I know I have complained about Korean makeup (namely their lip trend/how every single lip product turned magenta on me) many times in the past...Of course I don't write them off just because of those less-than-amazing experience. While I was browsing Weibo, I came across some swatch posts of the Aritaum (a budget brand under the Amore Pacific umbrella) Shine Fix eyes. I like my healthy dose of sparkle (and by the time I more or less collected all the L'Oreal Infallible and Maybelline Color Tattoo I wanted) so I ordered four just to test the water.
Aritaum Shine Fix Eyes comes in these plastic pots. The collection is quite extensive with 30-something shades (they just released some new ones this spring) and they all kind of look like each other. There are a great deal of blush toned neutrals, I just wish they have more cool-toned shades available (green, teal and blue-lilac). I picked up four shades 22 Cinnamon Rose, 24 Misty Pink, 25 Vampire Kiss and 26 Sleepy Boy.
Packaging is decent enough, the
amount of heft (how solid it appears) is a tad less than L'Oreal but
on par with elf potted shadow (which aren't bad at all).
For each shadow, there is a plastic flab that keeps the shadow in place (so it doesn't get tumbled in the pot), the whole glob just stay as a whole though. The shadow has spongy consistency while looking like a pressed chunk of dampened pigments. It has the quality of elf Long Lasting Lustrous eyeshadow, Chanel Illusion d' Ombre (I don't own any but I gave them a good poke while killing time at the counter) and L'Oreal Infallible. It's probably closer to elf and Chanel, with the bouncy texture, strong sparkle and...its tendency to shrink.
22 Cinnamon Rose is a metallic coppery rose (rose gold) - The glitter size is not too chunky and the pigmentation is good (buildable) without being overly opaque. The color is really brightening without looking disco ball.
I love love it by itself. Using just above the fold.
Arm swatch of the first two shades. It's time for me to admit that the color of the actual product isn't accurate (but the swatches are). They are warmed by a significant amount due to setting sun, while the true-to-color lighting doesn't show the sparkle well.
24 Misty Pink is what I was most excited about because duochrome! Well, it still swatches beautifully, with very strong flashes of teal and purple-pink. The base color is a slightly dusky pink that's very clear/sheer, while it imparts a wet sheen, the color blends too well with the background.
On the eyes, this sheer wet thing shows up like a sparkling eye infection. I won't call it ugly but it's a little awkward to use. For the same type of (dusky pink that flashes multiple colors) shadow, I prefer Topshop Wax and Wane and Urban Decay Solstice (both are bolder color that pop against the skin).
Another pictures of 22 and 24 to show the duochrome.
25 Vampire Kiss is a clear orange red with golden sparkle. It's a fun and unusual (red shadow is quite common for K-beauty) shade that I am not sure when to wear...Unless I am channeling a vengeful spirit in festive mode? It's wearable (maybe not to office) when you keep the area small and this color does brighten up darker brown eyes. Unlike L'Oreal Infallible, the Shine Fix eyes are more sponge-gel so they don't work as fine liners (it outperforms L'Oreal in terms of staying power and textural complexity though).
26 Sleepy Boy is a very warm copper that's more opaque (all four shades are pigmented but some are more opaque than other) and includes chunkier glitters. This kind of shades tend to look more yellow/orange on my skin but not in an out-of-place or unflattering way. Afterall I wasn't exactly expecting natural makeup when I bought these sparkling metallic eyeshadow.
Swatches of Vampire Kiss and Sleepy Boy
Sleepy Boy (Sorry for the lint) is another very fun and brightening shades for the eye balls and the thicker texture (more traction) also makes my crease a little deeper!
I wore this on the first day of snow and it was actually budge-proof (after having snow right on my face no matter which way I turnned).
To quickly recap the review. The Aritaum Shine Fix Eyes are very nifty products with a good and attractive color selection (Give us some cool-toned ones, please?), wear time and ease of use. Even with their international mark-up (I paid 7-9 dollars a piece) and their tendency to shrink (well, my Maybelline shrunk and dried up), I think it's worth purchasing. I am too overwhelmed to go back for more but I will keep an eye for their new releases.
Hey Citrine!
ReplyDeleteWould you please point me to those swatches on Weibo? These look awesome!!!
Do you have an account there? It's a closed system so only registered users can see if I put links here. I don't follow any user in particular (chineses bloggers are usually quite hardcore on the photoshop/lenses and falsies) so I just use the search function....And frankly many commercial accounts just borrow/steal pictures from international bloggers to promote their shops... I think cocoring_beauty and susu_lee both swatched these and they can be Googled easily.
DeleteI'm at a total loss on how to apply eyeshadows. I'm asian too but i have no double eyelids, but i do have quite big eyes. I have a truckload of eyeshadows but have no clue on how to apply it. I've looked on youtube on the other asian chicks on how they do it, but barf, no offence their eyeshadows techniques make them look very trashy and cheap overall. It's like they totally pack it on but they don't have enough "eye bone structure" to support it hence the porn star look. If i apply too much eyeshadow or use multiple colours, i also end up looking porn starish too. I look decent using only 1 colour applied very lightly on my lids. Am i missing something? Or there is a special technique to look classy at the same time? I only own drugstore eyeshadows, i'm not that picky, as i only got single eyelids =hardly any creasing, so i don't need top class Tom Ford etc eyeshadows.
ReplyDeleteI also recently bought Revlon Photoready Eye Art eyeshadows, but i only use the creamy end. I got it in Topaz Twinkle, a soft metallic taupe colour. It makes my eyes pop but doesn't give me that cheap hooker look. I actually bought a backup because i know they are going to discontinue it- it's such a "fad" product line.
ReplyDeleteI know for American brands I aways just use one shade at a time and keep it closed to lash lines and for Japanese ones I layer them from light to deep. My folds are always hooded (less so now I am order) at least they give a guideline where to stop putting on color roughly...I thought in Asia (from the blog I read)they all decide it's easier to use eyelid tape than to comeup with a special placement /bleeding method...
ReplyDeletePs, I saw the Revlon colorstay foundation! They look the same but the rack says it comes with pump. Will post pics once I got my use cable from work.
I'm curious but hope I don't come off as rude or weird, what's your occupation? Me, I work in retail lolz. I read your blog and others too so I know what's coming in, so I'm always ahead of everyone in the know what and how.
ReplyDeleteYour eye swatches are so beautiful! I love how Sleepy Boy looks, and might have to put it on my wishlist! I've got Vampire Kiss, and while I love it, I can't use it all that often haha... It actually looks really nice as a point color on reddish-brown or bronze eyemakeup, though!
ReplyDelete@sushiroll:
ReplyDeleteI am in biotech so I pretty much just stare at microscope all day long.
@Evelyne
That's how I see most kbeauty-blogger use the red. I think as scary as it is, it's still more wearble than pink eyeshadow from Western brand (can look like eye infection...oh wait, misty pink...). I kind of really like these single now, I can just get a full look with one shade.