Archetype Cosmetics Pigments: Part 1

Hello again my lovelies,

I'm back with another post for the day and hope you enjoyed the discount codes I posted up earlier today. Apparently, there is a thing called "having too much fun" and right now I am happy with pounding my little fingers on my keyboard. I hope not to see this coming but for the first time ever, I'm behind in blogging. But don't fret, a lot of hot tea will fix the problem :)

Before I go on about this review, I meant to post this up a while ago already but for various reasons, this post almost did not happen. About 3 months ago, I placed an order at Archetype Cosmetics website. If you haven't heard of this company, Archetype currently sells their pigment samples for 25 cents a piece. No m'am, that's no typo: it's really a quarter per pigment sample and when I received my order, the sample baggies are the same size as those from Aromaleigh. Moreover, Archetype's samples are more generous and oh so gorgeous!

(L-R): Aromaleigh baggie sample vs. Archetype sample
They are in same size bags, however Archetype sample has more pigments.

However, the one thing that kept me from posting a review about this company is this: I received my order almost 2 months after I placed it! No, it's not a typo either, I got it after almost 2 months. In the past when I did the Mineral Makeup Week, I complained about the turnaround time at The She Space (3 weeks). Now Archetype tops that list and I think I owe TSS an apology for wrongly accusing them of being slow.

I ordered 27 pigment samples and got to choose 3 samples for free. With shipping, the order totaled at $9 USD! For 9 dollars, I may get 2 or 3 things from other companies. I may even get a few samples from Aromaleigh with that amount of money. However, when the order finally arrived, I actually received 41 samples, wowza! (Actually 2 samples are in the same color but I don't mind it at all!) The owner of Archetype, Holy Reagan, has a full-time job and only fills order during her free time. Moreover, with that price tag I can imagine a lot of people flocking in for the samples. So my only advice to you if you decide to order from Archetype Cosmetics is be patient, 2 months is not that bad when the pigments are out-of-this-world beautiful.

Enough of the chit-chat already, let's get some swatches on, shall we? Since I have a lot of samples, I decided to spit into two posts to give a better review. Today's post is covering the lighter colors whereas tomorrow's covering darker and fall colors.

1. Gold and Highlighting Colors:

(Top-Bottom): Queen of the Nile, Child of Hounds, Autumn Leaves, Yowie the Night Beast, Mausie, and Verre de soie

The unique thing about Archetype's pigments is their ability to color-shift. While some of the colors are as-is, most will change in different light settings which make them very interesting to use. Texture-wise, these pigments are loose and a tad chunky for mineral pigments. They feel almost the same as MAC's latest pigment collection "Overrich", whose pigments are finer than the regular MAC pigments.

• Queen of the Nile is a golden shade of pigment that is very luxurious. This pigment is highly shimmering but does not color-shift.
• Child of Hounds has more orange pigments than Queen of the Nile and does not shift in colors either. I think it is similar to one of the golds in "Overrich".
• Autumn Leaves is an interesting gold color as it has overlaying green pigments. The green is very profound under the light.
• Yowie the Night Beast is a frosty orange color that is very beautiful and wearable. If you are looking for a nice-looking orange, this is the color for you.
• Mausie looks exactly like Yowie in the bag. However when I swatched it, the copper pigments came out and you can see the coppery-orange shade much better in this swatch.
• Verre de Soie is absolutely gorgeous, oh my! It appears snow white in the bag but under different lightning this color looks different: purplish white, pinkish white, and even grayish white. This color is the best highlighting eyeshadow I've ever seen and I consider getting a full-size jar when my sample runs out.

2. Green and Blue Pigments:

(Top-Bottom): Old Ecru, Cicatrix, Midnight Aeval, The Gargoyle Tree, Twilight Aeval, and St. Alia-of-the-Knife

Originally, I did not plan to order a lot of blues because I already got a lot of them in my stash. Moreover, I did not think green would look good on me either. And I stuck to my plan and regretted it because these colors turned out to be very beautiful.

• Old Ecru is a forrest green shade that has a lot of sparks in it. "Ecru" is the original color of fabric, I found the meaning in the dictionary.
• Cicatrix looks exactly like Old Ecru when it's in the bag. However, it is a color shifter and the brown pigments shines in the swatch picture.
• Midnight Aeval is very pretty: it probably is the darker cousin of MAC Parrot if the later one ever had a cousin. I describe it as a dark peacock greenish blue and I can imagine myself using it for special occasions.
• The Gargoyle Tree is darker than Midnight Aeval and has a touch of grey in it. Where Midnight Aeval is reserved for events, this color is more for daily use. Both of these colors are really gorgeous and unusual.
• Twilight Aeval is a part of the trio including Midnight Aeval, Twilight Aeval, and Daybreak Aeval. It is a light peacock blue which is very glamorous but also wearable.
• St. Alia-of-the Knife is a very beautiful frosty blue. It is a tiny bit darker than Twilight Aeval and also very pretty.

3. Pink and Red Pigments:

(Top-Bottom): 1. Daybreak Aeval, 2. Lilith's Daughter, 3. Dead Rose, 4. Integra's Dog I, 5. Plastic Pink, 6. Spun Sugar, 7. Lolita's Lollipop

• Daybreak Aeval: I ran out of space in the last swatch so I put Daybreak Aeval in this group. This is a part of the Aeval trio and is a light and frosty foam green.
• Lilith's Daughter is an interesting color that is very hard to describe: it has brown, red, and tiny bit of black pigments mixing together. It looks brown in this swatch but appears red in some occasions. Another interesting color shifter to enjoy!
• Dead Rose is a dark bloody red pigment and so far I haven't used it yet as the color is so interesting!
• Integra's Dog I: the first of the two dogs. Dog I is a brighter red than Dog II and I intend to use this color as a lip shade as it is lip safe. A very sanguine color for those who seeks this kind of thing.
• Plastic Pink is just what its title implied: plastic, bubble gum, Barbie pink. Bright, cheery, shimmery, girly are adjectives to describe this color.
• Spun Sugar is a lot understated than the rest of the colors. It is similar to Hard Candy Taffy but has more shimmer. This color obviously is for the all over the lid application but can also be used as a highlighting shade.
• Lolita's Lollipop is a lighter pink than Spun Sugar but has a lot of shine. It is a true duochrome color and good as a highlighter.

I find Archetype Cosmetics pigments to be very fun and creative. However, the adherence is not too strong so I always use a layer of MAC paint pot as my eyeshadow primer. Archetype has a lot of pigments, more than 200 of them if I recall correctly so there's something for everyone.

The Journey to Literacy Starts with a Single Word

As of today, my future NY Times best seller has almost 7,100 words! Woo hoo! I just want to thank all of you who have been sending me good wishes, they mean a lot to me. Apparently, folks who join NaNo are crazy and they have this "10K in 5 hour" challenge. This challenge is for those who are fast typers to attempt to write 10,000 words in 5 hours. Yours truly, being all hyped up, consider to put her name in the Hall of Fame one of these days. Do you think I can do it?

The truth is I don't know but it's worth a try :)

Good night ladies, hope you're having a good night. Part two of Archetype pigment review is up tomorrow.

Take care,
Your Makeup Blogger

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