Fyrinnae (pronounced “fyeer-ih-nay”) is a company I am fairly new to, but I am loving their unique and vibrant eyeshadows and blush, both of which I’ll talk about in future posts. In this article I am reviewing their fabulous product, Pixie Epoxy.
Fyrinnae does not claim to be a mineral makeup company, but all their products are vegan: they don’t contain silk, carmine, pearl, or beeswax. Some of their ingredients are man-made or lab treated and thus aren’t technically “natural,” but they’re pretty much the same things you find in “mineral” make-up: mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, etc. Category and product pages will list all the ingredients in an item.
As stated on the site, Pixie Epoxy is not an eye primer or a base. It’s a unique “glue,” that is “designed to hold the sparkliest, most shimmery eye shadows in place, minimize ‘fallout’, and also to easily create a foiled look without foiling.”
Ingredients: Glycerin (vegetable derived), Purified Water (Aqua), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Silica, Acrylamide/Ammonium acrylate copolymer, Polyisobutene, Polysorbate 20, Propylene Glycol, Carbomer, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Potassium Sorbate.
Personally, I use it without an eye primer because I’m usually too lazy. When I use it with a primer, though, I don’t notice any performance difference.
Prior to discovering Pixie Epoxy, I used e.l.f.’s Mineral Eye Primer. For me, it worked about as well as Urban Decay’s Primer Potion. Eyeshadow went on all right, a little bolder than without a primer but by the end of the day, it was noticeably faded. However, Pixie Epoxy sticks eyeshadow to your lids! I can go 8+ hours and my eye makeup will look almost exactly like it did before I left the house. I say almost because sometimes eyeliner or mascara will run/smudge, but that’s not Pixie Epoxy’s fault.
Now on to the demo swatches! I used several brands of eye makeup as well as both loose and pressed types. The first image below is what the Pixie Epoxy looks like when applied: it’s a bit shiny. You don’t need nearly as much as you think you do! A little dab spread over your lid is plenty and if you use too much you might get some creasing.
In the swatches below, the upper row has Pixie Epoxy, the middle is bare skin, and the lower row is with Urban Decay Primer Potion.
From left to right: Urban Decay Uzi, Urban Decay Flipside, Hard Candy Backstage Pass (gold & aqua), Orglamix Lagoon, Everyday Minerals Starry Eyed, Aromaleigh Palmetto (matte), Aromaleigh Wonderland (gothic lolita), Fyrinnae Cupcake Sprinkles, Fyrinnae We’re All Mad Here, e.l.f. e/s duo Berry Mix (mauve & plum)
As you can see from the swatches, there’s a huge difference in the shadows that were applied over Pixie Epoxy versus just bare skin. There’s also quite a difference between Pixie Epoxy and UDPP except for a couple of the colors.
Here are a couple more photos of the swatches that are a bit more in focus:
Even though Pixie Epoxy is a bit tacky (which is really helpful for glitter shadows like UD’s Uzi), I don’t find there’s any difficulty blending my colors. As I said above, I’ve been using this on my lids instead of a regular eye primer for the last couple months and haven’t had any skin problems.
At less than half the cost of UDPP, do yourself a favor and get the 10ml tube of Pixie Epoxy. While you’re there, be sure to check out their awesome eyeshadow shades!
25 March, 12:21 pm
So far I’ve only used the UDPP and I really like it, but it IS expensive, and I haven’t used many primers other than concealers.
Maybe I’ll probably have to try that once I’m done with the primer I have on hand.
25 March, 2:02 pm
When you think you’ve run out of UDPP, you should cut it open like many others have done – there’s a ton left in the bottle!
25 March, 11:02 pm
That explains why the new one has a slanted brush instead of the straight brush.