Shiro Cosmetics - Part 2!

I am back with my second review of Shiro Cosmetics! This is the other half of the stash I got a few weeks ago. These are from the Avengers Collection! Shiro of course released them right after I had purchased my first batch from the Legends Collection, so I had to have them added on. TRAGEDY, I know.

So today I have Cognitive Recalibration, Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist, He Loves His Hammer, Burdened with a Glorious Purpose, I Understood That Reference, and A Push in the Right Direction. There is also Enormous Green Rage Monster, Glowstick of Destiny, Something Sweet as Pain, and The Man is Playing Galaga in the collection, but I didn't get those because at that point I felt I'd already ordered a few too many. >.<

Let's get started!

Shiro Cosmetics - From L to R: Cognitive Recalibration, Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist, He Loves His Hammer, Burdened with a Glorious Purpose, I Understood that Reference, A Push in the Right Direction.

 Cognitive Recalibration - "Medium burgundy with a strong blue shift." This might be my favorite of the bunch. Named for Hawkeye, it is a beautiful wine colored purple that has a blue shift and some blue sparkles. It's closer to an indigo shift if you ask me. Anyway, this shadow goes on so nicely and has great coverage. It lasts all day and plays well with a bunch of other colors! There really isn't much else to say about this one, aside from perfection! It's a shame I don't like Hawkeye more...

"You better call it Coulson, 'cause I'm starting to root for this guy." - image from Unleash the Fanboy

Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist - "Metallic copper-tinted gold with a subtle red shift. Twelve percent inspired by Pepper Potts." This is a really shiny orangy-gold. It is the perfect summer color. Uniformly shimmery, it goes on smoothly and sticks around all day. Definitely flashy, definitely fun! Totally worthy of Tony Stark. :)

 "Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?" "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist..." - image from HongKiat

He Loves His Hammer - "Silvery pewter with complex red tones, very difficult to photograph." Boy ain't that the truth! Pewter is definitely an apt description. It is very shiny in the sun, and sort of a dull grey otherwise. It is darker that I thought when I put it on. I like it, and it goes on smoothly. The name makes me giggle, although I think "What's a Mew Mew?" would have worked too. And while I think this shadow does great justice to Thor's armor, I'm going to give you some eye candy instead. You're welcome.

Yum. - GIF from Comic Book Movie

Burdened with a Glorious Purpose - "Blackened semi-metallic olive-gold." I'm finding today that Shiro's descriptions are pretty spot on. This color is 100% Loki! It is definitely olive green with a lovely gold overlay. This one also looks like armor. It is a very smooth application and I didn't notice any staining with my eye primer, which I'm always a little worried about with super pigmented dark colors like this. If you love greens then you should definitely invest in this shadow. I think it could be pretty versatile, especially if used as an eyeliner too!

"I never wanted the throne. I only ever wanted to be your equal." - image from Business Insider

I Understood that Reference - "Deep patriotic blue with red duochrome and subtle white sparkles." This one is interesting. It is a super pigmented royal blue with a red shift. I've used this one on my eye and wasn't thrilled with its application. It doesn't go on smoothly, so you really have to make sure that you don't get a patchy look with some super dark parts and then spots with no color. Also the shift doesn't tend to spread evenly, which you can see in the sunlight picture below. It's great for a patriotic look especially when paired with He Loves His Hammer and a matte red shadow. Not my favorite though and when I order full sizes of some of these, I won't be picking this one up. Haha, I guess it's really rigid and uptight, just like its namesake, Captain America.

"For truth and justice!" - image from Comic Vine

A Push in the Right Direction  - "Deep brown-black with blue duochrome." This is a curious shadow as well. I thought it seemed more black when I ordered it and that it would make another good eyeliner color. You can see that it is brown in the baggie but it is a super deep, rich chocolaty brown. The blue duochrome REALLY picks up in the light and seems to be pretty evenly distributed. It seemed a little chalky in consistency which made it more difficult to put on and have an even application, just like the last shadow. But it is definitely unique! I'll need to try this out on my eye to pass a final judgment, but on the whole I think I like it. Unlike Nick Fury, who I can't ever trust...

 "...There's no pain would prise his need from him." "A lot of guys think that. Until the pain starts." - image from UK Marvel

So there you have it! Once again a set of stellar eyeshadows! I just love Shiro Cosmetics! Their website is beautiful, their customer service is phenomenal, and their products are amazing. I've been very happy so far with all of my shadows (and have in fact bought three more since the first review post), and could not recommend them more highly!

Shiro Cosmetics Shop | Shiro Cosmetics Facebook

Sinful Colors Professional - 24/7

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a great July 4th and are enjoying the rest of the weekend. I went to Philadelphia to visit my family, and they gave me some early birthday gifts! One of which was my very first polish from the Sinful Colors Professional line.

Sinful Colors Professional is, obviously, a professional-style nail lacquer, but it is super affordable ($1.99 or less!) and can be found in many stores like Rite Aid, Target, and Walmart. I also like them because they're 3-Free. That means no Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde, or Toluene. I try to only purchase 3-Free polishes now but every once in a while I'll pick up a cheapy at the drug store that has them. Anyway, for a really nice explanation go check out this post at All Lacquered Up.

I was pretty excited to try this brand out because I've seen it at Target and the colors look beautiful. The color that I got was 24/7, which is a neon pink. And when I say neon, I mean looks like it would totally fluoresce in the dark, super 90's glow-y, Barbie pink. And I love it! It looks more bubblegum here, but trust me.

While I think the color is great, and perfect for summer, I'm not sure how I feel about the formula. I don't know if it is because it is "professional" or not. I'm honestly not sure what that means. But this was really streaky and didn't level itself well. And I had to use four coats to reach opacity. FOUR COATS! I used KBShimmer's Basic Training base coat with this, and I wonder if I had used a ridge filler if it would have helped. Once I realized that I needed to use a lot of color the application went a little more smoothly. Also, only do three swipes on your nails. Middle, right, left. You're going to want to go for more, but don't do it. Because this polish dries SUPER quickly and doing more will gunk it up. So even though I had to use four coats, each was dry by the time I'd gotten to the last nail. I used Sally Hansen No Chip top coat in an attempt to smooth the polish out, which it did, but I swear I am never using this crap again. It always causes my polish to CRACK. This is because the polish is 3-Free and the topcoat is not, which is great when you want to smear 3-Free polish, but not great for the mobility of the polish on the nail. Make not of this readers. (I usually use Seche Vite if you're interested, which I'll pretend you are because you're reading this).

Overall I'd say the jury is still out on this brand. I love how the color looks finished, but the application was just weird. Not at all like the nice creamy applications I'm used to. However, because the price is so ridiculous, I think I'll go out and buy some more! Because you know, for science and all....

One other thing I wanted to review. My mom also gave me Sally Hansen's No More Mistakes Manicure Clean-Up Pen. Which is great because I'm usually really anal about my cuticles being polish-free.

I actually managed to keep my cuticles pretty clean during this manicure (of course...), but this took care of the few mistakes I made. It looks like a highlighter, and you just rub it on the errant polish and poof! No more mistakes! If you aren't a very meticulous polisher, I would highly recommend picking this up. You can also use a nail or small paint brush dipped in nail polish remover, but this is nice and clean and portable.

So that's it my friends. Like I said, you can go pick up Sinful Colors at Target or Rite Aid (among other places), and they're only $1.99! If you try any of these colors out, let me know in the comments!