Swatches Archives - frozen spring

Melt Cosmetics She’s In Parties Eyeshadow Palette – Photos & Swatches

11/21/20

Last month I finally got my hands on this wonderful eyeshadow palette! I actually had on my wishlist the She’s In Parties eyeshadow stack, but by the time I was ready to order it, it was discontinued. Luckily, they came out with this palette that has all shades from the old stack and then some. The original shades are Skeleton Kiss, Last Caress, She’s In Parties and Meanstreak. Christine from Temptalia reviewed the eyeshadow stack when it came out, and there were some inconsistencies in the formula so it got “only” a B from her. On the other hand, She’s In Parties eyeshadow palette got an A- (Christine’s review) which means Melt Cosmetics did improve the formula. Anyway, that was an additional reason I decided to buy this palette.

The reason I purchased this palette is because it has a really nice color story: a beautiful combination of purple, burgundy and plum shades, with the exception of the first shade, Skeleton Kiss, which is more of a golden-peachy shade. I do think this palette has a nice ratio of matte and shimmery shades and I do feel like it will suit you, no matter your complexion. Darker shades are indeed deep and rich, I was admiring them for a while once I swatched them! I don’t remember the last time I was this impressed with an eyeshadow palette! All shades are very pigmented and feel so smooth when swatched and applied. The only shade that felt a bit dry when swatched was the shade Meanstreak (next to last). However, it is amazingly pigmented and that really isn’t a serious issue.

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Make Up Store Microshadow Eyeshadows – Savannah, Misty, Beetle, Brown Sugar, Maroon, Spirit, Future

02/16/18

l-r: Savannah, Brown Sugar, Beetle, Misty

This is my current Make Up Store eyeshadow collection – Savannah*, Misty, Beetle, Brown Sugar, Maroon, Spirit, Future*. The last shade, Future, was purchased last year and the rest of the shades were purchased recently, in the last 2 weeks. Make Up Store has a big selection of shades, the Microshadow range comes in 80 different shades and on top of that they have other types of eyeshadows as well. Another great thing about Make Up Store is that they have many vegan options and their plan is to have 100% vegan products in the future (I think by the end of this year or something like that, I know they’ve been reformulating their products for a while now and there is a ‘vegan’ search under each section, so be sure to use that if you want only vegan products).

One downside is that Make Up Store doesn’t have descriptions of each shade on their website and some images might be misleading / color area is too small to see what color it is (for example, lip pencils). Or at least should they offer some swatches, that’s something that is basically a standard today when you have an online store. Anyway, I’ll do my best to describe these shades as accurate as possible + I have swatches at the end of this post (in natural daylight).

Brown Sugar – light beige/champagne with fine shimmer. If you look at the shade on their website, it looks nothing like the shade IRL. I managed to find a good color chart where Satin Souffle is the color MUS has on the website, but in reality it looks more like Washed Sand. It’s the closest thing I could find that matches MAC’s pigment in shade Naked (not cruelty free!).

Beetle – this is a beautiful, deep moss green shade. This shade, along with Maroon and Future, has a specific almost powder-to-cream formula with a metallic finish – the more you blend it, the creamier it feels. I’d say this looks best when applied with fingers because you can work with it in the way that you can’t if you’re using a brush.

Future* – deep, warmer aubergine purple with the same powder-to-cream metallic finish as Beetle and Maroon. This is a perfect shade for purple smokey eye look, especially with a darker base. In the pan it looks more like a burgundy-purple shade, but on my skin it looks definitely like a deep, warm purple.

Maroon – light, rich maroon red with a warm, orange base (looks darker in the pan). Has the same formula and finish as Beetle and Future. These types of colors don’t necessarily suit me, but I really like Maroon and I’ll make it work! :D

Misty – deep, smokey shimmery grey with a hint of purple. The formula of this shade is quite dry and I don’t like to use it dry for this reason. Another reason is that it’s a much richer and deeper shade if used wet. Almost like gunmetal that’s purple on the surface.

Savannah* – gorgeous deep, matte and warm aubergine shade with a brown base. It looks fantastic in combination with Future. This is a must-have if you like dark purple smokey eye looks.

Spirit – warmer brown with bronze shimmer / reflection. Spirit has the same formula as Misty – dry and powdery, but it’s well pigmented.

All eyeshadows are really pigmented, but some have a dry and powdery formula – I’m not really a fan of that. The good thing is that all eyeshadows can be used both dry and wet, and I definitely prefer using them wet, not just because the formula is better, but because they look more intense and the colors look way deeper and richer.

Photos & Swatches

l-r: Beetle, Brown Sugar

l-r: Maroon, Spirit

Maroon

l-r: Savannah, Misty, Beetle, Brown Sugar

l-r: Savannah**, Misty**, Beetle, Brown Sugar, Maroon, Spirit, Future

Where To Buy | Price

You can order Make Up Store here, they ship worldwide. In Sweden they are available at Åhléns and Kicks (+ they have their own stores).

Microshadow eyeshadows are 155 SEK ($20 / €15); they contain 4 grams of product (quite a lot!). You can buy them cheaper as well because Make Up Store always offers some deals, so keep an eye on that if you’re interested in these shades.

Vesna ♥

* non-vegan shades
** the swatches were applied semi-wet because I just wiped clean mu arm and I think the eyeshadows got “stuck” on my skin because my arm wasn’t completely dry at the time, but rest of the shades were applied dry

Meow Cosmetics Swatches (part II)

01/30/18

In my previous post I posted some Meow Cosmetics swatches and here’s finally my 2nd post with more swatches! There will probably be two more posts because I have the Wild Child collection + many blushes that I want to show you! As I mentioned in my previous post, some collections are seasonal but I can see that their holiday collections are still available! Anyway, let’s get to swatches!

Please note: some collections are seasonal collections which means they are available only during a certain season like Christmas, Halloween, etc. These collections are marked with an asterisk (*).
Please note 2: Vegan collections are marked with a (V)**. Click HERE for all product information.

SWATCHES

As in my previous post, I used a damp Linda Hallberg brush 304, no primer on my skin. Photos taken in natural daylight next to a window.

Random collections* (V)**

First I’m showing you my favourite shades of the bunch! Here are 6 (!) different collections and I’ll name all of them under the picture. All collections are seasonal. My favorite shades are Solemn Stillness, Violence and Kisses. Violence and Kisses look almost identical in the packaging but, as you can see, they look different when swatched.

l-r: Holiday Wishes Magic; Midnight Clear Solemn Stillness; 4 Horsemen Violence, Santa Baby (Kisses, Yacht); Secret Santa Vacuum Cleaner; XMas Ghost Midnight Kiss (seasonal & vegan)

IdealEyes (link) (V)**

This collection is permanent and I think it’s really an old one. I remember it from 10 years ago, when I just started ordering from Meow Cosmetics. For some reason I was never drawn to this collection, so I have only 5 shades, but this collection has 56 different shades! My favorite shade is probably the lest one, but I think I’ll have to order other shades as well. I don’t think I find these so fascinating when compared to other collections. :D

IdealEyes (l-r): Huntress, Intoxicat, Pussywillow, That Cat!, Tongue Tied

Shades of Meow I, III and IV* (V)**

These collections are all seasonal, but I’m not sure if these are fall collections maybe? I can see that they are available now. There are 5 collections in this range and you can see all of them here. These have some very gorgeous shades, I picked only a few. My favorites are spank and master.

l-r: Shades of Meow I (bondage, kink, spank) | Shades of Meow III (bdsm, master) | Shades of Meow IV (aphrodisiac, carpet burn)

Merry Mayhem* (V)**

Another seasonal collection that contains 11 shades and I purchased only 3 shades. I think I like jingle the most, it’s somehow really vibrant and interesting.

Merry Mayhem Collection (l-r): fa la la, jangle, jingle

Feliners (link) (V)**

Feliners are shadow liners and I had a hard time swatching them as normal eyeshadows so that’s why there is only a thin line :D BUT, as liners, they look really stunning! These come in 43 (!) different shades so I’m really surprised that I got only 2. Why would I get only two shades when there are at least 10 more shades I’d like to try out! Well, guess I know what I’m ordering next time! :D

Feliners (l-r): Cat O’Nine Tails, Domesticat

I hope you like these swatches and I hope they’ll help you when you decide to place an order! :)

Vesna ♥

* seasonal collection
** suitable for vegans

Meow Cosmetics Order + Swatches (part I)

12/23/17

Meow Cosmetics samples

I’ve been a Meow Cosmetics fan for a LONG time (10 years or so), but I haven’t placed an order in a while. Not sure what the reason for that was, but last month I just felt like I really missed indie brands (plus I’m really tired of boring collections that so many brands keep launching) so I decided to order something. In case you’ve never heard of Meow Cosmetics, this is a privately owned mineral-based company. All their products are hand made. They are well known for their mineral foundation, eye shadows and blushes. They are cruelty free and many of their products are suitable for vegans, too.

I placed my order during their traditional Black Friday sale when they, not only offer a 30% off code, but they also offer free international shipping (for orders over $40 or something like that – not that it’s hard to spend that much, LOL). I placed my order on 24/11 and it was shipped on 3/12. I think it took a week (or 10 days max) for the order to arrive once it was shipped. I was seriously impressed with how fast it came considering it was Black Friday!

Price: $1 per sample

Here are my swatches (part I) and I will be swatching the rest of the shades I have on Sunday or Monday.

Please note: some collections are seasonal collections which means they are available only during a certain season like Christmas, Halloween, etc. These collections are marked with an asterisk (*).
Please note 2: all collections are vegan except for Winter Spirits collection (will be sending them an e-mail to ask which shades are vegan). Vegan collections are marked with a (V)**. Click HERE for all product information.

SWATCHES

Everything was swatched with a damp Linda Hallberg 304 blending brush, no eyeshadow primer on my skin. Photos were taken in natural daylight next to a window.

Winter Spirits Collection*

I think this is my favourite collection! Now I’m actually sorry I didn’t order all shades since they’re just so wonderful! My favourite shade is definitely Merlot – such a deep berry shade! It has 14 shades inspred by wine so if you’re a wine lover this collection is a must have! :D

*available only during winter/Christmas.

Winter Spirits Collection (l-r): Chianti, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Rose, Shiraz, Sirah

Pandora’s Box Collection (link) (V)**

Pandora’s Box is a permanent collection, available all year round. It consists of 16 shades and I have 8 of them. My favorite shades are the first two – depravity and malevolence. I’m obviously into deep purple/burgundy/red shades this season!

Pandora’s Box Collection (l-r): depravity, malevolence, mortal sin, plague, poison, scourge, sorrow, villainy

Shattered Equinox Collection (link) (V)**

Another permanent collection. It has 14 shades and I got 12 of them. This collection has many beautiful green shades and my favorite of the bunch is deranged. Other shades I really like are morose, purpuraceous and violaceous.

Shattered Equinox Collection (l-r): balderdash, bane, contagion, deranged, dour, melancholy

Shattered Equinox Collection (l-r): morose, perverse, purpuraceous, sardonic, tarnished, violaceous

Sugarplums Collection* (V)**

This is a quite small collections that consists of 3 eyeshadows and 2 blush shades. I have only eyeshadows. As you can see, these are gorgeous purple shades! I’m really impressed wih Meow’s purple shades, they really know how to make beautiful and good purples!

*available only during winter/Christmas

Sugarplums Collection (l-r): fairy, nutcracker, vision

Egyptian Treasures Collection (link) (V)**

This is another permanent collection that has some really impressive shades! I think I’ll end up ordering the rest of the collection because the more I played with them, the more I loved them! I have only 5 shades, but there are 22 shades available. This collections includes 3 blush and glow (highlighter?) shades, too.

All shades I got are really gorgeous and it’s hard to pick one favorite. I can tell you that my least favorite is nile just because I don’t really wear silvery shades, but it’s still gorgeous looking when swatched!

Egyptian Treasures Collection (l-r) anubis, miw, nile, royal, tutankhamun

Other collections

Here are some swatches of random collections. I have only 2 shades from each so I swatched them together.

l-r: Harvest Moon* (V)** (pegasus, twiligt) | Deck your Halls* (V)** (lit, rumcake) | Neptune’s Grotto (V)** (black crystal abyss, styx)

l-r: Mythos Mattes (V)** (enchantress, mystic) | End of Days* (V)** (armageddon, hopeless)

How do you like these swatches? Do you feel like you’d like to order some of them? :D Let me know in the comment section!

Vesna ♥

* seasonal collection
** suitable for vegans

Nabla Dreamy Eyeshadow Palette – Photos & Swatches

10/29/17

I believe you’re already aware of the Nabla Dreamy Eyeshadow Palette which sold out really quickly! Not that it’s a surprise because Nabla has some of the best indie eyeshadows on the market and I’m happy I managed to grab this palette! This, obviously, isn’t a review since I receive this product only 2 days ago, but I wanted to show you some pictures and swatches.

Here is some info about the palette itself:

contains 12 brand new shades
12 x 0.92 g (11 grams in total)
3 different textures: matte, pearlescent and metallic
contains neutral, warm and cool shades
comes with a mirror and magnetic closure (very good quality considering it’s cardboard)
vegan & cruelty free ♥
dimensions: 13,5 cm x 11 cm x 1,5 cm

Photos & Swatches

All shades were swatched with bare finger, without primer and only ONE swipe! The only shade that was a bit underwhelming is the first one, Immaculate. But then, it’s a really light shade and I think it looks prettier IRL anyway.

My favourite shades based on swatches: Delirium (yes, I love purple!), Metal Cupid, Señorita and Lullaby.

I’ll be playing with this palette tomorrow and will definitely create some looks with it!