Geek Chic with Pretty Pastels
This is a guest post by Adrienne Orpheus of adorpheus.com.
When I first heard about Shiro Cosmetics, I fully admit I was pretty skeptical. There are a lot of eye roll-worthy brands desperately attempting to capitalize on “nerd culture” in any way possible these days. Being a geeky girl, this sort of thing used to excite me, but it’s so poorly done and played out that the use of nerd culture to sell products has become a gimmick rather than the niche market it once was. So when I first encountered Shiro Cosmetics, I pretty much wrote them off as yet another generic mineral make up company trying to profit of this recent trend.
I decided to take a closer look at them after two important things occurred: first, I learned that they are 100% cruelty-free and vegan, and second, I saw their collection of pastel eyeshadows (“Kawaiishadow,” as they’re called on the site). I adore pastel colors, and the make up world is pretty lacking in these colors so I felt I had to give them a try when I saw these swatches:
When I decided to check them out, it was around the same time they released a line of lip products. So when I ordered the pastel collection, I decided to order the “Yo Dawg” lip gloss as well.
Ordering
While Shiro Cosmetics does have the domain ShiroCosmetics.com, most of their merchandise is sold through their Etsy store, so that’s where I bought from. I had mentioned in my “note to seller” in Paypal that I needed the package as soon as possible because I was moving soon. The store owner, Caitlin, messaged me immediately and we agreed to have it sent to my boyfriend’s parents’ house instead just in case it didn’t get to my flat before I moved. I was pretty impressed with this level of customer service – Caitlin is the only person who runs the company, is a single mom, and gets tons of orders every day—but me receiving my order in one piece was still her main priority.
When the order got to me, it was packed in a little box with some tissue paper. There were some candies included as a freebie, but unfortunately they weren’t vegan. 😛 There were also some make up samples, two eyeshadow samples (“Likelike” and “Nayru’s Love”) and one Lip product sample (“Over 9000”).
The Lip products
First I’ll talk about the lip products. They’re really something in-between lipgloss and lipstick, so I’m not sure what to refer to them as. They’re basically like a lightweight lipstick, but with added scent. They are all hand poured by Caitlin.
“Yo Dawg” is a glossy burgundy (above). I bought it to replace a MAC color that I used to use. I’m really happy with it! They are a lot easier to apply than the MAC lipglasses and the pigmentation is just as good.
I wasn’t crazy about “Over 9000,” which is a dark pink color I received as a sample, but I think that’s mostly because it clashes with my skin tone. It may look better on someone with paler skin.
The Eyeshadows
Kawaiishadow is a collection of five loose pastel eyeshadows: Yatta (yellow), Banzai (green), Desu (blue), Lolita (purple), and Kawaii (pink). At $28 for the whole set, they’re very affordable even for indie make up.
I’m in love with these! I swatched the eyeshadows two different ways, over just primer, and over Fyrinnae’s Pixie Epoxy.
When I did them over primer, I really loved the way they look, although the yellow doesn’t seem to show up that well on my tanned skin. However, I used the same brush for applying all the swatches and the yellow is the palest, so it’s possible that some of the other pigments accidentally got mixed in with the yellow and that’s why it doesn’t show up that well.
When I swatched them over Pixie Epoxy, the colors were much brighter, but it also gives them a satin-y wet look as you can see in the above photo. I actually prefer the slightly more matte appearance of the first swatches I did, but either way I’m in love with the colors.
Overall
Would I order from Shiro Cosmetics again?
Yes! I’m really pleased with these pastel eyeshadows and I can see myself using them a lot in the future.
I also love the lip products and I can’t wait to try more of the colors that she offers! I’m blown away that these products are hand made—they are so professional! I’m incredibly impressed with Caitlin’s customer service skills, and with how fast I received the package. I love that she appears to be a part of geek culture rather than someone who’s just capitalizing on it. And best of all, I love that all of her products are vegan and cruelty-free!!
Adrienne Orpheus is a vegan singer/songwriter and cruelty-free fashionista extraordinaire. You can read her blog here at adorpheus.com or follow her on Twitter at @adorpheus.
About Sunny (Sunny's Profile)
Longtime vegan, hardcore compassionate beauty junkie, serious cake aficionado, and lover of all things floofy and sparkly! If there's something in particular you'd like me to review, drop me a line at Sunny@VeganBeautyReview.com. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Google +.Filed in: vegan makeup
