Second last palette from the Lunasol Fall 2011 collection If you are curious about the previous Lunasol palettes I reviewed you can see them here:

01 Neutral Beige

02 Soft Beige

03 Mysterious Beige

No issues with the formula nor quality of this palette, it was amazing Didn’t have any problems with the pigmentation either unlike the last palette. This palette is versatile enough to create an everyday neutral eye to a brown smokey eye.

I wish I did a better job at the eye makeup application, I was a bit generous with the shimmer and it kinda got everywhere. Still, application was trouble free and I really enjoy using this palette

If you’re interested, you can find this palette at Adam Beauty

Palette number 3! You can read my review on the last two palettes by Lunasol’s 01 Neutral Beige and 02 Soft Beige.

I have to admit to feeling a tad underwhelmed when I started swatching this palette, out of the three I’ve shown you already, this is probably my least favourite. A pity because the purple shade is really gorgeous, soft and pigmented!

I felt that the lighter shades performed rather poorly, I really had to dig into the palette for the shades to show. Seems strange to me as I’d imagine the highlighter and liner shades to be the same throughout all the palettes? Perhaps this one was slightly defective? Who knows, but unless you love the purple shade, give it a miss and try the others. If you are looking for a place to shop online, I found these still available from Adam Beauty.

Before HK I almost never gave Chanel a second look. I mean I’ve always loved their hand bags and accessories, but when it came to cosmetics and skin care I didn’t bother because the prices here are just insane.

But in HK, we’re in a whole different ball game. Not only were the prices close to 30-40% cheaper, but admittedly working as an expat has some pretty awesome perks and I wasn’t about to ignore the position I found myself in. (Unfortunately I think I’m officially addicted now -_-)

As you know, I’ve been rather addicted to pressed pigments lately, so I made sure to grab a few from Chanel’s Fall 2011 collection.

Each pot came with a little brush that was useable, I alternated between the brush and my fingers

So my thoughts, be prepared for shimmer, because as you can see in the swatches below these pigments are jam packed to the brim with it. As a result, these would work great for over the lid or highlighting areas of your eyes, but I wouldn’t recommend it for the crease. I personally prefer matte shades for creating any kind of depth.

The texture was a little strange to me, they felt a bit like jelly yet weren’t wet upon application. Had to stop myself from getting too carried away with squishing them hehe. Overall, they are lovely little luxuries, but you honestly don’t need to be going around spending crazy amounts of this particular product. It’s nice to have, but I can’t see it adding any true value to a person’s collection.

Above: Emerveille all over the lid and Illusoire in the crease. Below: Fantasme all over the lid on top of Emerveille and Illusoire.

I believe in Australia they are going for about $48AUD each, significantly less in Hong Kong, but unfortunately I can’t remember the price

Introducing Essie’s Fall 2011 collection, spring is here for Australia (at least I think it is….) but Fall is arriving for the northern hemisphere and given Essie is from America, no surprise their seasonal releases are based on their own seasons. If you are interested, you can see last’s year Fall 2010 collection here.

Overall I found the formula to be pretty good, no major issues. I think I did find Lady Like to be a little streaky, but nothing that can’t be worked with.

All swatches are 2 coats, no top coat was used.

Carry On

A blackened plum crème shade, beautiful but rather common, I could easily pick many similar shades, and in one case a very close dupe in ORLY’s Naughty or Nice, which is just a tiny bit darker than Carry On.

Case Study

A taupe crème, I found this is to similar to Eyeko’s Posh Polish which I think is now discounted. Another alternative is Face of Australia’s Foxy Roxy which is still available from places such as Fashion Addict. It’s really lovely shade, but I don’t think it would suit all skin tones.

Glamour Purse

A darker taupe crème, it really appears like a darker version of Case Study. I found a good dupe in Butter London’s Fash Pack, or if you’ve already got Essie’s Merino Cool, I’d give this a miss.

Lady Like

A dusty rose shade, can’t admit to loving this shade, though I think it gives the collection some balance. Essie’s Demure Vixen is a lighter version of this both in terms of shade and formula.

Power Clutch

I’m having a really tough time pin pointing the colour for this, the bottle appears like a grey shade with some khaki green. It’s a really interesting shade, in the photo it appears far more gray then green.

Very Structured

A brown reddish copper shades, reminds me of the desert. Probably my least favourite from the collection.

I’m slowly trying to work through all the makeup I got from Hong Kong, it might take a few months so please bare with me! On the same token I don’t want to bombard you all with waves of product reviews / first impressions, hence why it may take a while.

Couple weeks ago I reviewed Lunasol’s Neutral Beige palette, this week is all about the Soft Beige palette. To be 100% honest, all the palettes are pretty similar, they are all beige based, but with a different feel to each one. No surprises that this palette gives the eyes a softer feel.

And as with most asian cosmetics, welcome to shimmer-ville!

As you know, whilst in Hong Kong….money was exchanged for goods…. repeatedly… I had only then read about the new Bobbi Brown Makkakesh Fall 2011 Collection online. So I was pleasantly surprised to find the same collection available in Hong Kong and knew I had to take home a few with me.

One of the items I purchased was the eye shadows, in total there are 8 shades, 4 which caught my eye. Today I’m going to be reviewing and featuring Sand Dune, Pink Silk, Rich Kashmir and Royale.

Basically Bobbi Brown claims that these shadows are intensely pigmented, creamy texture, easy to apply and long lasting.

I can’t honestly say it lasted for 12 hrs, I actually haven’t worn them for that long. I did make it to about the 6-7hr mark before washing it off and it hasn’t budged at all (keeping in mind I did use a primer).

The texture is very creamy, almost feels a bit like velvet when pressed against my fingers and applies smoothly to the eyes.

The only gripe I have with Bobbi Brown’s description is the pigmentation; these shadows in my experience are not at all “intensely pigmented”. To get the pigmentation you see on my swatches, it took about 2-3 swipes and you can see how light the application is on my eyes below.

Sand Dune

Pink Silk

Rich Kashmir

Royale

However to me personally this is not a bad thing. Bobbi Brown isn’t a brand I look too for strong pigmentation, to me they are fair more neutral, natural and everyday friendly. And I like the fact that these shadows are not too pigmented as it gives me more control to build the colour up. I never use heavily pigmented shades for work / everyday despite what my Book of Fables gives off, just because my makeup needs to be subtle and if the shadows are too pigmented, it’s very easy to over apply.

This is exactly why I have different makeup for different purposes. Bobbi Brown, Chanel, Dior etc are fantastic for my everyday “I’m in a rush can don’t have the mind / mental morning ability to apply this correctly” mornings for work. And then I turn to brands like MAC, Inglot, NYX, Coastal Scents etc for when I do have the time to concentrate on what I’m putting on my face or when I actually need extreme pigmentation for a particular makeup look aka Book of Fables.

_{Sand Dune all over the lid, Pink Silk above the crease and Royale in the crease}

I wouldn’t say these are the best products ever released by Bobbi Brown, but they relatively easy to work with for people new to makeup / those who lack confidence with their makeup skills and as always, anyone looking to do more subtle neutral looks. Bobbi Brown is certainly a known brand for neutrals and everyday makeup.

_{This little palette came free with my purchases}

These eye shadows are limited edition and I can’t seem to find them on the Australian Bobbi Brown website (so perhaps not available in Australia?). They are available on the American Bobbi Brown website for $24US each though.

Introducing Lunasol, one of my new Asian brand obsessions thanks to two cheeky bloggers whom shall remain nameless (damn you peer pressure). Lunasol is a luxury Japanese brand under the larger Kanebo group. I was lucky enough to work close to a Lunasol counter when I was in Hong Kong so regular visits were essential!

I managed to pick up quite a few items from their latest Fall 2011 collection which I intend to slowly work my way through and review / swatch~

First up is one of their Three Dimensional Eye palettes called “Neutral Beige”, this is the first out of five that were made available and are limited edition. The general colour theme for this collection was Beige. And you’ll notice that all the palettes indicate this in their names (gotta love creative naming!), all very neutral wearable shades with slight focal colour variations.

Can we say yay for a neutral fiend like me? Yes because I honestly need a 5th brown taupey shimmery shadow, I’m very practical that way

Inside the box for these palettes were instructions on how to use the shades, of course all in Japanese.

The texture for these shadows were divine, very easy to work with and gives a lovely “sparkly” neutral pay off. That is a bit of a trend of Asian cosmetics I’ve noticed, lots and lots of shimmer!

No surprise that the pigmentation was far better in the darker shades than lighter. But what I really loved about this palette is the variation of finishes for the liner and highlighter shades. Ranging from ultra shimmer to almost matte! So you essentially have a lovely selection of various neutral eyes you can pull off with a single eye shadow palette.

Unfortunately these babies are not available in Australia, you will need to take your search into the interwebs to satisfy your craving for these.

I did my eye makeup following the instructions that were including.