NARS limited edition HANAMICHI eyeshadow

I have seen this NARS limited edition HANAMICHI eyeshadow since the holiday season last year but the price point was kind of steep (at $65usd) and thinking the colors are quite hard to pull off for regular use so at some point I have decided to skip...


But recently I received a $10 credit and I finally pulled the trigger (and no sales tax too)... who would not love a deal?


The loot:

It comes with a box (inside is padded) and the presentation is very "NARS" like, meaning a minimalist approach.


The eyeshadow is housed inside a fabric sleeve and it comes with a hand-made wistera-spun brush

This brush is fun to look at but I think would be quite hard to use as the bristles are loosely packed and too soft.... it will be hard to use it for precise application:

The gem, HANAMICHI:

A closer look at the palette. I admit that most of the time when I see pretty inlays or designs in eyeshadows I get it for the patterns and not necessarily the function or color payoff...


But hey this is like a piece of art in itself:

Swatches:

The colors have mediocre pigmentation, not particularly smooth and some drugstore brands can perform better than these (with a friendlier price tag as well!) The white color can be used as highlights on the eyes or on the "C" curve, the black can be used as liner or filling in the brows. The gold on the other hand, is more like a ochre color that I would rarely use on any occasion.... And what I worry the most is the red.... How do I actually use it so I don't look being just punched in the eyes? This color is not suitable to be used as a blush anyhow...

I came up with this look, using red on the outer corner of my eyes:

Under setting sun, you can spot out the shimmers in the colors

Thoughts on HANAMICHI... this palette is more for collection only as the colors are not really practical.... and also a note on the golden ochre color, it seems to be softer than other colors and a big chunk already broke off from the palette after my first use on this palette (sad!) But to end this post, the day I create this look, I had a go with my hubby earlier the day (on some stupid cranky bo-bo).... so later when he saw me came out from the bedroom with this makeup on me, he asked:


"Is this the angry bird look for me?"


Totally speechless....

Latest hauls^^ [8] Mizuho facial brush

For those of you who have been following my blog in the past, you might have recalled that I am in love with a Japanese brush maker Mizuho.

I have purchased their makeup up brushes and I am totally in love with its softness and durability. I have also purchased another nose cleaning brush from them and since then I do not have any break outs in my nose area... I guess they did their cleaning job pretty well?

This time around I have ordered their overall facial cleaning brush. Not that my clarisonic is failing me, but lately I only use my clarisonic only on days when I put on makeup and I want a more thorough cleansing.... sometimes clarisonic can be quite harsh on my drier skin during winter months and therefore I wanted something milder.

This brush comes in 2 colors according to the website, pink or black. Luckily my friend in HK told me pink was the only color and I didn't mind this lovely pink at all!

The hairs of this brush is made of goat hair. It is quite soft to play around it on my hand and it's not poking me at all.

Correct way of placing the face brush on its stand, with the bristles facing downwards (remember, gravity triggers water to flow downwards!)

This is the wrong way.... water will get back into the brush and cause the glue disintegrate! Do not do this at home!

Some people uses this brush just to foam up facial cleanser, but you can totally use a foaming net to perform such function and it is cheaper too!

I use it to cleanse my face as the hairs are not poking at all and I want cleansing action to be done in some hard to reach areas....  (like nose areas, etc)


This is what I use for my daily morning cleansing:

It's the Naruko Raw Job's Tears Supercritical CO2 Foaming Wash. It is not the squeaky clean kind so it's appropriate for a morning wake-up wash. The cleanser by itself does not really come up with a lot of foam as the name suggested, so I usually need the help of a foaming net. But even with a foaming net, the foam is rather "sparse"....

So with this Mizuho facial brush, I wet the bristles and used a pea sized foaming wash from the tube:

And viola:

With a quick circular motion I come up with dense foam that my other washing net cannot come up with! And not only the foam is really dense, I like the goat hairs on my face too... my clarisonic is a bit harsh on me sometimes especially during the winter months when my skin tends to be on the dry side.


I am in love with Mizuho brushes!