14.10.08

Of Jung and Dreams--Archetype swatches (Blues, Greens)

A warning in advance: this post is going to be super long.

(These are the blue and green swatches. If you're looking for pinks or purples, click here. If you're looking for neutrals, click here.)

A (long) while ago, I bought samples from Archetype Cosmetics, one of your start-up mineral makeup companies. The owner, Holly, had (has) insanely cheap samples, and I, of course, couldn't pass up 25 cent makeup. Why, that's practically free! We
ll, to make a long story short, I didn't actually get my shinies until six months after I ordered.
My reaction upon opening the envelope was boo, hiss, why did it take so lo-OMGTEHPRETTYSHINIES!!!!111!!!!BBQ

You see, Archetype multipurpose pigments are like nothing else. They are super bright, like Fyrinnae and The She Space, but where Fyrinnae is in-your-face-BAM bright, and The She Space is tastefully-coordinated-yet-bright, Archetype is holysupershimmery and BAM SURPRISE~! bright.

I'm sure that made no sense whatsoever, so let's just move onto the swatches, which will hopefully be less confusing.

Here are all of the greens I ordered, in their glory. Their names from left to right are: Jadite, Green Goddess, Cicatrix, Eris's Song, Bela's Grave, Fabienne, Corpse's Candle, Angel of Indulgence, St. Alia of the Knife, Obsidian Butterfly, Erotic Underground, Deadly Nightshade, and Wormwood (and yes, I did say that this was just the blue/green portion of my haul :P)

Indoor light, no flash:Outdoor light, no flash:


Light Greens:
Indoor light, no flash:
Outdoor light, no flash:
(from left to right)
Jadite
My description: Pale golden green, with green sparkles
Archetype's description: Light soft green with a yellow tone to the green. No gold, silvery undertone instead. We're trying to capture more of a McKee Jadite glass color rather than Fire King's bluer green. Silvery green sparkle. This is one of the sparkliest colors we offer, and very translucent. The color is rather subtle on, and mostly appears as intense sparkle. Not lip safe.

Green Goddess
My description: Green with gold sparkles
Archetype's description: Looks like a strong yellowgreen in the pot, but applies a soft, pale, extremely translucent shimmery spring green color with lots of gold shimmer and a coppery sparkle. Not lip safe.

Cicatrix
My description: Hunter green, brown-taupe sheen with purple sparkles
Archetype's description: This is a really gorgeous color- a deep iridescent leaf green, at first glance, but tip it to an acute angle and it has a pink flash. Deep and dark, shimmery and with a small hint of purple sparkle.

Eris’s Song
My description: Medium green with gold sheen, blue cast
Archetype's description: Iridescent bluegreen, with strong golden shimmer... the finish is somewhere between pearly and shimmery- definitely not sparkly. More intensely bluegreen than Back to the Sea, less golden. Applies opaque. Not lip safe.

Bela’s Grave
My description: Dirty hunter with silver sparkles
Archetype's description: Intensely sparkly midtone greygreen, remarkably wearable, with a bit of a warmer tone at some angles- almost a hint of brownish gold. This one tends to look like several colors in one when applied, it does its own highlights and lowlights, very dimensional and subtle.

Dark greens and blues:
Indoor light, no flash:

Outdoor light, no flash:
(from left to right. First swatch under indoor light is Bela's Grave)
Fabienne
My description: Dark olive with gold/bronze/purple sparkles
Archetype's description: A blackened deep olive green, no blues here. Intense russet red sparkle. It has an iridescent quality to it too, and applies opaque. Unique and very wearable. Not lip safe. Reformulated 9/1/08.

Corpse candle
My description: Teal with silver and blue sparkles
Archetype's description: This an intense, densely velvety and iridescent eerie blue teal shade, with blue and green sparkle. This is maybe the bluest of the teals recently added.

Angel of Indulgence
My description: Teal with green sheen, shifts between green and butterfly blue
Archetype's description: Dark iridescent turquoise teal blue, but tip it to the side and a velvety deeper midnight blue/purple reveals itself; green sparkle. Dark and intense, shimmery and the sparkle is quite restrained really. (This is the most wearable dark teal I've ever tried.) I'd have to say this is the least accurate swatch picture ever- it'll be updated in a day or two.

St. Alia of the Knife
My description: I admit, I bought this purely because it was named after one of my favorite characters, but it is still a really pretty color. The pigment itself is a pure, innocent blue with silver sparkles, not the Fremen blue I was expecting at all.
Archetype's description: This is a medium iridescent blue shade, vibrant and lovely. It flashes from turquoise iridescence to an almost purple. There is a blue sparkle mixed with a restrained gold shimmer- the gold doesn't add any yellow, just a bit of sparkle that tones the body shade down a bit to a slightly less intense blue green. Not lip safe.
Dark blues:
Indoor light, no flash:

Outdoor light, no flash:

(from left to right. First and second swatches under indoor light are Angel of Indulgence and St. Alia of the Knife, respectively)
Obsidian butterfly
My description: BLUE BLUE BLUE. Oh, did I mention? BLUE. The Morpho butterfly really was the first thing that came to mind.
Archetype's description: This is an electric, intense, densely blue pigment, created in tribute to the Blue Morpho butterfly of Central America. It flashes with turquoiuseblue iridescence and blue sparkles. It flashes from blue to bluer to almost purple at an acute angle to turquoise straight on

Erotic Underground
My description: Grey green with green sheen
Archetype's description: Flat out gorgeous color- this one has a velvety grey satiny silverypink look straight on, but tip it to the side and see it change to a blackened green, and has a tiny bit of blue sparkles. Looks very multidimensional when applied, like several shades rolled into one.

Deadly Nightshade
My description: Greyed out purple with blue sparkles (oops. I thought this was a green from the way it looked in the baggie. It's a much more intense purple than what you can see in the photos)
Archetype's description: Complex, twilit greygreen, like the edges of stormclouds. Deep silver grey with a hint of green iridescence and silver sparkle.

Wormwood
My description: Warm, bronzey version of Erotic Underground
Archetype's description: Soft green corrupted with gold. Fabulous complex and dimensional shade of mid-tone greyed-out green, with intense gold shimmer. Not lip safe.

1 comment:

Anastasia said...

"where Fyrinnae is in-your-face-BAM bright, and The She Space is tastefully-coordinated-yet-bright, Archetype is holysupershimmery and BAM SURPRISE~! bright."

I frickin' love you.

I love those swatches, too. I'm a big fan of "practically free" mineral make-up, and those are stunningly pigmented and all kinds of hawt.