First venture into Kosé Addiction by Ayako

My interest in this brand was peaked when my friend Iris from Rouge Deluxe introduced the new brand called "Addiction" on her blog.
To read about the idea behind the brand and other interesting info please check out this post and this one as well!!
Here is the official website: Click


Addiction is produced by Japanese cosmetics giant Kosé so I expected great quality as I am very fond of Esprique Precious, Jill Stuart, Beauté de Kosé and Magie Deco who are all under the Kosé brand. In addition there are many haircare, bodycare and skincare items from Kosé (e.g. from their drugstore brand Cosmeport) of good quality!

Meanwhile I somehow forgot about the brand as I didn´t find it in any of my usual online stores.
But recently I found this excellent review on Birkinbagbeauty and knew I had to pick up the shadow she featured and when I browsed their selection on Mihokoshop.com I ordered a few more items (placed another order already which should hopefully arrive next week!).


Addiction is a department store brand and price-wise about the same as Jill Stuart but the packaging is pretty much the opposite of JS as it is probably targeted to another type of customer. Well I love all sorts of Japanese brands but I am not a typical customer I suppose hehe =D

Honestly their model and featured looks don´t appeal to me at all. Too artistic NARS-like in my opinion. I would have pretty much preferred a pretty Japanese model with a more appealing makeup look.

-Eye Shadow:


The Eye Shadow comes in a huge array of colors, mainly focusing on very dark colors and light shades, there are some colors, too, but the majority is on the muted side with just a few brights standing out.
There are 4 types of shadow finish: M (matte), P (Pearl), ME (metallic) and S (sparkle). I love that the finish is noted as this means I will not get a matte color when I expected a shimmery one and vice versa.

Each shadow has a number, a name and the finish noted so it will get to a quite long name for each color =) But the name makes it easier to remember the shade! Some Japanese brands drive me crazy with their color codes!


The case the eye colors come in is a sleek little square compact made of black shiny plastic with the Addiction lettering engraved. The shadow pan itself is actually a decent size but it must be rather shallow as each color only contains 1.2g.
The shadows can be deotted and plugged into any of the 2 available compact cases. Case 1 can hold up to 4 shadows and Case 2 holds up to 6 colors. Both cases can also hold blushes or the face powder so you can mix and match. Some examples are shows at the end of this post!


The retail price is 2100 Yen however I paid US$31 but EMS shipping was included (as my order reached a certain amount) so the price is good for me.

I got 1 shadow from the ME range (the one from Birkinbag´s review) and one from the P range. To my surprise the P range is much more luminous than ME giving it a very interesting finish I rarely found in an eyeshadow so far.
Both colors have a very nice velvety texture which almost feels a bit wet to the touch. The color pay-off is excellent and the blending quality is fantastic. Both shadows are pretty much the best shadows I have purchased in long time.

-Sandcastles 009P: This is a light yellow gold with a very luminous and intense finish, almost like glazed. This looks gorgeous as a wash or highlighter. A light layer of this is enough for a very pretty look!


-Flash Back 030 ME: A beautiful neutral metallic taupe, right up my alley!


Swatches:


Overall as you see I am very impressed with the shadows. I ordered a few more colors so a review of these will follow soon.

-Lip Stick:
I also purchased 2 shades of the Lip Stick.
The packaging is sleek and simple, just like the shadow cases.
There are 3 finishes of the lipstick: C (Cream), S (I am not sure if this is for sheer, shine or sparkle but I guess sheer) and P (Pearl).
The colors I got are both from the P range.


Kosé always made and still makes some of the best lipsticks in my opinion. The Addiction Lip Stick is no exception as it has a creamy moist texture and a pretty glossy finish.
Both lipsticks are sheer with a good dose of fine shimmer so they´re exactly the kind I like.
The lipsticks are not fragranced and contain 3.8g each. Retail price 2940 Yen (about US$31). I think I paid US$38.50.


-Crush On You 017P: This is a pretty neutral pink with very fine pink and golden shimmer.
-Sweet Jeart 008P: This is a lighter slightly cooler pink with very fine silvery shimmer.

017P is on the left, 008P on the right. First pic with flash, 2nd without flash.


Other colors I like are Gold Fish, Desert Rose and Day Trip.

The color swatches on the Addiction website are rather accurate in my opinion so I am very happy with all the colors I picked out.

Here are several ways to combine the various products in the compact cases.


Other items I am waiting for are: more eyeshadows, Natural Veil Powder #1, Blush in Amazing.