Fall 2009: Kate (Part 1): Reflect Mirror Eyes & Super Sharp Liner N

Kate is definitely one of my top favorite brands so their (usually huge) fall collections are one of the highlights of my year (especially since I love fall, it's my favorite season!)! This year they released a brand new eyeshadow series called "Reflect Mirror Eyes" offering us 8 new colors. Along with the new shadows series they updated some new colors to some of their other series, they revamped the mascara base, released a new volumizing mascara, repackaged the Super Sharp Liners and introduced some other things.

I picked up some items and will split the review in 2 parts. The first part will be about the 3 Reflect Mirror Eyes palettes and the Super Sharp Liner N I picked up.


I naturally was excited to see a new "Reflect Mirror Eyes" range of eyeshadows as Kate usually has some of the nicest palettes you can get at a good price.
Unfortunately the new range is a disappointment for me. The shadows are just too sheer for my liking and the colors are too light to get good definition. The shadows are still nice and silky but not really useful for a smokey eye look for fall. If you don't like glitter steer clear of these shadows. They are really glittery!


Each palette contains 3 colors, one is a deeper color (but since it's sheer it's not intense enough for my taste), a lid color (a bit too light) and a highlighter (almost no color, mainly clear glitter).

I got:
GY-1:


Super light pale golden taupe-brown, medium gray, sheer silver sparkle.

BR-2:


Gold (more metallic than glitter and one of the best pigmented shades), deep brown and glittery white gold.

PU-2:


I wanted to love this so much! It is a pretty grayish purple palette but the outcome is so sheer I cannot enjoy the colors that much. The shades are super sheer grayish heather, medium purple gray and silver white glitter.

Adambeauty lists them already so you can check them out there. Ichibankao and Facial-Shop carry these, too.

All in all I am mighty disappointed and would say you can safely skip these.

Kate also has 2 kinds of Super Sharp Liners out: Super Sharp N and the regular one. The difference is that Super Sharp N comes in only one color: Clear deep black (BK-1) and the Super Sharp Liner comes in brown and black (a softer black).
The other difference is that the brush of the N is a bit thicker than of the regular version.


They repackaged both in a sleek black pen to fit with the rest of the lineup and by mistake I picked up the Super Sharp N instead of the Super Sharp (regular) in black. I don't like it! I didn't like the Super Sharp N before and like it even less now.


They "improved" it as you now need to shake it before you use it. The brush is fine but alas a little stiff. The color is really a very deep black but the ink sucks! It's the kind of liquid that creeps in the finest lines that aren't visible normally. So I cannot get a super fine precise line like with the regular Super Sharp Liners. This N one bleeds into the finest lines on my lids making the line look blurry and messy.


I have to pick up one of the revamped regular Super Sharp Liners and I really hope they didn't change anything to the formula or brush or otherwise I'll have to kick someone from Kanebo in his butt!

All in all a not-so-good start for my Kate fall reviews.. the new mascara (ahem), mascara base (good) and Diamond Cut Eyes (haven't played with this yet) will be reviewed soon.. I might add that Kanebo's other drugstore brand Lavshuca has a lovely fall collection I should get around to reviewing soon, too! Oh and Jill Stuart and Maquillage will also follow (MQ is mighty good, such lovely stuff!)

My past 4 Etsy weeks I: HouseofJam & FishboneStudio

While I was in Egypt I didn't really buy anything away from 4 small galabeyas/caftans as gifts... and food... There is simply nothing to buy in Egypt, seriously! I am not into that tourist kitsch normally as I have been going to Egypt so many times in my life already!
That's why I love to massively shop online lol! I purchased lots of Etsy goodies and also quite some items from the Japanese fall collections of Kate, Lavshuca, Jill Stuart, Maquillage and MM... it's really cool to come home and find a stack of packages waiting for you =D (I also had 5 notifications and my first deed was picking the packages up from the PO right after I arrived at my home Tuesday morning after an exhausting night flight hehe! My 2nd deed was going to sleep lol!)

Anyway, I am splitting the Etsy posts up, today I'll show you my favorite purchases I made thus these were the most eagerly anticipated parcels of all!


The fabulous Julie from HouseofJam on Etsy seriously has some of the most unique, zakka and beautiful items you can get on Etsy (all made of Japanese fabrics etc). She is working together with a partner and both ladies really offer you the sweetest pouches and phone/gadget cases you can imagine. If you followed my Etsy posts you will already be familiar with her shop I am sure! After I posted about my key pouch I got from her she got swamped with requests to get one, too! Haha!
Please note that she doesn't take custom orders right now but she's listing gorgeous items nearly daily!

Julie also is helping her friend with the listings in her FishboneStudio store who is offering a similar style of items.
I purchased from both stores, some of the HouseofJam items were custom orders made especially for me and they're so gorgeous I love even just holding them in my hand and looking at them!

From HouseofJam I got (Updated the post before even posting with 3 more items I received today lol):

-Beautiful medium bear tote:


The fabric is so pretty, I love the sweet honey bottle print! The fabric used is Japanese and actually produced in Japan, too, so it really is a fantastic quality! the lining is a cute deep brown fabric with beige, cream and black polka dots! I love the cute star charm on the pocket zipper!
The size is perfect to carry magazines, take packages to the post or just toss in your wallet, phone, keys and some good books =D

-2 Sony eBook reader sleeves:


These were custom orders for me! One for my mom and one for myself as we both got the ebook reader this summer!
I told Julie this about my case: "I´d love to have it in a sweet zakka style (maybe with floral accents and a bit of lace or so...colors preferably linen, cream, pink, anything soft and sweet)" and she did one *EXACTLY* the way I wanted it! I was seriously amazed when I saw the pics in the listing! And it's so cute how she picked up the theme of reading with the alphabet fabric, the cute reading bear and the hand-stitched "read laugh live" on the back!


For the other reader case I requested an elegant and more plain style as it's for my mom and she loves it and uses it all the time for her reader, too!
I gave Julie only the approximate measurements of the ebook reader with the softcover and the sleeves fit perfectly!

-Teapot key pouch:


I picked up the original key pouch back in May or June and been using it all the time as it's so cute! Since I love to alternate between my pouches I asked Julie if I could have more key covers and she listed this teapot cover for me! It's so darn cute! I love it so much! She said it took her *5* hours to do this case for me and I am still in awe! But the outcome is certainly perfect!

-Sunbonnet Sue key pouch:


I also got this cute little key pouch! The Sunbonnet Sue is made of various fabrics, pinks on one side and blues on the other. There is also a cute knitted flower accent on the cord. Really love this cute little key pouch!

-Card case:


What should I say? I just love the fabrics used for this! I am such a sucker for for those faux patchwork Japanese linen fabrics like the one used, lace and gingham lining! Holds 20 cards with ease (and mine is full to the last pocket!).

-Zipper pouch:


I couldn't pass up this adorable beige/blue zipper pouch! My favorite part is the cute cat with crayon applique on the back of it! So cute!

-Taupe linen/cotton makeup pouch:


You knew I couldn't resist this, right? Light taupe with roses and lace? Had to be mine sure =P
This pouch is a little larger than my beloved deep brown cat makeup pouch with the pretty cart/flower applique (the one I wrote about here!) so it can hold a bit more stuff. Love the cute lace accent and the zipper pull!

-Le Sucre medium makeup bag:


I saw several items made of this adorable "Le Sucre" fabric but they were always reserved for someone else.. so I arranged to have a large makeup bag made as actually despite all the pouches I own a really nicely sized large makeup bag was something I missed out so far (with a large gusset etc.). So i got this absolutely stunning large (8.3 x 6.1 x 2.95 inches = 21 x 15.5 x 7.5 cm) makeup bag and it's really fab! I love the cute fabric and the back shows this cute shop made of various gingham and polka dot fabrics

2x iPhone pouch (My garden):


I got also these 2 cute iPhone pouches, they're wider so they fit the iPhone with plastic shell perfectly. I am only keeping one, 1 is a gift for someone special =)

And I got these 2 items from FishboneStudio:

-House key pouch:


Haha! Here we have a house key pouch again! This one is so cute, too! The combination of fabrics is really sweet!

-iPhone/cam/gadget case:


I really think the soft greenish blue fabric with ivory flowers is so pretty! The flap is made of a light brown fabric with lace and button accent! It also has a wrist strap which is always very convenient!
Fits my Olympus cam or iPhone with plastic shell perfectly!

I am thoroughly enjoying all items, even if I am not using all at the same time (after all, I can't use 3 key pouches in the same time hehe) =D