Shiro Cosmetics : Elemental Glows Collection

Hey there geekonistas!

I hope you're all doing well today. I have a trip coming up in a few weeks so I'm almost at the "running around like a chicken" phase of getting ready. Almost, but not quite, so before the storm hits I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the launch of a brand new product from Shiro Cosmetics!

Shiro Cosmetics is a long running indie makeup company that produces vegan, cruelty-free loose eye shadow pigments, blushes, highlighters, bronzers, contour powders, and lip products. They also stock products from brands like Detrivore, Femme Fatale, Sayuri, Bettie Pain, Ms. Sparkle and Victorian Disco on their site.

Today I'm checking out their latest collection, the Elemental Glows! These are nine new cream highlighters based on all the different Eveelutions, and they just have the best lid art ever. Unfortunately, I just got the sample sizes, which don't come with lid art, but if there were stickers available I'd snatch them up in a second!

As you can see, these highlighters are indeed VERY subtle.  I had quite a hard time catching them on camera. Of course, for a highlighter, that's a very good thing! These are recommended for use on bare skin or over liquid foundation, not over powders. I found the formula to be interesting - it's fairly solid in the pan, but warms up and melts quickly when rubbed with your finger. All of the swatches here are finger applied, since that is the recommended method.

First up we have "Sylphid", which is based on Sylveon, the Fairy-type Evee. This is a very pale pink shade with a slight cream sheen. This would be perfect for combining a blush for a subtle glow, or over a darker lip color to create an ombre effect, since it's both eye and lip safe.

Next is "Pyro", based on Flareon, the Fire-Type evolution. This is an orangy-red with a gold sheen. A perfect blush topper, or with a heavy hand it could function as a blush itself. Pyro is also eye and lip safe.

 Then we have Jolted. This one seems to have some of the strongest pigmentation - a lemon yellow perfect for Jolteon, the Electric-type. Jolted is eye and lip safe as well and could look really cool patted over a warm lip color!

"Verdant" is the shade based on Grass-type Leafeon, and it's a gorgeous pale green, also eye and lip safe.

 Ice-tupe Glaceon gets an icy blue shade called "Glacial". This reminds me a lot of the "Blue Ice" shade in the Anastasia Moon Child Palette - it's just as pretty! Glacial is eye safe, but not lip safe, unfortunately.

A Water-type of course needs a cool blue green shade, and "Vaporous", based on Vaporeon, delivers just that, in an eye but not lip safe formula.

Psychic-type Espeon's shade is called "Esper" and it's a shimmering purple. I think this would look awesome over a dark base! It is eye safe, thankfully, but unfortunately not lip safe.

"Eon" is dedicated to our original cutie from which all Eveelutions are sprung, Evee. This one is a soft brown with a copper sheen.  This one would be great for faking a sunkissed glow, and is both eye and lip safe.

And finally, if you are a fan of the Dark-type, "Umber", based on Umbreon, might be for you. This one has a darker base with a yellow sheen - I'm not sure about using it as a face highlighter, but it would look terrific as a subtle eye shade, and it's lip safe too!

So for this eye look I wanted to show you how the highlighters performed over a dark base. I used a flat brown liquid based eyeshadow and then patted "Pyro" on the outer corners and "Eon" in the center. You can see the effect is very subtle, but cool. I also used "Sylphid" to highlight under my brow and inner corner. The intensity of the reflected color changes as you move and the light catches it in different ways. 

 I reeeeallly wanted to play with "Jolted" over a lip color, so I chose Kat Von D's "Project Chimps" special edition liquid matte lipstick in a warm orange red. The result was a glorious burst of fall.

Finally, I used "Pyro" as sort of a cream blush, building it up across my cheeks with my fingers.  It showed up but kind of just barely - if I was any less pale it probably wouldn't show up at all.

 Final Thoughts: First of all, I love the concept - having different shades that reflect different Evee evolutions is a great way to have fun and get a wide range of colors in the collection. I also like the product itself - it's a little persnickety to work with but once you get the hang of it, it's incredibly fun to play with!  If you are a fan of differently colored highlights, I would definitely recommend picking these up!