Spring 2010: Kosé Visée Glam Nude Eyes in N-5 Smoky Beige

I don´t know how this deliciously pretty taupe nude palette from Kosé Visée slipped through my taupe radar but I finally purchased it online back in August and it was happily waiting here for me when I returned from my trip. 

The Glam Nude Eyes series was released back in Spring 2010 along with a nude-themed collection... somehow I didn´t notice that the palette in N-5 was a cool taupe combo!

Anyway, the palette case looks like the previous ones so it doesn´t look that nice (now there are the cute new ones called Blossom Eyes)...just boring clear and black plastic.

There are 5 shades in the palette, the one at the top right is a cream base shade whereas the other 4 shades are powders. 
The cream base is free of glitters but a pretty silky sheen. It feels very smooth and soft and spreads nicely. It makes a good base and keeps the shadows looking fresh.
The powder shades are smooth and medium pigmented. The colors have a gorgeous pearly metallic finish whereas the highlighter has some fine glitter bits spread throughout and is very sheer.

The colors last quite well with just a little bit of creasing after many hours of wear. 
The colors in N-5 Smoky Beige are: 

Deep taupe-gray, medium taupe, light golden beige and shimmery off-white.

Retails for around 1800 Yen in Japan, you can get this from about any of the online shops like Adambeauty, Mihokoshop etc. 
Overall highly recommended, a nice basic taupe eye palette!

Spring 2010: Kanebo Coffret D´or Aqua Rouge (AA Rouge) in BE187 & BE188

I was lucky to score a few pretty lippies on eBay within the previous few months and among them a few of the new lipsticks from Coffret D´or called Aqua (or AA) Rouge.
I think I paid about US$15/each incl. shipping (ebay auction, not a buy-it-now) whereas when I ordered 2 colors from Adambeauty a while ago I paid US$27 which is still cheaper than the retail price.
I reviewed 2 colors already here so please check the review for my thoughts on the lipsticks.


The 2 BE shades I got (BE187 and BE188) seem to be a bit more pigmented but in the same time also a bit drier than the 2 PK shades I tried before. Not very drying but I notice it epecially with color BE188.


BE187 is a gorgeous nude pink beige which is the sort of perfect color for me. Love this one a lot!


BE188 is a slightly darker peachy beige shade. It´s a bit on the warmer side and sports a less sheer finish than BE187.

Both contain shimmer and give a slightly glossy finish. Furthermore there is no scent or taste to detect at all.

Spring 2010: Lunasol EX04 Shining Beige

I wasn´t particularly impressed with the spring collection "Great Nature Purification" from Lunasol. They have the tendency to release the same eyeshadow palette color schemes over and over again and most of the time those colors are on the warmer side thus unsuitable for me.


I am admittedly not a great fan of most liquid/cream eyeshadows but thought of giving a try to the new Shining Eyes eyecolors from Lunasol anyway as I was just curious to see how they´d compare to say Visée or Beauté de Kosé.

The Shining Eyes come in the typical sort of Lunasol packaging (plain, with a golden chocolate cap) with a doe-foot applicator.


The shadow really lasts long and doesn´t crease at all on me. It sets to a dry/powdery finish after about 15 seconds so there is only little time to blend and spread the color.
While the swatch of EX-04 Shining Beige on my hand makes it look like a gorgeous metallic golden beige it is a nearly transparent gold with tons of glitters on my eyes. I am not exactly sure how this happens but this is a common thing I experience when swatching something on my hand vs. applying it on my eye. Probably because I spread the color using my finger on my lids whereas swiping on a thick layer with the applicator on my hand *shrugs*.


All in all this can be safely skipped. It makes a good shadow base but it´s too glittery for my taste. Quality-wise brands like Visée are just as good!


I got mine from Adambeauty for around US$25.

Oh, I did this LOTD with the EX-04 recently. I really love this cranberry color (Lavshuca Jewel Lip N WN-1 from the Xmas/winter collection). I think they matched well!

Spring 2010: Shiseido Integrate Mineral Base SPF25 PA+

Woot! A Japanese drugstore brand jumping on the mineral-makeup-bandwagon!
I read about the new 3 products from Integrate on my favorite blog Rouge Deluxe (owned by my good friend Iris *smooch*) and was keen to try at least one of them myself to see how I´d like it =D


According to Iris the products are free of parabens and fragrance, are non-comedogenic and allergy-tested. Sounds good!
The 3 products are the Mineral Base I purchased, 2 shades of loose and 3 shades of pressed powder foundation. I was pretty sure that none of the pressed powder foundations would fit and I dislike loose powders of any sort so I skipped those but the Mineral Base got me really excited so this ended up recently in my Ichibankao shopping cart.


The simple white squeeze tube contains 25g and offers an SPF of 25 PA+ and 100% pure mineral water. On the tube it says "Be happy with the power of Mineral". Kinda cute, right? =D


So am I happy with the power of Mineral? Yea I pretty am!
This Mineral Base is tinted in a very light neutral beige color ("Clear Beige"). It actually offers a decent sheer coverage so on good skin days this could even do for me, I sort of see this as a lightweight BB Cream substitute!


The texture is creamy but lightweight and evens out my skin perfectly while keeping it soft and supple. The finish is on the velvety matte side.
I have not experienced the slightest irritation so far (and I used the base daily for the past 1-2 weeks) so I am very content with this product.


I can highly recommend this lovely makeup base and can see how it will be beneficial to use this underneath your regular (mineral) powder or regular liquid/cream/mousse foundation.

Spring 2010: RMK Gel Emulsion Compact SPF27 PA++ in #201

Hmmm yea, I still try new foundations hehe =) Despite having found pretty much my Holy Grail color match in the Integrate Gracy Cream Foundation Moist (and I got the liquid version recently for the upcoming warmer weather) I still can´t resist ordering foundations especially if the color swatch looks amazingly pale =P


I actually already ventured into RMK´s foundation world with their cream foundation but it wasn´t good for me as it oxidized really badly on me (though the color #201 looked perfect at first). So I was definitely hesitant to try their new Gel Emulsion Compact but alone the name made me too curious and the swatch in #201 looked super light so I bit the bullet (high price tag!!) and got it.


The compact this comes in is actually very plain and ugly as well as the velvet pouch it comes in (already looked worn as the refill was pressed against it inside the box!). Seriously for the price they charge they could come up with something more elaborate and pretty. Or at least something that feels heavier and sturdier.
Also the refill doesn´t snap into the compact tightly as it always pops out when I open the cover of the refill.


When I first got my compact and refill set and I opened the small case with the foundation I was shocked by how heavily pink it looked. I know that the colors starting with a "2" are the pink-toned color whereas the ones with "1" are on the neutral - slightly yellow side but it looked seriously too pink.
But as soon as I swatched the foundation I was totally thrilled as this was a super pale color and the pink tones weren´t as obvious on my skin as in the compact!


The Gel Emulsion Compact foundation feels creamy and moist at first but dries down to a nice lightweight velvety matte powdery finish some seconds after application. You have enough time to blend the color before it dries down so the finish is really even and smooth.
The coverage it gives is about medium so if you need flawless coverage you should use concealer in addition.


The thing I dislike about the foundation is that it has the tendency to accentuate any (even minor) rough patches, tiny facial hair or fine lines one might have. So if one´s skin isn´t totally smooth the foundation doesn´t look even. I wore it on a day where I really had rough irritated skin and no moisturizer and primer could help evening it out so the foundation looked absolutely terrible. I removed it and chose a creamier liquid one instead.
Otherwise it gives a really pretty smooth finish and a very even skin-tone.
The color is just perfection. I actually felt it´s even on the lighter side for me and that means a lot as generally the lightest foundation shade won´t work for me as it´s usually to dark. As mentioned above the pink tones of the foundation aren´t obvious and the color just blends into my natural skin-tone flawlessly.


So overall I can recommend this for anyone who doesn´t have big skin-troubles to cover up. Also I think someone with mature skin might not find this to be the perfect choice as it accentuates and settles into fine lines (I actually didn´t know I had so many =X)
However the price (5775 Yen) is hefty so I am sure there are more perfect foundations out there!

Spring 2010: Kanebo Coffret D´or AA Rouge PK-245 & PK-246

Coffret D´or released a new range of lipsticks called "AA Rouge" for this spring season.


Packaging-wise Coffret D´or seems to take a step back in regards of princessiness. While the Shine Drape Rouge was very pretty and elegant the new AA Rouge sports a definitely more simple look.
I like the tubes but just think the previous ones were prettier.


The lipsticks are soft, glossy and moist with a lower level of pigment so the natural lip color will show through but the color is still noticable. I really love them as they make my lips look so lush and are very comfortable to wear as they are not sticky or drying at all!
Lasting power surely isn´t the best but longer than most glosses in my opinion.
Both colors contain fine shimmer, too.


I got mine from Adambeauty for US$27/each incl. shipping. That´s a great price as the lipsticks´ retail price in Japan is higher than that! Therefore his variety of colors is limited. I think he doesn´t carry more than half of the available 12 shades.


PK-245 is a soft sort of light salmon pink


PK-246 is a pretty sheer raspberry pink


All in all highly recommended. You really can hardly ever go wrong with lipsticks from Coffret D´or in my opinion!

Spring 2010: Kosé Fasio Shadow Trick Eyes GR-4

Fasio´s eyeshadows used to be utter crap... the shadows were hard and had no pigment and an overly dull finish.
That´s why I stayed away from their eye colors for quite some time but got interested again last year when the Gradation Deep Eyes came out.


This spring Fasio released a series of pretty eyeshadow quads called Shadow Trick Eyes. One color (GR-4) caught my eye so I ordered it from Ichibankao some time ago.

The Shadow Trick Eyes contain 4 powder colors from light to dark in the typical Japanese graduated color scheme.


The eyeshadows contain a mix of "silver pearl", "glass pearl" and "lightning pearl" for a bright finish whereas the darkest color contains "shading pearl".

While the colors aren´t exactly silky the pigment in these shadows is just fabulous, especially the color which stands out most in my opinion (the deep emerald). The eyeshadows also blend well and don´t have a dull finish but a rather pretty soft shimmer. Lasting power is good, I experienced light creasing after about 8 hours of wear but otherwise the colors held up really well.


GR-4 is a gorgeous green quad. The colors are ivory, pale mint, deep emerald and dark greenish gray.
Tip: The colors have the tendency to dust a little so I recommend doing the eyes before the rest of the face (as I always do so I never have problems with dust or glitter fall-out.) Furthermore I usually pat the colors on my lids with a dense eyeshadow brush rather than swiping them on to reduce dusting and to get a more intense colors finish. I apply the other colors from my crease upwards with a soft eyeshadow brush with a swiping motion though.


All in all I am quite liking the quad, especially the emerald color! Very pretty and fresh combo which is a bit unusual among Japanese brands (most greens lean towards golden/olive). Also good value for money as the retail is 1470 Yen incl. tax in Japan.

Spring 2010: Ettusais Jelly Gloss in BE-4, PK-6 and PK-8

Ettusais revamped their gloss line this spring and since I like Ettusais´glosses very much I picked up 3 of the new version of the Jelly Gloss.

Packaging-wise they didn´t change much as only the tubes are a bit longer and slimmer now. The box looks a bit edgier now with a face printed on =)


The Jelly Glosses have a spatula applicator just as the majority of glosses from Shiseido brands seem to have nowadays (IPSA, Ettusais, Maquillage, Integrate...). I really like this kind of applicator as it distributes the color evenly.


The texture is quite thick and sticky so the glosses offer mirror shine and last for a good amount of time. If you prefer lightweight and slick glosses then you should probably consider something else =)
The pigment is sheer so the glosses don´t look significantly different when applied (I have very pink lips to start with though!)


The glosses are not scented, contain 5g and retail for 1300 Yen + tax. I got mine from Facial-Shop were the cost around US$18/each incl. registered mail from Hong Kong (they arrived very fast, too... just a week from when I ordered. I love fast sellers and the Hong Kong postal service!)


As you can see I picked my usual kind of colors lol! I guess I must have the same colors over and over again but I just can´t resist new lippies, no matter if I have dozens of similar hues already lol!

BE-4: A milky peach nude with fine shimmer.


PK-6: This is sort of a duo-chrome on me. It looks either peachy or cool light pink depending from the angle the light hits. My least favorite color though as it can look blotchy and uneven.


PK-8: As many of my regular readers might expect this is my favorite color =) A pinky beige color which looks like my lips but a hue deeper.


All in all I am very happy with the glosses as they are of great quality and quite affordable.