EMDEVE

I'm alive! Unemployed, job hunting, and completely broke, but alive nonetheless. It's been a while since my last post and a lot has happened since then: I wrote a 15.000 word long dissertation, did an internship at the biggest literary agency in the country, finished my MA degree and spent three weeks in France with my parents. Needless to say that I was plenty busy, especially since I spent what little free time I had reading and drawing. Now that I've graduated and haven't found a job yet, I have ample time to bring back this blog. You might have noticed that I gave it a bit of a facelift, too!

My goal is to eventually swatch and blog about my entire collection, and so this post is mostly a round up of swatches I did months ago but never had the time to edit. Some of the Femme Fatale shadows have since been discontinued, but I'm including them anyway because they are pretty and glittery. My to-swatch list is humongous, but unfortunately the sun hasn't really shown itself in weeks. Expect swatches of Femme Fatale's new Halloween collection the second it stops being dreary and overcast!

Prices: Sophie recently had to increase her prices due to the low Australian Dollar. Mini's (3g jars with sifter) are now 4.50 AUD and full sizes (5g jars with sifter) are 7.50 AUD. At 17 AUD (including insurance), international shipping is rather pricey, but it is definitely worth it. 

TAT: Their current TAT is 5-15 business days, beginning the following business day from order placement. It's been ages since I ordered these, but Femme Fatale orders usually take about a week to get to me in the Netherlands after they've been shipped.

These swatches were done over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy. They are loose powders and need a good primer or a sticky base to work properly.



Femme Fatale's description: "A mid-tone tangerine orange with soft rust-orange undertones, and has a bright green shimmer with soft aqua sparks."

My verdict: This is so bright and wonderful! I am Dutch so it's kind of obligatory for me to love the colour orange, but orange shadows are totally my jam. It's extremely vibrant, with a similarly vibrant green shift that makes this the perfect summer colour. I used it as eye liner a lot when I was in France. It doesn't really need PE for the shift to show up, a normal primer will do the trick.


Femme Fatale's description: "A super pale taupe with cool tones and prominent turquoise shimmer."

My verdict: Alpine Skies is one of those Femme Fatale shades that you just have to have simply because it is so extremely unique. I always pair it with a purple, brown or orange to warm it up as it's a little too cool for me, but it's so lovely and shimmery. It actually looks amazing with Femme Fatale Moodring. It applies wonderfully and has quite a strong shift even over normal primer.


Femme Fatale's description: "A light orchid purple with violet tones, and has a lovely soft green shimmer."

My verdict: This kind of pinkish purple really isn't my colour, but this is definitely one of my favourite shadows to pull out and look at. It's quite ethereal in its soft sparkliness, with a lovely green shift that shows up even over normal primer. It makes for a great highlight.


Femme Fatale's description: "A mauve-rose base with strong bronze-gold overlay."

My verdict: This might be my absolute favourite Femme Fatale shadow - and I'm not alone in this. Originally a COTM, this was made part of the general catalogue due to popular demand. Its golden overlay really comes out over PE, but I actually prefer this one over just primer. The mauve base with the soft golden shift is the perfect everyday colour, especially with a lighter golden highlight. I'm planning on reswatching this to show the difference between PE and normal primer. 


Femme Fatale's description: "A deep midnight blue with strong purple undertones and a shimmery golden finish."

My verdict: When editing these photo's, I was surprised to find that Spirit Bond wasn't part of the discontinued shadows. It's not a bad shadow at all, but as you can see it was quite patchy over PE. It might just be the fact that it has such a dark base, since those are always a little tricky to use. I love using this as an eye liner, though, since the slight patchiness isn't a problem at all when you foil it or mix it with Darling Girl Superstar Serum.


Femme Fatale's description: "A light periwinkle blue highlighted by a pinkish red shimmer, with violet and red sparkles. The pinkish red shimmer and sparkles really pop out in direct sunlight. DISCONTINUED!"

My verdict: Another one I love to look at but barely ever use because it's simply not my colour. The periwinkle base is lovely yet slightly chalky-looking on me, but it needs some sunlight to truly shine. This was discontinued, but it might still be worth it to look for it in destashes because it looks great on people with cooler colourings.


Femme Fatale's description: "A blend of pale jungle green and teal with slight grey tones, and striking golden shimmer."

My verdict: This is the slightly greyer sister of Hello Waffle's Archean Earth. It's very smooth and pigmented, and has a wonderful golden shift that comes out over normal primer as well. It's such a mermaid-y colour that works really well with golds and browns, but also with blues such as The Girl Who Cried Monster.


Femme Fatale's description: "A rich mossy green with strong yellow tones and bold yellow/green shimmer. DISCONTINUED!"

My verdict: I was so sad to hear that Swamplord had been discontinued, because it is one of my favourite shadows to use as a liner. It's such a rich green and the golden shift is quite strong. It was obviously discontinued due to patchiness problems, but I really do hope that they'll really a version 2.0 soon. 


Femme Fatale's description: "A muddied teal with grey-blue tones and strong pink-red overlay."

My verdict: This was quite hard to photograph. The red shift is less apparent than it seems in these photo's as it pulls a lot more purple in real life. It's a little too cool for me, but it's a great colour for the outer V. Seeing it swatched next to Cake made me realise that I need to use those two shadows together in a look.



Femme Fatale's description: "A sparkly ivory with slight golden shimmer, delicate and pretty!"

My verdict: Cake is one of my favourite highlighters. It is soft, pigmented and blends like a dream. It's not very spectacular, but it's definitely a must-have when it comes to Femme Fatale. Looks wonderful with Time Lost and Wizards Only, Fools.



You can buy Femme Fatale's shadows here. Shiro Cosmetics also stocks Femme Fatale but keep in mind that they only stock full sizes! Stay tuned for more Femme Fatale swatches, as I'm planning on swatching my entire (and quite extensive) collection.

The impossible happened: it was sunny on a day I actually had time to swatch things. My Femme Fatale sampler pack arrived a couple of days ago and so I was dying to try them out and get the swatches up, even when I still had a whole bunch of photo's left to edit from a couple of weeks ago. I'll get those done soon, promise. Just like I've been promising myself to finally finish my cover letter and apply for that amazing internship, which I've been putting off because adult stuff is scary shit, yo. I really want to go abroad, though, to at least add some value to this MA degree.

I also added watermarks to my swatches, mainly because I've been included into the amazing IndieKnow swatch gallery. It's an absolute honour to be included! Their database is huge and really thorough, so make sure to check it out!

Okay, let's get down to business (to defeat the Huns)! I am in love with this collection, even if half of it is way too pink for me to be able to wear it. It's just so bright and happy! Brights are usually something I avoid, so these definitely filled some gaps in my collection. I also included a swatch of the newest COTM, which was included in the sampler pack.

Top row: Forgotten Love, Blinding Passion, Cheap Tricks. Bottom row: Mood Ring, Pretty Trinkets, Choose Wisely.

Prices: I ordered a sampler pack, which are only available for a couple of days when a new collection is launched. It was 7.70 AUD and 2.50 AUD insured letter mail shipping, but they refunded 1.10 AUD for the COTM, which had been intended as a free sample.

TAT: Their current TAT is 10 business days, beginning the following business day from order placement. I placed this order February 12th and it shipped February 17th. It arrived in the Netherlands on February 25th, which was pretty quick!

Customer service: Sophie is a complete doll. I didn't have to contact customer service about this order, but they did send everyone a message that they refunded the sample that was supposed to be free. It surprised me, to be honest, since I wouldn't have minded at all if they hadn't. 

These swatches were done over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy. They are loose powders and need a sticky base to work properly.



Femme Fatale's description: "A vibrant pink-coral jewel tone with soft violet/pink sheen. Very subtle but feminine."

My verdict: Vibrant indeed! It's very orange in the baggie, but the purple sheen takes over almost completely over a glitter glue. I'm not quite sure how I am going to wear this yet, but that's mostly because the shift is a little too pink for my hair. It's quite similar to You Can't Scare Me from the 2014 Halloween collection so if you have that one already, you probably don't need this one.


Femme Fatale's description: "A gorgeous satin peach with gold highlight."

My verdict: Rose golds are my weakness and this one is pushing all the right buttons. It's a bit more orange than the average rose gold, but the base is quite obviously pink when you swatch it without glitter glue. It's bright yet muted, if that makes any sense. It's probably the most work-safe shade out of the collection, apart from Choose Wisely. I love the satin finish a lot, but then again, all Femme Fatale's satins are amazing. So smooth and pigmented!


Femme Fatale's description: "A vibrant mid-tone pink with shiny green-gold sheen. A smoother, slightly darker and less sparkly sister to Peebles."

My verdict: Holy shit, this is so bright! I don't own Peebles so I can't really compare it to that, but my original thought was that if Candied Apple had a baby with Barbie, it would be this colour. It's way, way, way too pink for my red hair, but I adore the colour of the sparkles. They're a really vivid limegreen and I want them to be added to each and every future Femme Fatale shade.


Femme Fatale's description: "A deep berry-pink with glorious soft green-to-blue-to-purple shift. A cross between Underlord and Obliterate."

My verdict: I could not quite capture the absolute beauty that is Mood Ring. The shift is gorgeous and really quite strong, but it refused to show up on camera. The berry base is one of the prettiest colours I've ever seen and the shift perfectly contrasts it. I need a bigger size of this one pronto. Honestly, you just need to see this in real life to fully appreciate it.


Femme Fatale's description: "A complicated shade, Pretty Trinkets has a subtle purple-brown base with strong bronze sheen and pink sparkles. The base shade is hidden on application, so you should see the bright bronze primarily."

My verdict: Pretty Trinkets has the honour of being my first Femme Fatale dud. I quite like the bright bronze base, but it's just a little too harsh and bright. The sparkles are huge and fuchsia (which I absolutely hate) and they clash big time with the bronze. I'd probably like it without the sparkles, but right now this is a no-no for me. It also stains quite badly, so use a good primer if you don't want your eyelids to turn bright pink.


Femme Fatale's description: "A slightly olive-champagne shimmery shade, this one is super sparkly and complex."

My verdict: My favourite, oh my. It's so impossibly pigmented, yet still very soft and feminine. While described as a olive-y champagne, it actually shifted from champagne to pink to oyster on me in certain angles. I'm definitely going to need a mini of this one. Choose wisely indeed and buy this one.


Femme Fatale's description: "A medium-dark blurple base with bright reddish/purple sheen. This shade may have slight blue staining."

My verdict: This is the February Colour of the Month. I had been expecting it to be slightly darker but I'm glad it's not. Purples with red shifts are my jam, so this is a lovely addition to my collection. I can't wait to use it with Hello Waffle Catticus Finch or Fyrinnae Serendipity. It is quite similar to Femme Fatale Watery Grave (part of my next post, just need to finish editing the photo's), just lighter and slightly more purple. It does stain pretty badly, though my stain was more green than blue.


Overall impression: This collection is gorgeous! So bright, so feminine, so interesting. I especially love Mood Ring, Blinding Passion and Choose Wisely, which I'll be buying as soon as the mini's return. Edge of the Archmage is a a beautiful purple, but it's pretty similar to some other shades I already own.

You can buy Femme Fatale's shadows here. They're currently out of mini jars, but those will return in a couple of weeks. Shiro Cosmetics has also started stocking Femme Fatale and they will restock somewhere in January. Keep in mind that they only stock full sizes, though!

Whoops. I swatched these the day after Christmas, but then life happened and I forgot to edit and post them. Chrismas itself was pretty much just one big food coma, followed by both my parents and myself falling ill with the flu. Fun times. It did help us balance out all the extra calories, but not quite voluntarily. The day after Christmas also brought us at least 10cm of snow, which turned to ice within a day and washed away with the rain a couple of days later. The woes of living in the Netherlands.

2015 so far has been a bit of a blur. Time's been passing quickly, but it doesn't really feel like it has truly started yet. Lectures are done (no more Groningen! no more spending 16 hours a week on the train!) so I've been at my parents' for the past couple of weeks, only going to Utrecht to meet up with a friend. The plan was to work out a lot, but my stomach's been playing up again so I mostly just cuddled with Luna while working on my many deadlines. None of my final assignments are very taxing but they still need to be done, so I've been slowly but surely getting them done. Three more assignments and two more finals and then the semester is finally over. I can't wait to finally have some normalcy again, some time to cook and sleep and not have to sit on a train for four hours a day. I'll be starting my MA thesis soon (writing it, the planning and drafting stages are done already), which will be the only thing requiring me to go up to Groningen from time to time. I also really need to find an internship, yaiks.

Okay, enough mindless chatter. Onto the business of the day, which is Hello Waffle swatches! The shop has been closed since the massive Black Friday sale, but it will be reopening for its first birthday tomorrow (on the 12th) with a brand new site and another massive sale. She has a gorgeous new collection of mattes and everything is 20% off with the code ONEYEAR till January 14th, 9am EST. I have so many items in my cart already that it's a little embarrassing. Okay, very embarrassing...

Just to enable you guys even further, I wanted to post some swatches of my Black Friday order and some random samples I bought off someone on IMAM. I have fallen head over heels in love with Hello Waffle, both with the shop and with the products. Seriously, they have the prettiest purples ever.

Prices: Christine offers halflings (1/3 tsp in a 3 gram jar) for $3.25 and full sizes (3/4 tsp with sifter) for $6.00. The prices are currently listed in CAD, which is why they appear a little higher. Sample packs are around $6.25 for five and $12.50 for ten, but she also sells sample sets of each collection. There is an option to buy have your sample sets send by lettermail, which is significantly cheaper than normal shipping. The lettermail listing includes the shipping costs in the price and needs to be checked out separately. Hello Waffle used to have a flat rate international shipping of $6, but this has changed recently and I'm not quite sure what it is now. It seems to be 8.34 CAD for most countries, which translates to about $7.00 USD.

TAT: Her current TAT is 10-20 business days, beginning the following business day from order placement. I ordered most of these during the Black Friday sale and poor Christine got ridiculously swamped, so it took a little longer to ship my package. There were some problems with the make up bags, but my order shipped as soon as they arrived. I ordered on the 28th and the 30th of November, the combined order shipped on the 10th of December and it arrived on the 16th. Very decent for international shipping, which unfortunately doesn't come with tracking.

Customer service: Christine is the absolute best. I'm not saying this to be a suck-up: she is actually the nicest indie owner I have encountered so far. She let me buy Archean Earth even when it wasn't part of her Black Friday catalogue and answered all of my emails and silly little requests with astonishing speed and patience. I ended up placing two orders, which she combined before refunding me the surplus in shipping costs. When my order arrived, I noticed she had upgraded my halfling of 23 as well as giving me a free Catssic Literature sticker to match my make up bag.

These swatches were done over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy. They are loose powders and need a sticky base to work properly.










































Overall impression: I love Hello Waffle, plain and simple. The formula truly is a very loose powder, but it's so easy to work with and it blends so well. They're not as flashy as for instance Femme Fatale's duochromes, which makes them extremely wearable, but they're bright enough to create some crazy looks. I wasn't blown away by the Kitty Kingdom shades, but considering the time frame between idea and realisation as well as the cause, it's still money well spent. They're decent shadows, just not as great as the other ones. And honestly, Christine is the absolute queen of purples and rose golds. My wallet is weeping already because I need more, more, more.

You can buy Hello Waffle's shadows here. She'll be reopening tomorrow, the 12th of January at 10am EST. Use ONEYEAR to get 20% off your order.

Disclaimer: These opinions are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this post.