Swatches!
I got to come home early from work today, so I cleaned the house!
...Er -- did some swatches!
Taken in natural sunlight on NW15 skin, applied dry & wet.
They are quite bright and they do stay on really well. I was pleasantly surprised. The mattes are trickier to work with and don't blend very well...they don't look bold unless you apply them wet, and then they're difficult to work with -- the more shimmery shades are absolutely wonderful! Overall, I like them a lot.
Lively pretty much rules -- it's probably my favorite. Showy is gorgeous, and the yellow in Flamboyant is great. The lighter shade in Saucy is slightly more orange than the photo shows. I love how the deep purple in Charisma looks on the pot, but it looks so muddy on me! I haven't really had a chance to try the pigments out yet...I'll probably play around with that today. Valiant is really really pretty (I LOVE purples). (Could anybody compare Valiant to a MAC pigment? Is it comparable to Violet?) Intrepid ended up looking different than I thought it would...it's got a green sheen to it that the photo didn't pick up too well. I'm anxious to play with it.
As far as other HIP products go...I got a coupon for a free full-sized Flawless Liquid Makeup. Picked out the lightest shade they had and it was way, way too dark and awfully orangey-yellow. Thought about keeping it to use as a base or something but ended up giving it away. Meh.
Well, hope that helps!