Fyrinnae Wizardry vs Performance Colors Zombie Bride

I promised a comparison post between Fyrinnae Wizardry and PC Zombie Bride a while back, and today I delivered! We all have a little hole in our hearts where Performance Colors once sat, so I decided to see if the wound could be mended a little. See for yourself!

Both products purchased by me (Wizardry) and a friend (Zombie Bride). All opinions are my own, and all quoted descriptions are taken from the product's respective company. Lip swatches are taken over moisturized lips and a layer of clear lip liner.

Fyrinnae Liquid Matte Lipstick in Wizardry: "deep burgundy base with a highlight which changes from turquoise-blue to purple to pink"

This is a liquid lipstick that dries down to a semi-metallic finish. The base is a deep burgundy/purple with turquoise sparks and a magenta shift. This lipstick does not budge, so it stains a bit and can be hard to remove. It has a tendency to feather, and even over my clear lip liner, it began to feather as it dried down. Because of its thin consistency, application takes practice. I think the key to prevent feathering and ensure cleaner lines is to use several thin applications, and allowing the product to dry in between.

Performance Colors Restorative Lipstick in Zombie Bride: "frenzied bruised purple with a high blue sheen"

This is a solid lipstick in a balm tube, which makes it hard to apply in my little Cupid's Bow. For this reason, I applied with a lip brush for this post. It's a deep red-toned purple with turquoise sparks and a strong blue to magenta shift depending on the angle. The product is a little gritty, and it likes to highlight dry patches on your lips if you apply straight from the tube. It smudges easily and quickly fades down to a magenta base.

So here I swatched Fyrinnae Wizardry on top and PC Zombie Bride on the bottom. I applied Zombie Bride straight from the tube. Both formulas had some issues with patchiness and streakiness, which seems to be the price paid for darker indie lip products. Overall, it took more work to even out Zombie Bride, and even then I couldn't get it quite right. In the sun, Wizardry's sparks stand out more than the shift itself, and Zombie Bride is the opposite. I attribute this to the fact that Wizardry dries down more matte than Zombie Bride. The wetness of Zombie Bride allows for more sheen. I think all in all, these are good color dupes, but are (for obvious reasons), not formula dupes at all.

Here I swatched Fyrinnae Wizardry on the left and PC Zombie Bride on the right with the aid of a lip brush. When applied on my lips, they looked the same as my arm swatches, so I decided to wear these for an hour to see what happens. (I promise I know how to execute a proper shape with lip products, the thinness of Wizardry got away from me.) As you can see, Wizardry has held its ground, where Zombie Bride has already faded significantly. As Zombie Bride faded, I feel like it lost its strong shift. Overall, Wizardry performs how I wish Zombie Bride would.

So here are my final thoughts: Not only is Wizardy a great color dupe of Zombie Bride, it performs better due to its excellent formula. It applies with less streakiness and patchiness, and though the thin formula can be tricky to apply, once it dries it's going to stay put all day. Performance Colors had a wonderful run, but for anyone kicking themselves for not picking up Zombie Bride, give Wizardry a try!

Swatches and Reviews of AFK Cosmetics' Inconceivable Collection

When I was but a wee lamb, my mom introduced me to The Princess Bride. My mind was BLOWN. I originally grew up on Disney films, and I was not used to independent badass princesses like the lovely Buttercup. Also Westley was gorgeous. I mean, c'mon. Who doesn't love a sword-wielding, RoUS-slaying blonde? Me snagging some samples from AFK's Princess Bride inspired collection was a given. Here are my swatches and reviews!

As always, all photos are taken by myself and all quoted product descriptions are taken directly off AFK Cosmetics' site. Shadow swatches are done over bare skin on the left and Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy on the right. Lip swatches are done over moisturized, exfoliated lips.

As You Wish: "an orange-y apricot with a golden sheen"

This color pairs so beautifully with my pink shadows for a neutral look with a bit of pop. And it makes me think of Westley.. have I mentioned I love him a bit?

I'm Not a Witch, I'm Your Wife!: "an olive tone with a very bright blue/green shimmer"

For me, the shimmer wasn't bright, but it was definitely there. From indirect to direct light, this shadow shifts from a musty olive to something much more complex.

Have Fun Stormin' The Castle!: "a dark stoney grey with a light silver shimmer"

This shadow is almost a grey-blue. This picture doesn't really do its sparkle justice. Check out this shadow in its out-of-focus glory below to get a better idea of the sparkle.

Mawwage: "a shimmery pink based cream face highlighter"

Mawwage is wat bwings us togevva....todaaii. *ahem* Even though this is meant to be used as a face highlighter, I swatched it over Pixie Epoxy anyway, as I think it would look great as a sparkly inner corner highlight. The consistency of this powder is very fine and has a bit of a bouncy feeling to it. It reminds me of Make Up For Ever's HD finishing powder.

I've heard great things about Dena's tinted lip balms, and I hate to leave bad reviews, but I was pretty disappointed with both. If anyone can tell me how to get my swatches to look like the ones of AFK's site, please let me know. I couldn't get anything close. Read on, if you have the heart.

Is This a Kissing Book?: "a very soft pink/peach semi sheer tinted lip balm with a lovely gentle rose scent"

This balm was very, very moist. It almost felt like a gloss after applying, and applying wasn't easy. The rose scent wasn't enjoyable, and smelled almost identical to a Lime Crime Velvetine. Despite major consistency issues, I'll slap on this gloss-balm-thing every once in a while, but probably only because it's so sheer and it's easy to disguise it's consistency.

Mostly Dead: "a deep blue based red, reminiscent of dried blood"

This little balm was a bit of a trainwreck (read: trainwreck). The cap was so tight on the tube that opening it required Hulk-like strength and a lot of patience. Unfortunately, I had to grip so tight on the tube to wrestle the cap off that I ended up cracking the balm. My picture was taken right after the damage was done. Luckily (?) the balm is so liquidy that it mended itself after a few swipes on my hand. It's self-healing ability was it's only good quality, however. This balm is trying so hard to be moisturizing and pigmented, and I sympathize with the little guy, but it's a streaky mess. I applied it to my lips straight from the tube, then tried again with a lip brush.. and there's no taming this beast. The swatch on the AFK website looks beautiful, and this was the item from my order that I was most pumped about. I guess I'll have to agree to disagree with those whose rave about this balm formula..

Alright that wraps up my review of my little Inconceivable Collection haul! Some products thrilled me, some products were a total flop, but I'd still recommend AFK to any indie lover. I think I just had some bad indie luck this time around. You can check out the Inconceivable Collection here.