One of the Japanese beauty brands I was really keen on trying was THREE. After seeing various posts by Kate, Selphia, and Belly on the eyehadow duos and quads—which, as you all know, are my weakness—I made it my mission to stop by a counter on my trip.

By the way, photos from said trip to the land of the rising sun are on my “real” blog, which I use for non-beauty crapola.

I ended up getting two THREE Pressed Eye Color Palette Duos, both of which weren’t the ones I intended to get.

02 Love Connection is made of gold peach and red brown. 07 Let the Happiness In is one of the newer duos, consisting of a soft mauve purple and a light brown.

The duos are intended to be used in conjunction with each other, as their own shades or layered, creating a “natural three-dimensional impression.” In other words, they are subtle as fuck, but the effect also transforms your eye without anyone really noticing. Which is what I usually like to wear anyway. (I like it when people say my eye makeup is good, though. HA.)

These duos have a “cream” side (left) and a powder side (right). I say “cream,” because it’s not really very emollient or creamy or tacky/sticky, but it’s not totally a powder either. In the swatches above, I’ve done them in this order: 1) cream, 2) powder, 3) cream under powder.

For 07 Let the Happiness In, I love how the soft mauve powder utterly transforms that greige-y color. For 02 Love Connection, I love how the gilded peach adds such a pretty sheen to this warm, reddish brown. You can actually see the effect more in the next swatch:

Pretty. Here it is on the eyes:

02 Love Connection can be super subtle, but I think I can blow it up to a bolder look if I extend the application over my lid space, which turns out to be quite small.

07 Let the Happiness In is extremely subtle. Like, so subtle that I was debating on whether or not I should post this photo in the first place:

I think I really like how soft and pretty it is, though. There’s something about the combination that makes me swoon, even though it really looks somewhat bland, next to the other beautiful combinations.

The Duos come in super tiny form, with no frills, a.k.a. it doesn’t come with a mirror or brushes. I think it’s super convenient to bring along, though. The packaging is sleek, in a dark charcoal grey. It’s reminiscent of the NARS rubbery packaging, though not quite as rubber-leaning. It also feels pretty sturdy and has an easy-to-open snap enclosure.

I’ve got my eye on 03 Love Revolution, 04 Love Satisfaction, and maybe 09 Invisible Ethereal, though it was quite similar to 07 Let the Happiness In, if I recall correctly.

And then, of course, I got m’self a quad. The composition of the THREE 4D Eye Palettes reminds me a lot of my bigger Japanese eye palettes, like Suqqu, Addiction, and shu uemura, in that they also have a lot of varying finishes and textures.

Aside from creating a color story with the palettes, they also take into account the texture of the shadows and have a specific idea of where the colors ought to go. Though, of course, you can choose not to follow their instructions.

I got myself 09 Star Guitar, which has a gray silver pink pearl, a sparkling burgundy, a reddish brown, and a smoky pink.

Intended to be layered together, the colors and textures are meant to create a look with dramatic nuance and complexity, to “produce the finish of the infinite.” The colors are also pretty enough to wear on their own.

The quad comes with two tools: a small liner brush with a pointy sponge end, and a fluffy brush. They work really well with the shades, though I do find I need a brush with a larger surface area/brush head to lay down the base cream shade (sparkling burgundy).

L-R: smoky pink (“key”), reddish brown (“nuance”), gray silver pink pearl (“highlight,” this has intense sparkle), sparkling burgundy (“base,” cream).

Here are some layered swatches in a series of combinations over the cream/base shade:

L-R: cream only, smoky pink over cream, all shades over cream, reddish brown over cream, gray silver pink pearl over cream.

L-R: cream only, smoky pink over cream, all shades over cream, reddish brown over cream, gray silver pink pearl over cream.

These are all swatched over bare skin. On the eyes, I feel like it requires a bit more work to use because the shades translate really subtly, but it’s the sheerness that allows for complexity. I know that stuff matters only for nerds, but I’ve always been a nerd. I should have known it would carry over to my interest in makeup.

The case is similar to the duos, but it is much larger, and is made of a midtone grey instead of a dark charcoal grey. It also has a button to open it, space for the two tools, and a somewhat large mirror.

I’ve got my eye on 06 Tranquil Oasis, but I think I’m pretty set with this quad already (for now, heh). Face play/show and tell in another post because I forgot to take photos of m’self with this quad on my face. It’s quite lovely, though, if that counts for anything.

AHEM. GUESS WHAT.

I got lipsticks, too. Again, enabled unknowingly by Kate, who posted a swatch of a beautiful berry lip called Edith’s Whisper. Normally, I don’t even really look at lipsticks. They do not speak to me as much as eyeshadows scream at me. However, I ended up with two lipsticks.

I was keen on trying some Suqqu lipsticks, but crap, I am not paying ¥5000-¥5500 for a single lipstick anymore, cough GUERLAIN. I’m also not sure if I like the formula (based on the swatches on my hand), since they are so slick and sheer. These ones by THREE are a bit easier to justify (still expensive but not as) and they seem to have a formula that I will enjoy more.

Here are the swatches. Pretty.

Swatched, L-R: THREE Glam Touch Lipstick Color in 11 Edith’s Whisper, THREE Velvet Lust Lipstick in 05 Love Like Heaven

11 Edith’s Whisper is a dark-ish vampy berry lip in THREE’s Glam Touch Lipstick Color range. The SA told me that this is the “medium” coverage lipstick, the “sheer” being the Glam Touch Lipstick Sheer range, and the “heavy” being the Velvet Lust Lipstick range.

The packaging of these lipsticks makes me feel so frakking cool, by the way. Just throwing it out there. It’s made of the same material/shade as the 4D Eye Palette.

The THREE Glam Touch Lipstick Color is supposed to lend a creamy finish to the lips, to “show the expression of adult, glossy lips.” It’s supposed to “melt away” comfortably, and aims to moisturize dry lips with organic vegetable oil formulations.

I wore 11 Edith’s Whisper on crackly lips, because I am a lazy bum, and it clung to dry patches. As was expected. I am dumb. Anyway, it’s a beautiful formula! Much better if I exfoliated my lips, heh. I also love the sheer berry stain it leaves behind. Swoon.

The THREE Velvet Lust Lipstick provides the most opaque coverage of all their lipstick lines. It is meant to be long-wearing, apply evenly, and moisturizing. It’s formulated with plant oils, Argan oil, Shea butter, jojoba oil, beeswax, and other moisturizing ingredients. I adore this formula, and I love this color.

The packaging is similar to the Glam Touch Lipstick Color range, but in black.

05 Love Like Heaven is such a pretty lip color. It’s described as a beige pink, and it’s such a great pick for spring, don’t you think? The color is meant to brighten up the face a little. Check out how beautifully it coats the lip, too. It just looks like my lip! But pinker and daintier.

Here are some swatches again, so you can see the difference in formulation.

All in all, my first experience with THREE was delightful. I noticed that they were giving me samples of their skin care, which intrigued me so much. While I was waiting for my shit to be packed, I saw they had hair care products, too. Have you ever found a new brand that was just like a whole other infinite universe you could explore? THREE was like that for me!

Until my next Japan trip, I s’pose.

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