series focuses on Piper, viewers get to know and love many other characters, like Taystee, Alex, Red, Crazy Eyes, Poussey, Nicky, Daya, Sophia, Big Boo and Lorna. The edgy writing and phenomenal acting has made Orange Is the New Black a pop culture phenomenon.

About the Collection – The Black Collection features 10 eyeshadows and 2 glitters. The full sizes automatically come with the special label art for the collection, and the petit size comes with the standard Darling Girl label art, though the label art is available for separate purchase for petit sizes. I ordered the petit full collection with label art. This collection was released in the Fall of 2014, alongside the Who Ya Gonna Call collection, inspired by Ghostbusters. You can find the collection here.

**Because this is a Shop My Stash post, I am not going over my order details like TAT and packaging. In posts where I am swatching and reviewing an order I recently received, these details will be included.**

About my swatches – I swatch over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy in indirect natural light. The site descriptions are in italics, with my take following. I wear Urban Decay Naked Skin in 3.5, which is about NC 15 in MAC terms.

**Disclaimer: GIFs may contain minor spoilers**

Slocked

“Slocked is the dingy white of a well-worn sock with a subtle red-to-gold sheen.”

Dirty white base, intense pinky purple sheen, blue sparkles. This makes a very nice highlight color, especially on the inner corner.

Taystee Girl

“Taystee Girl is a soft, pale blue with a hint of red sheen. It looks blue, but tastes red.”

Light baby blue base with pinky red sheen. Taystee is one (of many) of my favorite characters, and I think this is one of my favorite shades from the collection. It’s baby blue without being that frosty blue of the 90’s.

Marzipan Nipples

“Marzipan Nipples is an almost-matte pinky-tan glazed with an irresistibly sweet, peachy sheen.”

Peachy light terracotta base with baby pink and white-blue sparkles. A nice pinky neutral.

Tit Punch

“Tit Punch is the bright magenta of a curve-flattering, form-fitting workout top with a gold and purple iridescence reminiscent of the mean ladies’ flash and bling.”

Blue toned magenta with lots of gold and lavender glitter. For some reason my camera refused to accurately pick up the color of Tit Punch in the jar picture. In real life it is much more muted and cool toned, more like the swatch pictures. This is one of those colors I have trouble working into a look, but it is very nice if you know how to use it.

Squat N Cough

“Squat & Cough is a delightfully risqué mauve pink with a delicate, golden sheen.”

Light pinky mauve base with intense golden sheen and pink sparkles. I admit, this is definitely a shade that I let myself forget about since I received my package, but now that I’ve properly swatched it, it is definitely going to be part of my Valentine’s Day look. Gold and pink and romantically gorgeous.

Throwing Pie

“Throwing Pie is the berry pink of pie filling with a gorgeous, gold sheen, like the buttery, golden crust that’s now ground into your ex’s prison shirt.”

Warm mauvey rose base with gold sheen and gold sparkles. This will also probably make it into my V-Day look. It looks really nice with Squat N Cough.

Dandelion

“Dandelion is a bright yellow with a hint of a green glow. Hold it toward a light source, and a surprising rosy gold appears.”

Midtone yellow with yellow sheen and pink sparkles. I’m not one for yellows, because they tend to clash with my skin tone and make me look sick, but this is a nice bright addition to the collection, that performs well for the notoriously difficult shade of yellow.

The Swirl

“The Swirl is a soft, shimmery, milk chocolate—the color the two of you would create if her chocolate and your vanilla swi-irl…swi-irl.”

Warm coppery brown base with strong white-brown sheen. This is a really nice neutral brown, and is actually very similar (if not an exact dupe) for My Pretty Zombie’s T from the WTF trio. If I weren’t so attached to T, I would probably use this more.

Duct Tape Couture

“Duct Tape Couture is a utilitarian gray with playful pink undertones and an oh-so-fashionable silver iridescence.”

Purple gray base with strong purple-pink sheen and white sparkles. This is another I will probably start wearing this one more that I’ve rediscovered it.

Pornstache

“Pornstache is the severe gray-brown of a prison guard uniform with an arrogant sheen of authoritative blue.”

A sheer brownish black base with purple-blue sheen and sparse gold sparkles. I prefer when collections have a nice range of colors, with highlight shades, midtone shades, pops of color, and at least one dark color. Pornstache is the darkest color in the Black Collection, and it’s nice to see a deep blue-purple as opposed to a black.

Pennsatucky

“Pennsatucky is the Holy Trinity of glitter blends—the gleaming silver of angel wings, the icy blue of the purest crystal meth, and the soft pink of a gummy, toothless smirk.”

Silver, pink, and bright blue glitter.

Red

“Red is a strong red glitter blend accented by orange, copper, gold, and black sparkles reminiscent of Red’s brilliant red hair and take-no-prisoners personality.”

Red, black, and baby pink glitter. Unfortunately I didn’t get any orange or copper glitter and somehow found pink somewhere. I probably should have shook up the tube before applying it. Maybe the orange and copper were in the bottom.

Overall, I’m glad that I pulled out this collection and truly swatched it because I’ve been missing some gorgeous shades in my daily rotation. My personal favorites are Taystee Girl, Squat N Cough, Slocked, and Throwing Pie.

What are your favorites from the Black Collection? What are your favorite moments from the show?

Avery