Ettusais Fall 2008: Aquatic Shimmer

Ever since I saw the new Ettusais (a Shiseido drugstore brand) collection for fall 2008 on my friend's blog Rouge Deluxe I was interested in trying some of the items out as they looked quite promising.


The collection consists of 3 nail colors, 3 lip color duos and 2 eyeshadow trios.
I purchased the eyeshadows and glosses from one of my favorite eBay sellers for a bit below the original retail prices.

Aquatic Shimmer Gloss: (from top: beige, pink, red)


This comes in 3 color duos: Beige, pink and red. Each duo has a lip color (like liquid lipstick) on one side and a clear glitter gloss on the other side.
The liquid lipstick side is quite pigmented and feels very light when I am applying it. It dries to a powdery finish, similar to those 2-step long-lasting lip colors (which I haven't seen from Japanese brands before btw) but without the extremely drying feeling.
When it is set then it doesn't really transfer and can be topped with the gloss coat. I have to say it doesn't seem to be 100% kiss-proof it's a very long-lasting lip color duo and leaves minimal stains.
The finish of the color is a pearly velvet. Not really shimmery and not glossy. The gloss contains glitters and is very glossy and slightly sticky like the normal range of Ettusais lip glosses so it gives a very shiny and gleaming finish.
Beige: Light peachy nude beige and a transparent gloss with green and orange glitters.
Pink: Orange pink/clear gloss with pink and green glitters.
Red: Reddish brown/clear gloss with ivory and green glitters.
Please note that all colors darken on lips after application of the gloss.
From left to right: Beige, Pink, Red


Overall a nice item
Retails for 1680 Yen for 9g

Aquatic Shimmer Eye Color:


I was mostly interested in the trio in color #I as it's the cooler-toned combination but finally decided to get both palettes.
I have tried Ettusais eyeshadows before and they're lovely and quite silky with sheer-medium pigment.
Each palette contains 1 cream and 2 powder shadows.
I am disappointed. The cream shadow is super sheer and very greasy which means it will crease if used as a base on me. It's not really pigmented enough to make a good brow-bone highlighter so it's pretty useless.
One of the powder shadows is very sheer and glittery. A combination I am not fond of. It's very silky but doesn't show up well.
The darkest shadow has good pigment and a slightly shimmery finish with a silky texture so this one is fine.
Please keep in mind that these are my first thoughts after swatching the shadows but sometimes the result on the eyes is different.

#I: Sheer pink cream shadow, silver glitter shadow and navy pearl shadow.


#II: Cream-colored cream shadow, golden beige and warm medium shimmery brown.


Retails for 2625 Yen for 3.6g.

All in all I am not terribly impressed... this was the first Ettusais collection in long time that caught my fancy and know I know why I wasn't really into that brand before. They do nice lipglosses and the eyeshadow singles are worth a 2nd look but the Aquatic eyeshadow trios are definitely no must-haves.