Review: Hello Waffle shadows
Monday, January 12, 2015
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.
Hello Waffle's description: "Ocean green with intense gold shift and green sparkles."
My verdict: I am so glad Christine allowed me to buy this one. I am not a full size person, but Archean Earth is just worth it. It is the prettiest green ever and it's definitely made its way onto my all around favourite shades list. It is quite bright and it just makes your eyelids look like they're glowing. I love that it doesn't lean bright blue like a lot of greens do.
My verdict: I am so glad Christine allowed me to buy this one. I am not a full size person, but Archean Earth is just worth it. It is the prettiest green ever and it's definitely made its way onto my all around favourite shades list. It is quite bright and it just makes your eyelids look like they're glowing. I love that it doesn't lean bright blue like a lot of greens do.
Hello Waffle's description: "Rose gold shimmer, more on the rosy side."
My verdict: 23 is so damn gorgeous. It's similar to Fyrinnae's Rapunzel Had Extensions, but where that leans gold on me, 23 truly is a lot rosier with a hint of orange. It is a lovely, neutral all over shade for lazy days, but it's also a great base colour for crazier looks. The apparent patchiness is due to the veins on my wrist, since it applies extremely smoothly and evenly.
My verdict: 23 is so damn gorgeous. It's similar to Fyrinnae's Rapunzel Had Extensions, but where that leans gold on me, 23 truly is a lot rosier with a hint of orange. It is a lovely, neutral all over shade for lazy days, but it's also a great base colour for crazier looks. The apparent patchiness is due to the veins on my wrist, since it applies extremely smoothly and evenly.
Hello Waffle's description: "Satin greyed purple with a copper sheen."
My verdict: Another one of Hello Waffle's famed purples. It's part of the Catssic Literature collection, which is an absolute must-have for someone like me. I mean, I'm a lit student and I have a cat tattoo (and two darling kitties). Match made in heaven. Catticus Finch is a true chameleon: it ranges from a slightly purple-y grey to bright lavender with an almost pink shift, depending on how you apply it. It needs PE to truly have that gorgeous shift, but using it over normal primer makes a perfectly office-safe neutral. Then again, even the full-on purple with copper shift is muted enough for work, since it is still quite light.
My verdict: Another one of Hello Waffle's famed purples. It's part of the Catssic Literature collection, which is an absolute must-have for someone like me. I mean, I'm a lit student and I have a cat tattoo (and two darling kitties). Match made in heaven. Catticus Finch is a true chameleon: it ranges from a slightly purple-y grey to bright lavender with an almost pink shift, depending on how you apply it. It needs PE to truly have that gorgeous shift, but using it over normal primer makes a perfectly office-safe neutral. Then again, even the full-on purple with copper shift is muted enough for work, since it is still quite light.
Hello Waffle's description: "Green duochrome over a periwinkle sky blue with flecks of starry gold."
My verdict: To this day, The Great Catsby is still one of the only blues I own and actually wear. It is bright, it is fun, it is absolutely gorgeous! It is much brighter than the swatches on the HW site make it appear to be, but the green shift is almost impossible to photograph. It actually looks more green than blue on me in natural daylight. It really is quite daring, but it also makes for a kick-ass liner if you're not quite brave enough to use it on your lid. It still amazes me how well this shade captures the feel of that one scene in the Great Gatsby.
My verdict: To this day, The Great Catsby is still one of the only blues I own and actually wear. It is bright, it is fun, it is absolutely gorgeous! It is much brighter than the swatches on the HW site make it appear to be, but the green shift is almost impossible to photograph. It actually looks more green than blue on me in natural daylight. It really is quite daring, but it also makes for a kick-ass liner if you're not quite brave enough to use it on your lid. It still amazes me how well this shade captures the feel of that one scene in the Great Gatsby.
Hello Waffle's description: I didn't actually write these down when they were available, oops.
My verdict: This shadow was part of the Kitty Kingdom Collection and it is no longer available for purchase (except for some leftover stock which will be listed later this month). As you might know from my previous posts, I love all things gold and this truly is very, very gold. It is cooler than Box Cat, ranging from olive to yellow gold depending on the lighting. It isn't anything you haven't seen before, though, so don't fret if you aren't able to pick it up when Christine relists the extra stock. Oh and excuse the wonky swatch: I got attacked by some melting snow the second I stepped outside to take these pictures.
My verdict: This shadow was part of the Kitty Kingdom Collection and it is no longer available for purchase (except for some leftover stock which will be listed later this month). As you might know from my previous posts, I love all things gold and this truly is very, very gold. It is cooler than Box Cat, ranging from olive to yellow gold depending on the lighting. It isn't anything you haven't seen before, though, so don't fret if you aren't able to pick it up when Christine relists the extra stock. Oh and excuse the wonky swatch: I got attacked by some melting snow the second I stepped outside to take these pictures.
Hello Waffle's description: Kitty Kingdom shade. I'm an idiot.
My verdict: Skittles' more orange sister. It is more copper than it is gold and it is very, very bright. I've had it look both brown and orange, depending on the angle and the lighting. Again, very pretty but not worth fretting over if you can't buy it.
My verdict: Skittles' more orange sister. It is more copper than it is gold and it is very, very bright. I've had it look both brown and orange, depending on the angle and the lighting. Again, very pretty but not worth fretting over if you can't buy it.
Hello Waffle's description: Yep, still an idiot.
My verdict: Pepper! might just be the single most unique shadow I own and I'm still a little undecided whether or not that's a good thing. The base is a greyish green that appears very pale (and slightly chalky) when you apply too much but blends out to a more golden green, while the red glitters are absolutely huge. I love the colour in my swatches, but I find it quite hard to apply evenly and it might just be a little too unique for me. I really need to play with it a little more and see if I can make it work.
My verdict: Pepper! might just be the single most unique shadow I own and I'm still a little undecided whether or not that's a good thing. The base is a greyish green that appears very pale (and slightly chalky) when you apply too much but blends out to a more golden green, while the red glitters are absolutely huge. I love the colour in my swatches, but I find it quite hard to apply evenly and it might just be a little too unique for me. I really need to play with it a little more and see if I can make it work.
Hello Waffle's description: "Copper with gold shimmer."
My verdict:I'd call this orange instead of copper, but that's really just semantics. It's quite bright, with a dark base that shows itself in unnatural lighting. I love oranges (okay, okay, copper) so this shade is right up my alley. The shimmer is quite subtle, as opposed to some of the more glittery Hello Waffle shades.
My verdict:I'd call this orange instead of copper, but that's really just semantics. It's quite bright, with a dark base that shows itself in unnatural lighting. I love oranges (okay, okay, copper) so this shade is right up my alley. The shimmer is quite subtle, as opposed to some of the more glittery Hello Waffle shades.
Hello Waffle's description: "Golden silver shimmer."
My verdict: I have no idea what to call this one. It looks grey in the bag, but shifts between a dark silver and a coppery goldish brown when applied. I didn't actually expect to like it much when I saw the sample baggy, but it truly transforms into something incredibly interesting and versatile on my skin. It's a lovely base colour but it's also perfect for a one shade look since it changes so much depending on lighting and application.
My verdict: I have no idea what to call this one. It looks grey in the bag, but shifts between a dark silver and a coppery goldish brown when applied. I didn't actually expect to like it much when I saw the sample baggy, but it truly transforms into something incredibly interesting and versatile on my skin. It's a lovely base colour but it's also perfect for a one shade look since it changes so much depending on lighting and application.
Hello Waffle's description: "Shimmery orange peach that leans copper with a gold undertone."
My verdict: This shade is mad gorgeous. Pun intended. It is part of the seasonal Painted Flowers collection, so unfortunately this one is unavailable right now, but I just had to include it. It is described as a orange peach, but instead of a copper undertone, I seem to get a shift that is much more of a soft pink. It's hard to properly photograph it. It is very sparkly, but the colour is muted enough that it is still very wearable. I really need to depot this one and use it one more often.
My verdict: This shade is mad gorgeous. Pun intended. It is part of the seasonal Painted Flowers collection, so unfortunately this one is unavailable right now, but I just had to include it. It is described as a orange peach, but instead of a copper undertone, I seem to get a shift that is much more of a soft pink. It's hard to properly photograph it. It is very sparkly, but the colour is muted enough that it is still very wearable. I really need to depot this one and use it one more often.
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.
3 comments
Do they work as well if I pressed them? I'm not confident using them in their loose form.
ReplyDeleteI haven't pressed them myself, but I know some people who are very happy with their pressed Hello Waffle shadows. Apart from the usual restrictions (ultramarines, mattes, etc) you should be fine pressing them.
DeleteI appreciate your honest and very precise review on these. I'm always tempted by beautiful colors but have to consider wearability. is that a word? Thank you for the amazing swatch photos too!
ReplyDelete