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| Samples from Blackbird Cosmetics. |
Fall is the perfect matte shadow season for me. They're nice and toned down enough to go with all the big cozy sweaters you pull out of the attic, and they're a welcome change right before the disco-ball glitter fest that every makeup company bursts into at the mere mention of "holidays". Lately I realized that I don't have nearly enough basics in my collection, and I had my eye on Blackbird. I was debating between their company and another, but their more reasonable shipping was what sealed the deal for me, and damn. I think I chose right.
The mattes are so buttery and soft and blendable that it's like petting a soft, velvety kitten. Or bunny. Or other adorable animal of your choice. They're also very easily pigmented. Even Immortals, which is a very light pink shade, shows up easily without me having to pack it on. Some of them even left behind a faint trace of color when I washed off these swatches! That makes sense, as these shadows are described as "lightly water resistant" and I can say after trying to wash off these swatches, yes. Yes they are.
Someone on reddit also mentioned these smell "like clay", which is true, but I enjoy a bit of the earthy smell. What's funnier though is when I first smelled them, my thought was "This smells like...Shiro? Why do I think this smells like Shiro?" and then it hit me! In the bag these smell exactly like how my unflavored Shiro lipgloss in Filth smells/tastes!
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| All swatched over UDPP, left to right: Fiction, Whisper, Imogen, Immortals. |
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| Immortals and Imogen, close up in natural light. |
Immortals is described as "soft lightened pink". That's very accurate, it's a very nice soft pale pink that I find does not lean too overly cool or warm. I was excited to find this shade, because it's a shade I have been searching for. It applies beautifully, smoothly, not powdery at all, and the pigmentation is divine. It easily shows up as a light pink of my lid with just one swipe.
Imogen is "muted medium mauve-y pink". It is very close in color to Shiro's Little Bird, which is one of my favorite mattes I own! This was my free sample with my order, I originally hadn't purchased it because I thought it looked quite close to Little Bird. Either way this is a color I love and will definitely use. It also has the same lovely soft texture and pigmentation as Immortals.
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| Whisper and Fiction, close-up in natural light. |
Whisper is "light perfect grey". It certainly is perfection, at least! I think it will go lovely with my Fyrinnae Agenda and Koala shadows, or just as a quick wash all over the lid. I also like that I don't find it too overly cool-toned, as I prefer warmer colors and tones overall in my makeup. Pigmentation, as with the others, was flawless, as was the soft butteriness.
Fiction is "dark perfect grey". It almost seems a bit purple-toned to me somehow, like a darker and more matte version of Fyrinnae's Agenda in some ways. I wouldn't go so far as to call them dupes though, just like...long-distance relatives? Maybe? I think this will make a super lovely crease or liner color, it's got good pigment and application.
I do want to mention quick that I did receive either Fiction or Imogen by accident though instead of Beau, which was a deep red-brown I'd ordered. However, in the end I still got the same amount of samples that I ordered (seven + free sample) and they're still colors I will use, so I'm very "eh, life goes on" about the whole thing. I contacted the owner and she said she's gonna send it out with some other trials as an apology? She's super sweet. (Most indies are, it's why I keep coming back!)
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| Left to Right: Blackbird Immortals, Blackbird Imogen, Shiro Little Bird, Detrivore Plasma |
And just for comparison, here's Little Bird and Detrivore Plasma. Plasma is something I got back in August but I've been so awol I have yet to properly review it. Immortals is the color I really hoped Plasma would be more like, but honestly that's my fault, as Plasma does say it's more lilac on the site. From me it gets a quick response of an "Ehhhh...?" with a non-commital wiggly hand gesture. It doesn't have the solid pigmentation I was hoping for, and it's hard to tell when it's on my lids. This is a review for Blackbird though, so that's all I'll say about it for now. Perhaps I'll do a proper review & swatch in the future.
Also as you can see Imogen and Little Bird are very much sisters, though Little Bird is a touch darker and sliiightly more orange by like, the smallest nuance. If you already own one you
probably don't need the other. Probably. But it's not like "probably" has ever stopped a makeup junkie before, has it?
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| All swatched over UDPP; Left to Right: Lucid, Atlas, Ruca, Fire Pledge |
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| Another angle. Look at that velvety smoothness! It's like they're one with my arm. |
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| Close-ups of Fire Pledge and Ruca in natural light. |
Have I ever mentioned I love orange? I love orange. Like I really, really love orange. To the point where when my best friend asked me what lipstick color she should buy me from Revlon and mail to me for my birthday, I said "I dunno something orange" and she was like "ok yeah I thought so". So when I saw other people's swatches of Fire Pledge, my heart screamed for it.
Fire Pledge is "vibrant orange, leaning a bit towards red". It's got a lovely vibrancy to it, but is still muted enough that it can easily be a "neutral" in my opinion, easily wearable to the office. I find orange particularly flattering on the eyes for some reason, I think when used in the crease it gives a sort of fiery halo that draws attention and it's kept me utterly smitten with orange shadows for years. This one is smooth and as super-pigmented as the rest, and it was one of the hardest to wash off my arm!
Ruca is "blackened red". It's a nice deeper red, leaning more towards what I'd call "brick" but with much less orange and warmth. It's more of a "cooler" red to me, weird as that probably sounds. I think it will go great with reddened purple shadows or more wine or burgundy shades. Pigmentation and application were lovely and very smooth.
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| Close-ups of Atlas and Lucid in natural light. |
Atlas. Described as "dark slightly blackened brown". Could this shadow hold up the world? Probably. Could it hold up your neutral shadows as a core pillar of your makeup collection? Without a doubt. A great liner or crease color, effortless pigmentation and blending. It's just a slight bit cool, but not too much that it gets into taupe-y territory. This will be a foolproof staple for me, I can tell.
Lucid is "black, but not quite opaque". Very obviously, it's black. And while not opaque with one layer, the above is a slight build-up of two, and you can see it's very easily soft, velvety, rich and blends into my skin like a dream. Like the rest of these it is not one bit powdery or weak. If you are searching for just plain, matte black, this is your shadow.
Overall I feel like I have to keep repeating myself because there's only so many ways you can basically say "
This shadow is really good and awesome but so is this one and here just they're all good these are the mattes we deserve but not the hero we need right now, so we will hunt hi--" I mean, uh. Yeah these shadows are good. Buttery, velvety, soft, easy to blend, super pigmentation and zero powderiness. I'm totally hooked.
For a bonus, here's a look I immediately had to try when I got these in the mail this morning. The timing was perfect, because I had spent last night watching
Bobbi Brown's tutorials on her website and these were the perfect shadows to try it out with.
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| Vogue, I'm ready for the call any day now. |
Products:
Face:
- Mac Face & Body Foundation in N1
- NARS blush in Gilda
- Benefit Box o Powder in Dandelion
- Flower concealer click pen in Shade 1
Eyes:
- Urban Decay Primer Potion
- Blackbird Cosmetics matte eyeshadows in Immortals, Imogen & Atlas.
- D&G sample size Passion Eyes mascara
- Wet n Wild Color Icon pencil in Dark Brown (on brows)
Lips:
- Lypsyl lip balm
- Mac Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Nice n Spicy
- Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Lovelight
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All over lids & crease: Immortals; over lid: Imogen; as a liner (used wet): Atlas
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| Facing front, natural light |
I think it went pretty cute for a test run, I felt gorgeous all day! It's 7pm now and the shadows are still going strong, no signs of creasing or fading that I can see.
Blackbird Cosmetics in available here on Etsy. Shipping on 10 pack samplers is free, so go ahead! I promise, you've got nothing to lose!
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