Phyrra

Who or what is Phyrra? Phyrra is the blog created by me, Courtney Nawara. My beauty blog originated from livejournal in 2008. I quickly moved to blogger where I was Decorative Diva and later Fresco Phyrra, because the name Phyrra was taken. Finally I moved to self-hosted WordPress and became Phyrra Beauty for the Bold. Now I’m back to simply Phyrra.

While my blog started in 2008, I went cruelty free in 2012. That had a huge impact on my life. While I cannot be healthy and be vegan (I’ve tried, it didn’t work for me and caused me more health issues), I believe in the harm reductionist standpoint of trying to minimize my impact and do the best I can, so I also shop cruelty free and eco friendly around the house as much as possible. I even traded in my gas guzzling SUV for a hybrid Prius.

On my blog you’ll find cruelty-free makeup tutorials, gothic fashion and beauty, and fun lifestyle features. I’ve even written a book for you called Hooded Eyes Makeup Manual, exclusive to Amazon. It’s great for makeup beginners, people who like unfiltered makeup tutorials on real people, makeup enthusiasts and people with hooded eyes. Read more about my book here.

See Jen Luvs Reviews review of Hooded Eyes Makeup Manual.

What Does Phyrra Mean?

Phyrra doesn’t really have any meaning! It’s a made up name of a Dungeons & Dragons drow elf character I used to roleplay. I’ve used the name since I was about 17 and I still use the name frequently.

How Do You Pronounce Phyrra?

Phyrra is pronounced Fear-Ah. The PH is an F sound.

Don’t You Mean Pyrrha?

No! Phyrra and Pyrrha are not the same! Pyrrha Nikos is from the awesome American anime RWBY. RWBY (it’s pronounced ruby, like the gemstone) is by the late Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. I love this series and have been asked to cosplay as Ruby several times. I even went to see RWBY’s latest release in theatres.

Isn’t Your Dog Phyrra?

No, my dog is not Phyrra, that’s Phaedra. Phaedra was named after Phèdre nó Delaunay de Montrève, from the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey. The name Phaedra means bright, pretty appropriate for a standard poodle. And yes, Phaedra and Phèdre are pronounced the same:  Fay-dra.

Don’t You Have Two Dogs?

Yes, we have another standard poodle named Nyx! Nyx was named after the Greek Goddess of the Night. She is not named after Stevie Nicks, which I’ve been asked many times, though that’s a good guess.

So Do You Go By Phyrra?

Sometimes! People have called me by my character names like Phyrra or Safiria for years. I’m used to it. I often answer to Phyrra if someone calls me by it.

Phyrra is my social media name on many platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr. I’m PhyrraNyx on Youtube, I can’t remember why it wouldn’t let me have just Phyrra. Facebook made me use Phyrra.net.

Our Facebook Group is called PhyrraNyx. Go there for makeup talk, to share looks, and for advice!

In short, you can call me Courtney or Phyrra. I’m happy with either!