makeup

Loving Japanese brands (7 of 7): Lunasol

by PJ on Monday, November 27, 2006

in _Japanese Brand Profile, _Loving Japanese Brands, -Kanebo, -Lunasol, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

(pictured: part of my collection)


Meaning “moon and sun”, Lunasol is a very chic and gown-up line from Kanebo Group. In the last few years, the packaging has changed twice but has always maintained a low-key demure image. It used to have a skincare collection but it was discontinued.

I am glad that Lunasol has been quite popular in a couple of other Asian countries. The brand does exude quality inside and out, and the whole collection seems to have a quiet confidence about it in the sea of attention-grabbing merchandise in department stores.

The first two Lunasol items I bought were the lipstick and the powder case, and I bought them on my first trip to Tokyo when Lunasol was only available in Japan. I was then able to fit my own Kanebo foundation cake into the case. (I think all the foundation cakes from most Kanebo-owned lines should fit into one another’s cases.)

I don’t usually go for simple designs (I like glamourous and intricate designs, like Jill Stuart and Anna Sui), but there is something very elegant and sophisticated about Lunasol that really appeals to me. Even though I still prefer the silver and copper-beige square design when the line debuted, the current rich and glossy chocolate-brown look has a great sense of low-key glamour.

Their blusher is the only peach-tone blusher I have (in 03 Light Orange). (It seems to have been discontinued in Japan. See the rest of the colors here.) Most of the time, cool or neutral pink blushers work better for me. (Warm-tone blushers usually make me look too flushed.) But this one actually looks slightly more neutral once it has sat on my face for a while.

The blusher itself, the case, and the brush have to be purchased separately, but the quality of the brush is very good. It is exceptionally soft and has a good density of hair.

The lip gloss I have is in 04 Bright Pink. It is not really a shockingly bright pink. It is a very natural pink with delicate shimmer. (See the rest of the lip products here).

Their 2006 Fall Collection (especially the eyeshadow palettes) and 2006 Holiday sets have been extremely popular.

In the last couple of years, Lunasol has been consistently launching great seasonal collections. Look out for what’s new in the coming year!

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Update: Gemma Ward fronts new cosmetics line in Japan

by PJ on Sunday, November 26, 2006

in _Japanese Brand Profile, -Esprique (Precious), -Kosé, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

(Gemma Ward for Esprique Precious)
(image from www.interwoman.co.jp)

Even though many Japanese companies love having western superstars as their spokespeople, it is relatively rare for Japanese cosmetics companies to do so. Usually they use famous local movie or television actresses, and a couple other companies prefer relatively unknown western models.

However, Shiseido first broke the tradition by having Angelina Jolie to front the new budget cosmetics line Integrate earlier this year (see the television commercial on YouTube here). Now, Kose has international supermodel Gemma Ward to front their new makeup line Esprique Precious.

The line will debut with a limited edition set on December 1st, and the whole collection will hit the shops on December 16th in Japan.

The packaging is surprisingly similar to Kose’s other skincare and makeup line Beaute de Kose. Esprique Precious will have all the basics: lip sticks/glosses/liners, eye shadows/liners/mascaras, eyebrow pencils, blushers, and the face powder (similar to Guerlain’s Meteorites Powder). I am particularly interested in the blushers and the face powder. We can’t see the prices of the items on the website yet. I am sure they will appear later.

Do have a quick glance at part of the line.

Tomorrow: Lunasol, the concluding post to my Loving Japanese Brands series

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Loving Japanese brands (6 of 7): Lavshuca

by PJ on Thursday, November 23, 2006

in _Japanese Brand Profile, _Loving Japanese Brands, -Kanebo, -Lavshuca, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

(pictured: part of my collection)


Lavshuca is the latest addition to my favorite brands. It was launched in February this year and has foundation and color makeup products. (The flash version of the website is worth a look. It does a great job of attracting potential customers.)

Price-wise, it is also the cheapest. It is a shelf-top (budget) brand rather than a counter-top (premium) brand, so it is in the same league as Maybelline and Bourjois. (A single-color eyeshadow costs 840 Japanese yens, which is about 7.2 USD.) It is launched by Kanebo Cosmetics, so quality-wise, it is on the same level as RMK and Lunasol.

As with all my other favorites, one major part of Lavshuca’s appeal is in its packaging. (Kanebo launched Lavshuca in a bid to lure the image-conscious teenage market in Japan.) It has that dreamy quality, with a lot of curves and filigree patterns.

I have got the loose powder in the 2006 Fall Collection. It has a little light-reflective particles to add luminosity (not greasiness) to the complexion. The single-color eyeshadow I have has a really great texture.

For me, Lavshuca (and Shiseido’s Majolica Majorca) are the only two shelf-top brands that feature both top quality products and great packaging. No western budget brand comes even close. It would have no problem “looking expensive” if it had its own counter in a department store. Maybe this is part of the reason it has been extremely popular with teenagers and young 20-somethings in Japan. Other nearby countries in East Asia have already caught on the trend and many people there want a piece of Lavshuca as well.

As long as it keeps the dreaminess, the fun, and the coolness of the brand, I think Lavshuca will continue to be very popular.

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Japanese beauty magazine: Biteki

by PJ on Monday, November 20, 2006

in all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup, skincare

(Biteki magazine, August 2007)

Biteki is one of the major beauty magazines in Japan. There are others, such as Voce and Maquia, but Biteki has always been my firm favorite.

The magazine was launched in May, 2001. I think I have almost every issue. Even here in the UK, I subscribe to it at JP-Books in Mitsukoshi Department Store London. I pay the airmail rate so the latest issue arrives about 5 days after it is in store in Japan. The service at JP-Books is absolutely wonderful.

Biteki is like Allure in America (there is no equivalent in the UK!!), but I have to say Biteki is much better. First of all, it is much more up-to-date. The regular feature “launch calendar” lists all the major launches in the upcoming month, and there are comments on some of these new products from readers who were asked to try them by the magazine.

Second of all, it is *way* more comprehensive (there’s simply no comparison). Every March, June, September, and December issue has a major feature (for at least 20 pages) of virtually all the new seasonal makeup products (usually around 1000 items, mostly with actual-size photos) by all the major brands (around 45 brands).

Biteki focuses specifically on skincare and makeup. There is very little fashion, or even perfume. That’s what I like about Biteki. With it, I know everything I need to know about what to expect in the beauty market and I can make very informed purchase choices.

As mentioned earlier, there is no equivalent to such kind of magazine in the UK. Compared with British people, Japanese people are much more into skincare and makeup. They want to know everything and they enjoy staying updated. British people are much more laid-back about this and they don’t do nearly as much research. Certainly a huge cultural difference. (I would probably put American consumers in the middle. Websites like MakeupAlley and most blogs about beauty products are US-based, while there are extremely few beauty blogs in the UK.)

I have shown many issues of Biteki to my local Dior sale assistant. She loved them and agreed with me that there should be a magazine just about cosmetics in the UK. I wonder when it is ever going to happen…

Updated on October 24, 2007:

Photo of the cover of Biteki magazine August 2007 is added above.

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Loving Japanese brands (5 of 7): Sofina

by PJ on Sunday, November 19, 2006

in _Japanese Brand Profile, _Loving Japanese Brands, -Kao, -Sofina, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

(pictured: part of my collection)


Sofina, part of the Kao Group, is a major cosmetics brand (along with Shiseido, Kanebo, and Kose). It has an efficient and no-nonsense concept of skincare and makeup with a sense of fun and enjoyment. It mostly appeals to the 20-something generation.

One of the two Sofina’s foundation lines, Raycious, is probably more popular than the skincare and the color makeup lines. The debut of the 1st-generation Raycious powder foundation in 2000 was a sensation. It was said to have sold 1 million in its first year in Japan.

The innovation of Raycious lies in the ultra-fine luminous pale-blue particles (which the blue packaging represents). It counteracts the dark orange undertone (which makes skin look dull and lifeless) and keeps the face bright (not shiny) and fresh-looking throughout the day. The color of the foundation does not fade or turn dull when the face gets oily.

When I tried it for the first time, I was amazed. All the advertising claims were lived up to. No wonder it sold so well. The color does not darken over time, unlike what usually happens with a lot of other foundations. And the foundation stays fresh throughout the day and my face actually looks more luminous (not greasy!) by the end of the day.

Each year the packaging and the formulation of the foundation change, so we’re in the 7th-generation in 2006. But the fine blue-based particles have always been the main feature of Raycious. This year, the new formulation is all about defining the facial contour, and the foundation case became as much of a talking point as the foundation itself when it features a three-way mirror (for seeing exactly how the foundation defines the contour of our faces from multiple angles).

Aube, Sofina’s color makeup collection, offers all the good basics for daily makeup. The packaging changes entirely every two years or so. New products replace existing ones season after season and we end up with a completely new line every two years, in line with the revamped packaging. The Spring 2007 Collection is mentioned in a previous post.

The daytime moisturizers with proper sunscreen ingredients are the most popular items in the skincare line. They are fresh and still great as a makeup base.

Packaging-wise, Sofina is the most down-to-earth one among all my favorite brands, but it consistently offers great and innovative products. I will always be its loyal customers.

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Update: Sofina Aube Spring 2007 Collection

by PJ on Friday, November 17, 2006

in -Aube (Couture), -Kao, -Sofina, 2007 Spring, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

Sofina is part of Kao, one of the largest cosmetics companies in Japan. It has a very youthful image. Their makeup line Aube radiates youthful elegance and the foundation line Raycious is one of the best foundation collections in Japan.

The new Aube collection includes 13 lipsticks and 5 4-color eyeshadow palettes. Similar to Kanebo Testimo‘s upcoming collection (discussed here on a previous post), the eyeshadow palettes feature tone-on-tone color selections, except for a limited edition palette, which features olive, pastel green, and soft orange.

The collection also includes mascaras, a lip base, and a loose powder. More details will be added to the Aube website later about these products.

The collection will be launched on December 13th.

Sofina is among my favorite Japanese brands as well. I will review it (especially the Raycious foundation line) on Sunday.

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Keep It Gold: YSL

by PJ on Thursday, November 16, 2006

in -YSL, makeup

(pictured: part of my collection)


Opulent and luxurious but never tacky or gaudy, nobody else does gold quite like Yves Saint Laurent cosmetics.

My first YSL product is the Tient de Perle powder foundation. The powder feels soft and moist, and it goes on very smoothly. The great thing about it is that it doesn’t give that chalky I-just-piled-on-my-foundation look and that it looks completely set right after the application. But the flip side is that, for my oily skin, it doesn’t control shine very well.

The Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils is another great one. It creates long and thick lashes, as long as I go easy with it (otherwise it creates clumps). It is also fantastically good for my eyebrow. I sometimes use it instead of eyebrow powder to define my eyebrow. It is extremely effective and it looks ultra-natural.

There was a period of time when I didn’t really use any YSL product. But their Golden Gloss, a new line of lip glosses launched this summer, changed all that. It is one of my favorite lip glosses. It has everything I like in a lip gloss: it is relatively sheer with sparse glitters. (I don’t normally like color-intense lip glosses or those with loads of pearly glitters.) I have the one in #3, which is a natural pink.

I bought their limited-edition Gold Celebration Palette for this Christmas. This is their fourth Christmas palette and it is the only one I have. (I wish I had all four, but they are a bit pricey.) I am convinced that this one is the best one. I like the design of the palette and all the colors are quite wearable.

They have two different bracelets for Christmas 2005 and 2006. The 2005 one looks very striking to me but it is way too big and chunky as a bracelet (even though I like chunky). It may work better as a bag charm. This year, the new design is much better. But it is still not quite there yet. The design of the gold panel is too complicated for my liking. If they had kept it simple, it would probably sit on my dressing table right now. Nevertheless, the rest of their Christmas collection this year is still pretty dazzling and gorgeous.

One thing that I am slightly worried about YSL is that it might not appeal to the young market. The packaging might look overly grown-up for some younger consumers. But personally I like it and I prefer the gold to the brown that they use for some of their other products, which is slightly nondescript. So, as far as I am concerned, keep it gold!

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Kanebo T’Estimo Spring 2007 Collection

by PJ on Wednesday, November 15, 2006

in _Japanese Brand Profile, -Kanebo, -T'Estimo, 2007 Spring, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

Japanese cosmetics company websites almost always feature their latest products weeks before they hit the shopd, which is to create a buzz and to have the fans drooling for weeks (and racing toward the shops on the launch day). (European brands please learn!!)

Kanebo T’Estimo is usually one of the first brands in Japan to launch the seasonal collection, and you can already see the whole collection on the official website, with all the other bits up on December 1st. The new collection will appear in shops as early as December 16th.

It seems T’Estimo will be going to back to tone-on-tone with their eyeshadow palettes. The blues and the greens should be soft and wearable (typical of Japanese cosmetics), and the browns should be great from day to night.

Tomorrow: YSL (the last of my three European favorites).

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Loving Japanese brands (4 of 7) : Jill Stuart

by PJ on Tuesday, November 14, 2006

in _Japanese Brand Profile, _Loving Japanese Brands, -Jill Stuart, all about Japanese cosmetics, makeup

(pictured: part of my collection)


Like Anna Sui and Paul & Joe, Jill Stuart is a non-Japanese fashion label that launched the beauty line in Japan, and, just like the former two, the cosmetics line was a sensation in Japan.

It was launched on August 31 last year with a full range of products (for eyes, cheeks, lips, nails,…) Later on, there was a full foundation line. The star product is the loose powder blusher. The shape of the container is not something that fits comfortably in any makeup bag, but this does not stop people from wanting to own it and put it on their dressing tables. It looks fancy and feminine.The loose-powder form of the blusher is obviously quite a novelty, too.

October 6 saw the launch of the Jill Stuart skincare line, with products mostly catered to the Japanese market.

I was simply wondering how many people in the US knew about Jill Stuart cosmetics, so I posted a question on the discussion board at MakeupAlley about this. Only two people replied and they had never heard of it. That was what I thought would be the case.

Out of the whole beauty line, only the fragrances are available in the US so far.

Part of my Jill Stuart collection includes the 2005 Christmas Collection, with a face highlighter and a mini lip gloss. The container of the highlighter (pictured left) is basically the same as that of the loose powder blusher. For me, I don’t think a pot of blusher can look any cuter than this.

So far, the whole Jill Stuart cosmetics collection is still only exclusive to Japan. I have heard some cosmetics fans in Asia saying that it is going to be introduced to some other parts of Asia. It is quite possible, since there are people from Hong Kong and Taiwan buying Jill Stuart products in Japan. They bring them back and sell them in their boutiques or on-line, and the demand is high. I think Jill Stuart will definitely have a market in these two places at least.

I don’t expect to see Jill Stuart anytime soon in the UK. But as long as it is going strong in Japan, I’ll make my way there whenever I can…

{ 4 comments }

The Perfect Black: Chanel

by PJ on Monday, November 13, 2006

in -Chanel, makeup, makeup - blusher, makeup - eyeshadow, skincare

(pictured: part of my collection)


I like Chanel‘s low-key but glamorous image. It has a pure sense of existence. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if Chanel changed its black packaging. But it is hard to imagine that. Unlike Dior, which changes packaging every couple of years, Chanel always keeps the black (and white). In a way, I hope this will never change.

My first Chanel purchase is Double Perfection Compact. Even though the color turned out to be too pale for my complexion, I couldn’t help but notice how fine the powder was.

I have never used many Chanel skincare products at the same time, but I realized that, over the years, I’ve had quite a few favorites (for my sensitive skin):

Systeme Purete – Le Gel (Purifying Cleansing Gel)

Gommage Microperle eclat (Maximum Radiance Exfoliating Gel)

Soin Tendre Levres (Hydrating Lip Treatment) (It has proper UVA and UVB sunscreen ingredients for daytime.)

Solution Destressante (Calming Emulsion) (This is extremely good when I have occasional small red patches on my face at the turn of seasons.)

Makeup-wise, I am a fan of the Irreelle line:

Irreelle Blush in 80 Tea Rose (the perfect natural pink)

Irreelle Blush in 90 Snow (good highlighter)

Irreelle Soleil in 21 Toundra (a good bronzer for my medium skin tone; with a slight shimmer)

Irreelle Duo in 10 Desert-Rose (Soft Eyeshadow Duo; very silky and blends well)

I also like Les 4 Ombres in 77 Influences and Ombre D’Eau in 50 Bay, both very wearable eyeshadows.

The Chanel Studio in Harvey Nichols London is perhaps one of the best Chanel counters in the world. It features the usual range available in the UK, plus items sold in the US and the Asian markets. I bought the Irreelle Blush (90 Snow, pictured bottom left) there. It is usually only sold in Asia..

As for recent launches, I quite like Poudre Douce (20 peche tendre and 50 mimosa in particular). I have similar products so I need to keep telling myself to stay away from them…

But I will always love Chanel…

Updated on June 10th 2009:

The Chanel Studio in the UK is moving to Selfridges in London. Please check this post for more information.

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