Femme Fatale Cosmetics - Swatches

 
I really want to get back into swatching, but I'm going to have to buy a camera, I think. Now that Ben has loaned his to his mum (!), I have nothing but my iPhone, which is not great when you're already a half-arsed photographer like myself. Hmmm, maybe a Christmas present selfie.

Anyway, moving on. I had never heard of Femme Fatale Cosmetics before a few weeks ago when Jacquie gave me some samples she didn't want (being a pale ginger she can't wear purples without looking like she's been beaten up). I did some googling around to find out a bit more, and discovered that they are an Australian company. Now, I haven't paid a lot of attention to Australian companies selling mineral and loose makeup products in the past, because the ones I have seen have just been stupidly expensive, and they tend not to sell samples (looking right at you with the stinkeye, Inika - $25 for one eyeshadow, I don't think so). However, Femme Fatale has a full size eyeshadow for $5.75, a smaller size for $3ish, and they sell samples for $1.10. In addition to that, if you're just buying samples and you're in Oz, it's free shipping. First hurdle passed, Femme Fatale!

So, in addition to the 3 that Jac gave me, I decided to try some more. I also wanted to check out their illuminators and blushes (because I totes need new blushes, as you know). As it happens, only one of the blushes really interested me, but I did get 5 illuminator samples to check out. 

Eyeshadows

These were all taken swatched over Detrivore primer, in natural, slightly overcast light.  Descriptions are directly from the company website.

Top row: Starcaller, Wisp, Levitate, Shooting Stars

Bottom row: Shadow Dance, Jinx, Frostfire, The Dark One

Starcaller: A light periwinkle blue highlighted by a pinkish red shimmer, and violet and red sparkles.
Wisp: A soft slate grey eye shadow highlighted by a heavy blue duochrome.
Levitate: A soft amaranth pink with lavender tones, Levitate has a frosty violet shimmer with a scattering of blue, red and pink sparkles.
Shooting Stars: A soft wisteria violet eye shadow tinged with pink, Shooting Stars is highlighted by a heavy duochrome finish.
Shadow Dance: A cool grey with bluish undertones and a scattering of subtle blue and pink sparkles.
Jinx: A pigmented mid purple with blue undertones and a warm tone (copper/red) duochrome finish
Frostfire: A strong azure blue with teal undertones, Frostfire has a soft reddish shine and a scattering of pink and golden sparkles.
The Dark One: A smooth black based shade with a sultry violet shine, and lavender and purple sparkles.

Top row: Planeshift, Eternal Trance, Dispersion, Illusions

Bottom row: Desecration, The Nightmare, Temporal Shift, Smokebomb

Planeshift: A blend of pale jungle green and teal with slight grey tones, and striking golden shimmer.
Eternal Trance: Eternal Trance is a dark pine green with strong teal green shimmer.
Dispersion: A deep mulberry with bold teal blue shimmer.
Illusions: A brown based shade with a hint of auburn undertones, and teal duochrome finish.
Desecration: A striking bright green shimmer over a base mixed of cool grey, subtle brown and pearly purple tones.
The Nightmare: An eggplant purple base with intense golden green glimmers and sparkles.
Temporal Shift: A black based shade with striking golden duochrome that almost looks green in some lights.
Smokebomb: A black based eye shadow with colour shifting shimmer and copper sparkles.

Illuminators and Blush
These are also swatched over the Detrivore primer, which of course you wouldn't do in real life, but there was no way I could get them to show up on my camera phone if they were just swatched bare (even though they do look lovely on the skin). I decided to do them with the primer just so you could see the difference in the tones of these. In the bottom right is a blush that you can barely, barely see. It is quite sheer and pale, but it's beautiful. I wish I could get a picture that does it justice. Definitely buying this in full size. 

Top row: Snow Lily, Heart Blossom, Golden Lotus

Bottom row: Desert Rose, Nether Bloom, Fortune Cookie (blush)

Snow Lily: A translucent ivory-taupe illuminator, with the teeniest hint of small shimmer particles to create a glow on your skin, while the satin finish brightens up the face by reflecting light.
Heart Blossom: A translucent rose pink with very subtle undertones of purple grey, and medium to low shimmer.
Golden Lotus: A soft vanilla-gold illuminator, and the teeniest hint of small shimmer particles to create a glow on your skin, while the satin finish brightens up the face by reflecting light.
Desert Rose: A salmon coral illuminator with tones of soft pink, and medium to low shimmer.
Nether Bloom: A translucent illuminator in a soft chamoisee brown with warm undertones, and the teeniest hint of small shimmer particles to create a glow on your skin, while the satin finish brightens up the face by reflecting light.
Fortune Cookie: A pale tea rose pink mostly-matte blush with soft undertones of coral.

 I am surprised - and frankly a little disappointed - that I have never heard of this company before now. When I was looking for reviews and swatches I found that most of them were from US bloggers, and the Australian ones were generally along the lines of "These were sent to me for free and they're super awesome fantastic and I love them so much" and then they were never mentioned again on those blogs - not all, but definitely most. Which leads me to an oft-repeated rant:

A lot of Australian beauty blogging has largely become a tedious circle jerk. So many freebies being thrown out there, so many rave reviews of products received gratis, but even if the blogger does genuinely love the product(s), how can we readers believe it when said products never get another mention? Not a follow up purchase mentioned in a haul (god forbid they spend money when there's more free stuff round the corner), not in a favourites post, not in an empties post, not in a face of the day post. Just... nothing. And they wonder why people like me roll their eyes at those disclaimers about how 100% honest they are.

Okay, that was unpleasant. Back to Femme Fatale. These eyeshadows are really beautiful, and I loved the blush. The illuminators are pretty, though to be truthful illuminating isn't a big thing with me. Having said that, I'd consider getting one or two of them in full sizes - they give a nice, subtle glow without being over the top disco ballish.

There are at least 6 eyeshadows that I will be getting in bigger sizes, and possibly more. The greens especially are just gorgeous. And I love that there's a reasonably priced Australian indie makeup company out there. Now I'm going to go and look for some more.

Oh, one last thing. Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't manage to drop one of the eyeshadows while swatching. At this point it's starting to become a mystery game - which one will it be this time? 

Goodbye Frostfire! You were pretty while you lasted.