Dupe battle! Shiro vs. Aromaleigh

You may have read about my love, and search for a dupe of Aromaleigh's Champagne Toast. Lucky for me, Aromaleigh brought back some of their Christmas colours in 2012, so I grabbed myself a full-size of Champagne Toast, and Twinkling Lights, which is a green with red glitter.

Not so long ago Shiro Cosmetics released the Hobbit-themed collection called "There and Back Again", which features and eyeshadow called Fifteen Birds in Five Fir Trees, also a green with red glitter. I got myself some Shiro goodies in an effort to compare the two shadows, for those people who may have missed out on Twinkling Lights, or those with extensive collections.

Green/teal EOTD

Just a quick one today!

Swatcharama! The results of my teal eyeshadow hunt

The problem with ordering from indie companies when you live in Australia is that orders tend to take forever to arrive, so you kind of forget what you ordered, and if you're obsessed with a certain colour which is not currently in your collection... fast forward a month and this happens:

Eotd/Lotd: Berry Wine

Actually managing to get out of bed in time to do makeup for uni is quite an accomplishment these days. The fact I had time to photograph this look was an even bigger bonus!

Eotd: Ra, Poison Snow

Inner corner: Aromaleigh Snow
Lid: Femme Fatale Poison
Outer corner: Meow Ra
And my matching earrings :)

Aromaleigh v.2 swatches and review

I caved, I did! I was ordering some samples of the clearance v1 shades, and some v2 samples slipped into my cart as well. I was curious to see if the new shades were as good and had that sparkle factor of the original products.

All have been swatched over Pixie Epoxy.

giacinta

"rich, deep teal frost with green highlight shimmer"
Amazing, amazing teal shade. It has just enough sparkle not to be too satiny, and it's so versatile. If you want it to be more blue, use a patting motion. Want it to be greener? Buff it a little. I used it in a look with the colour sort of curving around the outer corner of my eye - it ended up looking like two different shades because I patted more colour on the upper lid and blended it out on the lower lid. I have ordered a full-size of this because it's exactly the teal I was looking for.

hellebore

"lush cool green frost with pink sparks"
When they said 'cool green' I wasn't expecting something so... faded? Pastel? The pink sparkles are visible and add an interesting dimension to the colour. It's pretty, it's just not something I can see myself reaching for a lot.

fraxinelle

"soft pinked buff with a green iridescence and blue sparks"
I was expecting this to have one of those plush bases with a bit of contrasting shimmer, but the base of this colour is SO blingy, I can only just make out the green/blue sparkles! A seriously shiny neutral. I think this would be great with a dark, equally glittery crease for a night out. Or, y'know, running errands.

elisabetta

"midtone buff with hints of rose and a smokey undertone"
Shimmery, rosy brass colour. Almost has a mauve sheen in some lights. Very steampunk, I like it!

can-can

"coral, in a plush luster fine sheen finish with softly shimmering rose highlight sparkles" 
I have no idea why it's SO orange in my photos. Soft, yet bright pinky coral with mostly golden glitter. Really pretty, really bright shade!

knickers

"pinked champagne luster sheen frost with delicate highlights of golden green" 
I keep giggling when I look at this shade. And I'll probably giggle every day I wear it. YES, I AM TWELVE, OKAY. Because this is over PE the gold/greenish highlights are very prominent. I'm sure it would look more pink over primer or bare skin.

ma cherie 

 
"sheer plush luster in a midtoned cocoa rosy buff, highlighted with fine shimmers of green and blue"
Brown-taupe with green and blue shimmer. Very pretty indeed. Neutral but with a dash of sparkle and colour.

vittoria 

"lush jade green with bright sparks of blue"
I don't know if I'd call this 'jade' green, but it's certainly a lush, rich, velvety colour. Would make a great crease or liner colour.


My final verdict? These are every bit as good as the old Aromaleigh shades, though they are still a long way from having the range v1 had. I would love to see some more brights and unusual shades, like the Rocks! and like some of the amazing Christmas shades with their super contrasting glitter. I can only hope they'll keep building their catalogue with more Moulin Rouge and less Bloom type shades. There are enough soft, neutral mattes on the market in my opinion. I'm so glad the Bete Noire shades are back - though, oddly, the difference in my collection since Aromaleigh v1 closed means the shades I originally wanted (Chantal, Amarante and Darcelle) I have too many similar shades to justify buying, and I now find other shades (Lisette and Bette) appealing.

Have you ordered from Aromaleigh v2 yet?

FOTD: Purple Monday

I had quite a bit to do this morning, so I opted for something quick and simple, but still with some colour.

How can my eyebrows need attention ALREADY?!

Eyeliner: Aromaleigh eyeshadow in Odile, foiled
Mascara: Maybelline One by One Volum' Express in Satin Black

Lips are a bit more plummy and shimmery in person.

Face: Australis Fresh & Flawless pressed powder in Darkest Brown, Lost in Makeupland Finishing Powder for Oily Skin
Brows: Wet 'n Wild Eyebrow Pencil 3 and a brow powder I mixed myself

Blush close-up.

Lips: Silk Naturals Kisser Slicker in Infatuation
Blush: Sobe Botanicals Enchanted

IS MAH FACE

Note to self: less thick eyeliner won't transfer, duh.

Help me find a dupe!

When Aromaleigh announced they were closing, and then shortly after that announced they were no longer shipping internationally, I was left with a couple of samples I would have liked to buy the full-sized version of.

Serenade I was actually able to mix my own dupe of, and Dulcinea I discovered was not actually as uncommon a colour as I'd thought.

Now the only sample I have left of that I'm loathe to hit 'pan' on is Champagne Toast (see it in action here and here). I haven't been able to find anybody swapping or selling this, and as it was a colour from an older collection, the 'new' Aromaleigh didn't have any left-over stock of it. So I'm hunting down dupes! I ordered three samples from Sassy Minerals (now sadly closed and amalgamated into the Lauress website, which I find ridiculous to navigate [the way they categorise their eyeshadows does my head in] plus the Sassy colours aren't available from them yet) to start off with. HOLY BRACKETS BATMAN. Sorry about that.

The official description for Champagne toast was "A nude pinkish fawn/champagne tone with bright aqua shimmer sparkles dancing in the light."

The three shades I got from Sassy were:
Gaining Ground "Pale rosy beige with flashes of green and pink shimmer "

Salt & Sand "Sandy beige with aqua and gold sparkle "

Pixie Sprinkles "Neutral peachy beige with copper, green and purple sparkles"

You can see from the jar shots that they're all fairly similar, but none of them look like real dupes for each other. Time for the swatch test! All done over PE since that's pretty much the only way I'd wear them.

This is Champagne Toast:

Eye-brightening, peachy-champagne, lovely sheen without being over the top. The aqua sparkles I sadly couldn't get to show up, but rest assured they are there.

Gaining Ground:

Pearly, pale pink. Slight green flash from certain angles.

Very different to Champagne Toast. NEXT!

Salt & Sand:

Peachy pink with a scattering of aqua sparkles. Promising!

But it doesn't quite have that champagne quality. Close though! I can definitely see myself reaching for this if I can't find a proper dupe. Let's go on to the last contender.

Pixie Sprinkles:

Rose gold with superfine pink and green glitters. Quite a bit more pink in real life, it kept wanting to blend into my skintone in these photos. It's the exact colour of rose gold, not nearly as yellow-toned as it is here. I tried lots of different settings and light sources and could not get it to photograph well!

A beautiful, flattering colour, but again, very different to Champagne Toast. This photo is a much better indication of its pinky-ness.

On the list as possible contenders:
Alyk's Twinkle from Persephone Minerals
Deco and Vapor from Silk Naturals
Taupiary, Tickled Pink and Vanilla Skies from Sobe Botanicals
Sexy in Suspenders from Geek Chic
Selene from Morgana Cryptoria

Any suggestions? Or better yet, if you have any of these shades, would you be able to swatch them for me?

Miw and purple Eotd

I apologise in advance for this one, I had a horrible time trying to get any good OR accurate pictures! This is another t-shirt inspired look.

Miw (Meow Cosmetics) on inner/middle of lid.
Fierce (Sassy Minerals) on outer corner with Caitlin's Purple Poof (Aromaleigh v1.0 patted on top. Waterline done with black liner, then swept a thin line of Miw on inner lower lashline. Outer lower lashline done same as outer lid. Highlight Tako (Sugarpill), no mascara but I did my brows and face.

My nails are done really simply at the moment. It's ironic, I can use any polish or combo of polishes that I like, it's now finding TIME to do my nails that's the problem! If only I could polish in my sleep...

EotD: first day at new job

I wasn't 100% sure how many of the other girls wear make-up, and whether or not they are as into brights as I am, so I decided to play it safe and do a neutral lid with a pop of colour on the lower lashline.

Products used:
Champagne Toast by Aromaleigh (lid)
English Rose by Lost in Makeupland (highlight)
Turquoise from Sleek Circus palette (lashline)
Covergirl liquiline blast eyeliner in brown to tightline
Australis Extenderlash Mascara in black

Lips are Morgana Cryptoria Roses & Violets with Rimmel gloss over the top.
Brows are a random old Revlon pencil that is down to a stub now... I guess that means I need to start brow product shopping soon! I promise my brows didn't look as raggedy in person. That macro is unforgiving!

To match this necklace (and the eye make-up) I wore a blush-pink dress with a turquoise belt and flats.

I'm going to make a concentrated effort to go through my eyeshadow samples - especially the ton of neutrals I amassed for work! - and finish them off. I have enough full-sized neutrals in a gamut of colours to last me for EVAH (never mind that there's still some Fyrinnae and Silk Naturals ones I want. Definitely don't need 'em!)