Kanebo KATE Lipgloss S Swatches

KATE is the drugstore arm of Kanebo cosmetics, the ever-popular Japan-based cosmetics and skincare brand. KATE has been gaining popularity among Asian girls as it is often perceived as being similar to Kanebo, it's more expensive sister, but at a better price point. That, combined with the cutesey marketing and the "it's-from-Japan" hype, has garnered it something of a small following.

One of KATE's latest products is the Lipgloss S, consisting of just five colours. I have to admit, Asian cosmetics naming conventions are so odd that although I'm Asian myself, I've no idea what S stands for. Shine? Shimmer? Sheer? Sticky? Well, the Lipgloss S is all of those, so I guess they picked the letter quite rightly. Anyway, enough of my snark, here are the Lipgloss S swatches.



L - R: PK-2, BE-1, PK-1, BR-1, RD-1

In general, Asian cosmetics naming conventions for lip shades go as such:
PK = Pink
BE = Beige
BR = Brown (although oftentimes in Asian cosmetics "brown" really looks more like "pinky-brown-that's-not-pastel")
RD = Red
PP = Purple (once again, not as purple as it sounds, it's usually used for plummy shades)

And the 1, 2, 3 etc numbers usually denote depth or darkness of colour. So, say PK-1 and PK-2 would be both pinks, but PK-2 could be reasonably be expected to be darker than PK-1. Which in itself isn't saying much, because you know, darker could be one shade darker, or three shades darker, and there is huge variance in shade depth between shades.

Anyway, here's my colour description below:

PK-2 is a pale, purply-pink with big chunk of glitter.
BE-1 is a pale, sheer, peach with glitter.
PK-1 is a pale, pastel pink, that's not as purply as PK-2, and also has glitter.
BR-1 isn't as brown as the colour naming scheme makes it sound. It's actually a gorgeous neutral pinky-brown, a lovely MLBB (My Lips But Better) shade.
RD-1 is the lone shimmer-free shade in the range. It's a sheer red, perfect for girls who want an introduction to the red lip.

As I've mentioned previously, all these glosses are sheer, have copious amounts of shimmer, and are really, really sticky. Like, Lancome Juicy Tubes kind of sticky (and if you're a makeup fanatic like me, you'll know the Juicy Tubes are famed for being possibly one of the stickiest glosses ever to have touched the lips of womankind). As it tends to be with Asian cosmetics, the lighter shades tend to be sheerer and have more shimmer, while the darker shades tend to have better pigmentation and be less glitterbomb-ish.

KATE Cometics Event: Eye Shadow DB

Last week, I was introduced to some of the new products from KATE Cosmetics, the drugstore offshoot of Japanese brand Kanebo. The main highlight of the session was a new rangee of eyeshadow duos, the Eye Shadow DB.

The Eye Shadow DB (DB stands for Dual Blend) is marketed as being more than your average eyeshadow duo. As you can see, the plastic divider between the two shades runs for only half the eyeshadow duo. The idea is that in addition to using the two shades, you can create a third shade by blending the two existing shades, and thereby create a new shade. I guess it's pretty useful for girls who like to gradate their eyeshadow, which is primarily a feature the Asian markets tend to be more interested in.



The first thing that caught my eye at the event were the cupcakes. They had cupcakes! And they were meticulously branded with the KATE logo and colour scheme (black and red).



Food aside, we got to see a demonstration of the Eye Shadow DB being used on a model. Mikiya Hirai, a Japan-based makeup artist with Kanebo, was in town to do the makeup. He demonstrated a "day look", followed by a night look (acheived by applying a greater amount of the darker shade and contouring the face further).



The final look was very classy and well-defined. This is the "night look":



We also got to play with a whole range of testers on the spot. The makeup itself was very good, especially by Asian-drugstore-brand standards. This means that:

1. There wasn't glitter overload in every single product;

2. The eyeshadows were actually pigmented (well, not pigmented like MAC or Smashbox or your Western brands, but definitely more pigmented than your average Asian drugstore brand). I'd call them of medium pigmentation but buildable;

3. They didn't have frivolous but stupid packaging. Well, there was an emphasis on packaging, as is the case with almost all Asian brands I've seen, but with KATE Cosmetics it didn't make me think "Huh? How am I supposed to use/store/maintain this thing?"

4. The lip products had a good range of colours and finishes. It's so typical of Asian brands to just have a variety of light pinks and insert glitter of various sizes and colours into their lipglosses and call it a range, but KATE had a much more sophisticated colour palette than that. They had reds, berries, and some shades without shimmer, which I really liked.

5. And lastly, THEY HAVE TAUPES! Asian brands tend not to produce taupey colours for eyeshadows because taupes aren't that saleable in the Asian market, but hey, what do you know, KATE has them!

Notable products included the cream eyeshadows (stayed on well, and felt gel-like, sorta like jelly), the liquid eyeliners (these don't budge), as well as the mascaras and mascara base. The mascaras and mascara bases were quite popular among the bloggers, almost everyone there who tried them had nice things to say about them.

Here's a visual spread of the makeup. Unfortunately, we didn't get to take them home! I would have loved to, though! Makeup takeaway, anyone? :P



Here's yours truly at the event, after playing with some of the makeup. The red lipstick is my own, but the rest are all KATE products. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't very conducive to photo-taking, so I'm not sure how illustrative this photo is.



And lastly, a shot of myself with some of the other bloggers present.



I'll be testing out their Eye Shadow DB duo soon, as well as their mascara and mascara base. I'm looking forward to seeing how those two products fare on my eyes (especially the mascara and mascara base - you know how hard it is to find a good mascara!). Reviews on those will be forthcoming, so if they interest you, do stay tuned!