OK, with those stupid gifs now out of my system, I can now move onto more important things. Like smearing eyeshadow all over my arms for a few hours. This is a joy I would never have anticipated before I got into indies, and swatching my entire Shiro order was a pleasure that was a bit difficult to explain to my husband (who thankfully is understanding of the whole insanity in the first place, but fears a bit for our scotch tape supply). You are now forewarned that I went a little hog wild with photos of the shadows and blushes, because damnit, they are just so pretty! See for yourself!

Behold! 20 shadows, 4 blushes and one highlighter of Shiro! (well, a few are of Detrivore too).

I take special pleasure in owning an eyeshadow that has a DiCaprio face screaming at me.

Let’s swatch these bitches!

SWATCHES

All shadows have been swatched over Darling Girl Glitter Glue on top and Urban Decay Primer Potion on bottom.

Here we have Yzma’s Essence of Llama, The Fourth Be With You, Still No Oscar for Leo DiCaprio, You Snow Nothing, and Perfect World.

Behind curtain number two, we have most of the purple shades! The Wandering Wizard, Livor Mortis, Task Force, Mother of Dragons, Alkahestry.

Next up, some warm tones! Little Bird, Kooloo-Limpah, I Loved a Maid, Scar, and Kaepora Gaebora!

And last but not least, the random roundup: Hodor, Sweet Honey, Maiden Queen, Master of Whispers, and Chimera.

And blushes and such and what not! Cake, Detrivore Apocalyptic, 1-Up, Detrivore Bluebeard, and Detrivore Cyanide.

Right off the bat, Master of Whispers, Maiden Queen, I Loved A Maid, 1-Up blush, and Mother of Dragons really stood out to me. But let’s not stop here, let’s get a closer look!

Ysma’s Essence of Llama

This shade was a Color of the Month. One thing I noticed about this shade is that it photographs very brown, but in person you can really pull out the deeper purple base a lot more easily. It has a lot of depth to it. This shadow calls to mind the sort of gold-leaf opulence of the Inca Empire in The Emperor’s New Groove, and since I too was a junior chipmunk, really all that can be said about this is squeek, squeeken, squeeker.

The Fourth Be With You

This shade is INTENSE! It’s a bright, limey green, the kind that could combat scurvy at a glance, and really richly pigmented. It has a bit of sparkle in it– to me it looks like some gold and some peach, perhaps. Not a shadow I will use often, but one I will use with relish when I do. This was the gift-with-purchase anniversary shade that Caitlin sent out, in full size! So generous!

Still No Oscar for Leo DiCaprio

Poor Leo– this shadow must represent the glitz and shine of the Oscar that he wanted so badly this season. I thought he would get it, I really did! This shadow has a LOT of sheen to it, especially in the light, and is a bit glittery. I like the pink-nude base and the gold shimmer. This is exactly the sort of glammed-up version of my normal pink neutrals that I’ve been looking for. This was also a Color of the Month, and not a part of the permanent collections.

You Snow Nothing

I am a huge A Song of Ice and Fire fan. You may learn this over the coming months. Therefore, even though I don’t really wear dark blues very often, I just had to have a shadow representing John Snow (and thought I would get more use out of this than You Know Nothing, which is white with shimmer). Admittedly, this was a bit lighter than I had expected. It’s described as a blue-black, but I think it’s more of a black-blue, really. Yet ANOTHER color of the month!

A Perfect World

This shadow was a free sample generously included in my order. It’s a light metallic gold that I think does best over a glitter adhesive and really shines (literally) when you’re in sunlight.

The Wandering Wizard

Though this shadow is matte, it does still seem to have a little bit of a sheen to it, from my perspective. It applied MUCH better to the UD Primer Potion than the DG Glitter Glue, which is to be expected. It was creamy and quite pigmented, and is right about what I imagined Gandalf’s beard to look like (maybe he uses that old lady shampoo that turns their hair just a little bit blue).

Detrivore Livor Mortis

I love mauves! I have seen a lot of Shiro custom glosses of this color, and they are just lovely. This is a warm, slightly grayed purple (you know, mauve), and has a bit of shimmer to it, but isn’t anywhere near as shimmery as most of the other Shiro shadows I received. I didn’t notice a difference in quality between the Shiro shadows and Detrivore shadows– they are both very pigmented and apply smoothly. I preferred this shadow over Glitter Glue.

Task Force

A much more vibrant purple than the others on this arm, Task Force is also a bit more berry toned than the others. It comes from the Notebook (DeathNote) collection, and has quite a bit of summer to it.

Mother of Dragons

Another Game of Thrones shadow, and SUCH a beautiful color! It’s a slightly more muted purple with shimmery silver tones to it, leaning a bit to the warm side because of a red base that it has. It applies smoothly, and I think also makes an interesting liner when wet down.

Alkahestry

Alkahestry is a sheerer shade than the others, and INCREDIBLY shiny. It has a lot of purple, teal, and silver shimmers in it, and I think would be best applied over top of other shadows after a layer of glitter adhesive was put down. This shade doesn’t do particularly well over regular primer, I found, but that makes sense, since it is mostly just shine, shine, and more magical shine.

Little Bird

What a great crease color! Because I am already a pale, pink-toned blob, I don’t think this color looks as good as an all-over lid color for me, however because it is matte, I find it blends beautifully into the crease and up onto the brow bone for a more romantic look. I have also seen a lot of these made into custom glosses and think it would be a very wearable color.

Kooloo-Limpah

I have a confession– I was an Ocarina of Time fan all the way, and never really got the chance to play Majora’s Mask to its completion. Setting that aside, this is a particularly lovely peach color, with a bit of green in it. It’s in the same vein as Fyrinnae’s Rapunzel had Extensions and Darling Girl’s Positively Peachy shadows, but I think the green shimmer makes it unique in my pile of other loose peach-toned shadows (which I love so very, very, very much).

I Loved a Maid

WHEW, I thought we would never get to this shadow! This was my true standout for my order, and the shadow that I expected the least from in comparison to how tickled I am with it after having tried it. First, Tyrion is one of my favorite ASOIAF characters, and this is his shadow within the Shiro Game of Thrones collection. It is appropriately complex for what a dynamic character he is, and like Tyrion of literature, this shadow really surprised me with its performance. I used it in the look at the end of this post– I applied it to the lid and then went to gently blend it a bit onto the brow bone to soften the edges and all of a sudden it TURNED RED. I should have been forewarned because the website describes this color as a “green-shifting gold shining out over a base of softened Lannister crimson”, but I expected more gold tones and didn’t expect this gorgeous orange-y red tone out of nowhere. A plotz, froyling, a plotz.

Detrivore Scar

Mm mm, I love my taupes, and I also love purples, so this shadow is terrific. To me, it is more violet than it is taupe, but this certainly isn’t a straight up purple. It has some pink-purple shift to it, and applies much better over glitter adhesive than the UDPP.

Kaepora Gaebora

This color makes me think of highly polished knight’s armor. It’s a very metallic silver taupe, and was quite creamy (for a powder) when it applied.

Hodor

Hodor initially gave me a bit of trouble when I was applying it, and then I realized it was because it was almost matte (again, like the website says, but dur, Benoit did not check as she was applying them). Another perfect taupe for the collection. I don’t think this shadow is very complex, but it is a perfect base to have as you’re crafting looks (and I also think would make a great crease color. I love crease colors).

Sweet Honey

I debated between getting Sweet Honey or Baker’s Boy. Ultimately I chose Sweet Honey because… well, I sort of did it randomly, but I am really pleased with it as a color and think it will make a lovely, neutral lid color. It has soft peachy shimmer, and would contribute well to a sort of boho, romantic look, I think.

Maiden Queen

This color really kicks some ass, pure and simple. It’s a slightly more green-leaning teal, and it is incredibly luminous and pigmented. It has a bit of shimmer to it, some pinks and some golds, and definitely reminds me of Margaery all the way.

Master of Whispers

Oh my god, I am such a fool, I almost didn’t get this color. It is a pretty complex shade, and I think is perfectly representative of Varys. It’s a bit unassuming at first, it looks just like a pale pink-lavender, but when it’s applied with a glitter adhesive especially it brings out a host of other shimmers and colors, especially golds.

Chimera

Another delightfully complex color, and look, another gray-taupe shade! I am in neutral heaven! This color has some copper tones, but also to me some pink and gold tones, as well as some silver. It looks really dynamic on the skin, even though it looks a bit dull in the jar (the best part of indies– so many are so unassuming!)

Cake

Cake is a shadow that everybody raves about, and though I haven’t used much of it, I can see why. It’s a very pale, slightly yellow toned highlight with red sparkles in it that gives it a bit more of a warm feel. I think it blends out nicely, and I used it as a cheek highlighter in my look below… I think it turned out well!

Detrivore Apocalyptic

This is a “reddened beige” according to the website, in person it looked to me to perhaps be a fairly matte, slightly rusty rose color. Please excuse the line in the blended part of the blush– that is the line where the tape was pulled up for the unblended shadow swatch, and I’m honestly not entirely sure why it didn’t apply evenly! In any case, this is a lovely shadow that I think mimics natural blush really well. I did personally find the Detrivore shadows to be slightly harder to blend, but I am working on my technique for blending loose blushes, which might have something to do with it.

1-Up

I ADORE coral blushes, and this is a very pink-toned, peachy, light coral with gold shimmer. I felt this one blended really nicely and will be perfect for cheek-pinked summer time looks.

Detrivore Blue Beard

A matte, periwinkle blue. I did try applying this one and found that I struggled a bit to blend it evenly over my foundation– again, I am pretty sure this is me, and my technique. It is such a dramatic color, for being so light. I’ve seen a lot of other people experimenting with blue blushes recently and am not sure if I will be able to pull it off even in an editorial way, but damnit I will try!

Detrivore Cyanide

This is a light, yellowy orange blush, also matte. It reminds me of the color of early summer peaches, and is helping me with my penchant for orange blush that I’ve been so excited about recently. It applies a bit pale to the skin– in order to get the color intensity you see above, you need to build the color up, but I do find it to be nicely buildable.

Now we’re moving onto lip products! For reference, here are my bare lips:

Come Out Come Out tinted lip balm

This is a really sheer lip balm, but I actually really like this. It’s great for every day wear, and perfect for no-makeup makeup looks. I find it to be decently moisturizing, and it has a bit of a sweet scent, but nothing overpowering and I don’t notice anything remarkable about the taste.

Shiro Custom Gloss in Plausible Walrus

First things first, everything you’ve heard about Shiro glosses is absolutely true. This does not feel like a normal gloss– it is not sticky, it doesn’t feel strange and tacky. It’s a nice, creamy texture and it has a decent about of longevity for a gloss. Plausible Walrus is also an absolutely stunning gloss! Unfortunately I expected this to have a bit more red-tone to it (a bit more ‘poppy’ than ‘pink’, you could say) based on the swatches I’ve seen from others of the shadow and their own Plausible Walrus custom glosses, making this a bit more of a hot pink than the barbie pink that it looks like on me, but I really do love the formula. I actually think that Kooloo-Limpah would make an AMAZING custom gloss, and am going to look into getting one of those stat!

Turn Around Time

I placed my order during an incredibly popular sale, so I anticipated a long wait, and was also informed of a long wait, and experienced a long wait, so all of my expectations were met. I placed my order on May 1, and then dicked around a bunch with my order by placing a second order, and then adding and removing items after seeing more things I wanted and then suffering terribly from some buyer’s remorse. Caitlin has EXCELLENT customer service. I e-mailed her the next day to ask about adding things to my order, and she kindly did so and invoiced me for the extra (AND provided them at the sale discount rate!), combined my two orders, and then refunded my shipping for one order. Then I e-mailed her again about removing some items, which she once again very kindly did and processed a refund very quickly for those items. She also gave me great recommendations for the flavor of my gloss (which I ended up loving! pink frosting all the way!). So, all told, I was a huge pain in the ass and she was really quick, nice, and responsive to everything I wanted and asked.

My order then shipped on the 25th, and arrived on the 30th. I think that Caitlin actually had a TAT posted of about 30 days, so despite being absolutely swamped with orders, she still beat her own TAT. I’m very pleased with the time it took to get my order, and Caitlin’s communication!

The Look

Holy god, that was a lot of swatching! Let’s take a closer look at the look I created using some of my new Shiro products. This look uses Still No Oscar for Leo DiCaprio (center lid), I Loved a Maid (left and right mid-lid), Chimera (inner and outer lid), and Kooloo-Limpah (lower lid), Cake as a cheek highlight, and the Come Out Come Out lip balm.

I didn’t intend to use red eyeshadow with this look, but like I mentioned above, as I was blending the I Loved a Maid into the crease a little to soften the look before I added a crease color, all of a sudden it turned a deep crimson and just got more intense as I buffed it into the lid. What a cool surprise!! It unexpectedly really brought the look together, I think.

In order to get the blending with this look, I patted all of the shadows on over my NARS smudge-proof primer, and gently blended as I would with pressed shadows. Then I added a VERY thin layer of Darling Girl glitter glue on the center of the lid, let it dry, and then added more Still No Oscar for Leo DiCaprio onto the center of the lid to intensify the highlight/shine. I found that by doing this I was still about to blend the new shadow into the other shadows enough that it didn’t look patchy.

Products:

MUFE HD Foundation in 110

Palladio herbal foundation primer

NARS smudge-proof eye primer

Darling Girl Glitter Glue

NYX Milk pencil

MAC fluidline in Blacktrack

Kat Von D tattoo liner

Laura Mercier Secret Concealer in 01 and Secret Brightening Powder

Shiro Still No Oscar for Leo DiCaprio, I Loved a Maid, Chimera, and Kooloo-Limpah

L’oreal Voluminous Butterfly Lashes in black

NYX taupe blush

Darling Girl Fantasia Inner Glow blush

Anastasia Brow Wiz pencil in Caramel and NYX brow powder in Auburn (darker red shade)

Shiro Come Out Come Out tinted lip balm

Final Thoughts

I expected nothing but excellence from the shadows I ordered, and this is what I got! I no longer worry about how shadows perform over bare skin, because I will never try to apply them without a primer or glitter adhesive at this point… but overall, all of the shadows performed predictably over bases, and sometimes surprised me with their complexity. The mattes all performed better over primers, whereas the glittery shadows all performed especially well over the glitter adhesive. Excepting the mattes, most shadows performed decently well over both bases. except Alkahestry, which was pretty singularly pathetic over the eye primer. Overall, the shadows had a lot of individuality and character, and even if they were the third or fourth taupe in my lineup from this order had something unique to bring to the table.

The Shiro custom gloss formula is terrific. I think it is a bit nerve wracking to pick a shadow color and not really know how it will translate to a gloss (like how my Plausible Walrus gloss wasn’t really what I was expecting), but I think it’s worth it to order it, because it’s something you’ll want to wear every day. And the tinted lip balm is lovely. I love how moisturizing it is, and I like how this particular balm has pretty sheer color. I know many of the others are more pigmented, but this was exactly what I was hoping it to be.

Your Turn!

I Loved a Maid really surprised me today! What products have you tried that took you aback a bit when you tried it?

It should be noted that I purchased these products completely on my own and am reviewing them independently, without affiliation to anything or anyone other than my mild (ahem) addiction to makeup.