Sparkled Beauty

This is another review supported by KKcenterHK. I feel like I indulge myself in Asian makeup whenever I visit their site.

The product this time is Landbis Light Pink Smolder Pencil Eyeliner in Thicken Black. If you can't guess by now why I picked it to review, it has awesome gradient colours on the packaging - fading slowly from black to light pink. It is light weight, and the plastic sleeve it comes with is also in pink and black. Cute!

The eyeliner is supposed to be soft and creamy with rich color deposit, goes on fluidly and lasts all day without any flaking, smudging, smearing or streaking.

After getting pass the packaging, I like what I see inside. An automatic liner with black enough pigmentation. I'm not good with liquid liners, so I prefer pencil liners all the way.

Upon swatching, however, I see that it is more of a brownish black than a pure black. On the right is one swipe, on the left is built-up swatches to see how intense it could get. It did get darker, I would only use this liner as base to pop eyeshadows on the lid or when I need a more subtle look on the lash lines.

Once it sets on my hand, it does not survive the smudge test. It comes off a little easier than I want it too when I rubs. I don't think it is waterproof either.

All in all, I think the packaging format is ideal for travelling, and I only use the liner to touch up during the day, or as a base like I said above.

A quick EOTD to show you how I wear the liner - only on the lower lash line, smudged out a little for a softer look.

I wore this for about 5 hours that day, and the liner still stayed, didn't smudge or fade. Mind you that I managed not to touch/ rub my eyes which I normally don't when I have eye makeup on. If you do, or cry while you have the liner on, I can't guarantee it lasts.

The liner is 5g, sells for USD12.63 on the site, which I think a little pricy. So if you fancy a super cute automatic liner to tote around, it might be the answer. If you look for an intensely dark and waterproof liner, this is not it.

Asian makeup has been creating quite an interest in North America, as I witness through beauty blogs. Can't say I have experienced it much, until KKcenterHK offered to send me this CUICU Soft & Shiny Eyeshadow to review.

The eyeshadow is coded as #C3108-06, formulated in Korea, retails for $6.30 (11.5gr). It comes in a black paper packaging with cutout window to show the colours inside through the clear plastic window on the palette. The plastic case is sturdy, doesn't make the palette look cheap, which is a plus. I actually really like the design of the lids. Most Asian makeup has fancier packaging than in North America, I think you figured that out already :)

Here is the palette opened. The lid includes a small mirror at the top and clear plastic to line up with the eyeshadow pans. This way, even when the lid is closed, you can still see the colours inside.

There are 2 sponge-tipped applicators included, which I don't use, but they are handy for touch-ups or while travelling.

Close up on the colours, under flash.

In the top right is a shimmery white, an awesome inner corner colour. It might look glittery with the flash, but it was just an overspray. The glitters didn't show up much on the lids overall.

On the right is a baby pink. Pigmentation was not very noticeable with this shade, as you will find in the swatches below.

At the bottom is a lilac, which at first glance looks quite close to the baby pink shade. It does have better colour payoff though.

The last 2 shades look quite different in the pans because of the overspray - gold for the one on the right and silver for the one in the middle.

When the overspray was swiped away, the base colours are very close to each other, a purple-ish charcoal, very pretty on the crease or near the lash lines.

All in all, don't let the glitters scare you away, as they aren't scattered in the eyeshadows. The bright shades might look frosty at times, so pairing or using them as base colours would be a good idea.

Here are the swatches with flash, with the colours in the same positions as they are in the palette.

As you can see, the baby pink shows up as a frosty pale pink, and one dark shade is just about half a shade darker than the other.

I do like this dark colour a lot, so I don't mind the two shades are close to each other. However, I still wish there were enough differences between them to get more use out of the palette. Maybe a navy blue or dark purple would be nice.

See, in natural light, you can hardly see any shimmer in the eyeshadows. The white looks almost matte even. Still can't deny the frost on the baby pink though.

These swatches were done on bare skin, no base, about 2 swipes each. Using a damp brush, I didn't experience any fallout with all colours. The baby pink shade is a bit more powdery than the rest.

Pigmentation wise, the dark colours certainly perform better than the light ones. Blending was easy for all shades.

My quick FOTD with this palette, using 4 out 5 shades, as a result of the similarity between the 2 darker shades. The white colour (after the overspray) is good for brow bones and inner corners, my next favorite after the dark ones. Pink and purple go well together, so it didn't take much planning for this look :)

Wear wise, at the end of the day, I saw some fading of the baby pink and lilac in the inner half of my lids where my lids fold. The dark shades stay in tact all along, no creasing.

Keep in mind that we haven't had many scorching summer days around here lately, so the wear test wasn't ideal as I wanted it to be.

Last shot on the eye makeup, if you want to see it closer.

All in all, I enjoy wearing the eyeshadows but wish there were more colour options within the palette so I can create more looks. And maybe a matte shade among the 5 would be fun to have too.