For years I've been hearing about the miracle of Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, but every time I thought to go to their site and buy some it was closed. They are closed A LOT. To an annoying degree, actually. I mean, I get that in a small operation it's better to close down and catch up than to get overwhelmed with orders and then do the infamous indie meltdown, but when it seems like you're closed more often than you're open, maybe you need to hire some staff or something.
Anyway, because of that I gave up on them in a huff. Screw you, Fyrinnae - if you don't want my money I'm sure I can find something else to do with it! The only thing that sent me back there was seeing a post on Reddit where someone had tested out how Pixie Epoxy performed with pressed shadows (she used Wet'n'Wild palettes) and the results were pretty impressive. And amazingly, they were open! In hindsight I wish I'd snatched up several bottles of Pixie Epoxy, but I hear it lasts a long time so it's probably not a big deal.
They also have pressed shadows now so I thought I'd try one of those out. The range wasn't great - they were sold out of most of the ones I'd have been interested in, but I thought Serendipity looked like my speed.
Clockwise from left: Pressed Eyeshadow in Serendipity, loose shadows in Monster Movie, Agenda, Tyr, and Winter, Again (free sample)
So the first thing I noticed is that they are a bit lumpy. They break up when I press down on them but still, not a good look when you have a reputation as sacred as Fyrinnae in the indie world. I bought some Fyrinnae shadows a few years ago and don't remember this happening, so it might have been an anomoly from change of climate or something. I don't know.
Monster Movie: Soft, nearly matte light sage green with a subtle touch of copper shimmer.
Agenda: Multi-facted neutral deep grey with a fine highlight of pink throughout. Not quite taupe, and low enough shimmer that it verges on a satin finish.
Tyr: Difficult to describe, this is a muted chartreuse-on-black. It has a distinct opaque black base, especially when applied wet, with a highlight of yellow green.
Winter, Again: Semi-sheer white with soft blue and turquoise shimmer.
Edit: Apparently the lumpy appearance is due to a reformulation and there is a note about it on their site.
*** In January 2013, Fyrinnae's loose eye shadows were reformulated (orders shipped in the last eight days of January onward will have the new version). This will not affect color or decrease opacity, but will most likely reduce fallout (during application and wearing) and may increase wear time. Product will appear clumpy in the jar.
From left: Tyr, Agenda, Monster Movie, Winter, Again. Taken in natural (overcast) daylight. Top row on bare skin, bottom row swatched over Pixie Epoxy.
As you can see, the Pixie Epoxy doesn't have much of an effect on Monster Movie or Agenda - both fairly low shimmer. It isn't meant for matte/near matte eyeshadows though. It does do a pretty good job bringing out more colour in Tyr and Winter, Again. It also made them all last much longer, the bare skin swatches on my arm wore off pretty quickly, but the Pixie Epoxy ones are still there even after typing and whatnot.
Serendipity Pressed Eyeshadow: left swatched on bare skin, right swatched on Pixie Epoxy. Taken in natural (overcast) daylight. Bottom picture is taken in sunlight.
The important stuff:
- Fyrinnae doesn't sell samples, but they do sell minis. Minis are 1/3 of a teaspoon for $2.25US, and for me that's more than enough. Full sizes are $6.25US.
- The pressed shadow was $9US, which I think is a bit pricy for an indie shadow, especially given that Makeup Geek's eyeshadows are cheaper than that and supposedly comparable to MAC. Having said that, it's a lovely eyeshadow and really good quality. (I've bought pressed mineral shadows from a shop on Etsy in the past and that was a bit of a disaster.) Annoyingly, they don't seem to have any pressed shadows listed on their site at the moment.
- Pixie Epoxy is $7US for a full size, and you can also get a trial size for $2US. Pretty good value for money.
- Shipping was $7.50US to Australia, very cheap considering what international shipping is usually now. They are taking a hit there. It was also fairly fast - they have caveats on their site all the time warning about high TAT, but I ordered mine on September 10 and it was shipped on September 15. I received it mid- last week but I don't remember exactly what day.
Overall, I'm happy with what I got. I'm not a devotee of the cult of Fyrinnae but I get why some people are.
P.S. If you're interested, you can see swatches of my older Fyrinnae shadows here and here.
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