Review: Etude House Line Nuance Duo in 02

I'm always amazed at how cheaply some Korean cosmetics are on Qoo10, and being a cosmetics hoarder, I tend to just give in to temptations and click "Confirm Purchase". 

The Etude House Line Nuance Duo in 02 is another cheap find on Qoo10. I think it was around S$8 when I purchased it. Quite sure it retails for much much more in stores. If you are interested, do visit this link to buy: http://list.qoo10.sg/gmkt.inc/Goods/Goods.aspx?goodscode=408453629 

I bought it in shade 02 - baby peach eyeshadow with mocha eyeliner. 

Yep, it's a double-ended pencil - eyeshadow on one end and eyeliner on the other. Quite convenient if you hate carrying around heavy makeup bags. 

Packaging: I think it's just me and my bias towards sleekly designed cosmetics. No need for colourful, over-the-top packaging; just simple black packaging will do. Hence, the Etude House Line Nuance Duo scores high marks in the packaging department! I also especially liked how the eyeshadow end is transparent so that the user can see what colour eyeshadow it is!

Eyeshadow end

Eyeshadow end:

Colour and pigmentation: A very subtle light coral colour with some degree of shimmer. It's great for everyday wear (if you have normally dry eyelids, I will talk about this in a while), however pigmentation's average. You can try building up the colour through multiple applications, but I don't think you can get much out of the product. 

Application and longevity: Applies rather smoothly and with no difficulty. However, this product is a nightmare for users with oily lids like me. After a mere 2 hours or so, the eyeshadow starts to crease and you can see the unsightly crease lines on my eyelids. Not glam AT ALL. It's such a pretty colour though. I will suggest applying this as a base, and then dusting some similarly-coloured eyeshadow over it. Not like it will help much, but at least we tried, huh? 

Eyeliner end

Eyeliner end:

Colour and pigmentation: It's a mix between taupe and dark brown, with a slight hint of shimmer. Pigmentation is below average for me because I prefer a dark eyeliner look. It's good for users who prefer an all-natural look though.

Application and longevity: The first application was a nightmare because the lead was so hard! Thank God I swatched it on my hand before I used it on my eyelid. After the first swatch, the eyeliner was much more "workable". The eyeliner is different from the eyeshadow in that it's more suitable for those with oily lids. It didn't smudge or crease, so it's an average eyeliner overall.

Swatches taken with camera flash

Will I buy it again? Sadly nope. Even though the eyeshadow colour is pretty and the when combined, you can achieve a fuss-free, all-natural look, the Etude House Line Nuance Duo does not perform well after a couple of hours.

Review: KATE My Colour Pencil in SV-3 and PK-3

The KATE My Colour Pencil set was also included in the KATE Cosmetics Bundle sold during the Watsons Members Sale (the bundle was S$9.90!). 

It's quite a nifty product because KATE sells the casing and the eye pencils separately! So for those of you who love getting the adrenaline rush from DIY products, maybe you will get some from this? :) 

At the moment when I was at Watsons, the package that was sold at Bukit Panjang Plaza's Watsons included only these colours - SV-3 and PK-3. I saw some related haul posts by other bloggers and some of them got the navy one and some the dark brown one! 

Packaging: Quite a fun and reasonably thoughtful product. Fun because you get to "build" your own KATE My Colour Pencil and thoughtful if you have all the pencil colours. So, if today you feel royal-ish, you change the pencil heads to purple and gold and you have your eyeliner/eyeshadow and it's portable for touch-ups! Of course, the point is you have to have more than two pencil heads to be able to enjoy this function, which I don't, so boo. :(

Colour: SV-3 is a gorgeous, almost festive looking silver shimmer. It's an excellent colour to apply on the inner eye corners to make the wearer look more awake and of course give the illusion of larger eyes. I think SV-3 is going to be a staple in my eye makeup routine. PK-3 is a less glittery hot pink, with more shine than SV-3. I don't normally wear pink on the upper eyelid, but I figure this is good for times when I want a pop of colour on my lower lids.

Pigmentation: PK-3 is more pigmented than SV-3 and it's reasonable because SV-3 contains a million times more glitter than PK-3.

Swatches under camera flash

Swatches under camera flash, after smudging

Smudge-proof? Definitely not. As seen from the photo above, I smudged the swatches just slightly and the swatches blended with each other. Hence, my tip is to use a similarly-coloured eyeshadow and apply it after KATE My Colour Pencil's application. This way, it will not be so easily smudge-able.

Water-proof? Nope nope nope. Hence, don't use it on a rainy day or on a day when you know you will feel emotional.

Longevity: This product needs touching up, for sure. Not that I'm complaining about it. I think one application will last around 4 hours? Longer if you apply a similar coloured eyeshadow above it. SV-3 definitely needs more attention in the touching-up department because the colour fades away quite quickly.

Will I buy it again? I'm still thinking about it. I don't fancy the pink colour and if there's a really good taupe/brown/mauve colour available, I might get them! The silver is a great product for my inner eye corners though and a back-up will be needed.

Thank you for reading and have a nice weekend! Hoorah first weekend of 2013! :)