RMK Ingenious Powder Eyes N

Since I was giving RMK Irresistible Bright and Glow Lips a try, I thought it would only be fair to give the Ingenious Powder Eyes N a chance also (mind-fu master here, folks). The question was which colors to pick. Despite the tempting sparkles and metallics, many of those from the permanent lineup look like base/highlighters, top washes, or lid shades. With few finds of online swatches as reference, I tried my luck with 06 Shiny Bronze, 16 Metallic Pink, 17 Metallic Gold, and 19 Sparkling Silver.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

These are eye shadow singles in translucent plastic cases meant to be popped out then mixed and matched in a separate compact. My first impression of them was that they're tiny, smaller than the long discontinued T'estimo Color Eyes even! Then I looked on the back and found the product content rather impressive: these contain 1.2g of product versus Addiction The Eyeshadow's 1g, holding 20% more all the while being significantly smaller. Talk about efficient packaging! I approve.

The eye shadows themselves I'm less impressed with. To be brutally honest, I find Maquillage Eye Color and Eye Color N superior to these RMK ones in both texture and pigmentation. In fact, my humble opinion is that even Majolica Majorca Shadow Customize are better. What I'm saying is RMK's price doesn't quite commensurate their quality, tripling and quadrupling Maquillage and MJ's retails, respectively. The irony here is that outside of Japan, markup prices put Maquillage and MJ roughly in the same price range as RMK via Selfridges UK online.

Anyway, the four colors I got aren't terrible, but all are light. Even 06 Shiny Bronze which I had hoped to use as a medium crease shade turns out to be a lighter lid shade. All four colors are loaded with shimmers, which make them slightly gritty to the touch. Thankfully, when I wore them on bare lids without any primer, there were few fall-outs, if any at all. And they did last for a good several hours before creasing, so I suppose with primer they should last all day.

- 06 Shiny Bronze: high shimmer, low intensity. A peach-bronze that's really pretty as a sheer wash all over the lids. I was afraid it might turn red on me, but it doesn't.

- 16 Metallic Pink: metallic, very sheer. Appears warmer and pinker in the pan than when applied. On my skin, it's a pale whisper pink with lots of pink and white shimmers. Can be used as base/highlighter, dabbed on as a top wash, or sheered out even more as a lid wash.

- 17 Metallic Gold: metallic, low intensity. I wouldn't call this gold at all. It's more of a yellow-tinted silver with an intense, foil-like metallic finish. Interestingly enough, despite all the sparkles this color is the softest of these four. It's buttery, almost creamy to the touch.

- 19 Sparkling Silver: high shimmer, very sheer. Again not silver but a translucent beige. Makes a really pretty but understated lid wash with a wet sheen, brightening up my whole eye area.

Top row: 06 Shiny Bronze and 16 Metallic Pink.
Bottom row: 17 Metallic Gold and 19 Sparkling Silver.