Lunasol Layer Bloom Eyes in Purple Gradation

Back in the golden years of Lunasol, it was a brand that people automatically think of when one talked about Japanese palette. It's also something I could only admire from afar (Ok actually I wasn't super into it since I don't get tempted by things I can't afford and I loved the LE Revlon and Maybelline back then), not only it was a high end brand from across the pacific, its reign also coincide with the time yen was strongest against the dollar. So yeah, ain't nobody is going to work 10 hours (broke kid making minimum wage) for an eyeshadow palette. 

I think I got into the brand at the best time possible, when yen became weak, Lunasol's popularity waned that they can be found with discount, when their texture have improved quite a bit and I could finally afford it. Sometime, I feel like while I own and love all the boring neutrals, I missed out those more interesting collections with distinct colors stories. One of the range I thought about the most was 2009 spring Petal Purification.

Floral for spring. Groundbreaking.

But trust me, Lunasol's take was not some mish mash of random pastels. Instead, it was a collection of four (two more for summer) monotonal palettes to emulate the layers of petal of four flowers (white magnolia, wisteria, plum blossom and cherry blossom). While there is only one color in each theme, the variance in texture and nuance was just something something that I had to hunt down for.

I waited and waited and while I have seen some marked up 2x the original retail, I finally spotted on at regular price!  On a side note, I later found out it was fairly easy to find these older Lunasol on taobao, as their counters in China all closed down a few years ago and people already abandoned Lunasol while other brands (high and low end) were catching up.

Anyway, the first (yup there is a second) of Layer Bloom Eyes I picked up was Purple Gradation, inspired by wisteria/fuji. 

The upper left there is icy blurple glittery top coat, followed by a soft satin pastel lavender transition shade. The main lid shade is a pink-leaning purple in the same satin texture. 

The liner is a rich slate-blue velvet, with jewel blue sheen. It's unique, wearable and pulls everything together. 

While the shade are beautiful. The texture is very powdery (almost chalky) by current Lunasol standard...When I apply with the sponge, the shadow immediately fall to lower eye. The shadow can be layered easily but it's not as seamless or melty...

Quick look after work(I tried twice, had to remove before heading out) so my eye looked dead (what was more dead was my back...). At least the liner shade was unique and very wearable.

Well, now I suppose I need to think twice before hunting down near decade-old palette.