Josie Maran Live Color-fully Argan Oil Collection [Review]

This Live Color-fully Argan Oil Collection by Josie Maran Cosmetics is a limited edition set available exclusively at Sephora. For $38, you get a collection of Josie Maran products with a retail value of $59 if purchased separately.

The items are: Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee 2.7g (travel size, $13 if purchased on its own), Argan High Gloss Lip Quench 8ml (full size, $18), Argan Watercolor Eye Shadow 4.7ml (full size, $18) and Argan Black Oil Mascara 5ml (small size, approx $13.85).

Innisfree Shadow Pencil - Review & Swatches

With the exception of the white one on the left, these Innisfree Shadow Pencils were purchased recently from TesterKorea, at a 30% discount, making each pencil only 5,250 KRW (excluding shipping). Although it's unlikely that I'll use all of these colours, I got one of each anyway since they were so cheap.

I don't know why they have different packaging - some are plain, others have blue dots. Could be that they were manufactured on different dates.

Official swatches - these are rather accurate for the most part

Although I like that these pencils are easy to use (no sharpener required!), the package disguises the fact that there's not a lot of product (2.5g). They could really be made much smaller to save space.

They're very smooth to apply, which is good for the delicate area, but their staying power is a little too good; between swatches, I had to rub vigoriously with baby wipes to remove them from my arm.

Shades #1, #2, and #3 are sheer, shimmery and better suited for highlighting or layering.

I actually noticed the Shadow Pencil being used in episode 8 of this Korean Beauty Drama 달콤청춘 that I've been watching. This entire series is pretty much an advert for Innisfree, as the protagonist uses exclusively Innisfree products, but is still fun to watch for the odd skincare/makeup tip.

From left to right (names according to TesterKorea's website) - #1 Snow on the Branches, #2 Pink Aurora, #3 Sandy Beach

Left to right - #5 Milk Tea, #6 Beige, #7 Brown City, #8 Ocean Blue, #10 Starlight Grey

I left out #4 (peach/pink) and #9 (white/purple) because, unlike the others, these are "dual type" pencils that consist of two colours. You have the option to apply the colours on their own, or blend them together. 

Interesting concept, though I'd have preferred the colours in separate pencils.

#4 Cherry Blossoms

#9 Lavender - at first glance, the white half looks like #1 Snow on the Branches, but when swatched, you can see the difference. #1 is pure white, whereas the white part of #9 has a slight pink tone to it.

I 100% recommend picking up these eyeshadow pencils for their convenience and versatility, provided that you're able to get them for a good price of course!

RMK Spring 2010 - Spring Modern Eyes N and Nail Color N

I have never owned anything from the Japanese RMK. Although I'm aware they have a counter next to SUQQU in London's Selfridges, I get tunnel vision every time I'm in the beauty department and zoom straight to SUQQU, pretty much ignoring everything else. Once I'm done at SUQQU I usually leave with a bag of goodies and a little skip in my step on the way out, again not paying much attention to the other counters.

RMK's Spring 2010 collection, Spring Modern, features 5 eyeshadow palettes, 3 cheek color palettes, 3 lipstick shades and 4 nail colour shades.

I was fortunate enough to be sent a Spring Modern Eyes N 02 Moss Green and Nail Color N EX-28 Rose Pink to review ^_^

RMK Spring Modern Eyes N - 02 Moss Green
Comes in silver ultra reflective packaging (can even be used as a mirror) and contains 4 shimmery eyeshadow shades. I think this is the quad used on the model in the promotional pictures of the Spring Modern collection.

I haven't had a chance to play with this yet; I was already wearing my SUQQU Blend Eyeshadow EX-06 (see post below for my first attempt at EOTD) so will swatch/review over the weekend. The colours look very pretty and from what I can see the eyeshadows' textures are quality.

Packaging

With flash

No flash

Closeup without flash

RMK Nail Color N - EX-28 Rose Pink
The closest fuchsia shade to this I currently own is OPI I'm Indi-a Mood For Love, but OPI's is more vivid in comparison. I've applied this to my toes (my fingernails are occupied by SUQQU). It doesn't take ages to dry and is quite creamy so I only applied one coat. I'll post a picture of it during the day.

SUQQU Holiday 2009 Makeup Kits

As mentioned in my previous post, this review (amongst quite a few others) is long overdue so without further ado...

SUQQU's Christmas 2009 collection is Yukihana, which means snowflakes in Japanese. Both the palettes are decorated with snowflakes to fit in with the theme. The snowflakes on the eye palette are silver and ones on the lip palette are pale pink.


Holiday Makeup Kit A
This pretty makeup kit contains Eye Lucent EX-03 Yukigasumi, Blend Eyeshadow quad EX-06 Maiyuki and Original Pouch A (roomy chocolate brown makeup pouch with 4 inner pockets).

I really love the Eye Lucent; it's a very fine opalescent pink powder that comes with its own cute mini puff and can be used on eyes, cheeks and anywhere else you want to add a bit of shimmer. Really beautiful for a bit of extra sparkle when lightly sweeped over eyeshadow, and gives an awakening effect if used on the inner corners of eyes.

Swatching this was a bit tricky but you can see the shimmers here

The Blend Eyeshadow quad contains:
Bottom right - a pearly off white shimmery base to be used all over the lid
Bottom left - pigmented shimmery copper brown; this is the main/lining shade and I use it mostly along my top and bottom lashes
Top left - sheer pale mauve with very fine shimmers, used in the crease
Top right - medium taupe brown, I blend this on my top lid to add definition

On the whole this is a very wearable and versatile palette.

Swatches:

I think SUQQU makes the highest quality eyeshadows that I've tried so far; their ultra smooth textures blend effortlessly and stay all day without creasing. All shadows in EX-06 Maiyuki have a pearly/shimmery finish but I don't mind because I prefer shimmery shadows over matte ones.

This is the first Blend Eyeshadow quad in my collection and as much as I adore it, I don't plan on collecting them all. Then again because this is SUQQU I'll probably be persuaded otherwise ¬_¬


Holiday Makeup Kit B
This kit was sent to me to review by SUQQU; it was actually sent before the holidays but as I was away I missed the delivery and couldn't pick it up till I returned.

Makeup Kit B contains Gloss & Lip Color Palette EX-02 Yukiiro, Nail Color EX-25 and a shimmery lilac makeup pouch with detachable wrist strap.

I'm not usually much of a nail polish fan and only really wear it on my toes, however this sheer iridescent pink Nail Color in EX-25 really took me by surprise as it's different to the various shades of bright pink polish I own. I can wear it on my fingernails without it being too obvious.

Up close swatch which shows the multi coloured pink sparkles

Although I liked the lip products used on me at my makeover, I decided not to purchase Makeup Kit B as I felt two of the lip colours in the palette were too dark for my liking.

All the lip colours are wearable, but my favourites are top left (pretty shimmery lip gloss similar to the nail polish) and bottom right (pinkish red which gives a "my lips but better" effect). I like to layer the gloss over the lip colour as I'm not really one for lipsticks.

Swatches on my arm:

The lip colours & gloss have decent staying power and don't dry out my lips, but I like to use a balm underneath anyway to keep my lips extra hydrated.

The only minor gripe I have with the palettes is that their dark shiny reflective cases are major magnets for fingerprints (same goes for all SUQQU makeup actually) so I'm always having to wipe clean.

Both kits were still available for purchase at Selfridges when I visited SUQQU just over a week ago. Needless to say I took the opportunity to pick out a few more items...

banila co eyeshadow palette swatches - Gossip Girl, S Night Standing & Deep The Night

I did plan to do this banila co review of their eyeshadow palettes last week, but somehow ended up being busy. I'm putting them all together for now, but if it looks like too much to digest I'll split it into 3 posts. Anyway, here are my thoughts!

Palette stacking!

Gossip Girl Multi Palette S01
I think this was released around spring this year and consists of a blusher, 3 eyeshadows and a soft brush. The 3 eye colours can be used to create a soft girly look.


Texture is silky with decent (and buildable) pigment, and the shadows all have a pearly finish. Although they don't crease thoughout the day, I do find that the colour fades a bit.

The blush is a soft pink which blends very nicely. It's a tiny bit on the light side (would be better if it was slightly warmer) for me as it's medium pigmented, but it still works.

Purchased from Gmarket for 22,000KRW (around $19 currently), but a few days later it went on sale at half price. Typical!

S Night Standing Palette Shadow S03
One of banila co's summer releases - I have no idea what "S night standing" is supposed to mean though...


Contains 6 eyeshadows in a pretty star decorated metal case with a dual ended sponge applicator (nothing spectacular there). Out of the 3 palettes this is probably my favourite case - as much as I love pink, I'm just not a huge fan of those random bubbles on the Gossip Girl palette.

All eyeshadows have a bit of shimmer but not glittery. You can create different looks using different colour combinations, which is always versatile. Some of the colours are more pigmented - such as the gorgeous metallic bronze on the left and some lean towards the sheer side, but all are smooth and blend easily.

Deep The Night Multi Eye Kit F05
The most recent banila co eyeshadow palette; has 5 eyeshadows and a cream liner. The box is very pretty but the case is just a deep purple with sparkles (like the background in the pic below).

There's a dual ended applicator with sponge for shadow application & smudging, and an eyeliner brush. This is obviously more of night time palette, but could be used during the day too since some shadows are quite sheer despite appearing pigmented in the palette. I really like this palette in particular, as all the colours go so well together.

None of the eyeshadows are matte and they all have either a metallic sheen or some shimmer - I actually prefer this, but I guess not everyone does. The cream eyeliner (far right) has some shimmer too, but it's only noticeable if you look really closely.

I think at 22,000KRW each, these palettes are excellent value for money and totally worth picking up if you don't already own similar colours. The quality is definitely there as the shadows are silky, blendable, smooth and don't crease too much, but I have noticed some colour fading both with and without primer.

Note: due to the closeup angles the photos were taken, the palettes may seem bigger than they actually are. They measure approximately 9cm x 5.5cm x 1cm.

I purchased all palettes from the same Gmarket seller 바닐라코 (official banila co distributor I believe).