Unless you’ve been blinded recently by a rogue spoolie, you’ve seen the talk of the hot new kid on the indie beauty block – Antoinette’s Revolution Cosmetics. Their Artfire shop launched right in the middle of my detox, so I was a good girl and sat on my hands until it was over. Lucky for me, the detox was finished on the very last day they were having their grand opening sale. I placed an order first thing that morning.

I ordered six eyeshadow samples, and received one for free: Gardens, Versailles, la Fontaine, Pink Rose, Marie, von Fersen, and Louis.  Everything arrived quickly and packaged in a cute little box, with two business cards and a darling little button with a cake illustration. I’ll have this cake, and wear it, too!

For swatches and a play-by-play, click on!

The Swatches

All swatches were taken dry (unless otherwise noted) over Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.

Eyeshadow Play-by-Play

Versailles: I know, I know, it’s pronounced “vaer-sai”, but I can’t help but call it “verr-sails”, simply because I’m a damn dirty Kentuckian. We were big fans of France back when the state was being settled, so we named many townships and estates after French things, horribly butchering the pronunciation in the process. Interesting hick-story aside, this colour is a beautiful cross between a tarnished gold or bronze, depending how the light hits it.

Gardens: According to the website, this is a blue-based green. Personally, I think it leans to the brown side of life. I’ve seen swatches of this on other websites, and it looks positively gorgeous, but I was unimpressed when I swatched it. Either there was a mislabeling issue or a bad batch, but this was not the shade I was looking for.

la Fontaine: Silver as a shiny new quarter. And I do mean shiny. This shadow has a high-sheen no matter how you apply it, which is all good in my book. This is one of ARC’s shining stars.

Marie: A soft baby blue with pink shimmer, which transforms into a bright, clear sky blue when applied wet. I was very intrigued by this colour on the site, but didn’t wind up buying it. Lucky for me, it was included as a freebie!

Louis: A strong blue-based purple with plenty aqua glitter, and a distinctive sheen.

von Fersen: A deep, navy blue with blue sparkle. This was the eyeshadow that really caught my eye, and convinced me that this was a company I needed to check out. I was definitely not disappointed when it arrived – this is one of my most favourite colours out of my sample haul.

Pink Rose: From the “Rose” collection, Pink Rose is an interesting mix of bright, yet soft. If you speak Crayola, this shadow would be the Carnation crayon – soft, with just enough red base to make it pop.

Application and Wear

While these eyeshadows are quite pigmented, I found them rather dry/chalky. They didn’t brush or blend too terribly well, which means no matter how pigmented the shadows are, colour payoff will suffer. They do fare better over an adherent such as Pixie Epoxy, but I don’t have a habit of whipping mine out every single time I put on eyeshadow, and I shouldn’t have to. It’s the company’s responsibility to perfect their formula, not mine. However, given time and the added effort to replace initial fallout, the colours are rich and powerful, like the France by which these shadows were inspired.

As far as staying power, Versailles, Gardens and von Fersen performed phenomenally after being swiped off with a makeup remover cloth. Louis and la Fontaine had respectable staying power, as well.

Brass Tacks

There are definitely some very, very worthwhile offerings by Antoinette’s Revolution. Von Fersen is positively gorgeous, and Versailles is a truly unique blend of bronze and gold. Louis would also be a nice addition for a fan of purples. I’m personally not fond of how dry the shadows are, so I probably won’t rush to purchase full-sizes any time soon – but I do plan on giving them another try after a while to see if the there are any changes in the future. As for now, if you can deal with a little bit of repair work before rushing out the door, the end result of these shadows are worth it.

Action Shot

This was a nice denim-inspired eye look I tried out with von Fersen and la Fontaine, with a blend of Marie and Sugarpill’s ‘Tako’ for highlight. This one received the boyfriend’s stamp of approval! Hooray for validation!