The nice things about Japanese makeup brands is that one brand has many sub-brands, which range from low end products sold in drugstores, to high end products sold in department stores.
Lavshuca is a low end drugstore brand of Kanebo Cosmetics and presently, only found in Japan and some stores in Hong Kong and maybe Taiwan. There are some online stores that sell it too e.g. Sasa or Adambeauty. This brand is new – its only been about a year or so since it was launched.
When a friend went to Japan last year, I managed to get my hands on some eyeshadow singles. Truth be told, I only wanted them because of the cute packaging. How do the Japanese manage to make everything look so cute?!
Each eyeshadow comes in a plastic case with a flip top cover. The size of an eyeshadow single is roughly about the size of a MAC eyeshadow. If you are the sort who likes to depot your eyeshadows into a palette, you can buy the 4 pan palette from a MAC store for about RM15 to put the Lavshuca pans into them. Depotting the eyeshadows is easy because there is a hole at the back where you can poke out the pan easily.
Don’t they look so pretty? Each eyeshadow is embossed with the Lavshuca logo which makes it look simply adorable.
How’s the texture? Unfortunately, I find it a bit of a let down after all the prettiness. The texture of the eyeshadow is not very silky and can be a tad gritty. The colour is also pretty sheer but shimmery. Its nice if you want just a hint of colour but if you want something more intense, then this is not for you.
I read that Lavshuca isn’t grabbing the attention of the Japanese public as well as expected so I don’t know how long it will last. As they are drugstore brand makeup, they aren’t very expensive. Each eyeshadow is about US$8.50 at Sasa.com which is about RM35 each. That puts it on par with T’estimo but I find that T’estimo eyeshadows are of better quality.
All in all, I’d say this is a fun brand to try because its really cute but quality wise, I’d go for T’estimo any day.
Pros: Cute packaging, Cheap
Cons: Sheer, Gritty texture, Only found in limited places
[rating:3.5/5]
Tine says
August 22, 2007 at 12:47 pmOooh, I have the purple one!! :p
I bought mine in Japan for 850yen, I think (850 or 890), which was pretty cheap. I do agree with you, I don’t really like it because it felt gritty.
I love the design though, on the shadow. So tak sampai hati to mar it with my eyeshadow brush :p
PB says: same here! I just swipe around the design LOL…
lolatheshowgirl says
August 24, 2007 at 4:43 pmyes, lavshuca packaging is very very pretty. hmm, gotta caompare this to Kate, which has more consistant quality but far less attractive packaging.
anyways, testimo, is being phrased out in jpn by this dec and will be replaced with a new brand, Coffet D’or(info courtesy of rougedeluxe, haru)
by the way testimo means ‘i love you’ in spainish. awww.
PB says: Welcome! I think Kate’s quality is better too. OMG about T’estimo being phased out! :O They were my fave Kanebo brand!! I guess I’ll have to look at the new line. Thanks for the info!