Review: Coffret D'or Eyes Appeal, Beauty Sharp Designer & Esprique Precious Dual Gradation Eyes (Spring 2011)

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As you can see from the title, this is only Part 1 of a massive collective haul spanning the 2-month period I've been MIA from Blogger & YouTube. My apologies, but the year end is my peak period in work...So yea...Work=$$$=Hauls



This ginormous collective haul spans from MAC Tartan Tale (eons ago in cosmetic years) to this latest Coffret D'or & Esprique Precious Spring 2011 and a gazillion items in between...

And MAC Cham-Pale's arriving, so I'm actually contemplating skipping the previous stuff altogether... =_= I feel over-whelmed just thinking about it ~_~

On with Coffret D'or & Esprique Precious Spring 2011!

I've been rather restrained with Asian cosmetics lately, considering I skipped most of the Fall/Winter/Holiday collections. Somehow those collections didn't call out to me...

In fact, if my recollection is sound, I only purchased an EST Emotional Multiple Eyes Color in 09 and Lunasol Aurorized Eyes 02 Light Variation - BOTH of which proved disastrous because they're packed with more shimmer than I can tolerate and have since found more loving owners ^_^

Spring is my favourite (point makeup) season. The colours are (supposedly) oh-so-fresh and light, as compared to the smokier, darker Fall palettes. And so, I succumbed-big time!

And the only reason you don't see any Lunasols here is because they're not available in the usual online stores I shop from...

COFFRET D'OR ("CD") - EYES APPEAL

Swatches can be found HERE, so I'll ramble about what I think of them instead...As usual... :P

Top to Bottom: 01, 04. Right: Colour Chart

First up, my biggest pet peeve about their packaging has been resolved! No more a finger-print magnet! Tres chic!

Texture

My favourite CD collection by far is the Jewelcious (Spring 2010).

Jewelcious puts Shine Accent and Trance Deep to shame, but then went downhill in C Curve (late summer/ early fall 2010).

Didn't suffer any losses there becoz I was none-too-impressed with the colour combos (Thank God for little favours!).

What about Eyes Appeal then?

Jewelcious still TOPS my list as the best CD.

IMO, Eyes Appeal is rather similar in texture to C Curve: Not buttery smooth as Jewelcious.
The biggest downfall? Its sheerness and lack of colour pay-off.

Colour Pay-Off (VERY vErY very SHEER)

Colour A: 

The lightest colour is usually my favourite in all CD palettes I've ever owned - with the smoothest texture and virtually devoid of any shimmer - more of an iridescent sheen.

However, in Eyes Appeal, somehow the CD gods decided to sneak some shimmer particles in and I'm NOT particularly thrilled.

Granted, it's not a shimmer-bomb by any means, but the smoothness has been compromised somewhat...Sighs...

Colour B:

This is Eyes Appeal's shimmer/glitter-bomb. I don't see myself using this particular colour much.
Not that there's much colour to speak of in the first place... ~_~

Colour C:

Relatively decent colour pay-off, but for a liner colour (a mini liner brush is provided), I would consider it quite weak.

Texture is a little chalkier than colour A.

Colour D:

"Best" colour pay-off in the palette. Take note that "Best" here is in relative terms to the other colours in the palette.

Texture is quite similar to colour A.

Rating: 3/5
So much potential in the colour combos...Pretty, light, fresh...
IF ONLY they'd show up better, if at all, without packing a tonne on!

COFFRET D'OR ("CD") - BEAUTY SHARP DESIGNER

Swatches can be found HERE, so I'll ramble about what I think of them instead...As usual... :P

I rarely purchase Asian brand blushes because I don't find them very much different from Western brands (although some of you out there might beg to differ).

01

I was (eermm..still am? :P) lemming for a Lancome La Rose Deco, and then I saw this babe.
Almost as pretty as the Lancome, PLUS 3 contouring shades, PLUS a prettier casing...Need I say more? ^_^ *kaching! checkout*

Nothing bad to say about this: Smooth; easily blendable; reasonable colour pay-off.
And in case you're curious, the shimmer on the gold segments are merely oversprays ^_^

It is much tinier than what I envisioned though...

Rating: 4.5/5

ESPRIQUE PRECIOUS ("EP") - DUAL GRADATION EYES

Swatches can be found HERE, so I'll ramble about what I think of them instead...As usual... :P

Left to Right: D-2, D-3, Colour Chart

So, I was ecstatic with CD's new packaging, but EP has decided to ANNOY me instead by adopting a packaging to similar to CD's old-school blingy-fingerprint-magnet-case *booooooooo*

Texture

I ADORE EP's eyeshadow texture. From Dress On Shiny to True Impact to Symphonic Fit, I HEART THEM ALL. They've never failed me! <3

Not too shimmery, barely any fall-out, but they have the oddest colour combos!

The only downfall is, for some obscure reason, the non-neutral palette colours show up muddy on me. How sad T_T

In Dual Gradation, EP has done it yet again...Well, at least for Colour A and Colour B...

Because the "new" concept is a total failure...IMO at least...

Part of the hype is the "new" concept where the palette has a color duo specifically for the lower lids:

- Colour C: light shade along the whole lower lashline to brighten up the eyes; and

- Colour D: medium shade (always a shade of pink, apricot or peach) to be dabbed on the middle of the lower lids to make one´s eyes look bigger.

Colour Pay-Off (Colour A & B: Superb)

Colour A:

Great colour pay-off considering it's an Asian brand!
And the texture is very smooth. Well, after swatching CD, I would even say EP is BUTTERY smooth.

Shimmer-level is jjuussttt right for me.

Colour B:

Great colour pay-off considering it's an Asian brand!

And the texture is very smooth. Well, after swatching CD, I would even say EP is BUTTERY smooth.

Shimmer-level is jjuussttt right for me.

Colour C:

I can understand the whole eye-brightening thingee, but it'll only work if the colour/shimmer actually STICKS to my lower lid instead of migrating downwards like a tiny meteor shower?

This is a shimmer-bomb at its worst - shimmer with no binding agent with barely any colour-payoff?!?! It just won't stick, dammit...And I really don't want to use a mixing medium, ok?

Colour D:

This has much less shimmer than Colour C.

Smooth, decent colour pay-off...

But there's so LITTLE of it.. *sobs*

And there's the usual EP cream base, which is pretty darn decent :) 

Rating: 3.75/5
I would have given this a 4.5 if not for the "lower-lid-brightening" thingamajig.
Also, the colours are darker than what I expected. They're not at all Spring-like - reminds me more of Fall, actually...
If anything, I find this more difficult to pull off during the day (compared to CD) due to the strong colour pay-off.
Ironic much, no? :(

All in all, I think I'm beginning to fall out of love with Asian makeup. The shimmer factor seems to be increasing exponentially with each collection...

We'll see about Lunasol Spring 2011...*fingers, toes & eyes crossed*

Signing off! Look out for Part 2 of the Collective Haul!

Oh! In case you want to look up my reviews on YouTube reviews on Coffret D'or and Esprique Precious: