Flatlay Countdown – Everything in One Place!

Hey all, I hope you’re all having an amazing week! Sorry it’s been so long since I posted, but I hope that today makes up for it a bit 🙂

Things have been going OK for me. It’s the start of photo booth season so there’s gonna be many weekends where I just work more. Financial stability is good and all, but this might knock me on my ass! It’s hard to work a stressful job all week and then not have any wind down time.

Jake and I did go see Avengers: Infinity War and…um…I’m not going to spoil anything, and I need to see it again before I can formulate an analysis. I’ll likely make a post about it when I do, but suffice it to say it was A LOT to unpack. I have never been so emotionally miscombobulated by a Marvel movie in my life.

On a side note, I no longer have access to the software I used to crop my pictures for the blog. If you, dear reader, have any suggestions, I would appreciate it!

Today’s post is kinda a fun one. A couple weeks ago, I got a wild hair and decided to do a flat-lay of all of my indie eye makeup, arranged by brand. Needless to say that there was TONS more than I anticipated, but I really shouldn’t be surprised! I’ve been at this indie makeup thing for nearly 2 years now, a blogger for almost one. This was a labor of love for me, and it was interesting to see just how far I’ve come.

Eyeshadows dominate my collection, but i have accumulated a few highlighters and lip products at this point as well. Let’s have a look! What follows is in no particular order.

Flatlay 10 – Everything Else!

So many good things in here…a lot of these single shadows came in grab bags I purchased from other indie fans. High points include Dawn Eyes Cosmetics Multichromes, Geek Chic Cosmetics, Glamour Doll Eyes, and Corvus Cosmetics highlights, as well as Black Moon Cosmetics Eternal liquid lipstick. It’s a perfect, fall-like blackened rose gold! I’m SUPER sad to see that Corvus is closing its doors, but I was able to snag some items during their closing sale that I am very interested in trying. A lot of this category was destashed over time, as I have several brands that are my go-to items. We’ll get to those.

Flatlay 9 – Hello Waffle Cosmetics

Yes. This is a tiny flatlay. In fact, this could have gone into the Everything Else pile. However, this brand is special to me for a very specific reason. Do you see the cute orange kitty on the highlight jar? That’s my Nilla. The little golden eyed black cat on the lipstick? That’s Mephistopheles. Both of my furbabies made the cut for the yearly Kitty Kingdom collection on Black Friday, and I was so stoked i immediately bought their products. I really like HW eyeshadows, they have a smooth texture and are easy to apply. Popcorm Noms (my lovely Nilla highlight and the first item to sell out!) is a perfect creamy shimmer that is flattering on a variety of skintones.

Flatlay 8- Apocalyptic Beauty Cosmetics

This was one of those accidental Instagram finds that can sometimes be hit-or-miss. Thankfully, this brand is pretty much a hit for me! I’ve stuck to purchasing their holiday bundles, which usually come with 2 eyeshadows, a setting spray, highlight, blush , or contour, and a glitter. The value is fantastic! Additionally, Season of the Witch has become one of my favorite purple-blue duochrome eyeshadows.

Flatlay 7 – My Pretty Zombie Cosmetics

Ah, I do so love MPZ. The love affair began when I acquired OG Brisket and Anthrax in a grab bag. Yes, I know their names are kinda gross. The products more than make up for the naming conventions, however, with some of the most unique and vibrant duochrome shadows available. Also, MPZ does very close work with Snap Cats, a charity organization dedicated to the rescue and care of special needs felines. Who doesn’t love supporting a cause like that? Aside from the aforementioned Brisket and Antrax, my favorite MPZ shade is probably Gangrenous, another purply-blue duochrome stunner.

Flatlay 6 – Aromaleigh

I have feelings about Aromaleigh, and not all of them are good. While I haven’t been a member of the indie community forever, I have been around long enough to have heard some fairly interesting stories about how this company sometimes treats their customers. I also witnessed first-hand how the owner showed disdain toward makeup collections based off of fandoms (which is interesting considering that the eye shadow with the alien on it is based on X-Files) as well as the people who buy them. Don’t get me wrong, I really like some of the shadows I have, like Leirope, which is a beautiful shimmery yellow. But I am one of those people that found indies (and a true love) because of fandoms, and I am more than a little defensive of that fact. That’s on me though, and I won’t knock someone for enjoying the brand.

But…if you see pretty swatches of Fatalis 1, don’t get suckered in. I speak from experience.

Flatlay 5- Notoriously Morbid

NM is interesting for me. They have a huge fan following, and an incredible variety of colors. Out of all the brands i own, however, i have the hardest time working with NM shadows. It might just be me, but I often get fairly patchy application with their normal formula. I AM a huge fan of the semi-loose formula though. I picked up all 4 of the Calling Corners eyeshadows, based on the movie The Craft, and immediately fell in love with Air and Invention, which is a perfect silvery blue, and Fire and Feeling, the metallic red shadow of my dreams. Another hit is Paradise Island from the Wonder Woman collection. I also like that NM offers mini sizes, which is a lot more economical for someone like me who has a huge collection. Their Vanishing Cabinet monthly subscription is nice for building up a collection, but 3 months in I haven’t been ‘wowed’ yet. I’ll give it one more 🙂

Flatlay 4 – Femme Fatale

Femme Fatale is very well known for their amazing nail polishes, but their eyeshadows are incredible. From the moment I beheld Candied Apple I was in love. I fell in love even further once I discovered their old eyeshadow collection based off of the Warcraft Dragon Aspects. The shadows I have I very much enjoy, with Candied Apple, Silver Apple, and Amber Eyes, a beautiful peach with greenish shimmer, being favorites. However, I do have some issues with some shades, Nexus in particular, being patchy and difficult to blend out. Honestly, that could be user error on my part, and there are a lot of darker shades that I have a similar struggle with. Being an Australian brand, it can take a bit to get the goods after an order is placed, but in my opinion the wait is well worth it. I’m still making my way through The Wishing Chair collection!

Flatlay 3 – Fyrinnae

I can say without a doubt that Fyrinnae has my favorite shimmer eyeshadow formula. Full stop. Nearly every color I have tried has applied smoothly, blended well, and lasted all day long, even without the sorcery that is Pixie Epoxy. The only shade I can say I’ve had a difficult time with was probably Mephisto, which I’ve only ever really used as eyeliner when mixed with Inglot Duraline since my first disastrous application. Many of their shades are multi-taskers as well, and I routinely use colors like Jade Ghost and Winter, Again as face highlights. Their site is a little clunky but all of the shades are easy to find. Their samples are insanely generous as well! It’s really hard for me to nail down my favorites, since there are so many amazing shades. The color I picked up first was Deceptive Sidhe, and the gorgeous golden-rusty-green color still makes me feel awesome. I also really love Serendipity and Snowlight. However, I think the new multichrome Exquisites are probably my top shadows from the brand, even if they are a little dark and intense for everyday wear.

Flatlay 2 – Crow & Pebble

Happy birthday, Crow & Pebble! C&P is a little older than this blog is, and I’m very lucky to be able to help Karen, the owner, out with her swatch pictures for her eyeshadows. It’s a super fun opportunity that I never thought I would have, and that’s why there are so many samples here. Crow & Pebble shadows are supremely bendable, almost too blendable, but with a careful hand you can make some really stunning looks. It’s super easy to overdo it though, and I have had to train myself into using the lightest of hands when working with the mattes. Being the sparklebaby that I am, I never thought I would love a matte eyeshadow, but The Great Revolt is one of my favorite crease shades and Hawat is ideal for blending out a look. Honestly, I’m sad to know that she’s going to be discontinuing her Four Horsepersons collection, but after giving the newer collections a try, I can say the quality of the later products is a lot better. I’m very excited to get more wear out of her Watership Down collection, particularly Approaching Thunder and An Enterprising Officer. I must say that if there’s one shadow everyone needs, it’s Gom Jabbar from the DUNE collection! You wouldn’t think you could use a blue-gray color with bright green shimmer as a face highlight but YOU TOTALLY CAN.

Flatlay 1 – Shiro Cosmetics

Back in September of 2016, I was browsing r/MakeupAddiction on a slow day at work, when I came across a beautiful purple-blue duochrome look that someone had done. I was stunned that the eyeshadow was named Alkahestry (from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood) from a brand named Shiro Cosmetics, and even more stunned to find that THERE WAS A WHOLE SITE OF THIS STUFF. Makeup named after my favorite books, games, TV shows, and anime? Shiro made this possible for me…from the indie discord to Cosmochromatica, Shiro was the spark that started it all.

Shiro remains one of my favorite brands of all time, and every interaction I’ve had with Caitlin has been wonderful. It’s obvious that she takes careful consideration into her collections, while still leaving room to have a little fun with them. Who Needs Reasons is a beautiful violet-pink ducohrome themed after Jinx from League of Legends, Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist is a stunning red-gold that perfectly captures Iron Man’s colors, and Moon Prism Power‘s green shimmer definitely recalls the sparkly wonder of Sailor Moon’s transformation sequence. That being said, Shiro is not all sunshine and rainbows for me. There are a couple shades that I just can’t get to cooperate with me without a lot of wrestling, and the special edition shadows are full size only… I will never make it through a full size eyeshadow with my collection! However, in reality my quibbles are minor with the brand, and I will continue to purchase from them.

It’s amazing the kind of perspective that laying everything out can give you. This project made me realize how much that the indie world is intrinsically a part of me now. It has gifted me with increased confidence, dear friends, and a respect for creators everywhere. Thank you, indie world, and someday I hope to give back to you as much as you’ve given to me.

Happy birthday, Cosmochromatica!