Thoughts on Fairy Tale Themed Makeup Line from Printcess + Giveaway!

Note from Misty: My apologies to Beth of Printcess Makeup, and to YOU, for the fact that this post is going up so late. This was just a pure oops on my part, I've been away from the blog for a few days because of a work event, and forgot that I'd not set the last few FTF posts to scheduled, rather than draft, because I wanted to do a few small tweaks. =/
I do have another review, giveaway and a wrap-up post to go up still, but we're heading into a few blog tours over the next few days and I don't want to overload you, so I'm going to spread them out a bit. Thanks for sticking with me through an unintentionally extended FTF, and make sure to enter the remaining giveaways while they're still running (through the 10th)! And of course, stick around to the end of this post for another giveaway! 
Without further delay, I give you: my thoughts on the fairy tale line from Printcess Makeup!

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Shown: "Ball"

When I posted my yearly call to arms for Fairy Tale Fortnight (aka when I asked 'who's in?' and posted a form for people to tell me what they'd be interested in doing), I was more than a little bit thrilled when Beth — bloggy/twittery friend who leaves very thoughtful and intelligent comments and provokes great discussions, and who made this awesome Disney Princesses + the Perfect Shoe post — informed me that she has a mineral makeup business called Printcess Makeup that features literary and fairy tale themed collections, and would like to contribute something about that to FTF. I MEAN... this could not be more in line with Things That Make Misty Smile. (As anyone who follows me on Instagram could probably guess.) Of course I jumped on the opportunity to feature these shadows, tell you what I think, and give you a chance to try them out yourself. So click through for my very first makeup review [to take place outside of girly chats on instagram or twitter, that is], and then enter to win!

THE GOODS:
Beth has created 12 fairy tale-inspired colors for this line, which come in adorable little pots like the one shown above. But for the purposes of my review, she sent me sample sizes of all 12, which you can see here:

[Not pictured: Happily Ever After, which is shown below. Also included: Typo, which is a random-color freebie Beth includes with orders!]

As you can see, the 12-color range features a variety of shades and finishes, heavier on the shimmers (it is fairy tales, after all...), but there are some good mattes in there for balance.  I've swatched out all 12 shades for you, and you're going to have to forgive the crap lighting, because Michigan has not been cooperating with me lately...

In all seriousness - every last one of these was so much prettier in person than a photo could capture. The shimmers were a total POW, not being so over the top as to be glitters, but with a finish a touch too glitzy to be called a satin finish. Just gorgeous. The mattes went on pigmented but soft, and made for great contour. They were all very blendable and application was smoooooooooooth.

THE LOOKS:

I used Slippers, Ball and Happily Every After to make an icy snow queen-ish look, and silly me, forgot to take a picture with flash so you could see how icy/smoky this was. Oops! But without flash, still a really nice, soft look that's wearable for every day. Wanted a little bit more of a deep purple pop* from HEA, but I can never seem to find a royal purple that stays purple on me. At least this didn't fade to raspberry, as they usually do, and with a primer underneath, it'd probably give me more of a slight periwinkle purple, which will be lovely.
In this look: "Slippers" swept over entire eyelid; "Ball" in the socket, blended out over most of the lower lid, and run softly under the lower lashline; "Happily Ever After" in the outer 2/3 of the socket, concentrated in the outer 1/3. Finished off with a very thin line of ELF studio cream eyeliner in "Punk Purple" and Too Faced "Lashgasm" mascara.
*I don't think this is any fault in the shadow. Something about my skin tone and body chemistry makes it impossible for me to find a purple that stays true on my skin.

I also decided to dive in and try out the shadows I was the most dubious about. I mean, I tried them all, but for the purposes of pulling something together for you guys, I was afraid this was going to be a giant fail. I know, I know, that reddish tones are supposed to go great with green eyes (opposite on the color wheel and all that), but I look at ruddy colors like "Riddle" and "Poison Apple" and think, That's going to make me look like some gothy knockoff of the kid from Warm Bodies...*

And I take it back. Everything that I've ever said about red-toned shadows, I take it all back. As much as I liked a lot of the colors in this collection, "Riddle" was far and away my favorite, and "Poison Apple" was a close second. They are certainly red-toned, but with just the right earthiness to keep them in the ruddy category; they read as really warmed-up, gorgeous red-toned browns, with such a gorgeous pop in the sunlight! And yes, my green eyes couldn't have looked greener. I'm pretty sure both of these, or "Riddle" at the very least, are going to have to make a home in my makeup collection, 'cause I am smitten. This picture...this picture does not even begin to do it justice.
In this look: "Witch" swept across the inner 1/2 of the lower lid, "Kingdom" softly in the crease, with "Poison Apple" swept over the top, from the outer corner in to just before the inner corner (leaving just "Witch" in the inner); "Riddle" packed into the outer V and blended out away from they eye, and slightly in over top of "Poison Apple," and then run under the outer 1/2 of the lower lashline, blended inward. Finished with Stila Smudge Stick eyeliner in "Lionfish" and again, Too Faced "Lashgasm" mascara.
*And yet I'm a fan of wearing bright pink blush as shadow, so... Look, I never claimed to be logical about this. Or consistent.

I also did a "Sea Witch" look where I played with the greens and blues (and Ball and Slipper, again), along with some blue mascara, and it somehow got DELETED and I was really sad. But rest assured, my thoughts on all of the shadows as far as application, pigmentation and finish were pretty much the same, which I'm about to tell you about in...
THE VERDICT:
I've found some new loves in some of these colors. I do wish for a more staying power in the pigmentation ("Riddle," when it goes on, is divine, but it softens considerably over the day. It softens into a nice color, mind you, but that initial sweep of color? SWOON.)
The texture of these was fantastic, and the amount of satiny shimmer in them is just right to suit a large range of people — not too glittery, just a lovely, light-reflecting glow.
Add in the fact that they're all handmade, cruelty and yucky stuff -free, made by a fellow lit-nerd, and featuring great prices, and you've got a winner!

****GIVEAWAY****
And now it's your turn to try them out! Beth has offered up a mini-collection of the winner's choice of 4 eye shadows from the fairy tale line! You can view the full line here, and I'd love to know in the comments which shadows you'd choose if you win!
Giveaway is for US and CAN only, and ends May 10th May 13th, because of my little oopsie. Fill out the Rafflecopter to enter.
**To enter this giveaway, you have to be registered on the Giveaway Registration Form.  Please make sure you have registered, and please do not leave any personal info (like your email) in the comments.  Thanks, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click here to go back to the Fairy Tale Fortnight Main Page,
where you can access the schedule or find out more!