Orion Nebula

Orion Nebula is a raspberry red with pearl sheen. The press is slightly firmer to give it a softer sheen (rather than higher shine/more overtly shimmery). It applies well with a moderately-dense, fluffy brush for use in the crease (yes, shimmer in the crease!) or packed on with a flat, shader brush.

Inspiration: When I polled readers on whether they used "not safe for immediate eye area" pigments (which are okay for eyes in the EU), it was about 50/50, so we tried to get as close as possible with ingredients fully approved for eye usage by FDA as well as elsewhere. This resulted in creating a cooler red hue that still had some shimmer to it, but you can add a bit of a matte shade on top or beneath to help tamp down the sheen.

Behind the Name: The Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula found south of Orion's Belt, and googling for images yields a lot of images that show it as pink-red-purple. My dad has always been into space, and I fondly recall him waking us up to see various events in the middle of the night as kids. One of the easier constellations to recognize is Orion's Belt, so it was the first one I learned growing up, as taught to me by my dad.

Development

I described this as a "vivid, berry-red with cool undertones," but I originally had the color in the Radiant Reflection palette. I loved the color as it was from the first color sample! The first hand-pressed pan came through in October 2020, and it was swiftly approved to be machine-pressed. I had no issues with the color, texture, or finish changing over time, so when the machine-pressed version arrived in January 2021, it was promptly approved for full production. This shade was one of the few that was actually one-and-done, just had to be verified as it went through the development process from loose to pressed.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview, which is a detailed review of the range as a whole.

• Brand Description
• Ingredients