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

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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: Visée Glam Shade Eyes BR-2, GY-6 & PU-7

For the springtime this year Visée released a brand new series of eyeshadow palettes so I picked up 3 of the colors from Adambeauty even though these were a little pricier (US$21...RRP is around that: 1800 Yen) than e.g. Kate or Lavshuca eyeshadows. Actually not a little pricier, the difference is quite significant, especially compared to Lavshuca.
 
The new palettes aren´t as pretty as the previous ones but I liked the lay-out of the 5 colors.

All eyeshadows are powders, there is no cream base. The shade at the very right is more glittery than the rest and is meant for the inner part of the eye to brighten that area.

The texture is smooth but the shadows are really hard to blend and apply blotchy so some layers are needed to achieve a nice result....not easy to deal with for makeup beginners I´d say. 2 of the palettes I have (the BR and PU ones) also are really lacklustre once applied, they look sort of flat and boring, lacking any kind of dimension.

Staying power is good, once applied the shadows stay in place very well on my lids.

BR-2 looked like a pretty taupe combo but turned out a flat boring brown quint. Still good for a conservative environment but nothing outstanding by any means.



GY-6 is the best of the 3 palettes, the gunmetal gray is really rich and pigmented with a lustrous finish. Hard to blend like the other palettes, though, but still better



PU-7 is the worst of the lot as it´s a red-toned sheer dull combo of plums



Overall these palettes aren´t worth purchasing in my humblest opinion, rather get a Kate Dual Blend Eyes or a Lavshuca palette...cheaper and so much better!


Rating 2.5/5 (the GY palette saved the bunch from going down to 2...that one would get a 3)

Spring 2011: Esprique Precious Dual Gradation Eyes in D-2

I got another palette from Esprique Precious as I really liked the previous 2 palettes from the Dual Gradation Eyes range and have used both of them quite a lot in the past weeks.
 
As I said before the texture is really buttery soft and the shadows are very pigmented. There is a cream base and several powder shades...for the exact uses etc. please check out this review on palettes D-3 and D-4.


D-2 is a warm olive/muddy moss green and apricot combo. Definitely on the warmer side but I really like it nonetheless. I like the intense velvety metallic finish of the lighter green shade!



Overall a great palette and a very nice and unusual color combo in my stash.


 Rating 4.5/5

Spring 2011: Majolica Majorca Puff de Cheek PK301 & PK303 and Cream Pencil Liner BK999

This year´s spring collection from Majolica Majorca is chocolate-themed so I really love it! While the eyeshadow palettes are definitely too warm for me I was glad to see that after many years there are new cheek colors released!
I also liked the black Cream Pencil Eyeliner so I ordered it along with 2 of the new Puff de Cheek blushes.

The blushes from Majolica Majorca (Customize Cheeks?) were really popular, especially that NARS Orgasm-dupe color though while I liked the blushes they were really very shimmery thus a little hard to wear on a daily basis.

The new Puff de Cheek blushes come in really adorable metal tubs with a cute little soft puff adorned with a ribbon (as a handle). These are pressed blushes and retail for 1365 (~ US$17) for a quite generous 7g (that´s a good amount for a blush actually!). I got 2 colors from eBay, seller alphabeautyuk for less than US$20.

I got the 2 pink (PK) colors, one of them being a limited edition. Both have a silky texture and sheer but buildable pigment and a softly gleaming finish, no glitter or shimmer overkill as before.


The blushes are unscented and last pretty much all day long on me (in the cold un-sweaty weather we have right now).

PK301 is a peach shade with very subtle pink tones. It actually looks less orange on the swatch pics I saw online but it´s one of those face-brightening shades.

PK303 is a brighter pink, on the warmer side in my opinion. This is LE
There are also an orange and a LE highlighter shade (I think pale pink or so) available.

Overall these are excellent little blushes and should be checked out if you like a cute blush in cheerful colors.

Rating 5/5

The Cream Pencil Liner comes in 2 shades, a warm mocha brown and a deep black...since I definitely have no use for a reddish brown eyeliner pencil I picked up the black one as it looked really yummy!

The liner retails for 850 Yen and is shorter than an average pencil. 
I think the all-black pencil with golden writing looks really pretty and the product is really good, too.
I like how creamy the pencil applies, it´s really pleasant to use this as it doesn´t tug on the delicate skin around my eyes.

This is really a deep black eyeliner, once the line is set (about a minute after application) this stays put all day long without smudging, fading or budging. This is one of the best liners to put on the inner rims of my lower lids as the color stays put extremely well there and this is actually the main use I intend for this great pencil.

Best of all this doesn´t make my eyes water and burn like the previous liners from MJ (Jeweling Pencil) and I wore it on my inner rims with my contacts inside and there was neither irritation nor any sort of film or gunk collecting on my contact lenses.

BK999 is a deep black as mentioned above.



Overall a high-quality product and a great basic staple for anyone´s makeup collection. 
Rating 5/5

Spring 2011: Lunasol Ocean Scene Eyes 04 Smoky Ocean, Cream Cheeks EX01 Light Pink, Full Glamour Liquid Lips 07 Sugar Pink

Lunasol released a pretty big collection for spring including new eye palettes. Out of the 5 colors one really appealed to me so I ordered the Ocean Scene Eyes in 04 Smoky Ocean. I also got the Cream Cheeks in EX01 Light Pink and one of the new Full Glamour Liquid Lips (in 07 Sugar Pink).

-Ocean Scene Eyes:
To be honest most of the Lunasol palettes I tried so far didn´t work for me. The older generation of eyeshadows didn´t have a nice texture/good pigment and were just very mediocre and in general the color combinations don´t work for me as they tend to be on the warmer/bronze/colorful side. I usually have better luck with Kanebo´s cheaper brands like Lavshuca, Kate and Coffret D´or.
 
I have a few fantastic palettes though including the ones from the Xmas 2010 and 2009 coffrets!
The palettes come in the usual bronzey case along with high-quality applicators.

The texture of the Ocean Scene Eyes is really good as the shadows feel smooth and silky with a gorgeous glistening but not glittery finish. In fact finally this is a palette without that useless glitter shade!

The shadows have the right level of pigment (sheerer lighter colors, very pigmented dark color) and blendable and last throught all the day for me. 
I have to say I am very impressed with the Ocean Scene Eyes quad!

04 Smoky Ocean is a very elegant combination, the included colors are a smoky deep bluish gray, pale powder blue, light golden beige and an off-white. While the 3 lighter colors appear all similar in the swatch there is still enough difference to them for giving an interesting look.


I actually really loved the EOTD I did with the palette yesterday where I paired the palette with a royal blue gel liner from Kate and the Heroine Make Long & Curl mascara from Kiss Me.

Rating 5/5 

-Cream Cheeks:
I am not a big cream-blush user but I was sure Lunasol would come up with a really nice product in sweet versatile colors.

There are 3 colors, all light and natural as far as I can judge. These come in squeeze-tubes with a thin nozzle so you can dispense as little or much as you want. 
The texture is indeed creamy and easy to spread on top of cream foundation, BB Cream etc. You can´t apply this on top of powder or powder foundation though as it gets really blotchy.

The texture is quite pigmented but sheers out when blending it into the skin. Still you should use really little or you end up with clown cheeks =P
The finish is shimmery, almost dewy. For me it´s actually a little too much so I like to tone it down with a bit of translucent powder on top.

When topped with powder the staying power is really good and the color EX01 is a very pretty fresh coral pink perfectly suitable for spring.

Overall a good-quality cream blush but not a must-buy for me.
First pic shows the blush spread out a little, the 2nd how it looks like when blended in completely.

Rating 4/5

Full Glamour Liquid Lips:
Lunasol´s lipsticks and glosses are always great, period. Kanebo in general is a fantastic lipstick-maker...Kate, Lavshuca, Coffret D´or - all have great lippies in their lineup.

The Full Glamour Liquid Lips is a true liquid lipstick and not just a pigmented gloss. The texture is very creamy and easy to spread and the finish and feel is like a pearly lipstick....also there is no stickiness in the formula, just creamy goodness.

Staying power is good, too, about 3 hours without reapplication. This product wears off without gunking up so overall it´s really a great albeit pricy lipstick.
07 Sugar Pink is a gorgeous light coral pink.

I have my eyes also on 02 and 09 and might eventually pick them up =)



Rating 5/5 

All in all the whole collection is very worth checking out, all items seem perfectly suited for creating elegant and sophisticated looks.

I got all products from Adambeauty. 
Ocean Scene Eyes 7g - 5150 Yen ~ US$63, US$56.50 on AB)
Cream Cheeks 12g - 2625 Yen ~ US$32, US$31.50 on AB)
Full Glamour Liquid Lips 3.7g - 2940 Yen ~ US$36, US$35 on AB)