Chronicles of a Hero vol.1 - Shiro Cosmetics

Remember the kickass "EVERYTHING IS BEARS" eyeshadow I just posted about? Of course you do. Well, now it's available for purchase! Now with added mauling (check the tags). You can only buy full-sizes at the moment, but that's okay, because it comes in that awesome bear jar.

In (slightly) less bear-related news, To kick-off a new series of indie interviews entitled Chronicles of a Hero, I managed to get Caitlin from Shiro Cosmetics to answer some questions, in-between juggling her dinosaur child, doing science and making new sparkly things.

Why "Shiro" Cosmetics, and why pokémon as your first collection?
"Shiro" is the Japanese word for "Castle," as in, "The princess is in another one." I thought it sounded nice and was easy enough to remember.
Pokémon was my first collection because it was my very first video game when I was a mini-Cait. I was 6 years old and my uncle let me play on his Pokémon Red and I was so ridiculously excited. :3

All right, who's your pokémon dream-team?
Well, I have a serious-business tournament team that I assembled from eggs on Pokémon Pearl. They are: Dorothy the Salamence (which was classified as OU, not Uber, at the time I assembled the team); Ralph the Metagross; Blink the Starmie; Suteki the Blissey; Boo the Gliscor; and Theophilus the Skarmory.
However, my true "dream team" would consist solely of glass cannons and would be a lot more fun, and a lot less useful, to play with. I would have Gengar, Alakazam, Porygon-Z, Dugtrio, Breloom, and Gyarados.

And, stats and skills aside, your favourite pokémon for sheer style? (Please don't say Mr. Mime, he's terrifying.)
LUDICOLO!

Good choice XD

What's your favourite video game these days? Or, the game you play most?
The only time I have to play video games anymore is on the bus on the way to University (if I'm not sleeping, instead). So I'm really restricted solely to handhelds at the moment - which is just fine! I've mainly just been playing Pokémon on my DSi and looking forward to Black/White, but I really want to pick up a Sonic game (thanks to you, Ana), Monster Rancher DS (suggested by Phyrra), and perhaps a Castlevania game as well.

If RPGs were real, what class would you be?
Whatever kills things fastest. >:D I tend to love playing casters that can put out some crazy burst damage.

Ha! That's glass-cannons and nukes then. Do you own Fyrinnae's 'Damn Paladins'? Aside from your own, which make-up brands do you like?
I do have Damn Paladins (them and their bubble-hearthing, grumble). It's a gorgeous neutral although I'm actually so pale that I normally use it as a crease color. XD My favorite make-up brands other than my own are Fyrinnae and Hi-Fi Cosmetics. For bath and beauty in general, I could not live without Haus of Gloi's sugar scrubs.

That's my idea of an eyeshadow stacker ;D

Your company and product line has grown remarkably quickly, how long do you think you've spent on formulating new colours, and how long does it generally take to make one?
Now that I have a pretty reasonable idea of how pigments interact with each other, blending a new color doesn't take very long at all. I can generally whip one up in about half an hour, but of course testing takes longer - a day of long wear to see how it holds up.
The first collection took a long time, I probably did an average of one new color every couple of days. The Legends collection was much faster formulation-wise.

What's your favourite eyeshadow that you've made so far?
The color I'm most proud of has to be Veran - Every time I make a new batch of it, I stop for a second to admire the sparkles. :D The color I wear most, though, is easily Temple of Time, which is my favorite neutral.

Sexiest eyeshadow packaging I've ever seen. I pokéfied my Legends jars, too.

I'm not the only one who's amazed at how much you've accomplished, and how much you manage to get done by yourself. Where have the skills you use in creating and selling your products come from?
Well... Mostly from Neopets. XD When I was 13 years old or so, I decided I wanted to make a guild, but the only guilds that were really active all had beautiful graphics and whatnot.
So I taught myself HTML and CSS by looking at source code, and eventually started experimenting with Photoshop as well. I do all my coding in Notepad because, honestly, it's easier to work with than Dreamweaver for me.
As for the photography, I got a DSLR as a graduation present, and Photoshop's white balance tool takes care of the rest! :)

So, what about making the actual product? You said things got easier once you learned more about how pigments interact, has that all come from experience or did you have any formal training or guides?
I didn't have any formal training, no. I actually learned a lot from the information available on Grey's blog - she's the reason I use carnauba wax in my formulations, for example. My formulas and methods are all very much experimental, though.
I do have a basic knowledge of Chemistry - just AP Chemistry from high school - and it's enough to keep me out of trouble safety-wise. I'd consider myself a mad scientist more than a Chemist, though.

Someone distract her while I abscond with that entire Pikachu container.

You told me that Lipsticks & Lightsabers was the reason you decided to open the business. Could you tell us more about that? What other factors were involved?
Well, for a while I'd entertained the idea of becoming a makeup artist. I enjoy looking at things that are pretty, and I thought it'd be all kinds of fun to have a hand in making pretty things myself. I started researching and I naturally came across the beauty blogging world, which sucked me in rapidly. I learned about various indie makeup companies and my attention shifted: I was very strongly drawn to the idea of an independent businessperson making professional-level cosmetics by hand. I also loved reading the reviews that people would post about certain companies, and I'd wonder if I could do better.
I happened across your blog and was like "HOLY AWESOME, NERDINESS AND MAKEUP." And then I happened across this post where people were suggesting their own names for makeup, all of which were very nerdy. And I thought, "That is so up my alley. I WILL DO IT."
So, over the next couple of months, I reserved my Etsy name, started mixing up colors, and opened for business on April 30.

At the time, did you ever think it would go this well? You've been open less than six months, and already have two collections out, more on the way and over six hundred sales!
I didn't anticipate this kind of support, no! At the beginning, I had an average of about 1 sale a day, and I honestly thought that was pretty good. For the last couple of weeks, I've had no less than 6 and up to 20+ orders a day. It's insane and I love it. :D

We're on the road to Vi-- wait, I already made that joke.
I spent a little while being floored by how sensible a system this is.

I understand that in addition to being a businesswoman, you're also a mother and a full-time student. That sounds insane, and I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering; how do you manage to fit everything in?
I have a lot of support from my family, for one. They help me take care of my son and sometimes they'll even run packages down to the post office for me, which is crazy-helpful since I ship 6 days a week. Other than that... I save time by never making my bed and rarely doing laundry, and I can survive on 3 hours of sleep a night if I have to. ^_^

What do you see as the future for Shiro Cosmetics? Can we hear about any upcoming collections, their inspiration, or do you plan on branching out from eyeshadows into different products?
My next collection is going to be a 5-piece set of super-cute pastels! They're almost matte - just a very light pearl on the finish - and they'll come extremely nicely packaged and ready for gift-giving or just spoiling yourself. I'm hoping to have this released at the end of November / beginning of December. As far as other products, I'm planning on branching into lip balms/tints at some point, and maybe even some scents?

Do you have a signature scent?
My signature scent is a combination of Haus of Gloi's "Imp" and my pear deodorant. It's super-sweet and fruity, which is very "me" IRL despite my penchant for making things explode.

Do you plan on sticking with nerdy product themes forever?
My plan is definitely to stick with general geekery as far as my product lines go, but I won't be restricted solely to video games! My next two large collections will be video game-themed - one is Sonic and one is super secret (Author note: it's probably bear-related) - and after that I'm planning on doing one or two collections based on much-loved nerdy books. :)

Do you take custom requests, or eyeshadow/collection name suggestions?
I do take custom requests, although at the moment I'm so busy that it could take me literally weeks to get to them. ^_^; You can always contact me about customs (or anything else) at caitlin [at] shirocosmetics [dot] com.

Related Posts:

• Swatches of everything Shiro Cosmetics make.