Archives for May 2007

Review: Makeup: Kanebo Kate gel eyeliner

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This is a new item from Kate Cosmetics, sub-brand of Kanebo. Actually, its not entirely new. It was launched in Japan early this year – Jan/Feb 2007 and is now already available in Hong Kong. I guess it’ll take a while before it reaches our shores. Mine was courtesy of a good friend from Hong Kong who sent it to me.

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The Kate gel eyeliner comes in a little glass pot, very similar to that of Bobbi Brown and MAC. However, the pot is smaller and product is less. The great thing about this however, is that it comes with an eyeliner brush!

Yes, every single pot comes packaged in a plastic box with that brush in it. Its a great little brush too. Its bristles are short and flat which is good for lining. The bristles are also very firm but soft. I’d buy this just for the brush alone. You don’t get better brushes elsewhere for as cheap.

My eyeliner is BK-2 which is a black with glitter. You can’t see the glitter in the picture, but once you dig in with the brush, you’ll see it. I’d never used an eyeliner with glitter before which is why I got this one.

The colour is good. A dark black with silver glitter. The glitter wasn’t too chunky, but once or twice, a particle or two did get in my eye which was irritating. So, I’d deduct some points for that. Texture wise, its very smooth and easy to apply. I’d say its great even for newbies, because the brush works really well with the liner.

Compared to my Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner which I use everyday, the lasting power of this one is rather lacking. By the end of the day, about 20% of the colour has faded. This does not happen with Bobbi Brown for me. I don’t have oily lids so most colours stay put. There was also some transference onto my lower lid throughout the day. Nothing dramatic, but not pleasing nonetheless.

There are a few other colours. BK-1 (Flat black no shimmer), BR-1 (Brown) and a dark purple shade. I’d love to check out the other colours when this item finally reaches our shores. I got it for HKD95 (RM42.50). I wouldn’t say its expensive but if I compare it to say Bobbi Brown which retails for RM65 a pot for slightly more product, its actually about the same price. I’m very happy though that an Asian brand has finally come up with a gel liner. Its about time. As the latest T’estimo palette has a great cream eyeliner, I hope to see more of it in Kanebo’s lines in future.

Overall, I’d rank this somewhere in between Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner and MAC Fluidliners. I don’t quite like the fluidliners so that goes on the bottom, and I still stand by my favourite Bobbi Brown gel eyeliners. But as I said, I’d get this just for the brush. I’d use this brush for all my gel liners from now. Its the bees knees and more!

Pros: Great eyeliner brush, long lasting, smooth

Cons: Slight fading and transference, pricey

[rating:4.5/5]

Stila All Over Shimmer Eyes sale – limited time

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stilaaos

Are you a fan of loose powder eyeshadow? Or maybe you have heard so much about Stila’s All Over Shimmer Eyes loose powder eyeshadow but have not tried them because they cost RM65 for one little tiny pot?

Well, here’s a sale worth running for. Stila’s little pots of eye colour are now only US$7 (RM28) on Strawberrynet.com for a limited time. There are 3 colours available #3 – Lilac as in picture, #8 – Charcoal grey, #9 – Teal/Turquoise.

I have #3 and its a shimmery lilac on the eyes. Its blue toned which is good as it doesn’t make my eyes look puffy or like I’ve been crying as purples are wont to do. If you get it for US$7 its great value for money because the pot is really tiny. If you have to pay full price (US$16), then I’d reconsider.

StrawberryNET.com offers free shipping worldwide and I’ve had great experiences with them. They take paypal so if you have some money from paid posts languishing in your account why not splurge a little on yourself? 🙂

Review: Makeup: Maybelline Unstoppable Shiny Black mascara

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I was reading The Sun newspaper and came across a press review of the new Maybelline Unstoppable Shiny Black mascara. I don’t know what got into me, but I just HAD to try this one. I’m presently using Lancome Flextencils which I think is really great. However, its starting to dry up so I was on the hunt for something new.

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Maybelline has a present line called Unstoppable mascara in a silvery grey tube. It never interested me and I read lots of rants about it. However, this one is in a black tube with a silver top on the cap. I compared the 2 at the counter but could not see what was different between the new and old one save for the difference in the colour of the tube. I can’t find any information online about this item either.

I’m guessing that its called Shiny Black as the colour is supposed to be a shiny black on your lashes. Also its called Unstoppable as its of the same formula. I’m only guessing so if someone can enlighten me I’d appreciate it.

Pictures 129 This is a picture of the brush head. The brush head has a lot of little bristles. However, although it looks compact, its actually rather sparse. I don’t see many fibers on the brush either. I had the impression that its the fibers on the brush that adhere to the lashes that will cause it to look like its lengthened or has more volume.

The brush head is not very big which I like, because I don’t have long lashes or big eyes. Having a smaller head makes it easier to work with. The bristles also grab most of the lashes when you apply the mascara on, so its not bad in that sense.

This formula is said to be a 100% smudge-proof full length mascara.

I’ll address the “full length” claim first. I must agree that it lengthens to a degree. I have short lashes and after applying this mascara, I find that my lashes do look longer. However, there is no volume added whatsoever. Not one bit. In fact, my lashes look long and spindly. Not very attractive.

Another grouse I have is that this mascara totally weighs down my lashes. My lashes are stick straight normally. So, before I apply any mascara, I will curl them first. When I applied this mascara, I was horrified to find that my nicely curled lashes totally lost whatever curl had been put into them! Bummer!

As for the claim of being “100% smudge proof” I agree to a degree. I applied it in the morning and by the end of the day, after a strenuous yoga lesson, it had not given me panda eyes. No smudges. Very good for something that does not claim to be waterproof. It also removed easily which is a major plus point.

Colour wise, although I peered and peered, I did not get any impression of any more shinier lashes than I usually have. This mascara costs RM29.90 and is now on offer for RM23.88 at Guardian for a limited time only. Maybelline often goes on sale so try to pick it up during a sale if you want to try it.

I think its good for a beginner or mascara newbie. I previously complained that Lancome Flextencils did not give me volume although it gave length. However, that one holds a curl like nobody’s business, and has much more volume than this one. Then again, the price is also vastly different.

So, now I’ve bought it I’ll probably use this mascara for weekend use or for times when I don’t want to look too obvious that I’m wearing makeup. It gives a long lashed look if you can handle the fact your lashes don’t curl to show it off better.

Pros: Cheap, lengthens, does not smudge

Cons: Does not hold a curl, no volume, makes lashes look long and thin

[rating:2.5/5]

Review: Makeup: Eye Majic Instant Eyeshadow

I had written about Eye Majic previously after I stumbled upon it online. I also read that it had been featured on Oprah and anything featured on Oprah is bound to garner a lot of interest. Among the many comments I got about this product were questions about where to buy it from and I compiled 2 sites from comments made.

Sharon, of the New Zealand Eye Majic distributor contacted me and was kind enough to offer to send me a sample of each of the 12 colours currently available to try out! I was thrilled! She kept to her word and a week later, I found a package on my desk with 2 boxes of Eye Majic instant eyeshadow inside.

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The boxes were larger than I had expected. Each box would contain 7 pairs of a colour but for this purpose, I had one of each colour in it. The side of the box gives very clear and precise instructions on how this instant eye shadow is to be worn. Essentially, you press the pad containing the colour on your closed eyelid for about 4 seconds, then slide the strip off and blend the colours using the reverse side of the strip.

Eye Majic claims that their strips of eyeshadow are:

  • Quick to use, giving you confidence
  • Great for travel
  • Keeping you up to date with fashion
  • Individually sealed for your protection
  • No more stretching your eyelids whilst applying, giving you even application on both eyelids
  • Longer lasting than conventional eye shadow due to its secret method.

Intriguing! I opened up the boxes and true enough there were 12 pairs of eyeshadow colours. Each of the colours currently available for purchase. As there are no pictures of the colours online that I’ve found, I took this picture to show what they look like.

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They are actually mostly shimmery tones from what I can see. Each pair comes in a sealed slim plastic pack and you can easily peel away the plastic. Here are better pictures with some colour descriptions (not official ones just how I see them).

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#1 – Dark silver-grey, silver and shimmer white highlight
#2 – Brown, brown-gold and light champagne highlight
#3 – Rust, Cranberry and white highlight
#4 – Rust, Bronze and champagne highlight

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#5 – Light brown, Light green and white highlight
#6 – Rose, orange and peach highlight
#7 – Dark grey, Cranberry and white highlight
#8 – blue-grey, Cranberry and white highlight

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#9 – Purple, lilac and white highlight
#10 – Light blue, light pink and white highlight
#11 – Light green, Rust and white highlight
#12 – Brown, pink and white highlight

I noticed that there was a lot of colour repetition and to be honest, some of the colours looked a bit odd together. #9 didn’t have much colour difference between the 2 purple shades and #6 was a bunch of very similar shades. I think #6 would look better on darker skin tones than light but we’ll see.

How to use and my review

For my trial run for this review, I used Shade #2 for work. You peel off the plastic backing first. The fact its sealed is good as it means its hygenic. However, I found that there was a lot of colour transference from the pad onto the plastic. So a lot of colour is lost that way. I also found that the pad is anchored onto the hard plastic shell by a dab of glue so it doesn’t move around.

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From the picture you can see that quite a lot of colour had transferred off the pad onto the plastic cover. This might have resulted in the uneven application I experienced.

Using it is easy. You remove the pad from the shell and press it for 4 seconds (I counted) onto your closed eyelid. Make sure that you place the pad as close to your lashline as possible. Then, lightly but firmly pull it away from your lid. You’ll find that the colour has transferred nearly fully from the pad onto your eyelid.

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However, it would have transferred in the exact manner it was placed on the pad which means that the lines of the colours are very sharp and defined. It would definitely make you look odd if you don’t blend. You can use the back of the pad to blend but I just used my finger.

I found that the colour on both the pads were not very balanced. It might be something to do with the colour transference onto the plastic cover earlier. So, I used my finger to remove some colour from the plastic (there was a lot) and balance up the colour. I then blended the colours again with my fingers.

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The colour actually looked quite nice once blended properly. You could see that there was gradational colour with the darkest colour close to the lashes and lighter shades on the lid. It was also quick. 10 seconds to do both eyes is not an exaggeration. It really did take 10 seconds or less for me!

However, having proper eye makeup does not stop there. My eyes looked unfinished with just the eyeshadow on. So, I added my usual gel liner and mascara for my everyday work look. That takes time so the time saving on the eyeshadow application was not really felt in the bigger scheme of things.

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Gosh! I look cross-eyed don’t I? Lol

What did I think

I had it on the whole day. I actually got compliments on my eye makeup today, which was a surprise. I must admit that my eye makeup looked more evenly applied. Since its “instant” I would expect that.

It was not very shimmery but had just the right touch of shimmer so your eyes don’t look flat. The lasting power was good. It was still there by the end of the day with minimal fading. I don’t have oily lids so most eyeshadow don’t fade on me anyway.

The convenience is probably what makes this most useable. I can see it being useful for travelling. Bring a strip for every day and you don’t have to fiddle around with little pots and palettes. You can also be assured that your eyes will more or less looked balanced every time as the colours are “pre-printed”.

Honestly though, as someone who love her makeup and especially eye shadow, I cannot see this product taking the place of conventional eyeshadow pots. I like mixing colours and coming up with various combinations. I like messing around with my pots of colour and I don’t think my fingers or brushes stretch my eyelids any more than tugging on the pad to release the colour would.

I’ll give this product top points for innovation, portability, convenience and novelty. For its price of approximately $15.95 (excluding shipping) for 7 strips, I think its quite expensive. So, whilst its a good product, I just don’t see it taking the place of conventional eyeshadow.

Pros: Portable, convenient, long-lasting colour, easy to use, idiot-proof eye makeup

Cons: You still need your liner and mascara, expensive, few colour combinations, colour transference

[rating:3.5/5]

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