Inspirational Interviews - Phyrra

Morning lovelies! It's Saturday again and the New Year really is in full swing! This week I'm massively excited to be able to bring you this little interview with the fantasticly wonderful Phyrra. I was massively excited when Phyrra said yes and she's been such a huge inspiration in my blogging, especially with some of my more creative looks, and its through her that I've been introduced to so many excellent indie makeup companies. So without further ado (and to stop me gushing) lets crack on with the interview!

Thank you so much for agreeing to let me interview you! Firstly, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Well, I'm a gamer, a writer, and a standard poodle lover. I'm a voracious reader, usually devouring books and series at lightning speed. I enjoy playing video games, though I've cut back on a lot of my game time to spend time exploring other hobbies.

How long have you been blogging for and what first inspired you to start a blog?

I started my beauty blog about 2.5 years ago for a few reasons. I was inspired by several blogs, including as Musings of a Muse, Temptalia and Shades of U. I had been trying to find out information on mineral makeup and couldn't find as much information on mineral makeup as I would like, so I started blogging about my experiences with products, as well as practicing my eye shadow techniques.

You use a lot of mineral makeup - how did you first discover it?

I discovered mineral makeup when I finally gave up on finding a department store foundation that would match my skintone. I'd been wearing MAC NC15 or NW15, depending on what the MAC makeup artist sold me at the time, and it was too dark for me. I was tired of wearing foundation that looked like a mask and started to search for something that would match my skintone. Mineral makeup seemed to be the answer because they had more than the standard shades of foundation available and went pale enough for my coloring. I eventually found my perfect match in Meow's Pampered Puss foundation in Inquisitive Siamese.

Who are your favourite mineral makeup brands at the moment? Are there any up and coming stars that we should be keeping an eye out for?

Favorites - Meow, Morgana Cryptoria, Silk Naturals, Evil Shades, DreamWorld Minerals, BftE Cosmetics, Glamour Doll Eyes, Hi-Fi, Shiro, Suds n' Sass

Up & Coming - Geek Chic, Overall Beauty, Persephone Minerals, Darling Girl Cosmetics

It can be so hard to work out who are the fabulous hidden gems of handmade cosmetics and who the dodgy repackagers wanting to make some fast cash - what are your top tips for avoiding the rubbish?

I actually wrote a guide on it!

http://phyrra.net/2009/11/how-to-look-for-quality-mineral-makeup.html

The basics are:

1. check out the ingredients listed. If you see 'shimmer, pigment or frost, they're not FDA-approved ingredients.

2. If they make an SPF claim, see how they word it, because they may be making a false claim. They can't claim a specific SPF rating unless they've done lots of expensive testing.

3. See what other products the company makes. While some companies make only eye shadows and they're legitimate, many repackagers focus just on eye shadows. Also keep your eyes open for the Pops colors. Those are colors that people will often repackage.

I love how creative you are with your makeup - what inspires you?

I get inspired by looking at a lot of different blogs, as there are so many great bloggers out there. I get inspired by looking at art, video games, ads, just about anything.

What do you get up to in your free time?

I read, I write, I play video games, I play with Phaedra and Maximus, I spend time with my friends.

You post on a fantastic range of topics - what are your favourite things to post about?

I actually enjoy swatching a lot. I find it enjoyable to swatch an entire collection and see the nuances in the colors. I also enjoy writing reviews. Finally I really love playing with eye shadow colors and seeing what I can come up with.

As a fellow girl gamer, I feel I should ask this question - what's your favourite gaming platform and your current favourite games?

This is a tough question. Probably the PC because of playing WoW. However, if we discount MMOs, I've traditionally been a PlayStation lover over the other platforms. But, the games I want to play currently are on the XBox360, since I'm on a Viva Pinata kick for console gaming.

What can readers of Phyrra look forward to in the coming months?

More swatching and more videos :)

3 Favourite Items of Make up:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Hard Candy Moon Glow Powder

Wet n' Wild Black Creme Liner

3 Favourite Foods:

Sushi

Seitan

Cooked Pears

3 Desert Island Items:

mark For Goodness Face SPF 30 moisturizer

my Kindle 2

a large beach umbrella

3 People who've inspired you:

Voltaire (the musician) - http://voltaire.net/

Izzy of Musings of a Muse - http://www.musingsofamuse.com/

Blix of Glitter is my Crack - http://themoonmaiden-blix.blogspot.com/

3 blogs you'd like to recommend:

Grey of Legothique - http://legothique.com/

Ana of Lipsticks & Lightsabers - http://www.lipsticksandlightsabers.com/

Jacqueline of A Brilliant Brunette - http://www.abrilliantbrunette.com/

3 words of advice:

Don't be afraid of color!

Eye Shadow primer really makes a difference.

Pixie Epoxy is amazing!

Courtney, thank you so much for taking part. Ladies, I'm sure you're already following this fab blogger, but if you're not, you should most definitely head over and subscribe! You'll learn a heck of a lot (and possibly end up semi bankcrupt after discovering a million new swatches of eyeshadows that you quite simpley MUST own hehe)