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Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Shopping My Stash: The Fall Eyeshadow Palette

I've been feeling pretty uninspired lately, both on the daily make-up front and post ideas. It's simply more challenging to find exciting products to use and talk about when you're on a very limited shopping allowance - which in turn leads to an increased itch to buy new products. In the past, I would have probably thrown in the towel at this point, making the excuse that I 'need' new stuff to blog about, and with that mental gateway, I would somehow feel less guilty about another redundant purchase.

But I'm not about that life anymore. So instead, I decided to burrow deep into my stash and play with some beautiful, fall-appropriate eyeshadows. Some of these I've been already using regularly in my everyday eye looks, but most I frankly forgot about, having them conveniently stored out of the way in various freeform palettes. One lazy afternoon, I sat down at my vanity and slowly picked out ten eyeshadows in warm coppers, bronzes, taupes, olive greens and muted purples across many different brands, low and high-end, mainstream and indie. The unexpected result of my swatching session was that I found myself genuinely surprised at how some of these shadows looked on my skin; I did not remember the different undertones at all! It just goes to show that I'm really not all that aware of the products I've kept in my collection even after various declutters, and that all of my eyeshadows deserve to be pulled out once in a while to jog my memory - or to help me make the decision whether to keep or donate them.
Let's start with the warm brown/ copper/ rosy taupe group. Left to right: Wet n'Wild metallic rosy copper from a Limited Edition Dancing In The Clouds trio, Too Faced Honey Pot from the Natural Eye palette, Fyrinnae Witchy Woodland Creatues (pressed in the tiny round pan), Stila Whim from In the Moment palette, Burberry Midnight Brown (old formula).
L-R: Wet n'Wild Dancing In The Clouds, Too Faced Honey Pot, Fyrinnae Witchy Woodland Creatures, Stila Whim, Burberry Midnight Brown
Now for some golden olives and cool-toned silvery and purple shades. Left to right: Fyrinnae Newcastle (pressed in the tiny round pan), Rouge Bunny Rouge Aged Bronze from the Chronos palette, Stila Diamond Lil', Rouge Bunny Rouge Eclipse Eagle, Stila Captivate from the In The Moment palette.

All shadows were packed on with a flat shader brush over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, which for some reason - maybe I've had mine for too long - caused the pigments NOT to adhere well to the skin, giving my swatches a slightly patchy appearance (especially on the olive shades on the left). I wasn't happy about that, and decided to say farewell to that eyeshadow base. See, I'm downsizing any chance I get :)
Angled to show shimmer: Fyrinnae Newcastle, Rouge Bunny Rouge Aged Bronze
Stila Diamond Lil, Rouge Bunny Rouge Eclipse Eagle, Stila Captivate
Big thank you to Resident Witch, who inspired me to have fun with all the fall-themed shades in my stash - go check her post out! If you've also been feeling the itch to get some new shadows (Is it because of the new limited edition Holiday releases? 'Tis the least wonderful time of the year for anyone trying to curb their shopping habit...), I encourage you to take a good look at all the different singles, duos and palettes that you already own and have a nice leisurely session swatching anything and everything that looks interesting. It's a great exercise in enjoying the beautiful products we have, and you'll be surprised at how many shades are nothing like what you remember them being. Here's to rediscovering new fall favorites!

9 comments:

  1. Thanks for the mention! And for the reminder that Fyrinnae's golds are otherwordly beautiful and I have no excuses for not using mine more. I have had the same patchy effect happen with Pixie Epoxy and it's definitely a sign of age- after about a year and half the formula starts to thicken up and won't cooperate so nicely. I just replaced mine about a month ago and now we're friends again :)

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  2. I prefer blogger who show used and loved products instead of new, barely used ones.

    You are right that copper, olives and bronzes (let's call them: coin coloured haha) can look very different when swatched. Unfortunately I can only use balanced tones, but most of them are either warm (reddish, orangy) or cold (silvery). I also found out that I cannot use that mixture of taupe and olive. Speaking in terms of your eyeshadows, Witchy Woodland, Whim, Captivate and Midnight Brown would look best on me - Aged Bronze, Dancing in the clouds and Lil worst.

    I am really obsessed with your swatches. The colours look so intense with that base!

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  3. Midnight Brown is one of my favorites :)

    I need to pull out my RBR palette - it's perfect for fall! Thanks for reminding me! I can't wait to use Abyssinian Catbird again. I actually passed on Eclipse Eagle - it was too similar to Delicate Hummingbird on me, and EE's texture felt - I don't know, oiler, in a way.

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  4. Monika, I admire and LOVE your approach to blogging -- as I always believe that there is so much more to blog about beauty than product reviews (purchases, empties, etc.) Don't get me wrong, I love those too, but this one I can tell requires discovery and a bit more effort. And I just love reading about good discoveries in your own stash.

    You get me thinking about different undertones, and I think this inspires me to revisit my nude lipsticks -- maybe I can make a good use of Lisa E's video of nude lipsticks and keep the few that I really use. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  5. Beautiful swatches! I've been itching to do something like that for so long - I want to have an afternoon all to myself dedicated to exploring and swatching my own collection. I keep getting into makeup ruts all the time as I grab what I know out of convenience most mornings. It's time to broaden those horizons by shopping the old stash and coming up with other options!

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  6. Oh wow, these are some seriously gorgeous shades! Thanks so much for the excellent swatches. I applaud you for sticking with your limited shopping allowance and instead looking closer and deeper at the products you already have. Of the shadows here, I have Burberry Midnight Brown. For me, it's a bit too generic to inspire any particular enthusiasm. Nicely formulated of course, which you'd expect with the corresponding price tag.

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  7. I have to admit that I haven't been that inspired make-up wise lately myself, as well. I just wear such a minimal amount of makeup these days (compared to what I used to).

    But I may have bought some new products last week, can't wait for them to arrive. I do buy new skincare/body/hair care from time to time but not so many makeup products (I just don't see that many products I'd want to have and already have way to much), so I am kind of excited about that.

    As the shadows you've posted - Stila Captivate looks absolutely gorgeous.

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  8. Amen to that! Most of us have PLENTY of awesome stuff in our stash already, we just tend to forget about it upon seeing all those new shinies in stores. You really have some gorgeous shades here, these really are my colors, too :-)

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  9. I read a really good suggestion the other day to google swatches and reviews of products you already own to get excited about them all over again - that idea coupled with this one I'm hoping will help me resist buying any makeup items during the Sephora sale (I'm a 'lowly' VIB - not Rouge - so I have to wait until this Friday). Right now I only have skincare in my cart with a concealer being the only makeup item, and I really want to stick to that. Wish me luck!

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