Loose Powder

This is a brown and teal eye look I threw on before heading out one Saturday.

Before starting, I’ve applied my primer (tarte Clean Slate) and BareMinerals matte foundation, then applied Fyrinnae’s Pixie Epoxie on my eyelids.

I used Fyrinnae‘s Cookie Dough on the inner corners and as a highlight and Species 8472 on my eyelid. For the outer corner and crease I used Aromaleigh‘s Rocks! Sonic shadow in moonagedaydream. I finished off the look with black gel eyeliner from The All Natural Face.

For blush, I’m using Fyrinnae’s Glow Blush in Enrapture and their lip lustre in Romantique.

Speaking of Aromaleigh… I’m sure the news has spread by now that Aromaleigh will be closing. I have no idea what the circumstances are of this, but you can read Kristen’s announcement here. They are discounted all remaining stock and you can use the coupon code ADIEU35 to get 35% off any products through August 10, 2010.

I’ve been wary of mineral eyeshadows ever since my disenchantment with Garden Botanika products when I was in high school.  The appeal of the “natural” is understandable; if you’re going to spackle layers of gunk on your eyes, why not choose products that are made with harmless minerals instead of fish scales, rust, or crushed insects?  Non-comedogenic is the magic word here. But I was always disappointed with how the colors looked different when applied, or how the color would get sucked into my skin and disappear. But that was years ago! It was a different brand. They have shadow primers now. I decided I was ready to give mineral products another go.

Aromaleigh has gorgeous eyeshadow palettes that make me want to buy all of them. Lucky for my wallet, they have free samples when your friendsyou buy something. I tried Chantal and Colette. I apologize for not putting up pictures of the samples. My camera is MIA and you can’t really appreciate the colors in the tiny ziplock bags anyhow. If you wish, they can be seen here. Chantal is a gorgeous, lustrous brown. Colette is a dark, glittery blue (though not disco-ball glittery).

It sounds like a contradiction, since the simplest solution would be to not wear any makeup, but always being short on time requires me to be very practical with my makeup. Control, durability, and efficiency are really important factors when choosing an eyeshadow.

And just to make sure I wasn’t being biased (call it my “control group”), instead of using concealer I applied Aromaleigh’s eyeshadows over Too Faced eyeshadow primer, and over a Benefit cream eyeshadow base, and then over both. I’ve seen people use mineral eyeshadows with success. I’m not one of them. I really, really wanted to love this product. But I don’t.

First I used Colette in combination with a neutral base color. The color just didn’t look quite as sparkly, no matter how many times I dabbed at my eye. I was hoping the blue would pop a bit more. I know that a blue cream base would take care of that, but then it would lose its subtlety. It’s always disappointing when a color doesn’t look the way you expect it to, but sometimes you can learn to like it the way it is.

Lack of staying power, however, is a deal breaker. I don’t believe in reapplying makeup. Carrying a little bag around with all your essentials is the opposite of practical, and with all the primers and tints and cream bases there are today, makeup can last a long, long time. Chantal is a very pretty color, but it faded in a few hours.  Colette ended up all over my eye, even though I only applied it to half. I don’t apply eyeshadow with so much care so two hours later it can look like I’m wearing one color, uniformly applied — or like I’m wearing a touch of an indistinct color. Eyeshadow needs to blend when I want it to and stay where I put it.

Also, fallout. It’s not just a a really cool video game, it’s a serious problem with these eyeshadows. Once upon a time, I wasted a lot of product and time wiping my cheeks clean and reapplying foundation. I’m disappointed with the dusting of powder left on my cheekbone, where I didn’t put it. It makes me feel like an awkward teenager again.

I came to a conclusion, inspired by a night at the opera with AthenaKTT: Mineral eyeshadows are my cosmetic Rheingold; they’re beautiful and shiny when all I do is admire them, but as soon as I get hold of them, the consequences are ruinous.

So back to my question: If I’m going to plaster my face with product, why not choose some that will cause the least amount of damage to my skin? Answer: because it’s ineffective and inefficient. It doesn’t matter if  Aromaleigh is cheaper and better for my skin. I use 4–5 different colors in one application. I don’t want to buy an eyeshadow if I have to spend a full five minutes playing with just one color on one eye because it’s not showing up, after which I have to clean my face again. The pigmentation doesn’t hold up in the substantial company of colorful, vibrant lineups from Mac, Urban Decay, Make Up Forever, etc.  The benefit of a high pigment eyeshadow is that you can use less of it, and there’s less fallout, which also means you’ll be done faster. I think that’s worth paying for.

I’m not giving up on the Aromaleigh brand altogether. They have some other products I really want to try and I believe they’re in the middle of improving their formulas. I just don’t think their eyeshadows are right for me.

If you’re a minimalist with sensitive skin, and use just a bit of color here and there, Aromaleigh might be just thing for you. Just get yourself a good primer and apply carefully.

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!