I first heard about Shiro Cosmetics from Jen of Barely Organized Chaos, when she posted her loose shadow inventory. And you know me—I’m a sucker for geeky things and aptly-named things. I literally buy shit (not literal shit) because of what they’re called.

Shiro Cosmetics released two collections that I fell for—hook, line, and sinker. The older collection is called “The Tributes,” and it’s based on Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, which I love. The newer/newest one is called “There & Back Again,” and it’s based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” which I LOVE MORE.

So I pretty much was headed to Mount Doom at this point.

Still, I did manage to hold back, and didn’t purchase the entire collections. In hindsight, I kinda wish I did, but it’s always good to not be a total hoarder.

A little background: Shiro Cosmetics is owned by Caitlin, who loves makeup and geeky things. Their products are vegan and 100% cruelty-free. As you can see from the picture above, it’s basically mineral makeup, though they do have lip products, which they call Intertubes. I didn’t manage to get any of them in this order, though.

All products are handmade in small batches, and the colors are unique! You can read more about Shiro here.

From the Hunger Games collection, The Tributes, I purchased four colors in the mini pots. Here are the swatches:

Swatches, L-R: Rebellion, Baker’s Boy, Remake, and Star-Crossed

These are very pigmented and easy to use, if you are pretty adept at mineral makeup. If you’re new to all of this, don’t be intimidated! It just takes a bit of practice. 🙂 I like using my RealTechniques domed shadow brush for application and I always use a tacky or wet base.

Rebellion is an utterly beautiful black shadow with dark blue shimmer and sparkles. Baker’s Boy is a very pale, warm light brown with light blue sparkles and I use it as a base. Remake is a golden bronze with fine lavender glitter. I feel like this needs to be layered on to get the full effect. Finally, Star-Crossed is a blackened coppery-brown. The shadows are utterly beautiful and my crappy swatches do not show them in the most flattering light.

You can view the full collection here. I wish I had also gotten Mockingjay, Unforgettable, and Wildflowers. I think Girl on Fire and Cornucopia are beautiful options for people who like bold, warm eyeshadows. 🙂 I personally couldn’t wear them at this point, but they are stunning.

From the Hobbit collection, There and Back Again, I got five shadows. Here are the swatches:

Swatches, L-R: King Under Mountain, When the Thrush Knocks, Fifteen Birds in Five Fir Trees, Lingered in Twilight, War of Five Armies

This collection is so, so, so beautiful. If you look at the individual shades, Caitlin puts in a passage from the book that inspired the color and the shade name (which makes it harder for me to say no to them). This also applies to The Tributes collection, too, but I am more moved by this one, LOL.

King Under Mountain is a red-brown mixed with grey, and it has silver and sky-blue sparkles. This is very pretty, but the sparkles overpower the base a bit, in my opinion. When the Thrush Knocks is so beautiful and is described as “late afternoon sunlight”—a soft coppery yellow-gold with light shimmer. I think it would be a great lid color for summer. Fifteen Birds in Five Fir Trees is a deep earthy forest green with added complexity due to “fiery-red sparks.” It’s based on the passage where Bilbo and the others are stuck in trees, while a fire blazes underneath them. I think that’s super cool and super apt.

Lingered in Twilight is probably my favorite of the bunch. It is a blackened blue-green with a bit of a metallic shimmer, and it’s beautifuuuul. Seriously, how gorgeous is that? Last but not the least, is War of Five Armies, which is a very deep red-brown that is almost matte. I love this color, but my finger swatch didn’t transfer well.

The swatch on my finger is so pretty, though. I must find a way to work with this color because it is absolutely beautiful.

I personally want to buy another pot of Lingered in Twilight, because it’s so pretty. I don’t know why I didn’t get Attercop, Attercop, but I want it. I also want The Last Homely House, and I’m a bit undecided on Riddles in the Dark, but it’s very pretty either way.

Here are Jen’s swatches of her purchases!

There and Back Again is very earthy, compared to The Tributes, which has a few pops of color here and there. Overall, I think both collections represent their respective inspirations well and I love the thought behind these collections. You can see that they really tried to represent them, and to me, that’s a true sign of a geek! And that is a wonderful, wonderful thing. 🙂

Aside from the two samples ($1 each) that I haven’t swatched, Everything is Bears and Badger, I bought the colors in mini pots of 1 gram, which cost $3.50 each. She has full-size pots available, which are 2 grams each and cost $6.00. International shipping is at a flat rate of $7.50, which I find pretty reasonable.

Shiro Cosmetics was a pleasure to deal with. Karen ordered some along with me, and Caitlin accommodated the additional items in our order. Everything was packed well, and we got two free samples 😀 I love this brand so much, I’ve placed a new order already and will continue to support this awesome company.

Shiro Cosmetics is cruelty-free and vegan.