Beauty: finding the right base for duochrome eyeshadow

Review and swatches: Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, Shiro Cosmetics Mother of Dragons and Largest Moon of Still not a Planet

As a self-professed beauty lover, I go through stages of being obsessed with finding the holy grail this or that to perfect a look I have stuck in my head, be it from spontaneous inspiration, or from prowling instagram beauty feeds and pinterest. Recently, I struck up a fancy for duochrome eyeshadows. 

For those less obsessed with make up than I am: duochrome means that a product has two colours. Usually, this is one primary colour, and one second colour that comes alive when the light hits it just right, or when you use the proper base coat. I think it all started with Urban Decay's Moondust in Solstice, which the UD make up artist applied for me when I attended the Urban Decay x Ici Paris XL Antwerp shop opening (click to see the make up look). Basically, no make up product is as magical as holographic or duochrome stuff, if you ask me.

After googling some and reading reviews, I figured that there were two things I needed: first, a good duochrome/glitter eyeshadow base, and then some affordable duochrome eyeshadows to play around with. Reviews of indie make up brands pointed me towards Fyrinnae, where I picked up Pixie Epoxy, and Shiro Cosmetics, where I bought Mother of Dragons and Largest Moon of Still Not a Planet. Btw, for my fellow pop culture geeks out there, Shiro Cosmetics does stunning themed collections based on stuff like Game of Thrones, Zelda, Pokemon or Harry Potter. I mean, how awesome is this Felix Felicis lipgloss?

You really have to start with a good base when using these products, so I'll review Pixie Epoxy first.

Review: Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy for duochrome eyeshadow

Pixie Epoxy comes in a lipgloss tube with a doefoot applicator. The product was formulated to be used with glittery eyeshadow to minimize fall-out and maximize glitter. Apparently, some people find it hard to work with, and that baffles me because it couldn't be easier to use. 

Step 1: apply the tiniest amount of Pixie Epoxy where you want your glitter/eyeshadow to stick. I generally dab the doefoot applicated on the tip of my index finger and then apply it to the eyelid. 
Step 2: wait a few seconds for the product to get tacky. 
Step 3: apply the eyeshadow or glitter to the area. You can use a dabbing motion or just swipe on, but dabbing gives the most opaque coverage. 

If you're working with multiple colours, my tip would be to save the glitter/duochrome for last. Just apply your entire make up look, and then add a bit of Pixie Epoxy over it where you want to finish with the glitter and complete the look. Super straight forward. And as you really need the tiniest amount, this tube will last me a lifetime, probably. Amazing value for money. Below, I will illustrate how well it works.

Next, my duochrome babies.

Review and swatches: Shiro Cosmetics Mother of Dragons

This is the full size container, which contains 2 grams of product. That's plenty to get ages of use out of it, so if you think you won't use the colour as often, you can also get a half size container (1 gram), or a little sample bag (containing about 1/8th of a teaspoon). The containers come with little sifters so your loose pigment won't fly all over the place, and a cute little cap decorated with who/whatever inspired the shade. Largest Moon of Still Not a Planet was inspired by Charon, the largest moon of Pluto (which turned out not to be a planet), and Mother of Dragons is obviously an ode to Daenerys Stormborn, She Who Kicks Major Ass And Has Her Braid Game On Lock.

Swatches!

Urban Decay primer Potion versus Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy for duochromes

From left to right, I show the loose pigments on clean skin, layered over Urban Decay Primer Potion, and finally over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy. I am a huge Primer Potion advocate because it really makes all the difference if you're a little bit serious about make up, just look at the difference between where I applied on my bare skin vs UD PP. However, It's pretty clear that Pixie Epoxy is even more the-bomb-diggity-aceous, right?? It really allows the duochrome to fully come through and makes your eyeshadow stick without having to build up product. 

However, I wouldn't say I prefer it to Primer Potion: while Pixie Epoxy is perfect for glittery shades or accent colours, I would not recommend it all over the eyelid because it does not allow for blending. If you apply a colour over it, it will basically stay where you put it. Primer Potion does allow for blending and works better with mattes and satin shades. Both have their unique value, in other words, and I'd say that Primer Potion is the basic, while Pixie Epoxy is the extra for those who are more experimental in their make up.

Look at the colours!

Review and swatches: Shiro Cosmetics Mother of Dragons and Largest Moon of Still not a Planet

Mother of Dragons is blood red with a purple/silver shift (Targaryen colours, what what!), and Largest Moon of Still Not a Planet completely defies description. It's somewhere between purple/taupe/deep mauve in its base colour, and has a bright blue/green/aqua shift to it. 100% in love with both of these shades. I consciously picked two colours that had a neutral base because that's my comfort zone: browns, taupes, mauves, burgundies, beiges etcetera are just really easy to work with and build a look around. The shift brings the magic to the equation, but I don't see myself wearing a green base with pink shift, for example. That's just too much for me.

This is what they look like on the lid. For both looks, I used Urban Decay Primer Potion as a base, and Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy tapped on over PP.

Review and swatches: Shiro Cosmetics Largest Moon of Still not a Planet

Largest Moon of Still Not a Planet all over the lid, finished with a soft, navy cat eye using Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide On eye pencil in Sabbath. I also used that pencil to line my waterline. Look at how the pale silver blue and the rosey mauve play together! Such a magical eyeshadow. I'm wearing Bourjois Rouge Velvet in Nude-ist on the lips, btw.

Review and swatches: Shiro Cosmetics Mother of Dragons

Here, I used Primer Potion all over the lid, and tapped on Pixie Epoxy only on the center of the lid. As you can see, where the colour is more sheered out, it almost appears to be a simple rosey burgundy shade, but where it is intensified over Pixie Epoxy, the silver sparkle comes through. I also used Sabbath to line the outer edges of my waterline here, and I'm wearing Biguine's Brun Tomette on the lips.

So, in sum: run and buy good primers because they make ALL the difference when you apply make up. And go dabble in duochromes if you want to have some beauty fun.

PS: turnaround time was pretty decent for both Fyrinnae and Shiro Cosmetics, considering these are indie brands and that the items had to be shipped from the U.S. to Europe. I got my Fyrinnae order within two weeks, and my Shiro Cosmetics order took just over three weeks to arrive since ordering.

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