On to the Aquacolors.
Here’s my stack. Not every colour they do, but a representative sample, I think.
So. What are they? Water-based compact make-up, glycerine based, that you use with water. Quite a lot like face-paint. Colours abound- the usual bright matte shades, metallic effects, and also ‘Interferenz’ duochrome colours. Iridescence, I love it! Obviously, I am quite fond of these.
Swatched wet, obvs, on bare skin. From bottom left: red, Interferenz Mozart Pink (rose gold), dayglo/UV pink, Interferenz Strauss Wine (pink/violet), metallic silver-lilac, metallic silver-blue, metallic silver, Interferenz silver-green, Interferenz Verdi Gold (green/gold), Interferenz Bach Blue (blue/green), Interferenz metallic copper, dayglo/UV green, Inteferenz pearl (white/pink/blue-violet).
There are some differences amongst the various types. I’ve labelled them by what it says on the lids; the silver-blue and silver-green are metallic and duochrome respectively, and the former is a simple metallic with no iridescent effect. The other has a pronounced yellow undertone to the green and the metallic effect is just a sheen, rather than a solid silver base. However, the copper shade although classed as a duchrome is a pretty straightforward metalllic copper, albeit a splendid one. Its texture is much smoother than the metallics though; the silver and silver-blue are somewhat lumpy as if they contain actual glitter. (There’s an iridescent silver available also but as yet it is not mine).
The other Interferenz colours obviously have a composer-y theme, and are a really nice blend of two colours each. Looking at their (slightly baffling) online colour chart, they’re various mixtures of green, blue, yellow, and red, but the names aren’t listed (and the pink violet appears to *not* count as a duochrome although it looks just the same.) As you can’t buy from their site though I’ll generally not pay much attention to it. The colours are wonderfully iridescent, nicely mixed so that neither predominates, and have a metallic finish overall. I really like the Mozart Pink as rose gold is such a flattering colour. The Bach Blue looks gorgeous in its container, but it applies a little sheer without layering, so it’s not my favourite to use. The Pearl shade also applies sheer but it’s more of a highlight colour anyway.
I only have the one plain’n'ordinary colour, the red, but it’s excellent; very useful when you don’t feel like fannying about layering red eyeshadow. Grand for lining, too. (There is a UV red available, which I don’t have because it seems like it would just be ‘red’ under daylight; I used to have the UV purple, and until you shone UV at it, it was fairly plain. So unless you are specifically wishing to glow at clubs, the plain colours will suffice.) However, the green and pink UV’s are screamingly bright under normal circumstances and yes they fluoresce like mad when worn out. (I face-paint at clubs occasionally and will sometimes use these to startle people.) They also make a UV orange, yellow, and blue.
I absolutely want to get more o’these; there are several different purple duochromes available, and whilst I wish they made as many greens as they do purples (I’m not a lover of gold, but their Verdi Gold is a wonderful marriage of gold&green), I certainly would like to try them all out.
Application is easy, just wet and apply; some you do need to mix up a bit to get opaque coverage (metallics especially), but they’re easy to layer. Even a primer isn’t essential, as you can paint them on and as long as you leave your eyes closed until they’re dry, they will not crease. Once they’re dry you can alter the effect or spead out the colour by buffing with a big ol’ brush. You could even slather some on without water just using a finger, I suppose. Certainly it wouldn’t harm them, as these are a generous 8ml and last for bloody ever. I found they make a reasonably long-lasting lip colour if you apply over something oily like a creme foundation; useful for odd lip effects, maybe. (I just couldn’t be bothered to look for my red lipstick.)
I bought most of these at the Kryolan shop in San Francisco when I was on holiday, which is certainly worth visiting if you’re in the area. I hope to one day be In the Area again. When I can’t buy them in person though I get them from the same place as the pressed eyeshadows.
