Kanebo Lunasol spring 2011 Shading Cheeks 01 Natural Beige

 When Lunasol released the promotion images of the spring 2011 line, I was quite sure I wanted one of their adorable palettes. Well, you know I already bought the super-gorgeous 05 Colorful ocean. So I decided to go for something in their Base Makeup line.

I have been on the lookout for a really suitable shader/bronzer for a while. There are plenty of products available in the standard/Western cosmetic lines, for example Illamasqua and Mac, but I often find myself overdoing these products and looking a bit too 80s sculped instead of optically enhanced. Also, paler skintones have more difficulty finding a believable shader/bronzer that is not too dark or pigmented

After seeing pictures of Lunasol's older version of the Modelling version EX 1 in modeling Bronze, I was quite convinced that Lunasol could offer the right dose of pigment and colour. Still, when I saw that Lunasol released a new version of a shading powder in their spring 2011 line, I know I had to try that one.

I had been looking for swatch-pictures before I bought it. Yuki's lazy channel had most swatch pictures up of the Lunasol 2011 line, however, she had not swatched the bronzing powder (neither the two highlighting powders). I liked it even without seeing the swatch pictures, because the colours looked suitable enough for N 15/20/25 type of skin-colour. Plus, I saw a tiny shimmer in the pan that I liked. I believe a bronzer should neither be too matte (because healthy skin does not look flat and matte either) nor to shimmery.

I was absolutely delighted when it arrived. The colours looked suitable and has that tiny shimmer that makes the skin look healthy and slightly glowing. Click on the picture for a close up, and you will see the shimmer.

Lunasol spring 2011 Shading Cheeks 01 Natural Beige (natural light)

I was cheapskate enough to buy the bronzer only (without the palette). I just put it in another Lunasol palette that I had around.

Lunasol spring 2011 Shading Cheeks 01 Natural Beige

Now I understand why Yuki did not make any swatch pictures, because it is terribly difficult to make pictures of the colour differences. Well, my photo making qualities are not too impressive either ;) but the only colour really visible is the one that is on the right.

You can see them a bit better on a piece of white paper.

Lunasol Shading Cheeks 01 Natural Beige- swatch

Although they are not that visible on the skin, that actually makes it quite believable as a shader/bronzer. When you blend the three of them together, you get that tiny bit of warm shader colour that makes it suitable for shading or bronzing purposes.

It is wonderfully suitable for people who are not trained makeup-artists or quite skilled with makeup. The pigmentation is light enough to apply without overdoing it. And, as I said before, it is visible (although subtily) on N 15/20/25 skin. I am not sure how it would look on darker skintones, though. It will probably be too light.

The colours are on the warmer side, so skintones that are really cool might opt for a cooler tone with a more taupe-like colour.

(oh, bought mine @ adambeauty again, but unfortunately they are out of stock. Other options are gooddealer.com  , bobodave.com or ichibankao.com)