'Tis the Season of Giving - Asian Brands

Updated Friday, February 24, 2017.

Blog sale for charity final update.

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Long post ahead. 

Hubby and I are going to move again in eight months' time, this time just across town, at least that's to my knowledge. We've learned to *not* double down on our words because every time we say we're staying somewhere for a while, we ended up moving the next year.

The biggest reason for our next move being:

Yes, there's a tiny one coming and we now need a shoe-box for three.

So I'm letting go of a substantial portion of my collection.

After moving so many time, I've realized I've missed out on the vast majority of my collection because I can only take so much with me. Since I haven't been around to enjoy them, I thought someone else might be.

IMPORTANT:
1. All sales are final. No returns or exchanges.
2. All proceeds will go to charity:
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). See their ratings.
- The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). See their ratings.
- Doctors Without Borders, aka (MSF, Médecins Sans Frontières). See their ratings.
3. Paypal payments in USD only.

ORDERING DETAILS:
1. To order, please leave a comment and spell out your email address (to avoid spam). I will contact you privately.
2. All orders will be sent via USPS Flat-rate boxes with tracking and insurance. I hold no responsibilities for lost packages.
3. Shipping fee varies.
- Domestic: Small ($6.80), Medium ($13.45), Large ($18.75).
- International: we'll work something out privately.
4. My home is smoke and pet-free.
5. My collection is housed in a wooden craft cabinet placed in a cool and dry corner of my bedroom.
6. All items will be sent in a cosmetic bag chosen at random.
7. Eyeshadow palettes and face powders are without applicators, brushes, or puffs. I use my own brushes and have long given away the others. If you need them, please indicate so and I'll include new/unused ones at random.

Let's get on to the good stuff. Click on images to zoom. Follow links for reviews and swatches.

Castledew Diacut Eyes 9 Colors Part IV

I've been collecting these Castledew Diacut Eyes 9 Colors for a long time so even though I wasn't too thrilled with the new BE906 Classic Gem, I picked it up anyway.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash, unless otherwise noted.

Castledew Diacut Eyes 9 Colors Part III

Wahoo, I finally got my grubby hands on the newest Castledew Diacut Eyes 9 Colors E907 Pure Angelism! I'm thrilled because not only this is a pressed powder palette, which I prefer over their baked ones, it has not 1, not 2, but 3 sparkly top washes! 

***Picture from VOV Korea.

The Castledew Diacut Eyes compact. Picture taken indoor with flash.

Castledew Diacut Eyes 9 Colors Part II

Now that the weather is warming up, I'm trading in the spring-y colors of the later Castledew Diacut Eyes 9 Colors palettes (E904 Romatic Garnet Dia, BE905 Blackish Smoky, and BE906 Airy Bloom Dia) for the warmer selections of the earlier ones. Order never really mattered to me anyway.  Here are BE901 Planet Diamond, E902 Planet Shine Star, and BE903 Shine Jewel Dia.

***Picture from VOV Korea.

All pictures are taken indoor with flash unless otherwise noted.

Castledew Diacut Eyes 9 Colors

Wow, I'm totally in love with these Castledew Diacut Eyes 9 Color palettes! They're absolutely stunning! These came out prior to the Diacut Eyes 6 Colors, so I've had them, or at least first 5 palettes, on hands for a while now but had been shying away from using them for the longest time. Having 9 colors in each palette just add up to too many color combos and that was jut too many decisions for me ^.^ But shy no more as I'm determined to try and wear every single color in each palette at least once. They're just too pretty for me to keep ignoring and now that I've used them, I can't wait to get my hands on that brand new palette #E907 Pure Angelism as well! Want!!!

Castledew Diacut Eyes 9 Colors

***Picture from VOV Korea.

Anyway, as mentioned before this line currently has up to 7 palettes, from 901 to 907, each consists of 3x3 square block powder shadows that are either baked into the same pan (BE901, BE903, BE905, and BE906) or pressed into 9 separate pans (E902, E904, and the newest E907). I am only reviewing 3 palettes today, the E904 Romatic Garnet Dia, BE905 Blackish Smoky, and BE906 Airy Bloom Dia as their overall color schemes seem most appropriate for the spring season with the few greens and blues. I usually avoid greens and blues for eye shadows as it is difficult for me to find the right shades of green and blue that would go well with my skin tone, but for some reason I was curious to try these ^.^ 

Pictures taken indoor with flash, unless otherwise noted.

Castledew Diacut Cheek Marble

While I was wavering back and forth on whether I should get the Castledew Diacut Cheek #902 Jewel Highlight, I spotted these Diacut Cheek Marbles and this decision was an easy one to make ^.^ There are only 2 varieties available for these so far, #1 Shine Dia and #2 Lovely Dia. I bought both of them, despite guessing they would both be baked and frosty again. I'm such a sucker -.-'

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.


Both of these come in the exact same pearly white compacts as the Diacut Cheek 9-Colors, and I was right again that they are baked. However, they have very different texture and finish than the Diacut Cheek 9-Colors. They feel softer and not as dry as baked powder would normally feel, which is interesting. Even more intriguing is that neither have any hint of metallicity in them! Instead, they both have a satiny pearl finish that gives a very gorgeous soft focus glow with some shimmers. Finally, these are scented, which is a huge departure from most baked product that has no fragrance at all. It's very mild, but is definitely a feminine powder scent which I don't mind but not exactly thrilled about. I just prefer my makeup to stay unscented in general, especially with face powders.

#1 Shine Dia and #2 Lovely Dia

Castledew Diacut Cheek Part II

This #902 Jewel Highlight is the second of the Castledew Diacut Cheek lineup that also includes #901 Planet Love Dia that I had review a couple of years ago. I actually held out on getting this highlighter for the longest time, a couple of years actually. I was thinking that if it is anything like the baked 9-colored #901 Planet Love Dia, all the color would be either metallic pearl or metallic, or a mix of both, and as a whole, it would be way too frosty for a highlighter. 

But in the end, I gave in :P I love the #901 Planet Love Dia, and I use it for both my cheeks as well as my eyes. So I figured if I can't use this #902 Jewel Highlight to, well, highlight, at least I can use it as eye shadows. Yes, all 9 colors are light and can only be used as base or highlighter, but I'd still rather have it than not.  

Castledew Diacut Cheek #902 Jewel Highlight. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Castledew Diacut Eyes 6 Colors

I've been drooling over (not on, mind you) these Castledew Diacut Eyes palettes for a long time, and only over the holidays did I have a chance to use them. There are a two "lines" of these Diacut Eyes palette, so to speak, and they are the 9 Colors and the 6 Colors. The Diacut Eyes 9 Colors line currently has up to 7 palettes, each consists of 3x3 square block powder shadows that are either baked into the same pan (901, 903, 905, ad 906) or pressed in to 9 separate pans (902, 904, and the newest 907). This line was introduced to the market earlier, sometimes in 2009 I think. The Diacut Eyes 6 Colors line was released about a year later and only has 2 palettes (M601-M602), each consists of 6 powder colors pressed into a cool geometric shape in the same pan. 

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

The Diacut Eyes 9 Colors, from left to right: 901 Planet Diamond, 902 Planet Shine Star, 903 Shine Jewel Dia, 904 Romantic Garnet Dia, 905 Blackish Smoky, 906 Airy Bloom Dia, and the newest 907 Pure Angelism. 

The Diacut Eyes 6 Colors: M601 Platina Shinism and M602 Sweet Dia.

***Pictures from VOV Korea. 

Castledew Diacut Cheek

I have been in love (well, more like in lust) with this Castledew Diacut Cheek #901 Planet Love Dia by VOV, a Korean brand, compact ever since I spotted it on this blog by an Austrian gal who is a major collector of Japanese and Korean-made makeup and skincare. The problem was that Gmarket doesn't work with my Mac so my only option left was Ebay. As you know, the Ebay price was most probably jacked up 2-3x fold so I ended up agonizing much over it for many many months before taking the plunge. And then after purchasing this compact, I stumbled upon another Ebay seller who offers other Diacut eye compacts, which are equally as darling, for much cheaper. Damn!