Kose Visee Glam Nude Eyes N-2 Brown-Beige and N-5 Smoky-Beige review/ swatches

I've been really slow with color makeup reviews since it requires so many more photos and good lightings for swatches, but here it is finally! Again these are purchased during my holiday in Japan last year, "Kose Visee Glam Nude Eyes" eyeshadow palettes. 

I purchased shades "N-2" which is "Brown-Beige" and N-5 which is "Smoky Beige"

N2 on left and N5 on the right. The compacts are brown plastic with nice wavy designs on surface, there's no mirror inside, however I like the clear window which shows you exactly the shades in the palettes. They retail for 1800 Yen full RRP but you can find them in Japanese drugstores for 30% off RRP quite often, which translates to just 15-16USD per palette.

Back of compacts:

Packaging:

There are some basic instructions behind with recommended application techniques. 

Basically shade A is top right corner color, shade B is top left hand corner, (basically anti-clockwise), shade C is left middle, shade D is bottom middle, shade E is right bottom corner.

Again, N2 Beige Brown on left and N5 Smoky Beige on right.

N2 Brown Beige swatches below:

Swathced from left to right A,B,C,D,E (anti clockwise from top right corner)

A is a dry-ish cream base shade, it feels a bit slippery but still dry to touch. It's meant to be an eye primer. It's a very light vanilla beige. You can see it blends into my skin quite well with just a sheen left behind.

B is a shimmery beige, a tiny bit darker than A but still quite light. 

C is a medium brown wheat shimmer shade, it's a warm shade but not overall warm as to turn red on the eyes, it's almost a brown with a tiny touch of plum.

D is a chocolate brown shimmer, it's just dark enough to be used as a liner, but sometimes I still use a separate dark brown liner to give more depth. It is certainly dark enough for a more dramatic crease shade.

E is meant to be a sheer pale beige shimmer that you "dot" in the middle of the eye to add some dimension and sparkle. It is more shimmery than other shades but essentially it's shimmers and does not have too much base color.

Here's what the palette looks after a few uses already- it is not super soft or loosely pressed so it doesn't "dent" that easily compared to like some of the Majolica Majorca eyeshadow palettes.

N-5 Smoky Beige below:

Again from left to right, shades A B C D E:

A is again an eye primer shade, it has a light sheen which just brightens the eye area a bit.

B is a neutral beige-brown shimmer. It's brown enough and not really 'gold'.

C is a brown taupe, neutral or slightly cool toned.

D is a greyed-black shimmer, the shimmers seem more sparkly and slightly larger compared to other shades.

E is again a sheer sparkly shade to be pressed in the middle of the eye after all other colors.

N2 on left and N5 on right:


N2 on top row, N5 on bottom row.

The N5 "A" shade is more pronounced than N2 and for me it felt a bit more slippery and smoother to touch. N5's A shade has more sheen to it.

N2's B shade is more flesh toned beige while N5's B shade is more browned.

Comparatively N2's C shade is warmer and almost seem a bit redder compared to N5's C shade which is more true taupe.
Shade D between the two are quite different, N2 has a true chocolate brown liner shade while D has a smoky grey black shade and certainly darker.

Shade E in N2 is just a touch pinker than shade E in N5 which is more silvery.

Another angle- left column is N5 and right column is N2.

Overall I LOVE these palettes- for a tiny 15-16USD each they are as good as many other high end Japanese brand eyeshadows I've tried. They have a nice texture that doesn't have much fall-out issues, they are so versatile for everyday use, between these two palettes you are quite complete with all neutral brown based shades. 

I'm now really tempted to collect all the other shades in the collection- the Glam Nude eyes are really worth trying. They have a buildable coverage and medium pigmentation (apart from shade A and E which are meant to be base or topping shades and they don't meant to have much pigmentation), I know a lot of people dislike Japanese eyeshadows since they are generally a bit more sheer compared to like MAC, but I love the versatility of these since I can do a total 'nude' no-makeup look eyes or a more dramatic smoky brown.

They are easy to use on the go, there's a dual ended applicator (1 brush side and 1 sponge side), between this and my fingers I can do my eye makeup for everyday office in about 2 minutes.

Apart from shade E which I certainly don't need both shades of, the rest are all well worthwhile.

5 out of 5 ratings for both of these!

MAC Very Important Platinum/ Formidable Nail Lacquer vernis polish reviews/ swatches

Here's a quick swatch of two MAC polishes I picked up in the last year.

MAC Formidable ( from Venomous Villains collection). Which looks like a complex mix of a vampy purple, blackened, reddened and blued and greened tinge mix. 

Then "Very Important Platinum" (not sure which collection, but about 2011). In the bottle it looks like a deep silver, not a shiny silver but more like a metal mercury silver look. 

Here are swatches: Ok they really don't pair well together since they are such contrasting colors lol.  I didn't really wear my nails like this out.

Formidable turns out to be a vampy eggplant purple base with a strangely shimmery/metallic finish, it's like a dirty 'foiled' finish as it has such a complex array of mix of colors, there's some green tinge showing through and some blackened shimmer too.

I'm not sure how much I like the finish- it's sort of uneven, while it's wickedly dark and alluring in a way, at the same time I don't think it's a shade I can sport any day.

Very important Platinum on the other hand, is so not very important in my collection. It's a really streaky frosty dark mercury silver. It has that 'liquid' metal look like real mercury does. However it just has that streaky look to it and it's like a sci-fi movie nailpolish color or something.

Well I think this explains why most of my polish collection are safe colors like pinks and reds and corals, which I shall go back to promptly reviewing soon lol.

Overall 2/5 for both shades. MAC polishes really don't have a very good or flattering finish in my books, my experience always shown that the shimmery shades can go streaky and frosty while metallic shades can have an uneven finished look. (despite being smooth to touch).

Annick Goutal Petite Cherie Eau de Toilette review

I actually have a sizeable perfumes collection- but I never thought there was much point in reviewing it as while my nose is really sensitive to a lot of scents (i.e. they make me sneeze), I can't really start describing scents with the magazine reviews I see so often that goes like 'oh the initial note is a vibrant cherry followed by like a walk in the wood in the spring mist..."

However this is definitely my favorite scent so far in last 2 years and certainly worthy of just introducing to some people.

Petit Cherie comes in a petit bottle indeed- I have the 25ml size which I'm not sure was regular size or a special edition. I generally prefer my perfumes to be no more than 30ml as I never ever really finish any fragrances- however now I wish I had purchased a 100ml size since I love this so much.

It has a rectangular glass bottle with a ribbon print on top. Very cute and feminine without looking too young.

(oh and my nails are Lancome kate winslet le vernis in shade #26, which I reviewed a few posts ago already).

The scent is really quite light, a lot of people would probably complain this has no staying power. I don't really mind that but sometimes do wish it could stay a little bit longer. It has a pleasant cherries and peaches sort of sweet scent, it's very gentle and doesn't have that 'alcoholic' note sting even on initial spray. 

After a while it turns even softer, before it dissipates into thin air (probably 4 hours on me). I never have the issue of perfumes not lasting long enough so I was rather surprised that this fragrance has such a short lasting effect. This also means I can be more generous in spraying this (usually I spray my fragrances in air then walk through it, and that's as much scent as I prefer my perfumes). 

With this one I can actually spot spray with direct skin contact- a bit on neck and wrists.

Here's the actual set I purchased which came with a little mobile phone strap I forgot to photo. I think this was limited set in Asian department stores late last year.

For me this is a bit like Loccitane honey water (original version, not the honey & lemon ones). It is a comforting sweet scent, that makes me happy instantly. Not to mention both me and my bf's sensitive nose haven't minded the scent at all. sometimes stronger scents just give me headaches.

Overall 5/5. Would love to stock up a bigger bottle!

MAC Glitter & Ice from late 2011 collection features new shiny silver boxes and white compacts and an array of mineralized eyeshadows. 

I didn't buy that many from this collection as I'm gradually a bit over the mineralize eyeshadow range- they are so pretty to look at, but unfortunately a few shades are often really glittery or chunky.

I picked Shimmermint (on left in pic below) and Winterized (on the right in picture below).

Shimmermint is a silvery minty green with a sheen to it, it looks cool / neutral toned and not really a 'dirty' looking green.

Winterized appear to be a mix of taupes and browns and fine black veining.

Swatches below: Shimmermint on left and winterized on right.

You can see both shades are rather 'shimmery' and the shimmer particles are a bit chunky again. When applied with wet brush you get less of the 'chunky ' look and more a shimmery and intense finish, not quite metallic but shimmermint is definitely more shimmery than Winterized.

Shimmermint is a slightly greyed minty green, it's not as pastel green as I imagined (and hoped for), but which means this shade can be matched against other colors easily like gradations of greens and browns and greys. If you apply a bit more, there's an underlying blue which shows through, when applied densely it gives you a certain 'mermaid' green quality, like flashes of aqua and green together. However there is still that grey base. Can look frosty when built up.

Winterized is a taupe brown to me, or mix of plum and brown (but not quite in the taupe family due to the grey-black base)- not on my top pick of taupes as the blackened base shows through and it can look a bit dirty when not blended properly. Not as shimmery but certainly not intense enough to be densely applied as a liner unless applied wet.

Overall 3/5. Great to look at in the pan but a bit disappointing once applied.

Chanel Le Vernis 515 Peche Nacree Nail colour review/ swatch

Back to my usual favorite colors- pinks and peaches! Here's review of Chanel 515 Peche Nacree- I think this was around 2011/ 2010 collection so should still have some floating around ebay.

In the bottle it's a true mix of pastel pink and peaches, very soft, the finish is on a pearly side. Not frosty not shimmery but pearly.

Again you can see the pearling- it's not small enough to be iridescence.

Again under a few different lightings and angles. I'm wearing two coats in all pictures below. You can see it's semi opaque with 2 coats and on some fingers if you applied a thicker layer, there's more coverage while some fingers it can seem a bit thin.

I think this shade is at least half pink and half soft peach. It's not too orange enough to be apricot but it  has enough balance to be a soft feminine shade that is not really duplicated in anything else I have from Chanel or other brands. I wish the pearly factor is even finer because it is still a bit thicker pigment than I prefer (the thicker it is to me it seems more frosty and not as smooth and polished looking).

This is as light as the color seems in some lighting.

Here shows slightly more peachy shade under sunlight.

Overall happy with this shade- I did experience some peeling by day 3 but my hands touched a bit of water so that was probably why. I find Chanel polishes do not last as long on me compared to OPI or Diors in generally, especially if your did a bit of chores or touched water a bit more frequently.

Rating of 4/5. It's not the most delicate and gorgeous pastel shade but it's very soft and feminine and I would gladly wear this any day. Looks polished enough for office but can also be worn with my t-shirts and jeans.

Dior Vernis Haute Extreme Wear Nail Lacquer 021 Icy Dew review/ swatch

Dior Vernis Haute Extreme Wear Nail Lacquer in 021 Icy Dew is released in 2012 as part of the summer collection I think. The other shade in the collection is 191 Glacier which looked like a baby blue sister of this shade.

I tried to take photos at various angles- it's one of those ivory white based shades that appears a bit differently under different lightings. In the bottle it looks like a pearly white:

However close up you can see it sort of actually reflects a bit moonstone kind of shade, or those white mother of pearl- there is a tinge of pink and very very pale gold iridescence.

Here it is on the nails, I picked the photos that best depicts the pink tinge and gold shimmers. From a distance it looks like an ivory white that flashes a bit of pink.

The name is rather appropriate, "icy dew" , it definitely has that icy touch to it and is mostly a cool shade, but for the pink and gold shimmers which sort of warms it slightly into a neutral. Any cooler than this it would probably look a bit unpleasant on my nails.

Wore this to office today and I like the shade so far. The formulation is superb, applies evenly and dries relatively quickly, 2 coats and you can get the opacity in my photos. It's not fully opaque though but I think 2 coats look nice.

Overall 4/5. It's a unique white shade, I don't have anything similar, it reminds me of a whiter and more shimmery version of essie tennis corset but that has more sparse and deeper gold shimmers and is more 'cloudy white' than this one. It's also nothing like Chanel blanc ceramic or other recent white shades I can think of. It's unique enough even for someone with a collection of white, but again, for me personally I wouldn't really track down this shade or pay more than retail.

It offers a nice twist to usual french nude shades but I would think a lot of my other french type of nudes and pinks are prettier.

What I finished this month: Kiehl's Amino Acid Shampoo/ Hada senka lotion/ Frederic Fekkai mask

I don't finish a lot of products very often so this week I suddenly finished 4 things and seemed like a post is necessary to celebrate!

From left to right: Frederic Fekkai technicolor 3 minute masque

Kiehl's amino acid shampoo

Shiseido Hada-Senka Moisturising Cream Lotion

(the last two items I have reviewed previously)

And also, Wakigard anti-perspirant gel

Overall thoughts are:

Frederic Fekkai 3 minute masque (I know it seems the jar is really small, it's a travel sized container with maybe 50ml. It smells lovely and looks like a lovely pink creme, and boasts a 3 minute treatment quality for color treated hair. I would really think the moisturising ability is only slightly above a good hair conditioner but definitely below other masques in comparative price ranges (e.g. pay a bit more for kerastase masques and kerastase performs about 300% better than this masque). I'm pretty sure I won't be repurchasing.

Kiehl's amino acid shampoo is actually about my 2nd bottle, they smell lovely (light coconut), performs superbly as a daily shampoo for normal hair. (For those with more oily hair you may find this shampoo too weak, for those with dry hair I believe this is mild enough).  It works great as a daily shampoo but if I skipped shampooing for a day (based on hairdresser advice it's best to shampoo every 2 days with colored hair), I need to double shampoo when using this shampoo as it is often difficult to lather up.

I would however gladly repurchase.

The shiseido hada-senka lotion is probably the best toner I've used in these few years, will gladly repurchase after I go through my millions of other toners on hand.  It is great if your skin generally hates those moisturisers and creams, it just adds enough moisture to the skin so often you can just follow up with your facial serum and that's sufficient for spring through to autumn. Even in winter I only need to use another moisturising cream sparingly as needed.

Wakigard is a Japanese anti perspirant gel. It has minimal scent and a clear gel consistency. It works well as a deodorant (but I don't really have too much of that issue). I don't use an anti-perspirant daily as I don't sweat very much, but I always wear one if I'm wear a nice silk skirt or white blouses as I'm hoping it will keep sweat stains to a minimum. (not sure if any deos actually counters fabric yellowing?).  For anyone who sweats a lot it's probably not really that 'anti-perspiring' , as I find in higher temperatures the gel readily turns back into a liquid on your underarm again! which is rather odd. On the fence about whether to repurchase.

Ok that sums it up! I should get back to my using-it-up project.

Phyto Phytopolleine Universal Scalp Elixir for All Hair Types review

Here's a Phyto product review. To be honest I've used several Phyto items on and off through these two years but always found them to be a bit average and never really bothered to review them.

Here's a review of a Phyto scalp treatment product. It's the same idea as those scalp masks where it's aimed at some scalp massage and sometimes deep cleansing for scalp area only (as opposed to most hair masks that are targeted for your hair only).


It retails for 32USD for a 25ml glass bottle. 25ml actually lasts a long time because this product feels a bit like an essential oil where you application is often a matter of some drops only.

According to the official product description:

This 100% essential oil blend awakens the scalp to instantly purify and stimulate micro-circulation. Ideal for those suffering from a dry or oily scalp.

Directions:
Apply once :or twice a week to dry scalp at least 20 minutes before shampoo. To release product, press applicator tip gently against scalp and apply section by section. Massage in circular motion.

Ingredients:
Zea Mays (Corn) Germ Oil. Fragrance / Parfum. Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil. Limonene. Melaleuca Leucadendron Cajaput Oil (Cajeput). Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil. Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Oil. Cupressus Sempervirens Oil (Cyprès). Linalool. Citral. Isoeugenol. Geraniol. Eugenol. Coumarin. Citronellol. Botanical Origin

It comes with a drip type of applicator, as the bottle is a glass jar you can't really squeeze it, but when you gently shake it, a drop or two easily flows to the tip.

So I generally part my hair (on dry hair before shampooing), and drip a few drops along scalp (by pressing the dripper tip against my scalp all around head). It's not meant to be applied very liberally, so you only want like maybe 20 drops around the whole head for a single application. 

Then I massage my scalp with finger tips and focusing on coating each scalp area with a tiny bit of the elixir. You are not meant to be distributing this around the rest of the head and I would actually try to avoid the rest of the hair and only put the elixir on scalp only.

Then you wait for 20minutes, then go shampoo your hair as usual. Shampoo twice if necessary, then follow with usual conditioners or hair masks.

Here's my hair after application and before shampoo. On this particular occasion I decided to try leave it in for a bit longer, about 45minutes to see if it made any difference. I also used a tad more product to see if only a bit is necessary or the more the better. 

The result is, you get the same result whether you leave it in for 15min before shampoo or 45 min (in fact it's better with just 15minutes since if you leave it in for too long, I think your scalp actually absorbs some of the oil in and it can be difficult to shampoo it all out until the 2nd or 3rd wash). In addition the standard 15-20 drops across the whole head is more than enough. Less is more in this case.

Again before shampooing but with elixir in hair in picture below.

This is my hair after shampooing. The scalp feels a bit more lightweight and the general hair on the other hand feels a bit more light weight too. I do not think this product replaces a deep cleansing shampoo (if you use a lot of other hair styling products regularly). It is honestly for your scalp only, think of it like either a cleansing oil for your scalp or like a massage oil.

It's really similar to the Loccitane concentrated mask  which I have reviewed previously. 

To be honest Loccitane feels like a superior product as you can use it in the shower on wet head, and you can apply other hair mask at the ends of the hair and you dont really need to wait for all that long.

Due to the eucalyptus oil and other essential oil it does smell very much like essential oils when you walk around with this on your head. More than once when I walked around with this on my head waiting for that 20minutes, someone always commented "what is that smell? essential oil?" (as opposed to, what a lovely scent).  Loccitane's scent is more pleasant and comforting. Phyto's one feels like a nice soothing massage though.

I don't really have dandruff or itchy scalp but a lot of other online reviews claim it's excellent for that- again all the reviews also complained how strong the scent it (it's just a minty eucalyptus scent).

Overall I'm not too sure if I'd repurchase. If you really have all that spare time to apply this before shampoo once in a blue moon, this does what it says. But it's more like a 'spa' type of feel-good products and if you were looking to improve the condition of your hair, I'd just stick with the combination of :

- good shampoo and hair mask.

- use a deep cleansing shampoo once a week or fortnightly

- find a good leave-in treatment

Rating of 3.5/5. One of those feel good products, it does work, but don't expect any remarkable transformation to the condition of your hair.