All posts tagged: japanese cosmetics

K-Palette Essence in ShadowLiner*

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As you all know (if you’ve been reading my lil ol’ blog for a while), I’m a total slave for K-Palette eyebrow/eyeliner products. Imagine my glee when I received this package—an eyeshadow/eyeliner hybrid called the K-Palette Essence in ShadowLiner*—right before I left for a trip. It’s similar to the dual-ended eyebrow markers that K-Palette makes with a brush-tip on one end and a powder product on the other end. In this case, it’s eyeliner instead of brow marker opposite eyeshadow and a sponge-tip applicator coupled with a spring mechanism. Brush pen liner tip. Eyeshadow/powder sponge tip. I received four colors: the eyeliner in black and varying depths of brown, and shimmery neutral eyeshadow shades. 01 black x brown | 02 brown black x camel brown | 03 deep brown x nude beige | 04 pink brown x nude pink I tried them out on my eyes, sans primer and eyebrow anything. Sorry for the horror. Anyway, look: If you’re low maintenance, these are amazing products to bring on for trips. I brought 01 and 02 …

Best Ever: K-Palette’s Reformulated Eyeliner

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Not too long ago, I received quite the regal package (haha) from the local distributors of K-Palette. For the last few years, K-Palette has been my liquid eyeliner and eyebrow product of choice—something not to be taken lightly, given how fickle of a human being I am. But I digress. Inside the box were two shades of the new Best Ever K-Palette Real-Lasting Eyeliner 24H WP*, which is a mouthful but admittedly very descriptive!

Makeup Inventory: Addiction by Ayako Eyeshadows

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One of my undeniable makeup loves as of late has been Addiction. I remember seeing a brown cheek/lipstick and a mustard eyeshadow on Xiao of Messy Wands and I was so intrigued by it. After a fateful visit to Japanese counters (or several), it was pretty much love at first sight. Addiction has similar aesthetic sensibilities with NARS, another favorite cosmetics brand, both with the products, the overall makeup philosophy (at least, it seems like), and the look and feel of the brand. They are like sisters. I’ve mentioned this before, but it doesn’t hurt to mention again: Addiction was created by Ayako, a former makeup artist and “student” of François Nars. It explains the influences and the similarities, but I do think that Addiction isn’t necessarily derivative; it just grew and developed from a foundation in NARS. I find Addiction to be a bit more careful in terms of production and collections than NARS, which is understandable since Addiction is a way smaller brand with a smaller market. A common critique with NARS is …

5 Things Friday: Japanese Drugstore Finds

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Today’s 5 Things Friday (which I hope I will follow through on forever and ever) features some finds from a handful of Japanese drugstores on my last trip to Tokyo/Osaka. If you have never shopped around a Japanese drugstore, you have never known real joy. (Just kidding.) I think you can tell that I really held back this time around. These are actually pretty practical finds, except for the lipstick… so I’m pretty proud of myself. Heh. I actually have six things here, but let me explain. I picked up the MUJI Nail Polish Remover, which are basically just packets of sheets doused in nail polish remover. My polish was driving me nuts, so I was happy I saw these at a Family Mart! I think they might be acetone-free; the formula was definitely more oily than alcohol-y. Next up is the Suncut Water in UV Protect Essence, which is just facial sunscreen. They have an abundance of these. I just picked one up with a high SPF. I got a 2 for 1 deal …

Makeup Inventory: Addiction Cheek Sticks

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Presenting… my latest iteration of my Addiction Cheek Stick inventory. These are possibly some of my favorite makeup bits ever, and I’m trying really hard not to buy everything from the range. If you aren’t familiar, Cheek Sticks are multi-purpose products by Japanese brand, Addiction by Ayako. Ayako was a makeup artist that worked closely with François Nars (of NARS, duh), which probably explains a lot of the brand’s aesthetic direction. Cheek Sticks can be used on the cheeks, lips, and even eyes (though they are not crease-free). In a span of a year, I have amassed five different shades, all of which I love. From lightest to darkest, I have African Sunset, Tea Rose, Rose Bar (my newest one!), Revenge (my first one!), and Suspicious. They are swatched in the same order below: The most versatile one, in my opinion, is Rose Bar, though I am able to use Revenge pretty much anywhere also. It’s just a less agreeable color than Rose Bar. Tea Rose was a fast favorite and was in rotation for …

A Taste of THREE

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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 …

My Addiction Addiction: Spoils from Japan, 2014

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I did it again. Here are some of the things I picked up from Addiction on my last trip to Jay-pan. With the intention of possibly picking up the new quad in Departure, I ended up walking away with three single eyeshadows (Rigoletto, Sand Dune, and Truffle), a cheek stick (Rose Bar), and a lipstick for my sister (Vamp). I’m a big fan of Addiction’s Cheek Sticks, and Rose Bar brings the number I have to 5. Cheek Sticks are multi-purpose products for use on the eyes, cheeks, and lips, but I found that all of them work best as cheek products. Rose Bar is a beautiful neutral shade that’s a great deal pinker than Tea Rose, which I already have. As for the eyeshadows, which everyone knows I can’t resist, I picked up 3, bringing the total of my Addiction E/S singles to 8. Rigoletto is a beautiful sheeny pale peach. It is absolutely gorgeous. I was not ever intending on getting this, ever, except swatching it was like a revelation. I could just …