A quick overview of the RMK Play on Pink Spring 2014 Collection

If there’s one brand that took the colour pink for Spring 2014 seriously, it was RMK. Their whole Spring 2014 collection themed “Play on Pink” is, as the name implies, a play on pink in various forms!

The collection is medium sized with colours for eyes, lips, cheeks, face and nails but there was one item that really caught my eye. Hazard a guess which? Oh go on, guess! 😀

I asked Mr. Yasuhiro Nakamizu, the visiting RMK Global Makeup Artist why the focus on pink which is fine for lips and cheeks, but the eyes? His answer was essentially, that pink is popularly known to be a sweet and fresh colour which is suitable for Spring, hence the focus. Personally, I feel it’s because the Japanese like wearing pink on the eyes, as it goes well with their skintone. It makes them look fresh and sweet.

However, if you have a more sallow or yellow based skintone or even a darker skintone then wearing a light pink is a challenge. I personally can’t wear it without looking like I’ve been crying buckets. However, I recently worked out that I could wear pink if I pair it with brown shadow. It looks quite sweet! But how about paired with gold? Hmm that’d be a challenge wouldn’t it?

Here’s a quick overview of the RMK Play on Pink collection and I’ll tell you which item I had my eye on 😉

RMK Kaleidoscope Eyes – RM110

These eyeshadows come in 3 different textures in one small pan. The colours on the sides look similar, but have different textures. One side is a satin shimmer while the other side has more shimmer. The colour in the middle is the focus on pink.

I personally found these a challenge and I was told that you can use it in any number of ways. You could use the pink as a base colour and then use the side colours to shade or highlight, depending on the colours, or you could even blend the colours and then apply it all over your lid. The colours on the side help to change the pink, making it more wearable.

Helpfully, the insert in the box has some basic instructions on how you can use the eyeshadow. Personally, this isn’t something I’m particularly keen on as pink eyeshadow just isn’t my forte, and I would find it hard pressed to pay RM110 for an eyeshadow pan, despite having 3 colours, and despite the lovely buttery quality.

RMK W Crayon & Gloss Lips – RM130

This one’s a handy lip product you can carry around, which is essentially a 2-in-1 product. One side clicks open to a crayon lipstick and the otherside houses a complementary gloss. The lip crayon is pretty pigmented and glides on quite easily and smoothly without tugging. I did find that it goes on a little matte so that’s where the gloss comes in to perk up the colour a little. The gloss is otherwise, non sticky and fairly sheer.

What I liked was the gloss applicator which is a transparent silicone applicator that is quite fascinating because it’s so different! I actually find it less messy than a regular sponge applicator because it’s easy to wipe clean, and it is also surprisingly easy to control.

I do feel however, that the price factor is rather prohibitive. This is a nice product, but not entirely exceptional. For someone who doesn’t wear gloss, like me, I’m not terribly keen on toting it around, but it is one of those things that regular travellers will find useful, because you can have both in one handy, slim, portable tube. It’ll come down to budget and preference for this one.

RMK Kaleidoscope Cheeks – RM110

There are 2 blushes in the collection which are housed in a surprisingly small compact. There is also a new angled cheek brush to complete this that looks promising at RM130. Personally, I’d pick the brush because the cheek colours didn’t attract me.

Or maybe it’s the pattern. You see, RMK went with a very art deco geometrical pattern this round for their collection and I’m afraid it just didn’t gel with me. The pattern is intricate and so exact but all those lines and angles make it feel a bit “hard” to me.

RMK Kaleidoscope Nuance Powder – RM160

Which brings us to the limited edition Kaleidoscope Nuance Powder which comes in 2 shades. If you guessed that this had my eye, you guessed right! 😀

Pictured is 01 Translucent Beige Pink which has 6 different shades of powder in one pan, set out in that same geometrical pattern with an overlay of golden lines. These lines will rub off upon first use, as you’ll see below but if you are particular about patterns, then take heart. RMK pays attention to these details and the plastic overlay that protects the powder sports these same golden lines so once you lay it over, it looks untouched! Reminds me of what they did with their fairy blush from a couple of years back. Attention to detail – I expect nothing less from RMK 🙂

I dusted off a corner so you can see how it looks without the golden lines. I actually think it looks better, don’t you? 🙂

The Kaleidoscope Nuance Powders are finishing powders, which means they are applied to finish off your makeup. Each pan contains different coloured powders with different textures which you blend together with your powder brush, and then apply all over. 01 Translucent Beige Pink which you see here contains a baby blue, baby pink, light brown, dark brown, beige, and cream colours in matte, satin and shimmer textures. Blended together, you get a beige shade that highlights and brightens skin and tones down redness.

It is very sheer and although there are shimmer powders in there, there is little to no shimmer on your skin once applied. I tested this, using it as a setting powder and it does give a lovely finish but then I really expect nothing less from RMK! This would then, be comparable to other finishing powders in the market, notably the Guerlain Meteorites powders except I find that the Guerlain gives my skin more of a glow while this one acts to set my foundation without adding that glow I’m used to.

There is another shade 02 Translucent Coral Pink which has pink, coral and brown shades in the pan.

Apologies for the lighting because I couldn’t get it to show up properly. The one on the left is the 02 Translucent Coral Pink which I adjusted to be as true to colour as I could get it. So, ignore how 01 looks because it’s totally off 😛

This one is supposed to give a fresher look but I was also told that it would be more suited for deeper skintones , or to add colour to cheeks. I wouldn’t use this one all over because of the colour. With this one, you can use it to highlight, by picking up colours from the middle of the pan and to apply as blush, using the coral-pink colours on the side and then contour using the brown-pink at the top.

The quality of these powders are top notch. They are fine, lightweight and my experience with 01 was promising. It does finish off your makeup well, but if I were to compare it to other powders I have tried or even to the RMK Pressed Powder N which I love, I would go for the latter which I think does a better job. Granted, it does different things, but I get more use out of Pressed Powder N and it leaves my skin feeling silky and matte all day long, plus comes in a useful compact with a useful brush.

As silly as I feel swatching powders, here’s a swatch, together with the eyeshadow and lip product for your reference.

Swatches viewed from left to right

• Kaleidoscope Nuance Powder 01 – swatched heavily, barely there beige with little shimmer
• Kaleidoscope Eyes 04 Yellow Pink – Left gold (pearl), light pink (pearl), Right gold (shimmer), pink blended with gold The colours are fairly light and sheer, which suit those who like barely there, light eye colours and will not suit those who prefer stronger, more impactful colours. Line with eyeliner and apply mascara and it looks fresh.
• W Crayon & Gloss 01 Cherry Red – Lip Crayon (matte cherry red 1 swipe), Gloss (translucent red with shimmer)

RMK Kaleidoscope Eyes 04 Yellow Pink and W Crayon & Gloss 01 Cherry Red

From this collection, I’d pick the Kaleidoscope Nuance Powder as the best product to check out. I like the texture of the eyeshadows but not the colours, no matter how adventurous I now am. The lip product I find to be of very good quality, but for the price, rather steep.

All in all, I’d say that while RMK makes very high quality base makeup (seriously excellent stuff, as are their makeup brushes) I find that they fall a little short when it comes to colour, and the price tag too tends to be quite prohibitive, for rather plain packaging and products. I guess you can’t win them all! 😉

Does any of the RMK Play on Pink products catch your eye?

For me, it was just the Kaleidoscope Nuance Powder. It looked interesting and performed well enough that I have no complaints, except for the price. With the positioning of the brand, I guess it’s one of those things that can’t be helped! What caught your eye?

Paris B