This is my first RMK eyeshadow palette and honestly speaking after hearing so much about RMK's eyeshadow, how pigmented they are, how expensive they are and how easy they are to use, etc.
Naturally, I am excited to lay my hands on one of them and try them out. Imagine my delight when i saw them in a sale, the EX-03 purple from the 2011 Summer makeup collection. It's one of the palette that aroused my BFF's and my interest back then.
I hauled not 1 but 2, one for my BFF and one for me.
While RMK's makeup base and blusher impress me, sad to say i can't say the same for its eyeshadow palette, especially after my encounter with this particular palette.
2 words- very disappointed, read on and you will know why.
The nifty signature silver cardboard packaging.
EX-03 Mix Colors for Eyes (Shiny, think its shimmery) Purple palette.
List of ingredients, contains 5.7g or 0.19oz in total which evens out to a 1.4g per color.
Finger prints prone shiny surface, its not metal but metallic coated plastic.
In terms of packaging, the eyeshadow palette is housed in its signature sleek silver coated plastic holder, as usual the highly reflective shiny cover is a fingerprint magnet. Other than that, its actually very convenient to bring around, especially if you are travelling overseas, the niffty palette doesn't take up much space. I like the packaging just not the shiny fingerprint magnet casing.
The beautiful colors.
The colors, oh they are beautiful and the combination is very different from what i have currently in my stash (browns, beiges and blacks dominate most of the time). I have to confess that i am a purple and gold lover in secret, though i do not think i can carry them well, but when i first lay my eyes on this palette i knew i have to have it.
On the palette, the the lavender or lilac purple looks like it can work on my skintone, the light gold and whitish silver look sophisticated and elegant enough to layer on, my only problem lies with the baby blue. It has the potential to look awkward on me and i risk looking like something went totally wrong in the morning.
Still, i hauled it without being able to swatch them on the spot as i really like the other 3 colors.
That's when things turn out unexpectedly, when i first swipe my MAC 217 on the purple, nothing came off and so i tried with my 239, likewise nothing came off. Now, after trying with 2 brushes, the surface of the eyeshadow became a little waxy and this doesn't seems right to me.
Then i wipe the surface with tissue paper, so the colors managed to came off which i try using my fingers (clean of course), the texture is rather waxy too and i have only hints of color on my fingers. Bad feeling just gets stronger.
Finally, i resort to using cotton buds to apply the eyeshadows, and yes finally we have some decent color payoffs here. The cotton buds literally took off chunks of the eyeshadows (they are actually soft but why waxy? That i do not understand), while i managed to spread them out on my arms, which they finally look pigmented enough, however there are some fallouts as well in the process of swatching as you can see in the pictures below.
Another way for the eyeshadows to show up nicely would be to use those plastic spongue applicators that comes with eyeshadow palettes.
Maybe i got a dud, but i am skeptical about that. QC for japanese products are usually very strict and my previous pleasant experiences with RMK, Lunasol and Shiseido simply does not warrant my doubt that i got a dud.
I understand that the colors are supposed to be sheer and subtle, however that should not translate to bad color payoffs and, especially at the retail price point of S$65.00 for this palette.
At that price point, personally i would expect at least good color payoff (be it sheer or pigmented), good lasting power (number of hours of wear) and good packaging. Otherwise, i might as well spend my pretty penny elsewhere.
Hope my 2 cents worth helps, as a matter of fact despite this experience, i am not so quick to write off RMK's eyeshadows totally yet. Maybe next time.
After using my MAC brush to swipe across several times.
After using cotton buds to swipe it a few more times.
Taken under normal sunlight near the window.
L-R:light gold, whitish silver, purple and light baby blue.
Taken further in the room, under normal sunlight.
L-R: light gold, whitish silver, purple and light baby blue.
Taken under the lights in the room.
L-R: light baby blue, purple, whitish silve and light gold.
The cotton buds used to swatched the palette.
