blackbird swatches: the sequel

Blackbird samples, photographed under indoor light.

It's getting quite dark here lately. It's mostly just y'know, winter, which is perfect for vampires, especially up here in the north. I put off swatching these a bit because I kept telling myself "Oh, I'll do it  during the day tomorrow...!" but I've come to terms with the fact that I might never properly wake up at 9am like I want to be able to swatch these in natural light. So, I've adjusted somewhat with a small desk lamp and white paper.

Winter is coming, and it really waits for no one.


My sample of Beau had been accidentally left out of my previous order with Blackbird cosmetics, so the wonderful owner, Maleah, sent it to me along with some extra samples as an apology! I got six total, two of which were duplicates of samples I'd gotten accidentally last time, Imogen and Fiction.

L to R: two swatches of Smudge, one of Dog Days, done over UDPP in indoor light.

Center is Smudge applied heavily.

Smudge is described as, "medium to dark taupe, leaning a bit towards dark". The dark part is very much my thoughts, it's much lighter looking in the bag than it applies. This one and I don't get along so well because I find it applies a bit patchy for me and it can be hard to get it even properly without having some parts darker than others. I did two swatches above so you could see a bit more of what the color is like when blended out at the edges and applied a little less heavily in the middle. It does have the nice glowy finish of all the other mattes Blackbird has.

Dog Days on top, over UDPP in indoor light.

Dog Days is "medium, mid-toned exactly neutral brown". This is a great all-purpose brown color, perfect for liner, crease definition, basically anything you can think you'd need medium brown for. It applies smoothly and buttery and blends easily for me.

In the foreground here is Beau over UDPP in indoor light. Behind it is Vintage.

Beau, which had been my original missing sample, is "reddened dark brown".  I think it shows/reflects here a bit more yellow than it is in person. This one is still a bit prone to blending issues like Smudge, but they're a lot less prominent and it's easier to get even. I still prefer Ruca when it comes to red-toned shadows, but this is good too! It shows quite a sheen/glow here but I assure you it's matte, that is not glitter or shimmer whatsoever. It's just naturally glowy!

Beau and Vintage over UDPP in indoor light.

Vintage is "muted but still vibrant mid-toned violet". And it's true! It somehow is quite vibrant despite being a darker and muted color. I also had a bit of the issue with getting this one even, which I'm starting to think is more prone with the darker colors. However, Blackbird is working on an improved shadow formula that's supposed to be even easier to blend, so I'm excited to try it out someday! This is a great color for liner or as a subtle pop of color. It leans more on the "pink" side of violet when applied and blended very sheerly. It's a lovely color.

I don't really have any "looks" with these, so I provide you a photo of my coffee mug for the day, which I sipped from while swatching.

Muumi mukki!

Next to it is Gina Tricot polish in "sea bug". I left most of my polishes at home when I moved, and I painfully miss the delicious metallic jewel colors of my Sally Hansen Fast Drys from one of their holiday collections. I've also begun wearing falsies again because my nails have gotten unbearably ragged (psoriasis is a helluva pain in the...fingers) and I really just want to be able to paint them properly and feel "normal". Falsies also keep me from the urge to pick at them.

I'm gon' be manicured
You wanna be man cured
Ma ma ma manicure
She wanna be man cured

Also Blackbird's Atlas has been my attempt at brow powder for the past two days, and I have to say I'm pleased, and more than ready to pick up a full jar soon.  Behold, 90s supermodel power brows:

Now, thanks to a certain perfumer, I'm afraid I have to get back to watching Buffy, and avoiding Black Friday sale announcements. I nabbed a bottle of Grace and that's been my limit. Anyone else eyeing anything fun up?

Blackbird Cosmetics can be purchased from here on Etsy.