Shiro Face Products Swatches and Thoughts! (updated with reviews)

My Shiro sample haul came in today! Which was surprisingly fast for a Black Friday order. My last experience with Shiro was okay. I still have the two matte eyeshadows from a year ago, but the highlighter is long gone.

For this order I wanted to try out some tried and true favorites from the brand. I did not want to get full size because I did not want to make the same mistake as last time, when I bought a full-size jar of product that I ended up not using.

These just came in today, so I can't offer a complete review. I'll post the swatches, as well as my initial thoughts.

As of this morning, I've had the opportunity to use most of these products on my face. My review on the products will be in the same font!

The top swatch (under the bruise) is the light grey contour, Do Your Research. I've never really tried a proper grey contour in the powder form, so I am excited to try this. I am pleased with how sheer it is- it really behaves as a shadow on the skin.

On the face, Do Your Research is an excellent contour for me. For reference, I wear shade 110 Porcelain in Maybelline Fit Me Concealer, and 1.0 P in the Ordinary Serum Foundation (mostly in the winter, in the summer that one is too light). To apply it on the face I used the Beaute Basics contour brush and just applied it to the hollows of my cheeks. I don't contour a lot, but I am interested in it, as I do have a round face, but I want to avoid drawing obvious streaks on my face. I found that the end result was very subtle and natural. I would buy a full size of this. 

Second one down is the bronzer Milk Chocolate Frog. The first thing that surprised me was the golden shimmer. Immediately, I drew parallels to Too Faced's newest golden bronzer product. It was very easy to blend on the skin, and I do think this will work nicely.

Trying to apply this as I would normally do with bronzer was a bit difficult. I poured some out of the baggy onto a clean flat surface, and then took my fluffy brush and dabbed it into the product, aiming to get an even enough spread of product. On the skin, the product does blend out nicely, but that golden shimmer. I don't know. It looks pretty, don't get me wrong, but the golden sheen adds another layer of color that I didn't necessarily want. Though I will use up the rest of the sample, I would not buy full size of this. Pictured below is my forehead. Lol. 

The only one that was a little frustrating was the last swatch on the bottom- the brown contour/bronzer The Game is On. Maybe it is because of the amount of pigment in the product, but it was a little more dry on the skin and more difficult to blend evenly. You can see the difference in swatches.  

I did not end up testing this out. I was a little intimidated by the swatch. 

Below we have the two highlighters. Both are beautiful products, and I don't really have anything like them in my collection. The top swatch is Fleece-Lined Pillow Fort, which came as a free sample. I was completely stunned by this one, it is a very light cream color highlight that is pretty opaque and with a slight sheen. I am looking forward to trying this out on the face. *edit- okay, I just went back to the Shiro site- turns out this one is an eyeshadow, which explains why it came off so opaque. Honestly, I'll probably use this in the inner corner of my eye and as a highlighter anyway.

For "...Pillow Fort," I did use this as an inner-eye highlight and wow- I did not expect to like this, but I really do. It is not too shimmery, but does lighten up that area significantly. I did not try it as a highlighter, but I don't think I want to. I will happily use up the sample size of this and continue to use this on my eyes. 

White Chocolate Frog, the bottom swatch, was sheerer than I expected. It is more visible in the full-size version of the pics. It reminds me of a liquid illuminator blended out, but I anticipate enjoying this one as well! 

Finally, we'll end with White Chocolate Frog. Being someone who does love shimmer and sparkle, White Chocolate Fro seems a bit muted for me. It is noticeable on the skin, and does create a highlighting effect, but I am just not impressed with the level of intensity. I am sure, though, people who are looking for a subtle luminous effect would love this. In my initial reaction, I did say how it reminded me a liquid illuminating product, blended in. I will say that I stand by that opinion, and that it performs the same on the skin. 

Pictures! The first one is half of my face, with the products. Please excuse the potato quality. 

Most noticeable for me is the bronzer. I might have been too liberal with my application. The loose product and container does make it difficult to gauge how much is needed. 

You can also see the contour, Do Your Research, in the hollow of my cheek. It is just a tad darker than what I usually use- my contour stick in Proton by Life's Entropy, but I like that. 

The highlight is apparent also, but way too subtle for me. And look at that inner corner highlight!

We also have some uncomfortably close photos of my face:

So, my favorites are the inner corner highlight/eyeshadow Fleece-Lined Pillow Fort, as well as the contour Do Your Research. I am not a huge fan of either Chocolate Frog, but I will end up using up the samples.

Thanks for reading! 

Shiro Matte Eyeshadow, Review

My very first indie makeup purchase was Shiro cosmetics, earlier this year. I bought two matte sample jars, and one full size jar highlighter. We'll save the highlighter for another day. Let's talk about the two mattes. All swatches in photos on bare skin with no primer, and w/finger for ABH, brush for Shiro (as finger swatches with the loose formula are impossible.)

1.  There's No Such Thing as Magic. This one is mentioned a lot in recommendations, especially as a dupe for the Modern Renaissance palette's Buon Fresco. As the pictures will show, the Shiro shade is lighter, with particles of holographic glitter lightly scattered throughout. What I will note, though, is that when I use this shade in my crease with primer, it will darken on the skin. The formula seems to be...absorbent in some way? Buon Fresco has a more powdery formula that is much easier to blend. As I will mention below, the formula of this shade makes blending difficult, and involves tugging on the skin. Though this matte looks pretty, when I run out of Buon Fresco I'll probably just buy the ABH single, rather than try to use the Shiro shade up. ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2


2. Pietrisycamollaviadelrechiotemexity. As in, I have experienced the aforementioned word when thinking of what this possibly could reference. Seems like a waste of print. The shade itself, however, is a good crease shade for my skin tone, a peachy matte. This one does not experience the same color change on the skin as the first shade. Both have nearly identical formulas, except for carnuba wax, which "There's No Such.." contains.  Perhaps this accounts for the texture and performance difference. I don't use this particular shade up very much, but it is one of those easy ways to add warmth and color to an eye look. On my hand, I did want to compare it also with a shade from Modern Renaissance, so I've compared it to Burnt Orange, on the right. While this shade is more muted compared to Burnt Orange, sometimes that can be a good thing. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

w/ flash, Shiro mattes are the inner two shades, ABH is outer two

Blurred to show sparkles on Shiro swatch. Note the slight difference in color around the edges.

My Highlighter Collection

As of now, I have four highlighters in my collection that I have picked for daily use. I have decluttered some this past year, and the four I have work best for me. At this point, I don't really have a need for a new highlighter, nor do I particularly like the "duochrome" trend, commonly known as "holographic." Let's dive in, shall we:

No flash: RYC, Marry Lou, Crystal Glare, Vessel...

w/ flash

1. Wet n' Wild's Reserve Your Cabana (RYC), about $4.00. I never knew this powder contained SPF, but it does, 15, which is not much, but still something. I wouldn't go about using this as one's only source of UV protection, though. This powder is lovely, with a subtle sheen. I commonly use this to set my under eye. I can't use it to dust all over my face, however, because it would be a tad too dark. As a highlight though, it is flattering, and I love the way it smells, though it is not perfumed. This highlighter I rarely use by itself, but frequently as a powder base for other highlighters. Overall I'd give this ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5.


2. Mary Lou-manizer, The Balm. $23. I knew I wanted to purchase a higher end highlighter, but I had no idea where to begin. If I had to start over, would I have picked this? Maybe not. Maybe I would have spent my money on the Hourglass ones, just to see, or some other brand. But this one was the most consistently mentioned one online. It is a beautiful highlight, and I do not need to use a heavy hand with it. I do not find it particularly long lasting, and have found that I bring it to work for touch-ups throughout the day. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

3. NYX, Away We Glow, Liquid Highlighter in Crystal Glare. OH MY. How are people not talking about this one? First, let me say I bought this, for $7.00, because Temptalia gave it an A-. Now, I have a love-hate relationship with Nyx, but I have been on a quest to find some sort of substitution, not really a dupe, for Kevyn Aucoin's Candlelight liquid highlighter. This is terribly pretty, and a paler,less sparkly version of Mary Lou. It is long-lasting, and because it is liquid, it gives a nice, dewy look. Application can be tricky of you are working with a powder base, so I only use this when I have used liquid foundation only. The doe-foot applicator can deposit a lot of product, so I dot it along the tops of my cheekbone and my temple and blend it with a damp makeup sponge. Compared to the other line of Nyx liquid highlighters, the "born to glow," the sheen of this is natural but strong, while the born to glow illuminators were glittery.  Lastly, I love the name of this. Crystal Glare. Staring daggers at anyone who dares. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

4. Shiro Cosmetics, Vessel for Dissacharides, $9.00. One blogger on YouTube once gave a really solid critique of indie brands, saying "I have to protect my nerds." She was referring to the fact that many indie brands bank on the fact they can appeal to niche audiences while larger corporations cannot. Even if the product has a tenuous relationship to the concept at hand, by slapping a reference on it they generate an association that makes people want to buy the product. I found myself in this predicament when purchasing from Shiro. First, the name of this product, a reference to A Series of Unfortunate Events, makes reviews extremely hard to locate. Second, I find myself a bit reluctant to use this highlighter, because of the glitter. It can easily be brushed away, and the highlighter itself is the lightest one I have, white, with a good sheen and almost creamy formula. So, I do like this product. In a way. I just feel I do not particularly need it, but I do not want to declutter this Very Finicky Dust. ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Decluttered Highlighters:

1. PIXI Rosegold highlighter blush duo, IPSY bag. Retail price $18.00. This product makes me roll my eyes. Pixi makes me roll my eyes. The blush had zero pigmentation, the highlighter was not bad, but I disliked the texture of it.

2. Wet n' Wild Rainbow Highlighter. Sigh. No reason to purchase this but hype. Can create an effect of the face with all the colors, making a slightly greenish gold highlight, but will show texture.

3. Essence Glow with it (?) highlighter, $3.00. Found at Target, clearance. I loved the look on this on my face. But did not last at all.

Final thoughts:
I have a lot of golden champagney tones. I myself am a cool toned person, with light skin. I think I would be willing to try a slightly pink toned highlighter. I am expecting UD's Sin highlighter in my next Ipsy bag, so we'll see how that goes!