Pantone Color of The Year 2013 - Emerald

After 2012’s highly successful Tangerine Tango, Pantone has announced 2013 color of the year… Emerald!

I personally find Emerald super easy to work with… it is cheerful enough for spring/summer outfit and makes you get noticed during grey cooler months. To tone it down, pair up with beige or navy. When I feel like adding splash of color, I pair my emerald with a little sunflower. Emerald is one of those versatile colors which make both silver and gold jewelries pop equally.

In my beauty beauty & make up universe, I loved a little emerald eye liner in rotation with my staple jet black – like Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Covet. Or, apply little green eye shadows from Lancome’s Color Design 5 Palette in Vert Tendresse.

My personal Asian drugstore pick would be Kanebo Kate’s Eye Blend Zone Eye Shadow palette in GN-1 and Majolica Majorca Jeweling Eyes palette in GR 780.

Nails… ah… there are thousands, if not millions, of gorgeous emeralds out there- in variety of finish too! Like China Glaze Exotic Encounter if you like crème or China Glaze Deviantly Daring for duochrome lovers.  

So, are you going to embrace emerald next year?

(pictures from pantone.com, Sephora.com, chinaglaze.com, adambeauty.com, shiseido.co.jp/mj, head2toebeauty.com). 

Kanebo Kate Mineral BB Gel Cream SPF 30 PA++ in OC-C

I have been making this baby a staple of my daily make up routine for a while now… yet I haven’t made a proper review… so, here it is…

Honestly, I couldn’t remember when did Kate launched this one… I think it is part of their spring 2012 release. It contains mineral powder, moisturizing complexes and collagen. Oh, it’s alcohol free too! Like any good Japanese base make up … it has SPF and PA thrown in.

The texture is … well… gel cream. Easily blended, easily set, with sheer coverage. 

What I love the most about this Gel Cream is the matte yet fresh look it gives me. My face still get oily as usual ( I can feel it), but it somehow still manage to make me look fresh. No grayish cast too.  Lovely. 

Unfortunately it only comes in 3 shades OC-B, OC-C and OC-D. this wont be suitable for those with deeper skin tones…

Bottomline…

I am loving it. Unless something better comes along, I will repurchase this when I run out.

Kanebo Kate Real Create Eyes in BU 1

Lately not much of Kate's product launches interest me... Nearly forgot about the brand, until I saw real create eyes in adambeauty.com.

Real create eyes is designed looking like other Kate eye shadow palette. Housed in black plastic case. It is light, yet doenst feel flimsy at all. This palette comes with five color combinations raining from browns to blue, pink and green. From the website swatches, the colors looks pretty safe and versatile for daily office use.

This palette color is meant to make your eyes look bigger naturally. It contain glow jelly color, Clear color (accent color) and range of pretty neutrals. You are supposed to use the clear glittery jelly color as base. Unlike other eye shadow bases included in Japanese drugstore palettes, this one feels really like soft jelly. I was shocked by it's softness when I first swatched it. The glitter in this jelly is so fine and not gritty at all. The tiny glitter sparkles in pastel rainbow colors.

Clear color in this palette is, well, clear blue. It is sheer and shimmery baby blue. Reminds me of clear blue lagoon water in midday. This color has the hardest texture of all colors in the palette. But don't get me wrong,it is still easy to blend , to pick up. Just, not as butter velvety as the other 3 neutral contouring colors. I was pretty surprised with the contouring colors here. i find them more pigmented than I expected it to be. Color c is pretty ivory with golden sheen, color d is pale brown-gray and color e or the liner is deep brown. All three are shimmery but not glittery.

I enjoyed this palette so much, the texture is just lovely. But I won't be tempted to get the other palettes. I am partial to the jelly base. Do love the shimmer and all, but since my eye lids are oily enough, I dont think I need additional jelly to make it more moist. The colors appear stronger and last longer with the jelly base underneath, but it is just not for me. Beauties with drier skin may enjoy this more than I do.

Bottomline,
Enjoyable purchase, nice palette to have. Lovely texture. But I do think owning one is enough.

Kate Rouge HG in RS11

I havent been a fan of Kate’s lip products since the last time I tried their lipgloss. But upon bumping to Kate Rouge HG’s sleek design, I decided to give this a try.

Kate comes from Kanebo – it is a drug store brand with edgy flair. I like their gel eyeliner the most!

Rouge HG promises rich, long lasting moisture. Something I am looking for in lipsticks.

Like most Japanese drugstore products, it comes packaged in clear plastic box. The tube is black square with stripey texture. Simple, sleek and pretty to look at. Instant love for me. It is light, but doesn’t feel cheap or flimsy.

I picked up RS11, cool toned pink-magenta with a dash of shimmer. The rouge itself is rather sheer, allowing your lip natural color peek thru. RS11 makes my lips appear glossy without too much shimmer-in fact, I cant really see the shimmer once I applied it on my lips. I adore the color as I think it instantly brightened up my complexion. I’m wearing RS11 with little dark eyeliner and light blush. Perfect for lazy days. 

Now the texture… I feel little drag when applying, but don’t it doesn’t feel waxy at all. It feels light, yet I can still feel im wearing lipstick. It doesn’t dry my lips, but I don’t feel like it gives moisture or protection as much as my lipbalm does.

After a while (2-3 hours) the color just faded and the lipstick feeling faded too… but…it leaves pretty light stain on my lips. I love the resulting stain!

Like many Japanese lipsticks… it has no fragrance or taste.

Overall… I like this one, the color and the texture and the price! Wished it gives more no-lipstick feeling, but I cant complain, looking at the price!

Should have gotten more colors back then!

Purchased mine in Sasa during my travel.