Shiseido Luminizing Satin Eye Color Trio in Bouquet

I am on a Japanese eye palette binge lately and after dropping a few bombs here and there, I think maybe it was time to look around and shop local. Sometime, you forget that Shiseido is a Japanese brand when it's so widely available in the US. 

Shiseido's Satin Luminizing Eye Trio is an extensive range of eyeshadow palettes that I found a little hard to bite into: The color combos are daring, unexpected and...plain out of whack. Most of the combos are either way too bright, too pastel or just odd. They look wonderful in editorial/on the models' deep set eyes but not something I want/dare to wear to work. Being a selective hoarder, I still managed to find two I like enough to try...Let me show you the shiny! 

VI308 Bouquet belongs to the too-dark category, containing one pale-medium lilac and two deeper purples (one is jewel purple while the other leans plum). They are of equal strength (and frankly both show up very similarly on my skin, leaning toward jewel purple). 

Either one works as a smudging smoke-out color on top of the lilac but neither is dark/condensed enough as an eyeliner. Forget about tonal gradation because there is no base/ highlighter and the two dark shades have the same effect.

The two purples in VI308, while complex closed up. The effect on the eyes is similar to Prestige Addiction(1.5 bucks on clearance, hey~), adding depth(in color not in dimension) and smokiness to the look.

 Texture wise, the Shiseido is talc-y smooth, easy to pick up and doesn't kick away fly out. The texture, finish and feel are actually really similar to the Surratt eyeshadow singles which I found to be nice and... just nice.

The lilac on the right is the main reason I was interested in this palette (I want to find out do I really love Lunasol Lavender Coral or any Japanese lilac will do). While you can see the refined multi-colored shimmer in the pan, the presence of shimmer doesn't make that big of difference on the lid: all three shades in the palette have the uniform finish so they look flat. Lesson of the day: The key to success in the glitterdom is not only the variation in colors, but also in sizes and types. 

Shiseido, in comparison, just looks powdery and opaque next to Lunasol and L'Oreal.

Like the other two deeper purples, the lilac goes on smooth, satiny and looks like luminous petal. None of that watery sheen or translucency was observed on the lid. In a way, this is a satin eyeshadow found in US market, but with a nice formula. I can get two looks out of it (either a purple smokey or a lilac lid with some definition) but I don't reach for all three shades as once and the looks are a little too made-up for me to wear to work/allow me to play with lips and cheeks at the same time. I will keep it just because I like the texture but I think I will neglect it when my palette collection bulks up.

Overall: To me, VI308 is artistically expressive but not well thought-out/dummy-proof. From the uniform satin finish on all three pans, inclusion of two deep crease-lid colors to the absence of lighter color to blend out the pale-medium lilac. It's essentially a western brand palette catering to western taste(but made in Japan instead), which is why I don't love it.