Opera Lip Tint and Lip Tint N Part V

Here's me trying to catch up with something I've long lost track of: my last Opera Lip Tint was five (yes, 5!) years ago! Which is to say it's been a few years now since I acquired and have been using the below lippies: the original Lip Tint LE 08 Burgundy Kiss, the newer Lip Tint N 09 Terracotta, 10 Bordeaux Brown, 11 Fig, and 12 Plum Pink, and Lip Tint N LE 103 Garnet Gem, 104 Clear Amethyst, 105 Lucent Red, 107 Orange Lily, and 203 Brown Fig. Quite a post I've been pickling in the draft folder, right?

Let's start with the original Lip Tint in the LE 08 Burgundy Kiss. I had my eye on this color since it was first released in 2018 (or 2019). However, at the time it was sold out everywhere and I could only find the LE 07 Pink Fraise released in the same collection. Then fast forward a couple of years, I stumbled upon this LE 08 Burgundy Kiss along with Opera Sheer Lip Color 204 Pure Coral and snatched them both up. 

Opera Sheer Lip Color 204 Pure Coral and Lip Tint LE 08 Burgundy Kiss. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Opera Sheer Lip Color Part II

This is the last post for the Opera Sheer Lip Color, as the product has been discontinued for a few years now. The color 204 Pure Coral was part of the permanent lineup revamped in the fall of 2016, combining the previous "Basic" and "Color" varieties of the original lineup. I suspect they recycled the color names too, because the old "Color" line also had a 104 Pure Coral. 

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Naturie Hatomugi Skin Conditioning Gel

Hubby's been working on this giant 180g tub of Naturie Hatomugi Skin Conditioning Gel for a looong time. He likes all-in-one products, and this fits the bill, being a gel that can be used in place of an emulsion/milk, serum/essence, moisturizer, mask, and even body lotion. That's probably why it's in such a big tub.

 

Opera Lip Tint Part III

Continuing with my fascination for Opera Lip Tint, here are 11 Cosmic Pink and 12 Glimmer Red. Both colors were released in late June of 2018 and were finally available online and not just at one flagship location in Omotesando--talk about pretentious!

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Opera Lip Tint Part II

This past spring, for Valentine's Day Opera released two limited edition Lip Tints 07 Pink Fraises and 08 Burgundy Kiss, and they made it available for just one weekend (or was it just one day?) and only at their Omotesando shop.

I was beyond frustrated. There's more to Japan than just Omotesando and this campaign snubbed the rest of the country, much less those abroad like me. But of course, exclusive campaigns like this work like a charm. I heard from fudejapan (not affiliated) these sold out the same day at the shop, with the rest being hawked on Amazon JP for unbelievable markups, think 7-8,000yen each (retail was 1,600yen!). Urgh. Forget it.

Then a couple of months later, Opera did it again, this time releasing limited editions 09 Sakura Petal and 10 Plum Pink. Interestingly enough, these didn't sell out as fast, which should have been my clue something was off. But nope, like an idiot I fell for it. I'd seen some online photos (when will I learn to stop trust online photos, goddammit!) and thought they were pretty.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Opera Lip Tint

I'd been eyeing these Opera Lip Tint for a long time, since their release in the fall of 2016 when I'd just moved home from Tokyo in fact. As it happened, they were sold out on Opera's official online shop for the longest time, until the summer of 2017, can you believe that? As soon as I saw them in stock again, I grabbed one of each color, 01 Red, 02 Pink, 03 Apricot, 04 Orange, 05 Coral Pink, and 06 Pink Red.

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Opera Sheer Lip Color

Back in the late spring, I saw an ad for these Opera Sheer Lip Color on the metro, and like an idiot I promptly went online and bought some to try.

Basic 01 Pure Red (white tube), and Color 101 Red and 104 Pure Coral (pink tubes). All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Naturie Coixseed Skin Conditioner

Been using this Naturie Hatomugi Coixseed Skin Conditioner after I ran out of the Rosette Soys Lotion a couple of months ago. I've never heard of the Naturie brand, but I have seen the miscellaneous Imju cosmetic and skincare items scattered here and there. 

Coixseed, also known as Job's Tears, is an edible a nutritious grain that counts natural jewelry beads among its various uses! How cool is that? I like this stuff and have eaten it aplenty in Cantonese tong sui (chè), sâm bổ lượng in particular. But to use a toner with its extract? Now that's new to me, and I'm all game! Not to mention this bottle of Naturie toner was dirt cheap, about 700yen for a whopping 500mL that will probably last me for freakin' ever! Of course I know being cheap means it's mostly alcohol and water, but then so is the more expensive stuff, no? :P