If you are not familiar with the gazillion Japanese drugstore brands (no one is), C-Tive is one of the dozen brands under Koji. What kind of sets it apart is that it was curated and created by Jpop and Fashion idol (there are a gazillion of those as well) Ito Chiyaki and celebrity makeup artist Igari Shinobu (yup that hung over blush one).
This brand is mainstream enough that it has a US distribuor and is available in various Asian supermarkets and beauty store. I got a red lip gloss (among other stuff) two years ago to play with. Because I could always use another sheer red gloss.
01 Azuki is a sheer red with a bit of mulberry undertone. It reminds me of a Babypink lip gloss I had and love many many years ago. The applicator is a stiff sponge wand that's good at spreading this viscous formula.
The texture of the gloss is nothing innovative (it feels more or less the same as Japanese glosses from mid 00s), viscous, kind of thick and sets to a delicious jelly like finish. Thick glosses like this are usually good at smoothing lip line and gradually wear down to balmy film.
While the texture of C-tive is nothing new. The color is quite pleasant, a face brightening red that's not too bold. Since I got it 2 years ago, when I didn't realize Japanese tint means it stains upon contact. Welp, it takes less than 20 minutes for this red to go fully grandma magenta on me.
If it wasn't for the stain, I would totally get another one in orange or bright pink.
That magenta stain is not very predictable, is it? We just have to put it on and see what happens. LOL. Luckily, I don't hate that grandma stain too much. ;p I am still more drawn to Japanese drugstore makeup way more than to Kbeauty roadshop stuff. It's good that I don't read Japanese at all. I still ordered a bunch of Canmake toys this week, though. ;-/
ReplyDeleteActually for me around 90% of lip tint go mangenta on me while afew are light enough to be wearable (canmake oil gloss, Majolica tint from way back and Dior Lip Glow are all subtle enough) And yup Japanese drugstore brands are so much fun! I have gotten too many canmake stuff so now I am shifting to cezanne, their lipstick, eyeshadow singles and palettes look way more expensive than their retail price!
DeleteLOL oh no magenta!!! Reminds me of the Revlon Balm Stains several years back. They all went super bright magenta on me too! ^.^"
ReplyDeleteSame...but I think Honey and that orange one were quite wearable. I miss the old Revlon. Nowadays drugstore makeup here have no soul.
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