Golden browns: Kose Addiction Dolce Vita & Kanebo Kate Dual Eyes BR-1

I have been craving a beautiful golden brown colour for a while. In search for perfection for that smooth eyeshadow that looks deep but natural on my eyelids, I have been buying some new colours....

After being not to happy about my Rouge Bunny Rouge purchase, my obsession just grew bigger and bigger in order to really find an eyeshadow that would fit me. So addiction and a good eyeshadowy texture brought me to.......Addiction....Kose Addiction.

I have been quite happy about my previous two Addiction colours I bought. Those two were actually in the metallic formula, ME. I wondered it the pearl (P) formula would be just a superior.

We all know that those online charts that the cosmetic company puts online can be somewhat or totally unrepresentative of the actual colour you will get. Luckily, I found that Lokolo had some good pictures of swatches of most of the Addiction eyeshadows. You can see them over here

I found three colours to be incredibly beautiful Keshil,  Fudge and Dolce Vita. Keshil is a darkened grey with a teal/silvery/blue lustre. I was craving the browner colours, so that left me with Fudge and Dolce Vita. I opted for Dolce Vita as it looked like the subtler one of the two.

Well, as you can see from the pan, it is a brown with a tiny bit of redness and some golden shimmer.

Before I continue, I will go to look at the Kanebo Kate Dual Eyes first....

Kate is my favourite of the Kanebo line. I love the personality behind the brand, as it is a bit less kawaii and more sharp and edgy than its sister Lavshuca, and not as pricy as the other sister Lunasol. Often, the pigment of the eyeshadows are good and buttery, and are suitable for adult eyes.

And after Kathy from Lotuspalace gave the heads up on the latest Fall addition, I almost did not hesitate to go for another golden brownish colour.

The packaging is simple and a bit on the cheaper side. Lunasol  makes more glam and luxurious eyeshadows, however, I find the pigment to be lacking depth oftenly.

The lighter, highlight side is bigger than the deeper, brown side. I find this a bit of a pity.

Swatches! from both the Kose Addiction Dolce Vita as the Kanebo Kate Dual eyes BR-1

First, the Kose Addiction:
I think the colour is absolutely beautiful. The colour is a toasted golden brown and has almost a hint of green in a certain angle. The golden shimmer makes the colour come to live on the eyelids, thus has a quality that almost looks natural.

However, I am a bit dissapointed of the texture, especially compared to the Neverland and Flashback eyeshadows I already have. I could not really blend it easily after it had been applied, so it looked a bit of stark on the eyes. I don't know, it looked like a cheaper brand eyeshadow. Not the usual quality I am used of when wearing their ME Neverland or Flashback.

So, I will stick to the ME versions from now on, or just continue to be happy with the two ME shadows I already have. (Oh, I still might want to buy Keshil in the future)

That is why I swatched it next to the Kate Kanebo Dual blend- the brown colour. First, ofcourse you see the difference in colour: a brown is not just a brown! But as makeup lovers, we all know that ;D.

That is why I am giving a partial heads up to the Kate Dual Blend eyeshadow duo as well. Look at the swatch! It has that velvet lustre that makes it look good on the eyes. Compared to Dolce Vita, it has lustre instead of sparkles. It is a velvety colour that is pigmented from the first application. Further more, you can blend it easily without it feeling 'caked on'.

I said I gave the Kate a partial heads up. Why? As a Duo, the partner is not really as strong and as vivid as its browner mate. The beigy colour is simply a bit too light, too unpigmented. You can see that on the swatch as well.

I do not find this too much of a hindrance. I like the highlighter colour to be as subtle as possible. However, if you like your beigy highlighter to be pigmented you will not really like that side of the duo.

In Kanebo's Kate case, that is not so bad, because I paid $12 for it on Adambeauty.

I purchased Kose Addiction Dolce Vita  for ¥3150 (about $36) on ichibankao.com.