Lavshuca Summer Gradually Compact

Winter is here, so of course I pulled out the 2008's Lavshuca Summer Gradually Compact :P I don't know what kept me from using these for so long, but I finally got around to them and have been playing with the different colors in the past few months starting in the fall. And you know what's strange, I think these 2 palettes are actually great for the fall/winter and I've no remorse wearing these colors right now!

Compact 01 - Shiny Sandy Beach


Compact 02 - Windy Aqua Beach


There were 2 Summer Gradually compacts: Compact 01 - Shiny Sandy Beach (warm) and Compact 02 - Windy Aqua Beach (cool). Both came in decorated plastic packaging, while the cases themselves were thin brushed-aluminum with "Lavshuca" engraved on top. The cases had 2 applicators each but included no mirrors.



The eye shadows are more or less good quality, blendable, pigmented, and have different finishes! The far left shadow is the most shimmery, the far right is a matte base shadow, and the four in between are either pearly shimmery or semi-metallic.



While there are a few shortcomings, in general these compacts are pretty awesome and versatile with different looks and color combos, depends on how you want to mix and match. Yes, so you probably have read the same raves from many other reviews, but aside from a couple of exceptions I'm afraid I can't disagree :P

Compact 01 - Shiny Sandy Beach


From left to right:
- Sparkling gold: shimmer, very sheer. Provides a very sparkly translucent wash of gold. This shadow is not as smooth as the rest because it is packed with almost-chunky (but not glittery) shimmers. Some people didn't like this color (along with its silver counterpart in Compact 02) too much precisely because of the thicker shimmers. Some even complained of fall-outs, although I have yet to experience any. In fact, this is probably my favorite color out of the bunch since I love super shimmery (but not glittery) and sheer eye shadows. Whenever I'm lazy, which is probably most of the time, these are the only colors I would wear. They would freshen up my face and make my eyes pop without much effort :)
- Orangey copper: semi-metallic, high intensity. Very pigmented and as far as I can tell from swatching, it's warm enough to not turn me green, and no, not with envy. Cooler oranges, yellows, and greens tend to make my skin appear greenish and me sickly. But I, erhh..., still haven't tried this color yet. Color-shy here, sorry. We'll be acquainted one of these days, this color and I.
- Ivory: shimmer, very sheer. This is supposed to be the highlight color for use on the brow bones and line the inner corners of the eyes. I like this color and use it a whole lot, but unfortunately this is the only shadow in the compact that caked up! There was a tad of disappointment here, but in the end that didn't stop my regular usage.


From left to right:
- Cappuccino brown: shimmer, medium intensity. It appears to be a light taupe but don't be fooled. The shadow itself it a few shades darker than it looks, turning out to be a warm cappuccino brown that makes a nice crease shade.
- Chocolate: shimmer, high intensity. Again, this color is also trying to deceive you by appearing like a harmless light beige-brown but turns out to be dark and pigmented enough for use as a liner. Also, it looks warmer that it actually is, as it turns a cooler milk chocolate brown on my skin.
- Nude beige: matte, very sheer. So this color is supposed to act as a base and even out my lids in preparation for the other colors. Sadly, it doesn't work so well with me. In the swatch, it appears to be just a tad darker than the back of my hand, and you would think that with some blending, it will be fine. The problem is my face has a more pinkish tone in comparison to my hands, so this color turns my eyes muddy and dirty. Ick.


Compact 02 - Windy Aqua Beach


From left to right:
- Silver: shimmer, very sheer. Same as above, this provides a translucent wash of silver, but is rougher than the rest of the eye shadows. But just as its gold counterpart in Compact 01, it's also my favorite of the bunch.
- Mint green: shimmer, low intensity. This is a very pretty pastel mint that's semi-pearly. This color also did not turn me green.
- Champagne: shimmer, very sheer. This color also gets lots of use from me and, surprise surprise, has the same caking problem as the ivory one above. May be it's the formula? Anyway, again this minor set back didn't stop me from using it all the freakin' time.


From left to right:
- Pool Blue: semi-metallic, high intensity. For some reason, this seemingly pretty peacock blue turns a bright pool blue on me! I want the peacock blue, damn it!
- Denim: shimmer, high intensity. Looks like an ink blue but turns out to be denim. This as the liner color and the silver as wash is a perfect paring for lazy ol' me!
- Nude brown: matte, very sheer. This one is worse than its nude beige counterpart - it's actually warmer, and therefore gives me the sunken eyes look. Yikes!


I usually prefer warmer colors, but I think Compact 02 is actually more neutral than it looks. I know it was supposed to be "cool", but it would not have worked too well with my very warm skin tone if it was that cool. Anyway, for this reason, I find myself reaching for Compact 02 much more often than Compact 01. I guess I'm gradually and slowly learning the ways of the blues (and greens too).