'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.

Kate Goldish Eyes

I wasn't too interested when these Kate Goldish Eyes first came out. Each quad has just one dark color that's the liner color, the other 3 include a base/highlighter, a sparkly all over lid color that's still very light, and an even sparklier top wash. I love my sparklies but I still need some color to work with here :(

The original lineup has only 4 colors: BU-1, GD-1, PK-1, and WT-1. Of these, only GD-1 looks like it has any color at all while the WT-1 is pretty much a bust all around for me. Then this summer they added GD-2 to the mix, which looked interesting, so I caved and picked up both GD-1 and GD 2. 

Kate Goldish Eyes GD-1 (top row) and GD-2 (bottom row). All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Kate Jewel Mode Eyes

Taiwanese drugstores got me again with these Kate Jewel Mode Eyes, in the same manner they did with Kate Wide Edge Eyes. There are 6 variations available: BR-1, BR-2, BU-1, GN-1, GY-1, and PK-1, and I went home with all 6 -.-' 

I like these palettes a lot, but by no means they're perfect. First off, the lightest shade is a sparkly top wash, which you can use as base and to highlight if you don't mind the sheerness and sparkliness. I just use a separate base/highlighting shade which I have a gazillion of so this lack of base/highlight color doesn't bother me. Secondly, despite appearing shimmery in the product photos below the liner shades are semi-matte base with sparse and scattered "floating" shimmers. The only exception is the liner shade in BU-1. Again, this doesn't bother me too much as they're liner shades, but if you plan to use them on the crease, they may give that charcoal pencil finish instead of a luminous one. Finally, while the medium shades are soft and smooth the sparkly top wash as well as the liner shades feel drier than most Japanese eyeshadows I own.

Left to right, top to bottom: BR-1, BR-2, BU-1, GN-1, GY-1, and PK-1. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Kate Wide Edge Eyes

Happy hearts day!

Picked up these Kate Wide Edge Eyes at Watsons while I was still in Taipei. I started out having no lemmings for them whatsoever, but after visiting the store so often and walking by their display every single time, I just threw my hands up one day and bought them. Yup, that's how they get you. At least that was how they got me ^.^' Of course it made it all the more tempting when there was always some sort of promotion going on, and that was in addition to the majority of Japanese makeup items going for about 15-20% cheaper than Japanese retail. I ended up coming home with quite a haul, and that was after exercising enormous restraint. Ha... 

From left to right: Kate Wide Edge Eyes in BR-2, BR-3, and PU-1. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Kate Metallic Eyes Limited Edition

So I went back and got the Kate Metallic Eyes Limited Editions despite being on the fence about them. The color scheme for BR-1 Gold Brown Variation and BR-2 Pink Brown Variation look too similar to the Lavshuca Star Decoration Eyes Limited Edition Sets. Then again, I figured I love the Lavshuca palettes and since those colors work so well for me, I shouldn't mind having more ^.^

BR-1 Gold Brown Variation and BR-2 Pink Brown Variation. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Kate Dual Blend Eyes

These Dual Blend Eyes are the successor to Kate Dual Carats, and they're way better and cooler if you ask me, at least in concept. Where as the Dual Carats are 2 eye shadows in 2 separate pans, these Dual Blend Eyes have 2 shades in the same pan with a half length separator, leaving a "blend zone" in the middle where the 2 eye shadows meet. The point is that you're supposed to blend this base/highlighter and the darker color that can be used to as a liner shade to create a gradient medium crease shade. 

All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

Kate Dual Carat

I had these Kate Dual Carats on hand for the longest time but have only been using them recently. There were quite a few color combinations for these duos available back then, but I bought only 8, skipping the ones I thought I wouldn't like. Looking back now I wish I hadn't skipped them, especially that PU-1 purple combo. Oh well...

Texture wise these are smooth and blend well, though with some inconsistency in pigmentation. The finish is sparkly of course ^.^, though there are variations here too. Some colors have more shimmers than others, some are sparkly top washes even and aren't meant to be used all over the lids. I have experienced some shimmer fall outs from the sparklier colors, especially the top washes, but otherwise no fall outs from the others. They last for several hours on me before creasing, however for some reason they crease within 30 minutes when I use Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Youth Eye Creme underneath my sunscreen. Something in the Estee Lauder eye cream just breaks down both these eye shadows as well as my sunscreen like nobody's business.

Kate Dual Carats in BK-1 and BR-1. All pictures taken indoor with flash, unless otherwise noted.

BR-2 and BR-3

GD-1 and GD-2

SV-2 and WT-1

Kate Diamond Cut Eyes

While digging out the Makemania Sparkle Glitter Eye Shadows to go with my new love Kiss Kiss My Eyes Glamorize Shadows, I stumbled onto these 2 limited editions of Kate Diamond Cut Eyes that I never got around to use! They are the only Diamond Cut Eyes I own and this line is now discontinued, with very few available on E(vil)bay.

GD-1 Gold Diamond. All pictures taken indoor with flash unless otherwise noted.


BK-2 Dark Diamond

KATE Powder Gel Liner

I have had this Kate Powder Gel Liner for a while now too but haven't had the chance to use it at all. I prefer my makeup sheer, and when I do line my eyes, I line it with powder for a sheerer and smudgy effect. With gel/cream liners like these, I save for "special occasions" where my makeup needs to be more on the "dramatic" side. Then again, these "special occasions" rarely, if ever, come around (yeah, sad, *sniff*), so items like these in my cabinet never gets to see the light of day.

All pictures taken indoor with flash.

KATE Loose Eye Shadow

After Victoria's Secret terribly disappointed me with their false claim of nonexistent "High Sparkle," I feel I must introduce their Beauty Rush Sparkling Shadow to its conqueror: VS, meet KATE Loose Eye Shadow. I hope you will be acquainted and learn to sparkle a little more from her.

Of course, I must be fair to at least acknowledge that sparkles are not something many non-Japanese eye shadows care for so much because, I suppose, their target market aren't really into sparkles in general. The Japanese made eye shadows, however, do some serious sparkling business, and I absolutely love what they do. There's a huge difference, literally, between sparkles and gawdy glitters, at least to me. There are my T'estimo eye shadows, which are extremely sparkly but at the same time silky smooth, blendable, not chunky, chalky, or over the top. I would wear eye shadows like that anytime, day or night. And then there are clumpy eye shadow with gawdy chunks of glitter. For the tweeny boppers, may be, but not for me. And admittedly, some people rock those looks, but not me. I'd get snickered at for trying too hard if I can even bring myself to try it to begin with.



So where in the spectrum of Sparkles vs. Glitters does Kate Loose Eye Shadow fall? Somewhere in the middle, but more towards the sparkles side. I am only reviewing the color GD-1 today.



- GD-1: metallic, completely translucent yellow gold sparkles. Imagine very finely milled metallic gold glitters, and that's what Kate Loose Eye Shadow GD-1 is. It is intensely sparkly but is a tad coarser than the usual silky smooth sparkly eye shadow. That said, the shadow is not thick and chunky at all and therefore can't really be called glitter, so that's why it's somewhere in the middle of the Sparkles vs. Glitters spectrum, leaning more towards Sparkles. Did I mention it is intensely sparkly? It is, and being completely translucent, press this loose shadow on top of any eye shadow to warm it up and add instant gold diamond-like sparkles. Wow.

Kanebo Brands

Some well known Kanebo brands are: T'estimo, Kate, Revue, Lavshuca, and Lunasol. There are many others, of course, but I haven't tried them so I will not list.

See a complete listing of all Kanebo brands (in Japanese).

CURRENTLY USING (in conjunction with others)

T'estimo
The beginning of it all for me! I was browsing through the cosmetic store at a local mall when the individual eye shadow refills caught my eyes. They are just so darn cute in clear square cases, and they come in the most adorable colors ever! The relentless TV commercials don't help either. After seeing them for a gazillion times I was brainwashed and, well, the rest is history.

Blushes and eye shadows from this mid-end brand are absolutely marvelous! Many people like its lip products as well. I heard it had a rough start, but it definitely has gotten better with time. Now its most popular items are the eye palettes and the unveiling of each seasonal collection would generate much enthusiasm (mine, at least)! Will post individual reviews later.

Unfortunately, however, the brand is also being discontinued. Much like PN, it is slowly being phased out to be replaced by a new brand called Coffret D'Or, which, in my opinion, is a HUGE disappointment. Urgh. I can't believe they're going to do away with my beloved T'estimo for that crap. What the hell are they thinking? Grr...

A glimpse of the soon-to-be-launched Coffret D'Or. *Yawn* Wake me up when they get their shits together...



***Pictures from this Taiwanese blog.

Kate
The trump factor to Majolica Majorca and the most popular drug store brand in Japan, hands down. Liquid foundations from this brand is amazing, the best I've ever come across! And I don't even like foundations! Will post review later. Its eye shadows and eye palettes are extremely popular as well. I haven't tried any, though, as their color families haven't really captured my interest.

WILL TRY SOON

Revue
A mid-end brand featuring only base color products as Kanebo is famous for its superior foundations. A recent Revue release, the Essence in Moisture Liquid Foundation, has gathered some stellar reviews. See Rouge Deluxe's article on Voce A/W Liquid & Cream Foundations Survey. Will post review after a good trial.

Lavshuca
Another mid-end brand with uniquely feminine packaging and excellent quality. That very aspect, however, puts me off, as it comes across a little too princess-y. Think toy-make up for Disney fantasy devotees. No thanks. I would like to get my hands on one of their discontinued blushes, however. That is, if I could. We'll see about that.