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.

Glossy posse: Kanebo Lavshuca Balloon RD-1

Today I would like to take a closer look to one of my newest lipglosses. I absolutely have no shortage in lipglosses, and I even doubt if I have ever finished a lipgloss entirely. Still, these glossy babies tempt me to reach for my credit card, especially when they promise me my-lips- but-better glow.

Kanebo's little sister Lavshuca is consequent in releasing regular collections throughout the seasons, and they often have a new formula of an eye or lip-product in their new line up. Their Balloon line had a couple of natural shades that the Japanese cosmetic makers are often so skillful of. The name Balloon also sounds tempting for the volume-challenged pucker that I have.

The gloss comes in a neutral, partly see-through box. The colour and number is written down on the sides of the box.

The gloss looks like a pen in its size. The application system is quite new. You have to press a button on the side, and eventually, some lipgloss will appear out of the plastic tube. It took me lots of patience and clicking before any gloss came out. I am not sure if you have to press in the button for the whole time, or click rhythmically.

It works quite differently than another penlike system I have from Integrate (beneath the next picture), which is an easy twist-and-gloss tube.

The colour was, although it looks quite rosy in the picture, a bit too brown for me. I also found it a bit too sticky for my liking. Normally that would not be the biggest problem for me, as I like the sticky Mac Lipglass as well. But in this case I found that the pigment did not spread evenly because of the stickiness. It resulted in an uneven coat of lipgloss and colour on my mouth.

My lips did not ballooned into huge porportions either. I could not detect any plumping effects. It functions, in my opinion, just as the standard lipgloss as far as volumizing the pout.

So I would like to compare the size with my Shiseido Integrate Soft Jelly Rouge in PK 702. The Integrate is the top one; the Lavshuca balloon is on the bottom. Obviously, the Lavshuca is the one in a thinner pen.

I prefer the Integrate over the Lavshuca, as Integrate is non-sticky and spreads the pigment out easily and equally. Nevertheless, the colour can be a bit too cool, sometimes. The swatch picture next shows the Integrate on the left and the browner Lavshuca on the right. Both have these lovely sparkles that are subtle enough for the more mature woman.

So I did my customizing blending of the two, and concocted the perfect MLBB (my lips but better) gloss. As far as the stickiness, now it is just a tad sticky. Together, they are a wonderful match.

That saved my glossy posse for today...

For a more positive review on the Kanebo Lavshuca Balloon lipgloss and more swatches of different colours, check out Lotuspalace.

Winner "Back to School"-giveaway

Gosh, I was not able to post the winner at exactly GMT+1 at 13.00, but I saw that the last post has been yesterday so I hope it will be ok that I drew the winner a bit later.

The great winner is no 21: and that is ti-amo!

Congratulations ti-amo! You have won a couple of fabulous back-to-school pretty products! I will contact you directly after posting this post...

Kanebo Lavshuca Dual Eyes in PU-2 (and Kate Diamond Cut PU-1)

Most cosmetic brands have been releasing their colour collection of the Autumn 2009 season around this moment. With the release of the latest colours of the Autumnal season, I was drawn to a couple of purple shades from Japanese brands. I had already purchased the latest Kanebo Kate Diamond Cut eyes in PU-1 (which I haven't swatched yet...ooops, I will show you the swatches at the end of the post).

I was still curious for the latest release of Lavshuca's Dual Eyes in a new duo of purples, even though I have my modest share of purple eyeshadows now. After being on a buy-diet for a while, I though it would be ok to purchase this duo of eyeshadows...

Ohh, I still adore the promo-picture of Paul & Joe's spring line of base products. I would almost get bangs in order to look like that stunning girl, however, bangs and me are not the best combination.

Kelly from ichibankao also included these samples of Esprique Precious lipglosses. That is so nice, because I merely ordered a the eyeshadow palette. I am wearing the reddish nude colour (right on the card) now, and it is slightly sticky and quite pigmented for a Japanese lipgloss. I already like this shade, pigmentation and texture.

Back to the real deal of this post...my precious new duo palette. Lavshuca does not have the most expensive packaging (a euphinism for a cheap looking box) but I love the girly shapes of the little palette.

Inside is a shimmery composition of two colours...a lighter colour in a whitish lavender shade and a deep cooler purple colour, which mixes amethyst with purple.

Yikes, there is my lizardy skin again (yes, I radiate self-confidence ;p). I think my skin would be the nightmare of any Japanese girl and I think, if I would ever visit Japan, I would wear skyscraper heels in order to be really tall and not let the persons with perfect complexions watch my skin. (boohoo, and I take such good care of it)

On the other hand, with my imperfect skin it is great to see how the pigmentation of the Lavshuca duo works on the more mature eyes. The first swatches were taken in direct sunlight and the next swatch in indirect light (still sunny).

The deeper colour is, in my opinion, incredibly pigmented and buttery. I love this colour so much and it would make such a wonderful crease and liner colour, or over the whole moving eyelid for kapow-smokey eyes.

The lighter colour is not a me-colour. It can look good in a blended manner, but it would look to grandma-esque on me. The pigmentation is also a lot lighter...unfortunately.

Another lovely purple palette I bought from Kanebo Kate is the new PU-1 of the Diamond Cut Eyes.

If you love cooler purples, like I do, you will only get 2 of the 5 colours that would be something of your liking.

It costed me about $20, which gives me two stunning purples and one workeable white shade (in the right upper corner). Glittery fans will love the Diamond part of it (wavy in the palette, on the left upper side), however, they will be useless IMO.

I like the pigmentation of the Kate Kanebo light purple and the darker purple, however, I think Lavshuca looks better on, pigmentation-wise. On the other hand, I prefer the colour scheme of the Kate colours.

Those were my swatches of a couple of the latest Kanebo Kate and Lavshuca purples.

How do my dear readers feel about the fall collections of the Japanese brands, or the Western brands? Have you found your HG product in these collections, or do you prefer the collection of a particular brand from another season or year?

Back to School giveaway

It is time for a new giveaway.

I am not the kind of person to break any promises, and I had promised the readers of this blog a 'Back to School' giveaway. And no, this giveaway is not limited to the school-ster only, it applies for everybody who has once been at a school/college/university and recognizes the feeling that comes with returning or going to school for the first time.

This might vary from having a feeling of anticipation, others are reluctant, some are exited and some even are afraid of going back to school. Others have nostalgic feelings of how their mother brought them to school, some feel attached to how they went to secundary school for the first time, and some think of the smell of chalkboard and dust (nowadays that would be the scent of computers and the typing board).

Enough about that...lets discuss the prices you can win.

1. Paul & Joe summer 2009 Gold bronzer in 01 Deity (post here). Very pretty, I only tested it once for the blog and to swatch it for the blog. I like it, but other bronzers work better from me.

2. China Glaze Nailpolish in Strawberry Fields. Brand new, I just ordered two of them instead of one.

3. Becca Beach Tint in Raspberry Summer 2009 edition, that is Australian summer (which is during the december/januari months). I swatched it for the blog (post here) and used it another time, however, I wanted to love it so much but it is just not the kind of colour that flatters me. Very hygienic tube.

4. Marbled (baked) blush from Second Love in Sunset.

5. Manglaze Nailpolish in Fuggen Ugly.Matte nailpolish is the next best thing in nailpolish next season. Manglaze has been a trendsetter since 2007 so you will get the original of matte polish in a slate grey colour.(more info over here and here)

6. Theme fragances in Sarong...roller. It is a summery scent but in a neutral setting, combining coconut notes with vanilla laced through. It is one of themefragances.etsy.com most popular fragances. Perfect for maintaining the summery and carefree spirit even when you are behind your desk during the blurry fall season.

Those are the deals...these are the rules (ok ok, not strictly rules, but the guidelines):

1. become a follower of my blog, or leave your email behind in the comment (if you feel safe about it). I do not want followers just for the giveaway, so you can join even if you do not follow my blog. I just want to contact the right winner when the winner has been drawn.

2. I am all about anecdotes, so tell me the story that sums up the feeling of back-to-school for you. If it is too traumatic you can tell me anything else...just post it under no 2.

3. Contest ends on Thursday, 17 September 2009, 1 PM European standard time, GMT +1)

4. Winner will be announced in a new post after random selection by random.org

5. Please contact me with 3 days to claim your prize or another winner will be selected!
Prize will be shipped by airmail WORLDWIDE within 3 business days after winner contacts me!
I am looking forward to your story in the comments!

Good luck and I hope you will have fun participating!!!!

New season...lovely accessories

Seasons come and go...Although I have been enjoying the summer period, I also think it is wonderful to be able to wear those autumny hues again.

As most girls, I am always on the lookout for a fabulous bag that adornes my shoulder. I have been checking various items on etsy.com lately, and I think I really like this bag. (on etsy over here)

It is made of faux-leather, has sophisticated design on the outside, but a feisty leopard print on the inside.

Ohh, and etsy always has a load of steampunk items. I had no idea what Steampunk was, until I saw some items on etsy.

Often I find Steampunk items to be really wonderful and technical, but I am not too fond of the silver aspects. This steampunk piece has a load of beautiful autumny colours. (find it over here)

I really like this piece, but it would be too expensive for me ($169.00). Perhaps I could make something similar if I find some steampunk-esque elements.

I love hair-pieces. This whimsical piece is so fairy-like...It is also being called Woodland Elf.

The warmer colours of the flowers are lovely and the berries give it a feeling of nature.

I could make a longer list of things I admire, however, I think these are such wonderful and rather unique items.

Etsy inspiration: Fall 2009 Fashionistas

Normally I browse the etsy site for cute and small things that are affordable and handy. But etsy is such a place for everybody who has a creative edge (or a good eye for vintage finds) that I could not help checking out some fashionable items as well.

Yes yes, I have been influenced by the latest heap of Glossy magazines that are chockfull of the 'IT' trends of Autumn 2009. It seems like summer has hardly started, and we are already looking at the things to wear for Autumn.

Anyway, I found some gorgeous and somewhat extravagant things that are absolutely lust-worthy.

Nostalgia's Fierce Fashion Scarf (or, a little bit of everything attached to your scarf)

I like this girl: she is normal, fierce and makes some wickedly fun creations. This scarf is everything wrapped in one, you can wear it in several different ways, and still affordable ($40).

Iheartnorwegianwood's cage skirt has been featured on various fashionista-blogs already. But it looks like so much fun! I love her Fringe necklace as well: it updates your ol' t-shirt and gives it a dash of A/W 2009 without investing too much $$ in it.

I have become slightly in love with these Tinkerbell ballet flats from spirocreations. Dainty shoes with a LAAAARGE pop of yellow colour.


They do not come that cheap ($140), but you will not be the average girl wearing Birkinstocks for sure.

attilladesign makes some awesome creations. I love her Mixed Media Indigo Blues reversible Choo Choo mad House Vest

And her Belle Epoque Bambi dress

Mmm, I found my imaginary, lust-have scarf, skirt, dress, vest, necklace and shoes...now I need the bag.

This one looks cute, original and is affordable ($55): the Dogwood Ruffle Bag from SweetgumHandbags.

And so I will dream on about cute, fashionable thingies for next Autumn/Winter 2009...only if the creditcard would be as willing as well...;D