Sometime around January, I had a sudden desire to start buying from Indie brands - I have no idea what prompted me to do so, but all of a sudden, I was spending hours browsing through various website and deciding what pigments and eyeshadows to get. I think what drew me in was how complex different pigments could be - how one taupe shade could somehow have reflective shimmer in every color of the rainbow. Most mainstream eyeshadow are not that complex, and let's face it - the prices of Indie companies is often more attractive, since a decent sized 1/4 tsp. sample is only around $1.75-$3. These small samples are the perfect size to try a lot of different shades without having giant sizes of pigments that I'll never finish (MAC, I'm looking at you!)
Enter Fyrinnae into my life. Within the beauty community, they are probably one of the best and unique Indie makeup companies. Every time I see a look with Fyrinnae products, I'm kind of starstruck by how gorgeous everything looks. The only thing that's tricky about Fyrinnae is that it can be difficult to order from them because their website is down a lot. It's understandable - Fyrinnae is a very small company with a small staff, and since all their batches are handmade, it's easy to get overloaded with orders. A lot of the times that I wanted to order something from their website, they were not taking orders, so when I saw that they were finally open again in January, I jumped at the chance to try some things out.
After furiously looking up swatches online, here's what I ended up with:
Keep reading for tons of pictures and swatches!
Even though the website said to allow up to 40 days to process, it only took about three weeks for the shipment to be processed and delivered to me. I was pleasantly surprised by how fast I everything!
I ordered the mini sizes of everything, as well as two sample sizes of Pixie Epoxy, and with the order, I received the eyeshadow Sled Puppy as a free sample.
As you can see, I stayed true to myself and ordered mostly neutrals, with some "exciting" colors, such as Mephisto, a reddish purple, and Fireside Interlude, a bright orange. (but oh, they are both so much more complicated than that!)
I'm going to start with the sample I received - Sled Puppy.
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| Sled Puppy |
Witchy Woodland Creatures
Witchy Woodland Creatures is perhaps the most "me" shade that I purchased. It is a true taupe with slightly silver undertones under the light. Like many taupes, it's a versatile neutral shade that can be used as an all-over wash or in the crease. BUT, what makes this different is the rainbow shimmer throughout. Below is a purposefully blurry photo that caught the complexity of the shade:
I think the effects of the shimmer in this are visible when using this shadow dry or wet, which I'm very pleased with! It applies smoothly without much fallout. I also included an individual close-up swatch to show how complex and beautiful this shade is. While being a neutral, it has a beautiful shine on the lid that still doesn't seem too glittery or over the top!
Mephisto
Although not a shade I would typically wear, Mephisto is one of those classic Fyrinnae shades that I had to get, no matter what. I've never seen a shadow like this - it'sa purple with a red reflect. I'm not totally sure how I'd wear this yet, but I can't wait for an occasion. The only complaint I have about this shadow is that it applies a little patchy, and doesn't work much better when used wet, either. This makes it a little bit difficult to blend, so I'll have to play around with this some more to really get the hang of using it.
Snow Leopard
Of course, I would choose another neutral to be my favorite shade out of what I ordered. Snow Leopard is another one of those hyped shadows from Fyrinnae, and I almost didn't get it because of the massive collection of taupes that I already own, but I am SO glad I ended up getting it anyway. Although it reminds me of Witchy Woodland Creatures, it is a little bit more satin, as it doesn't have the multicolored shimmer running throughout. It's also slightly warmer since it doesn't have that silvery undertone that Witchy Woodland Creatures has. I can see this being more of an everyday shadow since it's much more subtle.
Arcane Magic Steampunk
Although it doesn't look like it in the pot, Arcane Magic Steampunk is actually a deep charcoal color with purple shimmer that's only visible when the light hits it. I don't have any shades like this since it gives off a nice blackened effect to the purple. I can see this being gorgeous used as a liner or for a deep smoky look.
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| Snow Leopard (on left), Steampunk (on right) |
Fireside Interlude
Fireside Interlude is also a shade that I wouldn't typically reach for. I mean, just look at it! It's a bright fiery orange with golden undertones. However, I find this surprisingly easy to wear paired with some more neutral peach or beige eyeshadows. Although I wouldn't call this a neutral, it pairs well with many things, and I find myself reaching for this more often than I thought I would. This also applies smoothly and blends out well. Below is another closeup because it's the best way to show that it's not just a straight up orange shade:
Feisty Fennec Fox
Feisty Fennec Fox is the type of shade that I've been obsessing over recently. It's very MAC Smoke and Diamonds-esque since it's a grey/pewter with golden undertones, making it a very wearable and warm grey on my skintone. Feisty Fennec Fox is also incredibly complex and hard to photograph since it just kind of looks like ground up concrete, but a blurry swatch shows the golden shimmer that peeks through when it's blended out:
As you can see, it's a shimmery shade, but there's no actual glitter in it, making it also very smooth and easy to wear.
Picture with flash to show the shine it has:
Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead is a beautiful, glittery antique goldish bronze shade. It's beautiful when worn since it reflects light well, and the shimmer gives it a wet look, even when the shadow is used dry. It doesn't have the same multidimensional qualities as the other shades, but it amazing in its own qualities because of the shimmer and the color itself. It works beautiful with darker browns, and it does not have the same chunky quality that Sled Puppies had.
Not pictured individually, but in the first picture is the mini tubes of Pixie Epoxy ($2). Pixie Epoxy is meant to be used as a sticky base so that the pigments adhere better to the lid. It is available in a larger size, but I decided to just try out the mini sample sizes since I don't usually wear pigments too often. I do find that this helps make my pigments be a little bit more pigmented and adhere better, but applying too much does make them difficult to blend. Below, I swatched all of the shades both with the primer (bottom row) and without the primer (top row). There is a very slight difference in how it looks with or without primer, but I can see a difference in how smooth the pigment looks, as well as how much the complexity of the shades show. During application, I also find that it helps make the shadows stay on my lid without fall-out, but I do have to be careful with blending since it's stickier than a regular eyeshadow primer.
Swatches of all the shades in artificial lighting with flash:
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| Sled Puppies, Witchy Woodland Creatures, Mephisto, Snow Leopard, Steampunk, Fireside Interlude, Feisty Fennec Fox, Book of the Dead |
Swatches in cool natural light:
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| Sled Puppies, Witchy Woodland Creatures, Mephisto, Snow Leopard, Steampunk, Fireside Interlude, Feisty Fennec Fox, Book of the Dead. |
With the exception of Sled Puppies and Mephisto, Fyrinnae is definitely living up to the hype. Although I'm happy with the shades I have now, I may be tempted to order from them in the future because I'm in love with how complex and unique all the shades are. The only thing stopping me from ordering EVERYTHING is that I know I wouldn't wear a lot of the shades on a regular basis.
This has definitely gotten me curious about other brands, though. I have an order from Aromaleigh that I will be reviewing soon, but I'm also looking at Shiro Cosmetics, Darling Girl, Meow, and Femme Fatale. Although now readily available everywhere, there's something about supporting these smaller indie companies that often times have more unique products that is an exciting experience for me! Let me know if you've tried Fyrinnae, or any other Indie brands - and do let me know which brands are your favorite!
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