I was curious about Coffret D'Or Full Smile Eyes but wasn't tempted enough to pick one up, that was, until they included this palette into the 2014 Total Designing Set ^.^
As per the previous two years, there are 4 different sets available:
1. Color Blush PK, and Elegant Jewelry Rouge EX-100:
- EX-1 with Full Smile Eyes 01 Apricot Beige
- EX-2 with limited edition Full Smile Eyes 05 Pink Beige
2. Color Blush RS, and Elegant Jewelry Rouge EX-100:
- EX-3 with Full Smile Eyes 03 Bronze Brown
- EX-4 with limited edition Full Smile Eyes 06 Gray Brown
I have to say I'm somewhat disappointed with this new set. For the 2013 edition, Coffret D'Or already "recycled" the same 2 blushes from 2012. This 2014 edition is even worse and they offered the same exact lip gloss for all 4 sets. Adding salt to the wound is that this gloss is completely clear :( What's going on?!
All pictures taken in natural light without flash.
For the previous 2012 and 2013 editions, I bought EX-2 and EX-4, both with limited editions of the featured eye palette in addition to having a different compact, blush, and lippie. However, for the 2014 sets the limited edition Full Smile Eyes 05 Pink Beige in EX-2 just didn't appeal to me at all. In fact, it looks like it might even be too red on me. So I went for the 03 Bronze Brown in EX-3 and the 06 Gray Brown in EX-4 instead, which means I ended up with 2 of the same blushes and lip glosses -.-" Oh well, I gave the extra blush to my mum and the clear gloss to my sister. No biggie. I do wish I had the pretty pink compact though, because gold one is gorgeous!
As for the Full Smile Eyes, it's kind of bland LOL! As seen in the few previous Coffret D'Or palettes, ex. the 3D Gradation Eyes and Beauty Face Shadow, these Full Smile Eyes also come with 2 separate base and highlighter shades, plus a sparkling top wash. So in a quint, you get just 2 actual eye colors, the medium crease and liner shades. I'm starting to get tired of this - it feels cheap and gimmicky at best. So let's hope they quit this double base/highlighter BS soon or I might have to quit them. Sigh.
But other than that the eye shadows are finely milled and smooth, not buttery as I'd hoped but still very soft. The medium crease and liner shades are well pigmented, which is great! They really should always have at least 3 wearable darker colors like that in each quint! On me, the eye shadows last for several hours with a primer. Without primer, the shadows don't crease but after a few hours the colors fade a bit, which is still pretty good. I was hoping for full metallics, but the medium crease shade is only semi metallic. Oh well...
- 03 Bronze Brown: between this palette and the 06 Gray Brown below, surprisingly I like this one better, probably because of the golden bronze crease shade and the milk chocolate liner shade. At first glance the palette seems warm, but on me the colors are pretty neutral. The end result is an understated but sophisticated every day look.
Clockwise from top left:
- Highlighter: shimmer, low intensity. A subtly shimmery off white.
- Base: shimmer, very sheer. Translucent ivory with a slight pearly finish and a wet sheen.
- Top wash: high shimmer, very sheer. Almost transparent sparkling gold champagne.
- Liner: shimmer, high intensity. Shimmery milk chocolate that's pigmented but not quite dark enough to line the upper lash, so I layer it over a darker pencil liner. When worn on the crease, it makes a lovely smokey eye in combination with the below golden bronze. So despite not being dark enough to line with, I still like this color a lot. It's one of the prettiest browns I own thanks to the gold shimmers in it, not boring or muddy at all!
- Lid/crease: semi metallic, medium intensity. A lovely golden bronze that's not too warm and just about perfect!
- 06 Gray Brown: I expected to like this palette more but the taupe-looking medium crease shade did a bait-n-switch on me and turns a purplish gray. Nothing wrong with grays, I do like grays. Just that this shade is not what I thought it would be, that's all ^.^
- Highlighter: shimmer, low intensity. Pink-tinted white.
- Base: shimmer, very sheer. Translucent champagne, also with a slight pearly finish and a wet sheen. It's slightly more yellowy than the base in 03 Bronze Brown.
- Top wash: high shimmer, low intensity. Sparkling lilac that's a tad more opaque as well as more pigmented than the top wash in 03 Bronze Brown.
- Liner: shimmer, high intensity. A blackened purplish taupe, nice and pigmented as a liner shade should be! Love!
- Lid/crease: semi metallic, medium intensity. Looks taupe in the pan but goes on a pretty purplish gray, thanks to the hint of periwinkle that's only visible in natural light. Very neat color I don't see often.
In December 2014, they released 2 more limited edition palettes for this line of Full Smile Eyes, the 07 Orange Gold and 08 Emerald Green. The 07 Orange Gold looks nice but too close to 03 Bronze Brown. The 08 Emeral Green is a super interesting aqua green palette, a unique release in the context of the Japanese market where most ladies go for neutrals. And while I like the aqua greens, I don't reach for greens or blues that often, so I guess I'm passing on both.
The Elegant Jewelry Rouge is housed in a boring white plastic tube with a fuzzy spatula applicator. The cap has a fake plastic "jewel" which makes the whole thing looks more like a toy for pre-teens than an actual lip gloss. Good thing the actual packaging for the full size is much better looking! The gloss itself is quite nice, with a good consistency, not too thick, not too thin, and very moisturizing and smooth. There's a tingling minty sensation, which a first for me when it comes to Japanese gloss. I like it enough to carry it in my bag for a quick dab of moisture whenever I don't feel like any color.
- EX-100: a clear gloss with pink shimmers that gives it a pink sheen when seen at an angle. But otherwise it's a non-color.
The Color Blush is very silky to the touch, and the clear compact is practical but boring, nothing like the cute metal tin of 2012 or the pretty paper pot of 2013. The color is also super sheer - see the swatch for yourself! I don't mind the sheer blush, though I imagine other people would be sorely disappointed. If you have an olive or tan skin tone, this blush is probably going to be a mere highlighter on you :(
- RS: warm rosy pink and a pale powder pink highlighter and together they give my cheeks a fresh glow.
- Coffret D'Or 2012 Total Designing Set
- Coffret D'Or 2013 Total Designing Set
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