I'm back with swatches of Femme Fatale's recently released Faraway collection! It consist of twenty (loose) eye shadows and was inspired by The Faraway Tree, a series of children's novels by Enid Blyton. I'd never actually heard of them before, but judging by the bright colours they must be a lot of fun. This collection definitely isn't for the faint of heart: some of these shades are INTENSE. They're all amazingly pigmented and apply really well, proving once again that Femme Fatale has one of my absolute favourite formula's.
Prices: Mini's (3g jars with sifter) are 4.50 AUD and full sizes (5g jars with sifter) are 7.50 AUD.
TAT: Their current TAT is 5-15 business days, starting the following business day from order placement. Femme Fatale orders usually take exactly one week to get to me in the Netherlands after they've been shipped.
These swatches were done over Femme Fatale's Shadow Magic on the left and both Shadow Magic and Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy on the right. This is the first time I swatched over both primer and PE and I quite like the result! They are loose powders and need a good primer or a sticky base to work properly.
Femme Fatale's description: "A pale maize yellow (almost with a hint of lime) and turquoise sheen."
My verdict: Be still, my yellow loving heart! While others might despise them, I'm loving all the yellows and goldenrods in this collection so much. Silky is super bright, with a strong shift that doesn't need PE. I love using this as an inner corner highlight or on my lower lashline, it makes my looks so fun and playful.
Femme Fatale's description: "A mellow bright green matte with violet shimmer."
My verdict: Another one that almost disappears on my skin (the joys of pale olive skin) and another one of my favourites. Yellows and mustards definitely are my thing, but this won't be for everyone. The shift is pretty strong but subtle enough to still make this work safe.
Femme Fatale's description: "A mustard-golderod yellow (leans slightly brown) with reddish shimmer."
My verdict: I love this one! It's such a beautiful and subtle colour that is also super work safe. The mustard-y base is quite similar to my skin colour (I'm not quite as translucent as my inner arms make me out to be, I promise) so using this over PE gives my eyelids a stunning, soft glow. This is lovely with a matte terracotta in the crease and Silky as an inner corner highlight.
Femme Fatale's description: "A soft amber-orange with lime-green glow."
My verdict: This is BRIGHT! My swatches don't quite capture the glow of this shade, especially in the sun. It is quite similar to both Afraid of Bees and Flowers from Flames, albeit a little more yellow / peachy. Super summery and fun, and a dream to apply. As you can see, there is barely any difference between primer + PE or just primer.
Femme Fatale's description: "A bold ruddy-auburn-brown with blue glow."
My verdict: On my skin, this is more of a reddish purple than an auburn brown. The shift is super strong, to the point of overpowering the base and making it hard for me to wear, but it sure is pretty to look at. It applies wonderfully, and on my warm skin I actually prefer it over just primer. This makes for a super pretty and subtle eye liner too!
Femme Fatale's description: "A pale, soft creamy-apricot with copper shimmer and sparks."
My verdict: Might not have been the smartest idee to swatch the lightest shade of the collection over my very obvious veins, but what's done is done. I've actually almost used up my sample baggie of Dreamland because it's just stunning, both as an eye shadow and as a highlighter. It's super pigmented and applies like a dream even over just primer. The sparks aren't really noticable.
Femme Fatale's description: "A bright apricot with golden shine."
My verdict: This is quite similar to Dreamland, just slightly peachier and warmer. They blend out to a very similar colour too, so you really only need one of them. That said, this is just as lovely as Dreamland and doubles as a gorgeous highlighter too.
Femme Fatale's description: "A soft ruddy pinkish-beige with blue glow."
My verdict: This is another surprise favourite. The base is more orange than pink on me, which I love. The shift is super strong over glitter glue, but it's a muted enough blue that it's still work safe. This is amazing for soft and subtle one-shadow looks.
Femme Fatale's description: "A warm puce pink with bold golden overlay."
My verdict: Okay, I'll admit it: I'm a little done with the whole pink-with-gold-shift thing. Never mind that most of them look shit on me, but they just feel a little uninspired to me. Then again, I know people love them, so of course this collection had to have a couple of them. Clockwork Train is quite soft and muted, with a strong golden shift. It's beautiful, but it doesn't do much for me.
Femme Fatale's description: "A brilliant mid-tone pink that leans warm, and golden shimmer."
My verdict: This is bright. And pink. Very, very pink. It's super pigmented and applied wonderfully, with a strong shift that truly shines over glitter glue. I love looking at it, but there's just no way it's going anywhere near my eyes.
Femme Fatale's description: "A pale orchid purple with blue glow."
My verdict: As a warm olive skinned with a red to blond ombre, pale purples are my kryptonite. They look terrible on me, especially when they lean blue or pink / fuchsia. That said, this shade is a lovely, soft neutral with a blue shift that needs PE to truly shine. Pretty, just not on me.
Femme Fatale's description: "A grey-toned mauve purple with strong golden shine."
My verdict: If there's anything that Femme Fatale does well, it's greyish purples with a golden shift. Never mind the fact that they look pretty terrible on me (though this one has a strong enough shift that I can actually sort of pull this one off), they are just so pretty to look at. Regardless of whether they work for me or not, this is one of my favourites of the collection.
Femme Fatale's description: "A bold bright pink with turquoise shimmer."
My verdict: This shade is Cheap Tricks on steroids. The base is brighter, the shift is stronger and slightly greener. It's such a stand out shade, even if it might be slightly daunting to use as anything but a liner for me. The shift is actually pretty strong over just primer, but glitter glue just kicks it up a notch. Or ten.
Femme Fatale's description: "A gorgeous violet with copper shimmer."
My verdict: This collection is full of beautiful jewel tones with gorgeous shimmers. While this isn't a colour I'd use, it's super pretty and quite bright both over primer and glitter glue. Like the other jewel tones, it applies beautifully, though it might be a little sheer over just primer. I might have to suck it up and try this as an eye liner soon.
Femme Fatale's description: "A soft blue/purple with reddish shine and green sparkles."
My verdict: Fear not, this isn't a glitterbomb. The sparkles aren't very apparent, mostly because they are a little overshadowed by that gorgeous shine. It actually leans more greyish purple on me than blue, though that's actually a good thing for me. Between the shift and the glitter, this does need a glitter glue.
Femme Fatale's description: "A pale turquoise with a stunning bright pink shine."
My verdict: Light blues generally terrify me, but this is beautiful. It shouldn't work on me at all (pale! light blue! bright pink shine! yaiks!) but somehow it does. Okay, I'm not brave enough to use this as anything but eye liner - but it's stunning as a liner. It's probably the fact that this is a green-leaning turquoise instead of a true blue that makes it not nearly as horrible as it should be. This makes for a great inner corner highlight too (for people ballsier that me).
Femme Fatale's description: "A bright mid-tone blue with subtle violet sheen."
My verdict: Another bright blue, another potential disaster. This collection sure isn't for the faint of heart, that's for sure. Again, I've only ever used this as eye liner since blues don't work for me, but it's lovely and bright even over just regular primer. I also love the name, it's so cute.
Femme Fatale's description: "An emerald green (leans slightly teal) with copper shimmer."
My verdict: This might just be my favourite shade of the collection! It's really lovely and bright, with a strong shift that leans both copper, pink and gold depending on the angle. I've been using it as eye liner a lot and it's absolutely stunning in a gold-to-teal gradient. Word of warning: it stains a little!
Femme Fatale's description: "A brilliant shimmery russet-copper; at some angles you may see the purple-ish base colour."
My verdict: This is a true jewel tone, so shimmery and bright! This one does need PE to truly shine, as it's ever so slightly sheer over just primer. It needs that sticky base to glow - and by glow I truly mean GLOW.
Femme Fatale's description: "A shimmery moss-brown with green tones."
My verdict: GLITTERBOMB ALERT! This shade is a serious chameleon: it's green, it's brown, it's grey and it sparkles like crazy. It might just be one of the most versatile shades of the collection, as I've used and loved it as a crease shade, as an all over shade and as eye liner. I'm going to need a bucket of this as it's quickly become one of my favourite (sort of) neutral liners.
While this collection is definitely intense, I love it! I wouldn't really recommend buying the entire thing if you're just starting out your collection as it's quite hard to make subtle, cohesive looks out of these without other shadows, but it's a wonderful addition when you have plenty of neutrals for blending and toning it down. My favourites are Pop Biscuit, Wisha-Wisha, Mighty-One the Wizard and Dreamland, though I've been using pretty much all of them (except for the purples) regularly to spice up my looks.
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.
