Aromaleigh Hi-Fi Retro Matte review and FOTD

The lovely Miss K from Aromaleigh sent me samples of her brand-spanking new collection to swatch and try out. Unfortunately it's dark outside and I can't take decent swatch photos :( Right now it's about the darkest time of year in Finland. In fact, I can almost make a bet that if you came here now, you would think that Finland is the most depressing place on earth. A little snow would help with the lighting problem but in Helsinki there's no snow. It snowed a little yesterday but it was gone almost instantly.

Okay, back to business. To compensate for the lack of swatch photos, I did a look with my new treats. Most bloggers have already done something with this collection and I noticed that most of them have used greens, blues, pinks and purples. I love using orange andd pink together so I decided that I should cover some of the oranges on my blog!

Heels on Fire: Intense mauved pink. Strawberry milkshake sweet shoppe heaven
Cat's Pajamas: matte coral with warm orange tones. It's not orange, it's not red. It's simply the cat's pajamas
Supermurgatroid: Intense coral orange - far out!

The colour descriptions on Aromaleigh's site crack me up. Not only are the colours lovely and cheerful but I like that the same attitude is reflected in the shade descriptions.

FOTD: This is the Cat's Pajamas!

Face:

Purely Cosmetics Skin Smoothing foundation in Custom Blend
Purely Cosmetics Silk and Pearl primer (as a top coat)
Cory Cosmetics Illuminator in Riot (as a blusher)

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Aromaleigh Hi-Fi Retro Matte eyeshadow in Heels on Fire (inner 1/3 of the lid)
Aromaleigh Hi-Fi Retro Matte eyeshadow in Cat's Pajamas (middle of the lid)
Aromaleigh Hi-Fi Retro Matte eyeshadow in Supermurgatroid (outer vee and crease)
Aromaleigh L'Orchidée eyeshadow in Orinoco (as a highlighter below brow)
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
Lumene Blueberry Curl waterproof mascara in Rich Black

Lips:

Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Lollipop-pop









I know that most people are afraid of matte eyeshadows because they're afraid that they're chalky or that they are hard to apply. Well, Hi-Fi colours are not chalky, far from it! Actually, they look chalkier in the sample bags and when I first tried out Fake Out (which looked greyish blue in the bag), I went 'holy cow!!!' because the colour was really intense. For application I suggest that you use a good primer and make sure you apply it very evenly. These colours blend really well so you don't have to worry about that. But go lightly at first because these babies are very VERY pigmented!


What you have to be careful about with mattes is that you don't "rub" the colour to much. It may become blotchy. Aromaleigh mattes are very smooth so you don't have to be too heavyhanded with the blending.

I think these three colours look utterly delicious! I used a shimmery eyeshadow as a highlighter because it makes the mattes pop even more. Try it, I swear it works! Orinoco was a perfect choice for this look because it's a pink-toned peach/coral shade.




Me and my messy hair!

I also suggest using a shimmery blush with matte eyeshadows. Too much matte will make you look a bit washed out, no matter how vibrant the colours are.

I'm bummed out for the photo quality. I tried taking photos indoors with flash but it's so dark that I looked like the ghost of a ghost. Seriously.

I love this collection. When I have the money, I will buy some full sizes. I think only colour this collection is missing is a matte fire engine red.

If you're not sure about using mattes, try them with shimmery colours. Use a matte shadow all over lid and then shimmery colour on your outer vee and crease. The result is stunning.

My opinion of this collection: I think these are the best mattes -ever. These are smooth and non-chalky and very unintimidating to use. The colours are yummy and I suggest getting as many samples as you can because I wouldnever in a million years thought that Supermurgatroid would be my colour. As it is stated on Aromaleigh website, two of the colours, In Orbit and Cranked, contain a little lustre. The shimmer is more visible on the baggie than it is on the skin. So these are both mattes, too.
The matte trend has been going on for ages on nails but I think matte makeup is so much hotter! These candy colours will bright up your day, no matter how much sunlight you're actually getting. In all, this is a wonderful collection to have this time of year!

My list of must-haves: Kookie, Got Dibs, Cat's Pajamas, Heels on Fire, In the Mix, Supermurgatroid, In Orbit, Radioactive.

So, what are your thoughts about the look? Have you tried out Hi-Fi Retro Mattes? What are your faves?