Swatches of some TKB pigments

Some of these pigments were acquired in July 2011 and still not swatched (bowing my head in shame - I have so much material to cover now, it's insane - coming up are The Conservatorie lipsticks and blushes, loads of e.l.f. stuff and some miscellaneous talk mainly about mascaras and stuff that seriously disappointed me).

I think by now I have quite an extensive TKB piggie collection, the one I still crave is the new Moonlight from the Metalites duo. Unfortunately it was out of stock during my last shopping spree.
The new Firestarter Collection did not spark my fancy, I only got the lightest and the darkest of the three: the medium copper tone seemed something I already have in at least 2 versions.
The Cafe Collection was the same: swatch on the homepage did not tempt me, a nice trio but I already have multiples of lookalikes,  perhaps one day I'll think of sampling Cinnamon Sugar, it seemed more unique then the rest.

Ordering from TKB is not as easy as from other places: they do not have a minimum order any more but the cheapest shipping to Estonia is now 24 USD (used to be 14 when I first started ordering, then 17).  Basically if you want to order something, you better fill your flat rate envelope to the brim - otherwise the price of shipping will really jack up the cost per piggie. This of course means there's no chance in escaping the customs fee (parcel priced higher then 21,98 eur /ˇ27 USD gets VAT-taxed at customs in Estonia and you get to deal with those nice folks at the post office as well).

Without further ado here are the swatches of the last two TKB hauls:

The Chameleons

foiled swatches

Nosy Be Chameleon - youngest of the three, has plenty of purple glitter - magnificent;
Chameleon Glitter - most difficult to apply, blue glitter flies all over - once successfully applied, looks stunning;
Chameleon Fine - silky texture and wonderful turquoise-blue sheen, easiest to apply; an elegant color when used sensibly (Simply Naturals sells this color under the name of Mocha).

Chameleon family has two things in common: same brick orange smearing base-color and acute hydrophobia - these puppies do not mix well with water. No foiling!  To get a truly magnificent result use some sort of mixing medium or base cream straight on the lid and then dab the pigment on with a dry brush.

Now to the metallics... I wonder what made me buy yet another gold and bronze.

foiled swatches

Off-spec satin white - a nice white shade with quite a strong silvery metallic sheen;
Silken Gold  - related to Satin Orange gold (discontinued) but much lighter, this one provides a nice golden sheen and not much coverage;
Sparkle Gold  - a pale gold with a strong metallic sheen, a lovely accent color (I was actually ready for more glitter since it is a "Sparkle" color, same with Sparkle Bronze);
Sparkle Bronze - soft bronze with a strong metallic sheen, especially when applied wet (as is the case here);
Blush Beige - softer pinkish bronze, an everyday color (makes a lovely peachy blush for pale folks when mixed with some matte base).

Browns - I always seem to be getting more and more browns...

dry swatches, no base

Aurora - a pink highlight (for me a suitable blush color) and
Ember - reddish dark brown accent color are both from the Firestarter Collection
Aladdin's Lamp - warm reddish brown with lots of blue-silvery glitter (which is somehow missing from this picture);
Honey - wonderful neutral light brown/dark beige glitter, beautiful neutral, would really look awesome over base;
Blackstar Gold  - warm brown, perfect for blue eyes
Foxy - cool brown with metallic sheen
Chamoisee - related to Antique Silver bit has a brownish undertone - hence placed with the rest of the browns; however seems to have lost all the "brownness" during photoshoot - it's a very dark taupe color with metallic sheen;
Reflection - the warmer half of the Metallics Duo, reminds me of Winter Rose but the latter has a blue sheen; nice highlight.

Reds and pinks - why do I buy them? I do not make lippies and they are far too shiny to be used as blushes...

dry swatches, no base

Pink Coral - irresistible sparkly soft pink;
Sparkle Rose - insane gold and pink flecks on a relatively strong pink base;
Cotton Candy - soft and girly beige pink, very glittery;
Gemtone Ruby - dark pink, almost red, can be used as blush but has strong metallic sheen;
Tibetan Ochre - a more down to earth color; a nice neutral blush when blended down with base;
Red Basics - meant by TKB to be used as base to all sorts of blushes and lippies, an intense red color.

And the colors I'd hardly ever wear myself:

foiled swatches

Emerald - (this color is apparently the hight of fashion at the moment - everything is Emerald now) dark green with a strong sheen, would recommend wet as liner;
Amethyst - seems a lot like Aster Hue, I have to compare those some day - an ordinary bluish purple, the bruise kind;
Deep Blue - looks like a bag of dark nothing but when applied gives off an intense dark blue sheen; a word of warning - do not rub this color, the blue mica will subside and dirty gray oxides will emerge; I'd recommend as liner.

TKB's MyMix series was on sale when I got it. Some of the colors are sold out and Peach is discontinued by now. All of them contain bismuth oxychloride (used to better blend the oxides). Some of them contain lake dyes: Cranberry (Red#33), Bitten (Red#7), Coral (Red#40), Rose (Red#33) and Pink (Red#30). These are finished blushes, they do not need any additional mixing and since they already contain plenty of zinc stearate they are ready for pressing as well, just add the pressing mixture.

dry swatches, no base

Cranberry  - dark red, almost wine-red;
Earth - still dark but more toned down, yet not brick-red;
Heat - lighter version of Earth;
Bitten - mild, toned down Coral;
Mulberry - purplish yet fair, a winter color for a pale person when used carefully;
Coral - bright coral, only one that's not completely matte - has some golden glitter in it ;
Rose - toned down dark pink;
Pink - beautiful girly pink;
Peach - a very fair pink, my winter blush - a barely there tone, camera did not catch it properly;
Almond - light brown, suitable as a light matte contouring color;
Champagne - a very light color for brow-bones and undereye-areas, personally I use it for highlighting.

Once I'm feeling up to it, I might consider doing a color group-wise swatcharama of all the TKB piggies but at the moment I really do not have the energy :).