Lancome Miscellaneous GWP Palettes

I have so many of these miscellaneous Lancome GWP palettes I thought I might dedicate an entire post to them! Other than some skin care and lip products, I am not a big fan of Lancome cosmetic. Their face powder feels heavy and turns greasy on me after a while. And although the blushes are decently pigmented, they also feel chalky. Same with the eye shadows, of which the formula is very inconsistent! Some are smooth and silky, some are chalky, and some are just plain dusty and flaky! Ick!

The below 2 palettes are of Maquiriche Creme/Powder Eye Color. I'm not sure why they're called creme/powder because they don't feel creamy at all!
- Upper left, Gardenia: matte, very sheer, an off-white that only serves to highlight the brow bones, feels chalky though
- Upper right, Honeymoon: shimmer, very sheer, a gold with slight honey hue
- Lower left, Stellaire: matte, medium intensity, a grayish ink blue I use as a liner. The shadow can feel a bit crusty to the touch.
- Lower right, Angora: shimmer, low intensity, a pale blue that goes on with a touch of silver. This shade feels softest of the bunch!

Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadows

I'm not really into Clinique eye shadows, but I got these Colour Surge Eye Shadows as GWP items. They are pretty decent, very soft and silky to the touch they feel like cream eye shadows!

- Sunburst Duo: shimmer, the peach shade is low intensity, the beige shade is very sheer
- Super Shimmer in Rum Spice: metallic, high intensity, a copper-toned brown with bronze shimmers. Best used as a liner


- Soft Shimmer in Buff: metallic, very sheer, an off-white that goes on a translucent veil of off-white sparkles. I love it alone on lazy days!

Victoria's Secret Silkwear Eye Shadow

Another good find from Victoria's Secret beauty. Again, these Silkwear Eye Shadows are now repackaged as "Very Sexy" makeup with the name Silky Eye Shadows. I don't know if the formula is still the same though, but the old formula were silky indeed! They feel very satiny and soft, just that the colors don't quite match my skin tone. Those that do don't have the finish I like. Still, I own several of them:

- In the Buff: matte, very sheer, an ivory powder shade that serves 1 and only 1 purpose - to highlight the brow bone! Seriously, it's so sheer it just brightens and nothing more!

EI Solutions SPF 15 Eye Shadow

Another somewhat lesser known brand EI Solutions, aka English Ideas. I have never heard of this brand before and still don't hear about it at all! My local department store just happened to have an EI counter, and although it's not there anymore, I did try 1 of their eye shadows. The shadow are not as finely milled, but it goes on silky and can be used wet or dry.

Esolis Eye Shadows

These are eye shadow duos that were given as GWP (see previous Esolis Lip Tint SPF 15 post). They are your average eye shadow, nothing worth noting, even a bit chalkier than drugstore brands. My sister and I have all three color combos, but I only have the Marine/Aqua duo with me.

- Marine: shimmer, high intensity, a similar color to the dark green liner shade in the T'estimo Layered Impact Eye Palette #3 only with foam green shimmers.
- Aqua: pearl, low intensity, a pretty foam green with lilac iridescent.

Esolis Lip Tint SPF 15

Back in early 2000's, Esolis was a short-lived brand of skin care and makeup targeting Asian women in North America. It was very strange, as the catalogue just showed up at my door step one day. Obviously, someone had been selling demographic information...and my address!!!! Anyways, I was very excited of course, because growing up, I've never known any makeup or skin care within the borders of North America that was geared towards Asian skin.

***Picture from design:timlink.

Victoria's Secret Eye Shadow Palette

Victoria's Secret is mostly, well, gimmicky. Sadly, it seems most of their budget is spent into - no joke - marketing their products rather than making them well! Don't get me wrong, some of their lingerie are nice, and some of their shoes are decent, but their clothing is sub par and their bath and body products are a waste of money. But here is the surprise - hidden underneath that mountain of the beauty junks are little gems waiting to be discovered. I happened to have found a few myself! Very few, I must say, but these few have stuck with me since college and I still can't part with them.

One of these gems is the Eye Palette Mosaic Storm. They used to be in a rounded compact with a mirror, but I believe they are now re-branded to "Very Sexy" makeup in a black square compact with mirror. I don't know about the formula, but I think the shades are the same, at least they look the same, and the newer version of this palette is called "Sultry."