MAC Blue Brown Pigment Swatches & Dupes

Today, I will be reviewing/swatching MAC Blue Brown pigment. 

The Basics:

Pigment is a highly concentrated loose colour powder that contains ingredients to help it adhere to the skin. Create a subtle wash of colour or an intense effect. Does not streak or cake. Easy to blend and long-lasting. Please note: Pigments are sold by weight not volume. Containers can appear to be less than full due to settling of the products.

MAC describes Blue Brown pigment as a brown w/ blue/green pearl (Frost). Pigments come in 4.5 grams/.28 oz for $21.00 on MAC's website (discounts for Pro members). 

The container comes with a twist off lid & a sifter. It can be quite messy to work with & I had fallout all over my vanity table!

I have had my eye on this pigment for a few months but I have so many mineral eye shadows & other loose eye shadows that I rarely use. Once I googled the images, I was sold. This color is amazing. They offer so many different pigments that it's hard to make a decision. I have MAC Club & I love that color, this is a brighter bolder MAC Club.  

It's so hard to get this color to photograph right. This color is a duochrome, so in the container  it is a reddish brown (like show above) but when the light hits is a certain way it reflects a green/teal color. I personally love duochromes because you can completely change the color with different primers & bases. It's like getting two eye shadows in one!

(Look at this color!)

I have quite a few colors that are close but still very unique. I purchased Glamour Doll Eyes (GDE) Dino Spotz quite some time ago but it became a favorite very quickly. They do look completely different in the container. I feel as though GDE Dino Spotz is a finer consistency, however, when applied it isn't as bold.

Next is Wet N Wild's "Comfort Zone" Palette's definer. This is the right side's definer & as soon as I saw this color I loved it. Again, this is a dupe for MAC Club, which is the eye shadow version of MAC's Blue Brown pigment. It have that same chocolate/reddish base with the teal shimmer.

This is MAC's Club. You can see that this color and Wet N Wild's definer color are so close. 

Onward to the swatches!

This is just MAC's Blue Brown Pigment swatches with different primers.

(From left to right)

1. No Primer

2. Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy (AMAZING!)

3. Urban Decy Primer Potion

4. Foiled with BFTE's Mix & Seal

Obviously, Pixie Epoxy makes this color look gorgeous. 

Fyrinnae's description of Pixie Epoxy:

The original! A must-have for shimmery, sparkling shadows! This is not an eye shadow primer, or really a base. It is to keep sparkles on and/or to make shimmery shadows appear "glossy": a foiled look without foiling. 

Originally developed and formulated in 2007, this unique "glue" is designed to hold the sparkliest, most shimmery eye shadows in place, minimize "fallout", and also to easily create a foiled look without foiling. Don't worry, it's easily washed off, and while keeps shadows in a water-resistant state, the product itself is water-soluble (no silicones or oils).

Here are the swatches of the Dupes:

(Front left to right)

1. MAC Blue Brown Pigment (no primer or base)

2. GDE Dino Spotz (no primer or base)

3. GDE Dino Spotz foiled with BFTE's Mix & seal

4. WW Definer from "Comfort  Zone" palette (no primer or base)

5. MAC Club (no primer or base)

Even though each color is close, they are still very different. GDE Dino Spotz is really close when foiled but still more red, less bold & when dry does not show as much teal. The WW definer is closer than MAC Club. In all honesty, Club doesn't really compare. It deosn't pull the teal tone unless foiled, it's closer to a red brown when applied dry.  

All in all, I love this pigment. I'm hoping to play with it later this evening & get a look to show you!

Thanks for stopping by! 

*Krystle

BFTE Cosmetics in Double Chocolate, Wizard's Wand & Guilty Pleasures Swatches (and Dupes!)

Happy Thursday!

This is the last set of BFTE Cosmetics swatches that I have to post about, are you sick of these posts yet!?

The last 3 are browns & they are Double Chocolate, Wizards Wand & Guilty Pleasures.

As with the previous posts, I have swatched each color dry & then foiled them with BFTE's Mix & Seal. I have also included the descriptions directly from BFTE's website (if available). If the descriptions were not posted on their website, I will try my best to describe the color.

Double Chocolate (no description available) - Rich chocolate brown with shimmer.

Wizards Wand - Dirty charcoal brown with golden iridescence.

Guilty (spelled Gulity on BFTE's website) Pleasures (no description available)- Golden Brown with multi colored sparkles.

I love browns & neutrals from all companies & these colors do not dissapoint. Double Chocolate is rich & super pigmented. I love it foiled & I am certain I will use this often. Wizards Wand is another color I love, I like it dry or foiled. It has just enough sparkle with out making it look childish, and the color is very complex. Guilty Pleasures is really nice too. I don't really know where I would wear this because the multi colored sparkles are pretty noticeable. 

I found a dupe for Double Chocolate, it's Glamour Doll Eyes (GDE) Chocoholic.

You can see how close they look in the jars..

How close are these two colors!? Chocoholic goes on a little darker dry, Double Chocolate looks a little chalky in the picture, but I assure you it's not! They are really close foiled, Double Chocolate is a little darker & less golden.

Guilty Pleasures also has a dupe. Silly me forgot to take a picture of the bottom of the jars but it is Fyrinnae Shenanigans (left) & Guilty Pleasures (right).

These two are very close in the jars but not so much when swatched.  Shenanigans is more bronze & the multi colored sparkles show up better when dry. Guilty Pleasures is much more brown, it's not as pigmented when applied dry  , but it is much more vibrant when foiled. They look so different when foiled! 

So that's the last of the BFTE swatches & dupes.

Have a great day! 

*Krystle

BFTE Cosmetics in Whisper, Brimstone & Moonwalk Swatches (and Dupes!)

Hi, my lovely followers. I hope you are enjoying your Tuesday! 

I've been quite busy, my husband started a new job working 6AM-6PM Monday - Friday so I have been getting up in the morning to go to the gym. I am NOT a morning person, however, I do enjoy walking/jogging to the gym (it's about 1/4 of a mile from our place). I haven't been eating as well as I should be but I have been working out 3-5 days each week. I'll do another health post in the near future.

I have this post & 1 more to finish up the swatches of the new shadows I received from BFTE.

I have swatched each color dry first & then swatched them using BFTE's Mix & Seal. I have included BFTE's descriptions from their website for each swatch also (if available.)

Whisper - Sheer, palest beige with strong blue-violet sheen.

Brimstone (no description available) - Shimmery taupe with slight pinkish undertone.

Moonwalk - Brown/grey pearl.

Of course, these are my favorites of the bunch. I love highlight colors & taupe, especially shimmery ones! Whisper is amazing, it works great for the inner corner of your eye or the brow bone. It's very subtle but the shimmer is blue based, looks gorgeous with purples & blues as a blending color.  Brimstone is one of my favorites, it has this gorgeous cool undertone. It looks more grey to me in person. Moonwalk is such a versatile mocha brown!

I found a dupe for Brimstone & Moonwalk. I tried to match them as closely as possible but it's so hard when the colors are in the jar & dry.

Brimstone's dupe is Fyrinnae Damn Paladins (now it's called Work Safe Blue), Damn Paladins is hands down one of my go to shadows, it's amazing! Brimstone has that same blue shimmer with a taupe base. Brimstone is much lighter & a cooler tone. Both are beautiful!

Moonwalk's dupe is Fyrinnae Witchy Woodland Creatures. They look close in the jar but they are pretty different when swatched. They are very close when dry, although Witchy Woodland Creature's has more glitter & it takes a gold tone when foiled. Moonwalk has a blue shimmer & looks like a darker shade of Damn Paladins. I have to admit that I love Moonwalk & I can't wait to use it!!

Have you tried BFTE or Fyrinnae?
* Krystle

BFTE Cosmetics in Lava Momma, Raspberry, Bondage & Romp Swatches (and Dupes!)

Yes, I am still doing swatches for BFTE Cosmetics! (I think I have 2 more sets to do!)

These are the pinks & purples from my BFTE Cosmetic order, I have applied each dry & then used BFTE Mix & Seal and foiled a swatch. I have also included BFTE's descriptions (if available).

Lava Momma- Bright hot fuchsia with pink iridescence. Not for the faint of heart!

Raspberry - Bright tropical pink with pink iridescence. 

Bondage (no description available) - Dark Charcoal grey with a bit of sparkle.

Romp - Medium purple with pink sparkles. 

I don't own any bright pink pigments so I thought Lave Momma would be a good color to start with. I have seen some really gorgeous looks done with this color on BFTE's Facebook page. I actually like it dry because it's sheer but still very bright. I would love to try this as a lip color!

Raspberry & Lava Momma are almost identical except Lava Momma has more fuchsia & Raspberry is more pink. (You can really tell in the above swatch!) I like this one better dry too, it has that pretty sheen, sheer look.

Bondage is one of my favorites from this order, it's gorgeous when dry or foiled (although I think foiling it brings out the true beauty) It's almost got a purple/brown town when dry & when foiled it has a gorgeous aqua colored shimmer.

I'm not super impressed with Romp. It might be that own a million other purples but this color is kind of boring & in all honesty, I don't really like it wet or dry, but I'd be willing to work with it dry because it might be a good highlight color. I may have to give this away to a good home!

I searched for a dupe for these colors & all I could come up with was Glamour Doll Eyes (GDE) Southern Lace. You can see it's not an exact dupe of Raspberry but the are somewhat close. 

It's weird, I like GDE Southern Lace better foiled & BFTE Raspberry better dry. Southern Lace is more red toned with much more shimmer.

You can see when they are dry, they look very close to each other but when wet or foiled then are very different. Southern Lace is darker & has almost a glitter look.

Have you tried any of these colors? Do you know of any dupes?

*Krystle

BFTE Cosmetics in Mermaid, Clara & Dragon Slayer Swatches (and Dupes!)

Hi!

I am so sorry I haven't been posting. Everything in my life has been crazy lately, I have been working 60 hour weeks & trying to workout for an hour each night, so I have no time. But I will be trying to post more often. I also wanted let you know that I created a fitblr (fitness tumblr) so if you have Tumblr, make sure you follow me here!

I'll be doing a post today on the gold I received from BFTE in my last order. All of the golds are swatched below along with descriptions from BFTE websites (if there is a description). All are applied dry first & then foiled with BFTE Mix & Seal:

Mermaid - Shimmery light gold with soft blue-green duo-chrome.

Clara (No Description) - Shimmery gold, very close to Mermaid with more shimmer & lighter, great highlight color when applied dry.

Dragon Slayer (No Description) - Vibrant copper, when foiled it looks like a copper penny!

Mermaid is so pretty, I always pick golds because they work well with my skin tone. It goes on quite light when dry but when you foil it the color is so metallic & bright.

Clara is very shimmery, it almost blends right into my skin tone when applied dry, I'm not sure how I  feel about this color, I like it but I am not sure how to wear it.

Dragon Slayer is amazing! I love coppers & the more metallic, the better. This color is gorgeous when foiled!

I didn't realize that I had a color almost exactly like Dragon Slayer in my collection, but Fyrinnae's Gilded Wings is almost a perfect match!

I feel like Gilded Wings is less orange and a little less bright than Dragon Slayer. I like Gilded Wings better dry than Dragon Slayer. However, I like Dragon Slayer better when foiled.

You can see that they are very close, Gilded Wings dry is not quite as blotchy & when foiled it is lighter in color. Dragon Slayer dry is blah, but you when foiled it comes alive! 

Thanks for stopping by!

*Krystle

BFTE Cosmetics in 1939, Peacock, Illusion & Blue Bird Swatches (and Dupes!)

Another BFTE post!

Here's the blues that I purchased in my most recent BFTE haul. They offer a color of the week, which is an amazing deal. You get one full sized color which is the color of the week & 3 samples for $6. That is like getting 3 free samples & you get to choose the sample colors! The color of the week when I purchased was 1939, which was on my list of samples I was planning on purchasing. I also got a 16 piece sample set for $29, which came packaged in a cute metal tin!

The colors I purchased in the blue category are listed below along with descriptions from BFTE websites (if there is a description). All are applied dry first & then foiled with BFTE Mix & Seal:

1939- Dark green with black undertones and green sparkles. 

Peacock- Mid-tone teal-blue with golden green shimmer.

Illusion - Dark green Biased Teal, really breathtaking applied wet.

Blue Bird - Bright blue with very good coverage.

1939 is a really gorgeous dark greenish black with green/teal sparkles.  Peacock is one of my favorites, such a gorgeous blue with aqua shimmer. Illusion is also a favorite, it's not quite teal but not quite blue. Blue Bird is fabulous, it's not too impressive when applied dry but when foiled, it's so bright & awesome.

You can see the difference below of a full sized jar vs. a sample size. Full size jars are typically $6.50, sample jars are $2. I usually buy sample jars because they come with enough product for me to use on a non regular basis. (I'm not kidding between, BFTE, Fyrinnae & GDE, I have well over 100 samples.) Full size come with a sifter & a nifty little logo-ed top.

I also chose a few dupes to go with Illusion & Blue Bird.

I chose Island Chic by GDE as a dupe for Illusion & Bird? Plane?

Island Chic is a little lighter in the pan but it looks fairly close to Illusion when in the jar. Bird? Plane? is lighter in the pan, Blue Bird is much brighter in the jar.

Well, Island Chic is not a good dupe. Haha! Illusion is much darker but still has that teal shimmer in it. Bird? Plane? & Blue Bird are very close, especially when foiled. Blue Bird is much brighter, even when dry, but you can clearly see how close they are.

Well, these are the blues. Blues are always my favorite & these are so gorgeous.

I hope you like them!

*Krystle

BFTE Cosmetics in Green Apple, Lavish, Cat Eye and Lemon Swatches (and Dupes!)

Hi!

So I placed an order with BFTE (Beauty from the Earth) last week & I received it on Friday. I decided to swatch them in groupings & also include any possible dupes that I could find in my collection (I chose between Glamour Doll Eyes & Fyrinnae shadows). I'm starting with greens & yellows in this post.

All descriptions are from BFTE website unless there is no description & then I'll try my best to describe the color:

Green Apple: Bright shimmery grass green with lighter green shimmer.

Lavish: Green-Yellow with medium sheen.

Cat Eye (No Description Available): Grey green with lighter grass green shimmer.

Lemon: Bright Clean Shimmery Yellow; Not too cool, not too warm Perfectly balanced yellow. Almost metallic applied wet.

All of these are sample sizes & they were $2 each. BFTE offers flat rate $4 shipping which is nice. I do love BFTE because their selection is amazing, it's almost overwhelming because they offer SO MANY different colors. Their samples are smaller than Fyrinnae, but they are $2.75 , they are also smaller than Glamour Doll Eyes (GDE) but their samples are $2.50 each. You can see each color swatched below, first dry & then with BFTE Mix & Seal.

I purchased a lot of basic colors that I don't own. I loved Green Apple, I found it on their Facebook page, Lavish is much more green than the swatch above shows. Cat Eye was sent to me in place of Kiss the Frog which was out of stock (Crystal, the owner, personally called me to ask if I wanted another color. How nice is that!? I told her to surprise me!) Lemon is a basic yellow which I don't own or have anything close to.

I chose 1 dupe for each of the shadows since I tend to have more greens in my collection than most other colors. Keep in mind, I chose these while they were in the jar, I know some of them aren't even close when swatched!

I chose GDE Mackinac as a dupe for Green Apple. You can see they are very close, Green Apple is more green with brighter shimmer.  I chose GDE Oddity for Lavish which was more green but I really didn't have anything closer to this color! Lavish is closer to a chartuese, Oddity is much more green with less shimmer.

Greeen Apple & Mackinac are so close!

I chose GDE Going green as a dupe for Lemon, it is lighter, more shimmery & a tad greener. I picked Fyrinnae's Are You My Mummy for a dupe of Cat Eye. Are You My Mummy is an Arcane Shadow, so it's a douchrome & looks different at each angle but it's the closet color I can find in my collection!! As you can see, Cat Eye is much more grey toned.

 I can't choose a favorite between GDE, Fyrinnae or BFTE, they all have awesome products & samples that are super cheap but give you plenty of product.

I've got like 6 more of these posts that I will get finished over the next week. 
Also, if you have any requests for posts that you would like to see, feel free to leave me a comment & let me know!
*Krystle

BFTE Swatches Part 3 (Blues/Greens/Glitter)

Today, I have the last of the BFTE Swatches and the just so happen to be my favorites! Also, I want to apologize for not getting these done sooner, I have been taking steroids to take care of shingles that I found out I had a week ago & I have been in zombie mood. 

Anyways, I wanted to post these today while I have some time on my hands. 

They are all swatched dry first & then with BFTE Mix & Fix Sealant.

Top row from left to right (I'll provide BFTE descriptions if available).

Gun Metal (no description available) - Lighter, bright shimmery silver. Not a lot of sparkle.

Spellbound - Dark shimmery blue between a royal and navy blue.

Caribbean - Teal with shimmer.

Paradise - Light baby blue with a velvet front finish.

Sour (Free sample, not pictured in line up) - Bright, shimmery grass green.

 

Cocoa - Dark neutral toned brown with silver shimmer (FAVORITE!)

Meteor Shower - Black with a myriad of rainbow glitter reflects. Great as a liner or for a rocker eye. (FAVORITE!)

Gable (no description available) -  A chocolate brown with gold shimmer.

Secret Garden - Olive green with bronze undertones and golden glimmers

Wicked - Grey-toned purple with green shimmer.

I adore Meteor Shower & Gable! Look at those colors!

A better view of Gable, Secret Garden & Wicked. Plus you can really see the shimmer in Cocoa!

Let me know what you think! :)

*Krystle