Spring 2011: Kanebo Kate Mineral Liquid Foundation SPF20 PA++ in OC-B

If you see this post on another site than lotuspalace.blogspot.com it has been stolen and used without my permission. I only allow reposts with proper credits for my work (please contact me first!)!
One of the good things about browsing cosmetics myself in Hong Kong was checking out foundation colors instead of ordering, hoping to get a good match, being disappointed again with a too-dark or too-yellow foundation color.

I found the new Mineral Liquid Foundation from Kate in one of the drugstores and swatched the lightest color OC-B, which usually is a shade that´s too dark for me, but to my surprise the Mineral Liquid Foundation turned out to be a good albeit not a perfect match but all in all it blends in well.

The Mineral Liquid Foundation contains mineral powder, olive oil, jojoba oil and almond oil, furthermore it´s free of parabens and fragrance.
This is a medium creamy liquid foundation with sheer coverage, a bit like a BB cream though not as heavy. Even though the coverage is sheer it´s sufficient to cover slight redness or unevenness.

The foundation feels smooth and rather lightweight and gives a natural slightly satiny (but not shimmery, shiny or dewy) finish.
Lasting power is good, though like most other products, it fades a little if it´s a hot and sweaty day.



Overall a good foundation and a nice color match for the summer for my skintone (I am *slightly* more tan now than usual)... in winter it probably won´t match though.
I don´t remember what I paid for it but I think it wasn´t more than around US$15 or so.

Rating 4/5

Spring 2011: Kate Eye Shadow CQ (Crystallise Quartz) in PU-1

Kate sometimes is a really weird brand...at one time they release absolutely fantastic eyeshadows with a rich and pigmented texture just to come up with something so mediocre in the next release. That´s quite a regular cycle with Kate so I just might want to only purchase every 2nd eyeshadow collection hehe.
 
The fall eyeshadows, even though "only" duos, were just amazing and I love to use them regularly as they are the most blendable gorgeous eyeshadows ever!
Anyways, to follow Kate´s regular scheme the new Crystallise Quartz Eye Shadow is just mediocre and thank God I only picked up one color!

The Eye Shadow CQ (as printed on the back of the box) are basically your typical graduated Japanese eyeshadows. The layout is easy and the offered color choices are pretty basic.

The texture if smooth but the shadows aren´t so pigmented so a bit of layering is needed to achieve a more intense result. One of the 4 powder shades is actually a glitter shade to be patted on top of the other colors.
The highlighter is the most pigmented shade and has a in interesting intense gleaming metallic finish.

PU-1 is no way purple as it´s rather a mix of greyish and brownish shades of plum. I like the colors very much but the result is a bit dull and boring.

Overall as expected a mediocre eyeshadow quad and only worth purchasing if you like a soft and sheer eyeshadow palette in basic colors.

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Rating 3/5

Fall 2010: more from Kate (Gel Eyeliners and Dual Blend Eyes GN-1) =)

Adambeauty recently started stocking the Kate fall collection so I hauled a few more goodies.

I think I don´t have to say much about the Dual Blend Eyes as I reviewed them short time ago. Just love the pigmented, smooth and richly pigmented texture! One of the best eyeshadow palette series I discovered recently though not of the subtle kind you might be used to from Japanese brands!
GN-1 is a wonderful fall color, a deep moss green paired with a soft pale spring green.

I also picked up 2 of the new Gel Eyeliners. I believe this is the 2nd revamp Kate did for the Gel Eyeliner since they were released. Now the brush is not included anymore but can be purchased for a few $ extra.

To be honest this isn´t the best range of gel liners now as they feel a bit soft and waxy so the color can look a bit uneven so a couple of layers is needed with a minute to let the first layer set in between. The previous version, of which I picked up the gorgeous deep green and blue shades, was better in my opinion. The liners hold up well and don´t smudge/fade though so the performance is good. 

I got BK-2 which is a deep neutral brown and BK-3, a deep black with multi-colored shimmer bits.

EOTD 1 shows Dual Blend Eyes in GN-1 paired with the Gel Eyeliner in BK-3:

EOTD 2 shows Dual Blend Eyes in BK-2 & Gel Eyeliner in BK-2:

 

Rating:

Dual Blend Eyes: 5/5

Gel Eyeliner:3/5 

Fall 2010: Kanebo Kate (various)

I haven´t written a monster review in long time but they are kinda fun so today I am going to review the whole bunch of Kate stuff from the fall collection =) I got everything from Mihokoshop.com and as always service and pricings were perfect!

I am really in love with the new collection as the items are really pretty and great quality but affordable in the same time.
The fall collection is really huge this year as there are various new eyeshadows (a whole new series and new additions to other ranges), new glosses, lipsticks, eyebrow products, new gel liners and a makeup BB base.

I hauled a good amount of the new stuff so the individual reviews will be listed now:

-Dual Blend Eyes:
This is a new series of eyeshadow duos so the Dual Carat Eyes are discontinued (not sure if they were d/c even longer ago?). Anyway, the Dual Blend Eyes come in the typical simple Kate kinda compacts made of clear and black plastic.

These eyeshadow duos have kick-ass pigment and a wonderful blendable texture which feels almost creamy to the touch. Creating smoky eyes is super easy and the rich colors and pretty shimmer just give perfectly defined eyes.
I picked 3 of the palettes but would consider picking up more if there are colors that look attractive.

Since the shadows are so highly blendable they might smudge a little, especially when worn on the lower lids but they don´t crease on me when using a base. Overall love love love!
Retails for 1365 Yen.

BK-1: It´s interesting that this color is listed as a black shade. It´s a duo of neutral light golden beige and deep cool brown

BK-2: A deep charcoal gray with and frosty white

PU-1: Very pale pink and deep plum, a gorgeous fall color!

-Liquid Rouge N:
This is the 2nd revamp of the popular Liquid Rouge I have seen so far. For some reason I always order the color BR-2 which pretty much stays the same in each revamp but it´s just one of the most gorgeous colors ever so I gladly buy the updated version whenever one comes out.

The Liquid Rouge N is a lipgloss or liquid lipstick, whatever you wanna call it. The level of pigment and texture highly depends on the color but in general the formula is rather long-wearing, a bit thick and sticky and gives a beautiful glossy shine. 

Anyway, it´s unscented and unflavored an comes with a flat fuzzy spatula applicator.

BR-2 is the most gorgeous shimmery rosy beige ever. Since it´s intensely shimmery it gives a really strong volumizing effect in my opinion. This has amazing lasting-power and wears more like a lip-lacquer than a gloss. I wore it for over 4 hours without any reapplication and it hadn´t gummed up or faded at all.

PK-9 therefore looked so cute with its 3 layers but turned out to be a really blah and boring almost clear pink color. 
Retail 1470 Yen for 6grams which if I remember is more content than the previous versions had. 

-Rouge Luster:
This is a new series of creamy, sheer and glossy lipsticks. They come in pretty ribbed silver tubes and contain 2.5grams for 1470 Yen. For only 2.5grams that´s quite a lot honestly but still this lippy is worth it in my opinion.
The texture is very soft and smooth and with a beautiful sheer shimmery finish. 

Kanebo just makes fantastic lipsticks, no matter under which brand-name!
PK-3 is a very natural mauve pink with fine shimmer and a glossy finish.

-Gel Eyebrow & Gel Eyebrow Coat:
The Gel Eyebrow is a very interesting product as it´s a gel color in a pot but for defining the eyebrows and not an eyeliner. It´s a very solid matte gel color which doesn´t smudge or fade at all. This stuff stays on even when I swim and will only budge when I remove it with my cleansing oil.

BR-3 is the darkest brown and very neutral in tone so it´s perfect for me. 

I also picked up the Gel Eyebrow Coat which comes in a glass jar, too. It´s a very soft gel, similar to normal hair gel. It´s clear and is just used to set the eyebrows. Honestly this isn´t special and I find the jar a bit inconvenient. A normal mascara-type applicator would be way more convenient in my opinion. Other than that it´s a good product and works very well.

 Around 1100 Yen retail price per product.

-Makeup Base BB UV SPF 31 PA++:
So here is Kate´s version of a BB Cream =D Well it´s a makeup base with a cool name.

This product comes in a white squeeze tube containing 25g for 1200 Yen.
Honestly for me this stuff has not much in common with a BB Cream. It´s not skin-colored but just has an off-white color which will not show up at all anyway. It just slightly evens out my skin and prepping it nicely for makeup but I can´t call this a BB Cream.

I think it contains silicones as it feels so but I can´t read the ingredients so I can´t confirm this. The finish of this is slightly dewy but not shimmery.
This is unscented and doesn´t irritate my skin.

Overall this collection from Kate features a lot of nice poducts and I am pretty sure I will pick up more of some of the items, I am especially interested in trying 1 or 2 of the new gel liners!