Summer 2010: Kosé Visée Blossom Eyes in PK-1 and GR-4

Did I really write that I only found the purple version of the new Visée Blossom Eyes appealing? I don´t know, but sometimes I seem to be quite out of my senses =P Maybe it was a try to convince myself that I didn´t need any of the other palettes hehe!

Anyway, I remedied that and picked up 3 more Visée Blossom Eyes palettes but only 2 were for myself as the brown one was a gift for my stepmom (who btw. is only 6 years older than me and the mom of my younger brother who is just 5 months older than my YOUNGEST kid haha...yea naughty dad and messed-up family, I know!).

For myself I got the palettes in PK-1 and GR-4 (from the Apopofkawaii blogger sale, too, so each of them came with something else like a lipgloss or falsies). 

I think I don´t need to say much regarding packaging etc. as I reviewed the purple palette thoroughly before here. The top 2 shades are non-greasy cream bases whereas the 3 lower colors are shimmery powders with medium pigment and a silky smooth and blendable texture. Please check the other post for more details.

PK-1 is a very sweet feminine rose/plum palette. The cream shades are white and brown whereas the powders are pale pink, medium rose pink and a deep brownish plum.


GR-4 contains white and brown cream colors and powder shadows in a light yellowish green, medium olive and deep olive-tinged brown.


EOTD PK-1:



EOTD GR-4:


Mascara used on both EOTD: Kiss Me Heroine Make Long & Curl Mascara
Overall I really like these palettes and the new colors are very wearable and pretty. 

Rating 4/5

Summer 2010: Maquillage Little Glossy Nail

I have the strange hobby of accumulating nail colors even though I don´t use nail polishes that often. No manicure lasts long on me usually so the whole process is too much bother for me usually.

Right now I love wearing nail color, after all I have plenty of time here in my holidays so besides relaxing, reading, meeting people and other nice activities I have time to apply nail polish =P

Maquillage released a series of mini nail polishes called Little Glossy Nail for this summer which is always a great thing since minis are cheaper and still I usually get a good use out of them as I never really finish any nail color before it dries out. And besides that I can try more colors and don´t need to commit to a full-size I might not like in the end.


These nail colors promise to be glossy and quick drying. And to me they are both. I hate nail polishes that take eons to dry... I will always nick my nails (*cough* Orbis *cough*) and end up with ugly dents. And I dislike it when a pretty glossy nail color dries down to a dull finish which also happens quite often.

The Little Glossy Nail polishes really give a very glossy finish (the glittery shades don´t actually as the surface is too uneven to call it glossy) and they dry super quick, about 5-10 minutes for me. Sure every nail color needs a little longer to completely set but after 5-10 minutes I can start doing stuff without being afraid of ruining my fresh mani (unless I hit something with my nails really hard!).


Another thing I notice positively about these nail colors is that there are no bubbles forming in the color when I apply the 2nd coat. Just a pretty even color. Really fantastic!
The staying power is good for me, about 3 days without chips and the glossy finish just wears a little off. This is long for me, most colors show chips on the first day after the mani despite base and top coat!
The brush and handle are surely a bit small but not really a problem for me. I have small nails and usually wear them rather short so the brush is fine for me.

The opacity varies among the colors. I got 2 glitters (unfortunately...not a glitter polish fan) and 2 regular colors and the glitters are sheerer whereas the color offer better opacity. The darkest color is completely opaque with just 2 coats.
The glitter shades are as usual annoying to remove but the other colors come off easily.

The colors I got are:
81 (blue glitter), 84 (rusty rose glitter), PK107 (lilac-tinged pale pink with fine shimmers) and BK937 (deep black base with blue glitters...my absolute fave!).

I hope they might consider adding more jewel-toned colors later on.. the majority right now is either bright, pastel or glittery (or all). BK937 is the color that stands out in my opinion!
3.7ml retail for about 400 Yen. I paid US$6.50/each shipped from Adambeauty.

Summer 2010: Aube Couture Designing Shine Eyes in 534 (Brown)

For the summer season 2010 Aube Couture released a new line of eyeshadow palettes called Designing Shine Eyes. This is the first time since the brand (Aube) was revamped and renamed to Aube Couture in late 2008/early 2009 that there is a new range of eyeshadow palettes.


I like the previous version called Designing Eyes very much as the colors are very wearable and finely milled with a subtly shiny finish.
The new Designing Shine Eyes come in neutral colors but with a very shimmery super sheer eyeshadow to layer on top of the other colors for additional sparkle and glimmer.


The palette case looks the same as in the older version however the pink color is now darker. The layout of the eyeshadows is the same but the liner shade at the very right is now missing therefore there is a circle on the upper left corner containing the glitter shadow.


The main difference I notice between the new and old version is that the Designing Shine Eyes palette I got is way more pigmented than its predecessor (the 3 colors...the glitter shade is really sheer). It really has kick-ass pigment for a Japanese brand!
The colors are also more shimmery, more like the limited palettes that came out for Xmas 2009!
The shadows are silky and last very well, all in all very high-end quality!


I got color 534 which is the brown quad available. In total there are 5 colors to choose from. To be honest it´s not my favorite brown combo as it leans towards warm and muddy but still it´s a good pick.


I got mine from Ichibankao but they are closed right now. I would check out Mihokoshop or maybe Goddealer. I believe Adambeauty doesn´t stock this product (yet).


Retails for 3700 Yen (for 3.2g of product). To open the compact please push both sides and the cover will flip open.

Summer 2010: Coffret D´or Dual Beauty Blush 03 Red

Tada....here I present you the best eBay deal I scored within the past months... a brand new Coffret D´or Dual Beauty Blush for around US$8 shipped! Yep, below US$10 for a brand new blush! The cheapest online shop you can get this from is Adambeauty.com (US$28). Cool, huh? =P
03 Red was the 2nd color I liked out of the 3 blushes and I already own 01 Pink which I have already reviewed here.


As I mentioned in my previous review these blushes are really tiny and slim. Each consists of 2 blush colors and a highlighter but there is no brush included in the mirrored compact.


The texture is silky and smooth with a beautiful lightly shimmery finish. The blush is sheer but buildable and shows up pretty vividly after a few swipes.


03 is a combination of natural peachy beiges suitable for most neutral lipsticks. Very versatile colors in my opinion!

Summer 2010: Lavshuca Natural Beauty Part II

The Natural Beauty collection from Lavshuca is possibly my favorite summer release this year. I already reviewed a bunch of things here!

I intended to get more of the fantastic Moist Melting Rouge lipsticks but since Adambeauty got the whole collection for really cheap I couldn´t resist one more eyeshadow quad and a blusher.
All items were actually below the Japanese retail price but incl. shipping so I didn´t feel guilty at all for indulging in more stuff!


I got:
-Melting Eyes in BR-1
-Moist Melting Rouge RD-4, BE-5 and PK-5
-Mix Color Cheeks in PK-1

-Melting Eyes BR-1:
When I first ordered BE-1 and RD-1 I was actually pondering for a while between BE-1 and BR-1 but judging from Lavshuca´s swatches I finally settled on BE-1.
BE-1 turned out to be way too warm for my liking so it was the wrong choice and I finally ordered BR-1 from Adambeauty and this time I am very satisfied with my order.


Like the other quads from this eyeshadow range this has a very soft smooth and silky texture and a good amount of pigment. Lasting power is excellent worn over my Coffret D´or eyeshadow base.


BR-1 is a neutral brown/taupe-ish quad. The colors are a off-white, golden beige, taupe-brown and deep neutral brown. All colors are shimmery, only the darkest shade contains less shimmer.


This quad is definitely on my Egypt-list as it will be perfect with any kind of outfit or lipstick!


I paid US$14.50 (retail is 1680 Yen ~ US$19.50)

-Moist Melting Rouge:
As I said before this is a super soft buttery lipstick range with good pigment and a wonderful shimmery and glossy moist finish. The lasting power is good though not as long as regular lipstick.


I got 3 more colors:
RD-4: A gorgeous medium raspberry pink (swatch at the left)
BE-5: A peachy beige with pink tones (swatch in the middle)
PK-5: Soft light pink (swatch right)


All 3 colors are gorgeous, just like the first 2 I purchased.
Cost US$13/each (about US$4 below retail!)

-Mix Color Cheeks in PK-1:
Another pretty blush from Lavshuca, it´s a soft pink shade with fine shimmer. The highlighter seems more pigmented and gives a pretty almost dewy finish (since it has very fine shimmer).


Texture-wise I said before it´s not overly silky but it´s smooth and gives a nice sheer layer of blush. Couple of applications are enough to get soft pink cheeks for me.


I paid US$11 (retail 1470 Yen ~ US$16.50).

Summer 2010: Kosé Visée Blossom Eyes

Kosé added a new range of eye shadow palettes to their Visée brand lineup. The new palettes are called Blossom Eyes and come in 5 color variations. Their is also a new mascara but it didn´t really interest me as it´s a lengthening formula and most mascaras just fail on me so I stick to the ones that work for me.


I only picked up one of the new Blossom Eyes as the other 4 didn´t appeal to me. I purchased PU-2, a set of various purples.
The Blossom Eyes palettes have really pretty shiny white floral cases. I think they look gorgeous and very attractive. Inside there are 2 cream color bases (a light and a darker one) and 3 powder eyeshadows.


The cream colors (colors A and B on the diagram) don´t really feel like creams, they have a very dry and non-greasy texture. You are supposed to put the light base allover and then use the deeper base on the outer 1/3 of your lids as a base to deepen the lid color.
The 3 powder shades are smooth with decent pigment, the darkest liner color is actually very pigmented.
All 5 shades (creams and powders) are shimmery but not glittery.


Lasting power of this Visée palette is good, I didn´t experience any creasing and only light fading. I used the cream bases and think they are good primers.


The colors are:
Cream colors: white and light brown (this looks like a taupe in the pan but alas turns brown on me)
Powder shades: very pale whitish lavender, medium lavender and deep blackened purple.


To be honest the color combo is a bit of a snore. It´s pretty and all but nothing unique or outstanding. My EOTD (forgot to take a pic!) was pretty but it didn´t wow me.
Anyway, the Blossom Eyes eyeshadow quint in PU-2 is a solid choice if you are searching for a refreshing light purple palette.