Swatches: Kanebo KATE Gel Eyeshadow

[picture from ichibankao.com]

I shouldn't even bother with posting these swatches because they are CRAPPY. But it doesn't matter if I redo them or not--they'll just turn out CRAPPY again. Why are they crappy?
Because the texture! The texture of the eyeshadow gel is so bouncy and weird,the only way you can even pick up a decent amount of color is if you smoosh your finger around in it. Oh, and by the way, if you AREN'T aggressive in getting your color, all you end up with is glitter on your finger.

You can tell on these swatches, particularly PU1 and BL1 that there's one part of the swatch that's more pigmented. Yes, indeed, because that was where I actually had to get a little part of the gel disconnected from the rest in the pot to get it swatched. And it still left me with loads of glitter.
The colors that seem a bit sheerer are PU1, PK1, & BL1. [I know that in the Ichibankao pic BL1 is labelled as BG1, but the tester's sticker was BL1. Weird!]

You've been warned...however, if you do intend to test one out for yourself, they're 13$ at ichibankao and not far off that in retailing stores.

Review: Kanebo KATE Dual Carat

Last year, when I took a month long trip to Taiwan, I went on a drugstore product binge. Kanebo KATE's eye shadow palettes were not excluded, and I happily picked up Dual Carat in PU-1. Based on reviews from other sites, this was supposed to be a great eyeshadow for roughly 10USD.

Is it that hot? Do you need it *now*?

Well....not so much. No. Definitely not.

Lets start off on a good note. The packaging is definetly very pretty--simplistic, sleek in design. My favorite part is that the clear plastic part is faceted, so when the light hits it, it looks like a true gem. Here's a good picture:

See what I mean? Also, here is the back:

I don't know what all that Japanese says but I find it nice that on the box (not pictured, long since tossed out) there is a diagram that tells you to use the darker shade nearer to your lashline, and the lighter shade as an all over shade.

Now, on to texture. I don't know what went wrong Kanebo! While this doesn't crease on me (over UDPP), and the texture is amazingly silky, soft, and blendable, it's chalky on me.

Chalky!

All that gorgeous shimmer, deep purple goodness and icy blue of Duo Carat PU-1?



Wasted!

It looks so horrible on me, and I doubt it's the colors' fault. Its the formula! Even seeing how great it looks swatched on my hand (and 'great' here is an understatement, you can see how its only semi-pigmented and prone to dull color), on my eyelids, its a great big fat yuck.

But if chalky dull eyeshadow floats your boat, Dual Carat comes in 7 different colors including blues, blacks, browns, bright hot pink, golds, and creams. Available for 17$ at Ichibankao.com.

EOTD: Smokey Eye

This is my first EOTD with Kanebo Kate's GlamTrick Eyes--a palette with 5 colors, designed to create a smokey eye. I will also be doing a review on these quints. I picked these up while vacationing in Taiwan.

What I used:
-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Kanebo KATE eye shadow quint

The palette itself:

Review: Kanebo KATE Glamtrick Eyes Quints

ImageSource (Ichibankao)

These are probably the only KATE palettes that drew my attention while in a Watsons drugstore in Taiwan last summer. And because of that, I picked up the shades BK1 (that I thought would give a great smokey eye) and GN1, because I was lacking a few green shades.

I think KATE designed these to give smokey eyes, because they all have the standard smokey eye depths:
Dark, liner / lashline color (the smallest square)
A highlighting shade (the universal white or tan square)
A silver (or other shade) glitter to pat above the all over lid shade
The lid shade, usually medium-dark depth
and another shade designed to use over the top part of the lid shade.
There is a diagram on how Kanebo wants you to apply it:

Available Colors:
BU-1: In addition with the silver and white shades that are in most of the GlamTrick eyes palettes, there is a dark navy with coarse sparkles, a medium bright, nicely pigmented sea-water blue, and then a light sky blue.
BK-1: Silver sparkle shadow (just sparkles pretty much), white highlighting shade, charcoal midtone grey, icy grey-ish lavendar and black with coarse sparkles.
BR-2: New for fall 2008, this has a silver-pink sparkle shade, a tan highlighting shade, medium redtoned brown, lighter tan brown, and black with coarse sparkles.
BR-1: This has a gold sparkle shade, white highlighting shade, cooler brown medium lid shade, lighter, more neutral brown and a dark coco brown with coarse sparkles.

BK-1 Swatches:





GN-1 Swatches:






The price? Around 10 USD, but available on Ichibankao.com for 19.50, because shipping is included in the price. Its a great price for 5 eyeshadows as that works out to about 2$ each! So A+ for that.

All of these shadows have great pigmentation, particularly the all over lid shade, but excluding the glitter shade. That shade was just meant to pat some glitter onto the lid, I think, not to add alot of color. They are not chalky, and are easily blended.

Packaging on these are really slick! It's this black plastic, and if you look at it from the side, only half of the opening lid is black! (I didn't take a picture of it, the other half is clear!) I like that the pans are arranged in a geometric pattern; it adds more 'cool' to the packaging for me.

The only thing stopping me from buying more of these? It creases. Even over Urban Decay Primer Potion, they crease. It's horrible because the color combinations are so pretty and perfect (especially BK-1!), but they crease. And even though I'm not THAT bothered by it (I have a monolid, no one can see it anyways!), and it gives a great 'rockstar, slept in my makeup look', I have to warn everyone who doesn't see it like that.

It really is a shame...Kanebo, if you're reading this, please reformulate GlamTrick Eyes so they don't crease!! Thank you!

EOTD: Smokey Eye

This is my first EOTD with Kanebo Kate's GlamTrick Eyes--a palette with 5 colors, designed to create a smokey eye. I will also be doing a review on these quints. I picked these up while vacationing in Taiwan.

What I used:
-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Kanebo KATE eye shadow quint

The palette itself: