Integrate Pure Big Eyes

Integrate is a Shiseido drugstore brand, and I haven't had any experience with their products before. There were some interesting and cute eye palettes like the Rainbow Grade Eyes released back in 2010 when I first arrived in Japan. However, I thought the colors were meh, and each of the quints had 2 darker colors at most, the liner and the lid shade. The other 3 were the cream base, sparkly top wash, and another powder highlighter shade. My very definition of "bad" quints!

Then these Pure Big Eyes came out summer 2012, and they are pure evil! As in, the evil that makes you want to collect them all. Just look how adorable they are, clover shaped pans with raised hearts on the pressed powder's surface! And they're not just cute, they're colorful - each quint has just 2 light colors, the base/highlighter and the sparkly top wash! The other 3 are actual colors, the lid, the crease, and the liner! Evil cute for the win! Of course, it really helps that the Watsons in Taipei carried these for 30% off of Japanese retails =^.^=

Top row, left to right: LE #1, BE332, BL775, and BR778.

Bottom row, left to right: GR777, OR334, PK333, and VI221. 

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

The packaging is simple, with reflective front and inner lid (above the clear front panel) that suffices as a mirror in a pinch. What they lack in packaging though, they more than make up for in the quality of the eye shadows. These have super smooth and silky texture, especially the darker crease shade at bottom right which has buttery texture since their shimmers are much more finely milled than the rest. Throw in the excellent pigmentation and these shoot right up there with my favorite Lavshuca Star Decoration Eyes. If anything, they have a major leg up on Lavshuca thanks to the color variations that don't necessarily stick with the "traditional" gradation scheme. Sure, there are even better pigmented palettes like the Kiss Kiss My Eyes Glamorize Shadows and Lavshuca Melting Eyes, but again these 2 lack both color variations and sparkles. And I need sparkles. 

Aside from texture and pigmentation, these palettes also win major points with me on a few other aspects. All the colors swatch true to how they appear in the pan. The base/highlighter at top left has just the right balance of pigmentation and opacity, not too sheer that it defeats their purpose, but not too opaque that they turn chalky either. The lid shade at bottom left has a lovely glistening semi-metallic finish. The darker crease shade at bottom right also alternates between a shimmery and a semi-metallic finish. And finally, the top right pan splits in half, one holds the sparkly top wash and the other the liner shade. Think of all the other palettes with huge pans of the sparkly top wash most people merely dab at (myself included, and I love sparkles!), while the colors that get swiped the most are of meager portions. Doesn't that just make you appreciate the thoughtfulness of these Pure Big Eyes?

  

With all that said, can you blame me for falling hard for this cute evil scheme? I ended up lugging back from Taiwan the limited edition color #1 and 7 others from the permanent lineup. The only color I don't have is BR337, because it's way too warm for me, warmer than OR334 even. But don't hold me to my words. Since I started using these in August, they have been such a joy that I hunted down both the winter 2012 LE VI700 Smokey Purple and the summer 2013 LE #2 Flower Orange. Will post these later. With the fall 2013 LE #3 Marron Glace just came out last month, I might just pick up that super warm BR337 after all ^.^

- Limited Edition #1: a playful combination of pink and blue.


Clockwise from top left:
- Base/highlighter: low intensity, shimmer, a soft white.
- Top wash: very sheer, high shimmer, appears a buttery yellow in the pan but applies pretty much ivory.
- Liner shade: high intensity, satin base with floating shimmers, a warm chocolate brown with scattered gold shimmers. I wish this color was a tad darker, but a couple of layers will do the trick. Despite being a warm chocolate, it doesn't turn red on my lower lash line.
- Crease shade: medium intensity, shimmer, a popping bright pool blue with a lovely slightly pearly sheen.
- Lid shade: high intensity, semi metallic, a very pretty bright carnation pink with a glistening semi-metallic finish.


- BE332: a dusty tawny combo. It may appear warm in my pictures, but as you can see it swatched pretty neutral.


Clockwise from top left:
- Base/highlighter: low intensity, shimmer, a pale and soft powder pink
- Top wash: very sheer, high shimmer, appears a shell pink in the pan but applies a pink-tinted white
- Liner shade: high intensity, satin base with floating shimmers, a plummy brown with scattered shimmers.
- Crease shade: medium intensity, shimmer, a dusty mauve with white shimmers.
- Lid shade: medium intensity, semi metallic, a glistening semi-metallic dusty blush pink.


- BL775: a cool blue green combo with two semi-metallics shades, one of which is also duo-chromatic!

Clockwise from top left:
- Base/highlighter: low intensity, shimmer, a pale canary yellow.
- Top wash: very sheer, high shimmer, ivory.
- Liner shade: high intensity, satin base with floating shimmers, a navy with scattered royal blue shimmers. Very pretty!
- Crease shade: medium intensity, semi-metallic, a duo chromatic turquoise that turns either a bright sky blue (direct light) or a blue green (light from an angle).
- Lid shade: low intensity, semi-metallic, a pretty and glistening mint green. It's not as pigmented as the other lid shades in the line but is still gorgeous!

- BR778: a taupe brown combo that again appear warmer in pictures but swatched neutral.


Clockwise from top left:
- Base/highlighter: low intensity, shimmer, shimmery champagne.
- Top wash: very sheer, high shimmer, this is an off white that got washed out a bit in the below close-up.
- Liner shade: high intensity, satin base with floating shimmers, a dark chocolate with scattered gold shimmers.
- Crease shade: medium intensity, shimmer, a bronzy brown. This is the only crease shade in the range that swatched much darker than it appears in the pan.
- Lid shade: medium intensity, semi-metallic, a gorgeous and glistening pink tinted taupe with a wet sheen!


- GR777: a warm golden green combo, also with 2 semi-metallics!


Clockwise from top left:
- Base/highlighter: low intensity, shimmer, a shimmery ivory.
- Top wash: very sheer, high shimmer, an off white that again was washed out to a chalkier white in the close-up.
- Liner shade: high intensity, satin base with floating shimmers, a dark earthy brown with scattered gold shimmers.
- Crease shade: medium intensity, semi-metallic, a smokey jade green with a slight gold sheen.
- Lid shade: medium intensity, semi-metallic, a glistening burnt gold.


- OR334: a very warm peachy coral combo. I was very iffy about this palette, thinking it might have been too warm for me. Nope, it works out just right and that peachy coral lid shade is beautiful! I got complimented wearing this palette once, by a complete stranger, no less! ^.^


Clockwise from top left:
- Base/highlighter: low intensity, shimmer, a shimmery whisper pink.
- Top wash: very sheer, high shimmer, sparkling ivory.
- Liner shade: high intensity, satin base with floating shimmers, a warm chocolate brown with scattered peach shimmers. This liner color is a warmer and lighter brown than the one in LE #1 palette above, which means if you're doing a smoky eyes it will work on the crease too. Otherwise, I just layer it up, and thank goodness it didn't turn red on my lower lash line either.
- Crease shade: medium intensity, shimmer, a blushing coppery brown. This color scared me a bit and I thought it would turn my whole eyes red, but it actually doesn't look so bad.
- Lid shade: medium intensity, semi-metallic, a glistening peachy coral. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous color!


- PK333: at first glance, this may come off as a another very warm and boring pink mauve combo. But baby has a whopping 3 semi-metallics, one of which is the base/highlighter itself, which is quite unusual! I got more compliments wearing this palette, and from my friend A. too whose makeup is always perfectly done. That was probably the most flattering part, who the compliment came from. She thinks my eye shadows are pretty? I'm floored.


Clockwise from top left:
- Base/highlighter: low intensity, semi-metallic, shimmery warm fleshy pink.
- Top wash: very sheer, high shimmer, white.
- Liner shade: medium intensity, shimmer, a plummy brown. Another lighter brown liner shade I need a couple of layers of. The shimmers in this liner shade are much finer too.
- Crease shade: medium intensity, semi-metallic, mauve.
- Lid shade: medium intensity, semi-metallic, a bright flamingo pink in the pan but turns more pink on the back of my hand, though a more muted pink than the bright carnation pink lid shade in the #1 LE palette.


- VI221: a cooler pink purple combo.


Clockwise from top left:
- Base/highlighter: low intensity, shimmer, shimmery shell pink.
- Top wash: very sheer, high shimmer, white.
- Liner shade: high intensity, satin base with floating shimmers, a deep eggplant with scattered violet shimmers.
- Crease shade: medium intensity, shimmer, a candied purple.  I saw this and thought, meh, this purple is just going to turn pinky or disappear my lids, like most purples do. Nope. It stays vivid and vibrant. Looooove.
- Lid shade: medium intensity, semi-metallic, a glistening petal pink in the pan but turns a milkier pink on me.