Shu Uemura Drawing Crayons

This review of Shu Uemura Drawing Crayons will be short and sweet.

Very short and very sweet, because unlike the freakshow that was Shu Uemura Blanc:Chroma cushion foundation, these crayons are awesome.
Which only proves what we've all known for ages - Shu Uemura does eye makeup well. Does eye makeup remarkably well.

And no, this is not a sponsored review - I bought these.

I am a huge Shu Uemura fangirl, I can't deny it. Even though Shu skincare leaves me feeling meh, their point makeup more than compensates for that.

I have already written about my collection of Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils.
Today we will talk about Shu Uemura Drawing Crayons.

What is it?
Basically, your standard big, fat crayon that works as an eye shadow, or - according to Shu - as an eyeliner.
I use them as eye shadows.

They are waterproof, long wearing, non-smudging colors that stay-on-forever in a true Shu Uemura fashion.

The colors are beautiful soft pastels - perfect for spring.
The swatches I have seen on the internet look awfully photoshopped with saturation and vibrance cranked up to the max.
In reality, they are much softer and subtle - even the bright hues like blue or green.

The whole collection consists of 12 colors.
They are marked as M for matte, P for pearly, and S for shimmer (in some countries, like Malaysia, shimmer shades are not marked as S, so be careful).

image from Shu Uemura Malaysia


I have these six colors:

• Pearly Brown
• Pearly Yellow Gold (doesn't seem to be available anymore in Japan)
• Pearly Purple
• Pearly Soft Orange
• Pearly Pink (number 1 popular color, according to Shu Uemura Japan)
• Matte Soft Brown.

And this is how they swatch.
No photoshop and no filters applied!

Swatches of Shu Uemura Drawing Crayons:

As you can see, all of them are very wearable, everyday colors.
I am clueless when it comes to traditional eye shadows, I don't know how to use them, how to apply them and how to blend them.

Eye shadow crayons are my salvation. Just draw a line, smear it a bit with your finger and you're good to go. That's how I roll. Fiddling and piddling with brushes requires a level of makeup skills that I just don't have. And at my age, I am too old to master. So it's sticks and crayons for me all the way.

Same as Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils, these crayons are made in Germany.

They are very old school. You will need to sharpen them. You will need a big, fat Shu Uemura sharpener here.
Let me repeat it, these are NOT the twist type. These are the old school sharpening type.

To most Shu fans that is pretty obvious, but to newcomers to the brand it might be a bit of a shock. One reviewer on the American Shu site complained that "they are good for only a few times and there is no way to get more crayon."
Yes darling, there is a way to get more crayon, it's called sharpening.

To me it's not a deal breaker, but I know to many people might be.

Not sure who'd be interested in the ingredients, but here they are, just in case.

Shu Uemura Drawing Crayon ingredients:

How much?
2800 yen plus tax.

A bit on the steep side, but we're not talking about L'Oreal Infallible® Eye Shadow Crayons here.
Incidentally, Shu Uemura is a L'Oreal brand, and it's been said that the Infallibles make for good Shu dupes. Personally I don't know, so can't confirm.

From what I've seen on them innernets, L'Oreal Infallibles are much more shimmery with quite big glitter particles.
These Shu crayons are more in line with Clinique Chubby Sticks Shadow Tint for Eyes. But Clinique sticks are not as long lasting as Shu Uemura Drawing Crayons. However, on the plus side, they don't need to be sharpened.
(And I have a crapton of those, so I definitely can confirm.)

So there.
You have all the pros and cons.

My verdict?

I love them.
If I had more disposable income, I'd buy all 12 colors.

Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils

I got really mad a few weeks ago and in a fit of anger tossed all the horrid Clio Gelpresso eyeliners I had gotten not so long before. After the fiasco of Etude House Play 101 pencils (garbage), and Tosowoong eyeliners (also garbage), I don't know what I expected from Clio. A miracle perhaps?

Well, I got more garbage instead.
There will be no review of Clio, because honestly, who cares. All you need to know about what I think of Clio Gelpresso eyeliners, you already have read above.

It is in such frustrating moments that I realize, time and again, that I much rather prefer western eye makeup. Especially, makeup that doesn't require a Jedi master level brush skills. Because I hate makeup brushes so much that my groin hurts.

And that brings us to today's contestants - Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils. They are exactly that - simple, old-school eye pencils, eye liners, eye whatevers. No need for fancy names here. You want chubby caviar cream shadow sticks, then go elsewhere.
You want simple, functional, easy to use, everything-proof pencils, then Shu Uemura's got you covered.


Kilka tygodni temu wkurzylam sie strasznie i wywalilam te koszmarki Clio Gelpresso do oczu. Dlaczego? Bo po klapie jaka okazaly sie byc kredki Etude House Play 101 (dno i wodorosty), i Tosowoong kredki do oczu (bardzo blisko dna), sama nie wiem czego oczekiwalam od Clio. Cudu moze? (linki do obu wpisow w paragrafie powyzej)

Zamiast cudu dostalam kolejne gowna.

Nie bedzie recenzji kredek Clio, bo wszystko co mam do powiedzenia na ich temat, jest w zdaniu powyzej. 

I to w chwili wlasnie takiej frustracji zdalam sobie sprawe, po raz n-ty, ze wole zachodnie specyfiki do makijazu oczu niz koreanskie. A zwlaszcza wole specyfiki, ktore nie wymagaja ode mnie umiejetnosci poslugiwania sie pedzlem na poziomie mistrza Jedi. Bo ja nienawidze pedzli do makijazu.

I ta pedzlowa nienawisc przynosi nam dzisiejszych zawodnikow - Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils. Zwykle, proste, tradycyjne eyelinery. Nie potrzeba im zadnych fikusnych nazw.
Jesli podniecaja cie chubby caviar cream shadow sticks, to nie czytaj dalej. 
Ale jesli szukasz solidnych, funkcjonalnych, latwych w obsludze, i nie do zdarcia kolorowych olowkow do mazania po oczach, to Shu Uemura oferuje wlasnie to.

"Wait! Didn't you say 'western' eye makeup?", I hear you say.
"So why the hell you're talking about Shu Uemura, you crazy bitch", I hear you say. "Isn't Shu Uemura, like, you know, Japanese, and stuff?"

All valid questions (and don't you just love having these discussions with the voices in your head?), but the answers may be different from what you expect.

Yes, "western" eye makeup, because Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils are made in Germany. In the same factory that makes eye liners and eye crayons for Maybelline and Lancome.
How come?

All three are L'Oreal brands.

Yes, my dear lovelies, in case you didn't know, now you know, Shu Uemura is a L'Oreal brand.

So while Shu might have been a purely Japanese concept once upon a time when the earth was still young, now it's firmly in the hands of its French overlords.

It's the opposite of NARS, which is actually owned by Shiseido...


"No ale zaraz! Mowilas, ze wolisz zachodnie kosmetyki do oczu. Wiec dlaczego teraz gledzisz o Shu Uemura?" - sie pytasz.
"Przeciez Shu Uemura to japonska marka, czyz nie?" -  to tez dobre pytanie.

Niestety odpowiedz na nie moze byc inna niz moglibysmy sie spodziewac.

Tak, "zachodnie kosmetyki", bo Shu Uemura kredki do oczu produkowane sa w Niemczech. W tej samej fabryce, ktora robi kredki dla Lancome i Maybelline.
A dlaczego tam?

Bo wszystkie te trzy marki pochodza ze stajni L'Oreal.

Tak, moi drodzy. Choc nazwa jest japonska, to Shu Uemura jest jedna z wielu marek nalezacych do firmy L'Oreal.
Poczatki Shu Uemury byly japonskie, ale to bylo dawno temu w galaktyce daleko stad. Teraz Shu nalezy do miedzynarodowego koncernu jakim jest L'Oreal.

Czyli dokladnie odwrotnie niz NARS, bo ta marka nalezy do japonskiego koncernu - Shiseido.

~~~


Anyway, where were we?

Ah yes, Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils...

Ale o czym mysmy tu sobie gadu gadu rozmawiali?
No tak, o Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil kredkach do oczu.

I bought my first two Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils last year, in Seoul, of all places. I had no intention of buying any eye stuff. I went over to the Shu counter at Lotte department store to play with foundations. But the sales boy there (yep, he looked like a boy to me, cute and adorable) was so crafty, he actually convinced me I absolutely needed these pencils.

He put his hand in mine and said, in English, "please rub this".

It had been a long time since a young, good looking man asked me to rub anything of his, so I jumped at the chance.

He pointed to the colorful stripes on his hand and challenged me to smudge them. I accepted the challenge and rubbed with all my might, but the stripes stayed put and wouldn't budge.

"Give me them there crayons," I heard myself say.
The boy did my eye makeup to help me choose which colors I preferred, selected a mountain of samples, and said that if I paid cash, he could give me even more free stuff.

I paid cash.

These are the colors I got in Seoul:


Moje pierwsze Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils kupilam w Seulu w zeszlym roku. Nie mialam zamiaru kupowac niczego do oczu. Poszlam do Lotte departamentu macac Shu'owe podklady. Ale chloptas obslugujacy stoisko (tak chloptas, slodki i uroczy) pokazal mi, ze absolutnie i koniecznie potrzebuje tych kredek w moim zyciu. Jak sprzedawca spisal sie na szostke. A nawet na siodemke.

Zlapal mnie za reke, polozyl swoja dlon na mojej, spojrzal mi gleboko w oczy, i powiedzial "potrzyj troche." Oj to byly juz wieki cale, kiedy mlody, dorodny chlopak prosil mnie o potarcie czegokolwiek na swoim ciele, wiec ochoczo zabralam sie do dziela.

On wskazal ma kolorowe paski na swoim przedramieniu i kazal je rozmazac. Dalam z siebie wszystko, pewnie skore bym mu zdarla, ale paski zostaly nienaruszone.

"Dawaj mi te teraz tu kredki! Chce je natychmiast!" wyszlo z moich ust jak odruch bezwarunkowy.

Chloptas umalowal mi oko, zeby dobrac odpowiednie kolory. I powiedzial, ze jak zaplace gotowka, to moze mi dorzucic wiecej probek i miniowek niz zwykle.
Zaplacilam gotowka.

Kolory, ktore kupilam w Seulu, to te:

• Left / po lewej - Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil in M (matte) Brick Brown 84
• Right / po prawej - Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil in P (pearly) Light Orange 21

And yes, you also see a sharpener, because that is the only thing that pisses me off about these pencils. They are very old-school, you gotta sharpen them.

I had plans to buy more, so once I returned to Japan, I hopped over to the Omotesando Shu branch, and promptly gave up.

The worst customer service ever.

Let's just say that it was so bad it successfully put me off visiting any Shu Uemura counters in Japan for over a year.

Instead, I had to wait for international trips and shop duty free.

And probably it would have stayed that way, if not for my friend who asked me to pick up a few things for her at the old Fukudaya shopping mall last weekend.

Yep, there was a Shu Uemura counter there. Yep, the staff was clueless and unhelpful. Next time, damn it, I'm gonna shop online. I'm done with those Shu morons.

I picked up one more drawing pencil. And a bunch of things that my friend wanted.

The pencils come packaged in foil, because apparently, Shu is too cheap for proper boxes:

Wzielam jeszcze jeden z tych olowkow. I pare rzeczy, ktorych domagala sie kolezanka.
Olowki te sa zapakowane tylko w folie, bo jak widac, niestety Shu jest zbyt skapy (oszczedny?) na porzadne pudelka:

This is a nightmare when you buy them at the airport, as the pencil is at the mercy of your purse.

The silver one is a limited edition design - Maison Kitsune for Shu Uemura, and unlike the others, this one is called "play & remix drawing pencil". How very fancy.

Brak pudelka to koszmar jesli kupuje sie na lotnisku, bo wiadomo, ze w torbie w samolocie cuda sie dzieja.
Ten srebrny to edycja limitowana - Maison Kitsune dla Shu Uemura, i choc jest identyczny jak cala ich reszta, ten nazywa sie "play & remix drawing pencil." No bo musialo byc edycyjnie i limitowanie.

Not sure who would be interested in eyeliner ingredients, but here they are:

Nie wiem kogo interesowalby sklad kredki do oczu, ale w razie czego tutaj jest:

And yes, indeed, they are made in Germany:

No i rzeczywiscie, sa robione u sasiadow za Odra:

Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils come in four different finishes:
Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils sa dostepne w czterech rowznych wykonczeniach

• M - for matte / matowy
• G - for glitter / brokatowy (z drobinkami)
• P - for pearly / perlowy (opalizujacy)
• ME - for metallic / metaliczny

There are 21 colors in all, I think.
I have these:

Dostepnych jest ponoc 21 odcieni.
Ja mam te:

Unedited photo in natural light.

Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils:

• - ME Purple 71
• - P Light Orange 21
• - G Gold 93
• - M Chestnut Brown 81
• - P Light Green 52
• - G Silver 92
• - M Brick Brown 84

What do I like about them?
They are soft. Their consistency and texture are perfect. They are beautifully pigmented. They are easy to apply. They don't tug and don't pull. They don't smudge and stay perfect until it's time to remov eyour eye makeup. They can be blended, but you gotta blend fast. Once these babies set, you'll need a serious eye makeup remover to remove them. According to the description, they can be used as a liner, or a shadow.

What don't I like about them?
You gotta sharpen these f*ckers.

Co w nich lubie? 
Sa mieciutkie. Tekstura i konsystencja to czysta perfekcja. Napigmentowanie - bajka. Latwe w obsludze. Nie szarpia i nie ciagna. Nie rozmazuja sie i siedza na oczach az do chwili demakijazu. Mozna je blendowac, ale trzeba do robic cholernie szybko. Inaczej kolor zastygnie i wtedy bez dwufazowki ani rusz. Wedlug opisu producenta, mozna je uzywac do rysowania kresek (eyeliner), albo jako cien na powieke (eyeshadow).

Co w nich nie lubie?
Trzeba je temperowac.

See? It's not that hard to make a perfect eye pencil. You can't compare the Etude Houses of this world to Shu Uemura. A L'Oreal brand, or not.

I wanted you to rub my hand, too. Because they really don't smudge, so I made this handy gif:

Widzicie? Nie jest tak trudno wyprodukowac kredke idealna (no prawie, bo to ostrzenie ostrzynka to tak old-skoolowo). Nie ma co porownywac Etude House'ow tego swiata do Shu Uemura. 

Ja tez chcialam, zeby ktos wdziecznie pocieral moja reke, wiec zrobilam tego gifa. Bo te Drawing Pencils naprawde sie nie smuza. 

My first ever gif, yay!!!
Now it can only get better.

How much is a Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil going to cost you? Anywhere from 22 to 27 dollars a pop, depending on where in the world you are, and if you are shopping duty free.

Too much for you?

Well, guess what?
This is so unexpected that even I am surprised. It turns out that Maybelline Vivid and Smooth Liners by EyeStudio are quite respectable dupes for Shu.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. After all, both Shu Uemura and Maybelline are L'Oreal brands, and both of them make their pencils in the same factory in Germany.

So, what do I love more than Shu Uemura Drawing Pencils?
Shu Uemura Drawing Crayons, that's what!
Stay tuned!

Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners

The problem with color eyeliners is this - when you have tried a high quality one, you are never going to be satisfied with a budget version.

And basically, this could be the end of my review today.

After the disastrous Etude House Play 101 pencils, instead of giving up on cheap Korean liners, like any other reasonable person would, I listened to the advice of web people and bought more.

This time, I chose Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners. And I didn't mess around. I chose all of them. Yep. All 12.

I found them on Rose Rose Shop and because they were reasonably priced, and the colors looked nice, and they had good reviews on the internet, and the shipping to Japan was cheap, I bought the whole set. I should have known better.

If something is too good to be true, then it probably is.
Now, as of today, they are even cheaper than when I bought them. Just take a look - Rose Rose Shop.

You may wonder if there is a reason why they're so cheap.
Yes, there is.
Here it is:

Yep, that's right.
The expiration on these Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners is like tomorrow.

That also should put to bed the question of whether some Korean companies print the expiry date on their products.

So yeah, there you have it.
Luckily, it's a pencil. I've had some old eye pencils from other brands. They didn't make my eyes fall out. But those were high end western brands. Not sure what kind of damage an expired eye pencil from a Korean budget brand can inflict. I guess we're about to find out.

And needless to say, I will not be shopping at RRS anytime soon again.

Ok, back to the Makeon pencils.

The full name of this product is a mouthful:

And because I am too lazy to type it up each time, I'm just going to use the copy-paste function for it from now on - Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners.

They came highly recommended and had good reviews on line.
Lani liked them and her eye makeup always looks better than mine, so I had no reason to doubt her.

The colors are indeed very pretty.

They are sparkly, but a lot less glittery than the gold and silver Etude House Play 101 pencil disasters.

I knew they were not retractable and required sharpening, so no big disappointment here. My Shu Uemuras are not retractable either and I'm not complaining.

They claim to be waterproof. Hmmm... Let's just say, they are possibly waterproof under normal circumstances. I had them on during a typhoon. They were not waterproof. Not even close. I had sparklies all over my face and smudges around my eyes.

They're easily removable with any old micellar water. I've been using A-True Cleansing Water (because I'm out of Bifesta and I haven't been able to go shopping recently), and they come off with 1 or 2 swipes, depending on the color.

Here are the swatches of Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners:

Unedited photo taken in natural light.
They don't look too bad, right?

While the colors are lovely, the overall quality is hmmm... how to put it gently... lacking.

Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners are a step above Etude House Play 101 pencils, but a few notches below Maybelline Vivid & Smooth Liners.

And to think that I used to consider Maybelline junk! Ha! It took a couple of Korean drugstore brands for me to realize how good I had it.

Having said that, Tosowoong Makeon Bronze Spectrum Waterproof Gel Pencil Liners are perfectly serviceable for low-maintenance daily use.

In the morning I just blindly grab any two, or three, draw something in the general eye area, and I'm out the door (I usually put on mascara in the car, I'm bad, I know).

The glittery particles tend to travel around even under normal circumstances and in the evening there will invariably be sparkles in the bags under my eyes.

Of the entire bunch my favorites are: Gold Glow, Sun Blonde and Metal Tan.
I thought I would like Blonde, but it turned out to be too brassy, trailer park yellow. Reminds me of badly bleached hair.

Here you have the entire lineup:

Final thoughts:

Pros:

• affordable
• mostly pretty, wearable colors
• did not cause an allergic reaction (suitable for sensitive eyes)

Cons:

• low quality
• need sharpening
• some colors are quite dry (though it might be due to the fact that mine are nearly past their freshness date)

Would I recommend them?
If you can find them for 4 bucks a pop, then by all means, go ahead, try them. You might find them satisfactory.
Personally, especially around my eye area, I prefer better quality products.

Having said that, guess what?
I have more of those damn Tosowoong Makeon pencils!
What in the bloody hell was I thinking? (Not much, apparently).

Anna Sui Eye Brightener

I think it was about ten years ago when I found myself walking aimlessly around Narita Airport. For some reason, my flight was delayed.
Suddenly, with tons of time on my hands and nothing to do, I reluctantly faced towards the duty free shops. Why reluctantly? Because I was broke as hell.

"Window shopping only, " I told myself.

Ha! Famous last words.

But to my credit, after a couple of hours of diligent searching and comparing, I picked the best deal available that day.
And that deal was a brand that was totally unknown to me.

Anna Sui.

Who, or what, that was, I had absolutely no idea. But the perfume smelled nice and fresh and energetic. And, best of all, there was a massive gift with purchase to go with it.

And though I don't recall what scent that was exactly, I do remember I quite liked it.

Fast forward to January 2015.
I'm at Narita again.
I'm not broke as hell, but on a strict budget. The bulk of my money is meant for my upcoming Taiwanese shopping spree.
All I know is that at Narita I want to buy something nice-smelling. I'm tired of Dior. Other scents are too overpowering for my nose.

Suddenly I remember Anna Sui.

I got this Flight of Fancy based solely on the packaging. Just because.
And while I was getting it, I finally had a chance to test every single Anna Sui makeup and skincare item on the shelf.
To be honest, apart from cute designs, it was all very underwhelming.
The only thing that stood out to me was Anna Sui Eye Brightener.

It's available in just one color marked as 01, or 001, depending on whether you're looking at the box, or the website description.

And speaking of website descriptions, here's a screenshot from Anna Sui's page:

Anna Sui Eye Brightener is intended for the eye area (duh!), but they say it can be used anywhere on the face.

I swiped it on my hand at the store and liked its light color. I liked how to blended seamlessly and disappeared into the skin. I liked how it did what it said it would - namely, brighten the eye area.

What I didn't like was the overpowering scent, so typical of Anna Sui makeup and skincare.
The scent still bothers me, but it's possible to get used to.

It's not a concealer. It will never work as such. But that's just fine with me.
As I get older, I'm realizing that under-eye concealers are a tough balancing act when you're over 40.

On one hand, I want something to camouflage my uneven under-eye skin. On the other, overdo it, and you risk looking like a clown with cake batter smeared under your eyes. Sadly, from what I'm seeing on different beauty blogs, the dried up cake batter deal seems to be the in look these days for Western women.

Thanks, but no thanks.

I know firsthand that it's a challenge to find something that doesn't settle in the fine lines or emphasize wrinkles. It's a struggle.
And because I'm lazy and I'd rather watch cat videos on YouTube, I don't like to struggle with my eye makeup. Usually what that means is that I forgo the undereye concealer altogether.

That's why highlighters, or brighteners, or illuminators, are such a life saver for me.

Anna Sui Eye Brightener is a pretty standard deal.
We get 5.6ml of product in a pretty plastic bottle.

The applicator is a standard issue doe foot.

Anna Sui Eye Brightener is easy and efficient. It makes me look awake. It doesn't irritate my dry and sensitive skin. And despite the strong scent, it doesn't make me cry.
And because it's not a heavy concealer, it's nearly impossible to overapply. It's literally foolproof.
If a makeup idiot like me can manage it, then everybody else should too.

Anna Sui Eye Brightener ingredients:

As you can see, the product is made in Japan.

It's light, it's simple, and it wasn't ridiculously expensive either. I don't remember how much I paid for it, but it was definitely very reasonable.

It joined my very small group of "stuff that most likely goes around the eyes" cosmetics.

From the top:

• Anna Sui Eye Brightener
• DiorSnow UV Shield BB Eye Cream in 010
• Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch in 1

And this is how they all look swiped on my arm in the same order as above:

And incidentally, this is also the order of how much I like them.

Final thoughts:

Anna Sui Eye Brightener is a decent product at a good price, if you can find it duty free.

It's very strongly scented, so if you're sensitive to perfumed cosmetics, Anna Sui is definitely one brand to avoid.

Will I repurchase?

Hmmm... only if I can't find anything better.

Etude House Play 101 Pencils

Point makeup baffles and amazes me in equal measure. I don't use lipsticks (but I'm a gloss hoarder), and though I do have a modest collection of eyeshadows, I am pretty clueless when it comes to how to use them. It's just too complicated. So yes, on me - it baffles me. On others - it amazes me.

Because all this brush and blend business is too much for me to comprehend, like most eye makeup challenged women out there, I look for an easy way out. Usually that means slapping on some idiot-proof mascara and done.

But certain occasions call for looks a bit more put together than "it's time to plough the rice field" (easy, we use tractors here, not buffalo). My rescue in times of such need has always been an eye pencil.

Way back when in a far distant land when I was just beginning my adventure with makeup, I chanced upon an Aveda store. Yes, I know that Aveda is mainly known for its hair products, but it does offer a full range of skincare and makeup as well. And back in those ancient times when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, Aveda had a truly amazing makeup collection.

The all purpose products that you, the young 'uns, think are a recent invention, all had been done before.
Like, for example, pencils that can be used on eyes, cheeks and lips:


Kolorowka przeraza i zachwyca mnie w rownej mierze. Nie uzywam szminek (ale za to zbieram blyszczyki), i choc mam mala kolekcje cieni do powiek, to nie bardzo wiem jak sobie z nimi poradzic. Przerasta mnie to. Caly ten bajzel pedzlowy to rowniez za duzo roboty. Wiec, jak wiekszosc kobiet sprawnych inaczej jesli chodzi o makijaz oka, i ja szukam latwego rozwiazania. Zazwyczaj takie rozwiazanie to sam tusz do rzes i jestem gotowa.

Ale sa okazje, ktore wymagaja lepszego wygladu niz to co zazwyczaj mam na twarzy. I w takich chwilach zawsze siegam po kredke do oczu.

Dawno, dawno temu, za gorami i za lasami, kiedy zaczynalam swoja przygode z makijazem, wpadlam przez przypadek na sklep marki Aveda. Tak, wiem, ze w Europie Aveda jest raczej znana jako marka produktow do wlosow. Ale oprocz pielegnacji wlosow, Aveda oferuje rowniez pelna linie pielegancji skory, jak i makijazu. I w tych dawnych czasach, kiedy to jeszcze dinozaury biegaly po Manhattanie, Aveda miala w swej ofercie niesamowita kolekcje kolorowki.
Wszystkie te cuda kolorowkowe, ktore obecnym mlodocianym wydaja sie takie nowe i rewolucyjne, to odgrzane kotlety sprzed wielu lat.
Jak, na przyklad, kredki, ktore mozna uzywac do oczu, policzkow i ust:

I'm keeping this one for sentimental reasons.
The one that was used up to the shortest stub imaginable many moons ago was an amazing combination of the most gorgeous gold and copper. I bought one of them, and then went back to the store the next day and bought 9 more. Yes, I had 10 of them. I loved and cherished every single one of them every day for several years. My eyes looked awesome.

That gold! Oh, that gold! They don't make gold like that anymore. Delicate, with just a hint of subtle shimmer.

Ever since the day I said goodbye to the last one, I've been searching for a worthy replacement.


And that brings us to today's contestants - Etude House Play 101 Pencils.

Ten tutaj trzymam z powodow czysto sentymentalnych.
A ten, ktorego juz nie mam, bo zostal zuzyty do centymetrowego ogryzka, byl duetem najpiekniejszego zlota i miedzi. Kupilam jeden. I nastepnego dnia zaraz polecialam do sklepu i kupilam kolejnych 9 tego samego koloru. I wszystkie dziesiec kochalam do samego konca. Moje oczy wygladaly bardzo stylowo.
To zloto. Och, to zloto. Obecne firmy juz nie robia zlotych kredek, takich jak tamte. Delikatne, lekkie, powabne, z ledwo zauwazalnym blyskiem.
I od chwili, kiedy ostatni ogryzek wyladowal w koszu, szukam odpowiedniego nastepcy.

I tak to oto wchodzimy w dzisiejszy temat - Etude House Play 101 Pencils.

Just like the old-timers from Aveda, these are also meant to be used anywhere on the face.
They come in several different finishes:

I tak jak antyki z Avedy, te kredki rowniez moa byc uzywane wszedzie na twarzy.
Sa dostepne w kilku wykonczeniach:

• matte / matowe
• glitter / brokatowe, swiecace
• creamy / kremowe
• shimmer / blyszczace
• glossy / gladkie, lsniace

Etude House is a Korean mass market brand hailing from Amore Pacific (one of the hugest beauty companies in Asia).
It's the Cover Girl of Korea, but kitsched out in cutesy and cringe-worthy packaging. Not my bunch of bananas.

Etude House to koreanska marka drogeryjna rodem z koncernu Amore Pacific (AP to jedna z najwiekszych firm kosmetycznych w Azji).
Etude House to odpowiednik Cover Girl or Maybelline, ale kiczowaty do oporu i w opakowaniach, ktorymi zachwycaja sie nastolatki. Zbyt tandetne nawet jak dla mnie, a ja lubie mass-marketowa tandete.

So why did I end up with not one, but three of Etude House Play 101 Pencils?
A part of my skincare order was out of stock and I had to quickly pick something else.
Unfortunately, Etude House thinks that everyone who is googling 'Etude House Play 101 Pencil" in Japan is Japanese, so the site immediately redirects to the Japanese version. So sorry, no link because of that.

Wiec dlaczego wyladowalam nie z jednym, a z trzema kredkami Etude House Play 101?
Robilam zakupy pielegnacyjne przez internet i czesc mojego zamowienia byla niedostepna i szybko musialam wymyslic zastepstwo.
Niestety, strona Etude House przekierowuje mnie automatycznie na wersje japonska, wiec nie jestem w stanie podac linka.

source: Etude House Japanese site


That alone should have been a sufficient sign that the company is staffed by idiots. In their defense, all big foreign cosmetic companies operating in Japan use the same tactic. Personally, it drives me up the wall. Frequently my readers send me a link to something on a foreign site, and the morons in Tokyo automatically assume that it's in my best interest to be redirected to a country-specific site. Thank heaven for proxy servers.

But where were we?
Ah yes, Etude House Play 101 Pencils...


To juz samo w sobie powinno byc dla mnie ostrzezeniem, ze Etude House zatrudnia glownie idiotow. Ale w ich obronie, prawie wszystkie swiatowe firmy kosmetyczne, ktore maja oddzialy w Japonii, robia tak samo. Czasem dostane od czytelnikow linka do zachodniej strony, ale idioci w Tokio automatycznie przekierowuja mnie na wersje japonska strony, bo zakladaja, ze kazdy z japonskim ISP to przeciez Japonczyk. Co ja bym zrobila bez proxy serwerow!

No ale, gdzie ja bylam?
Ach, Etude House Play 101 kredki...


~~~

Last year I tried some of the pencils and found them to be rather lacking. Drugstore quality, drugstore price, nothing to write home about. That basically sums up my entire Etude House experience to date.

So why again did I get 3 of them this time?
Simple. The gold swatch looked lovely, the matte swatch looked light and beautiful, and the silver swatch seemed very subtle.
I figured I'd give them an honest try.

W zeszlym roku mialam okazje sprobowac pare sztuk i zachwycona nie bylam. Drogeryjna jakosc za drogeryjna cene. I to w zasadzie podsumowuje wszystkie moje doswiadczenia do tej pory z Etude House.

Wiec co mnie napadlo, zeby kupic nie jeden, a trzy z nich?
Zloty swatch na zdjeciac wygladal bardzo ladnie, matowy swatch wydawal sie jasny i sliczny, a srebrny - na bardzo delikatny. Chcialam dac in szanse.

And since I was still searching for that perfect shade of gold, one thing led to another, and... stuff happened.

As you can see, I selected number 3 (silver), number 5 (gold) and number 8 (matte beigey something).

A poniewaz nadal szukalam mojego wymarzonego idealnego odcienia zlota, nie musialam sie dlugo zastanawiac.
Jak widac, wybralam numer 3 (srebrny), numer 5 (zloty) i numer 8 (matowy bez).

It looked pretty promising right out of the box.
Etude House Play 101 Pencils are the twist-type, no need to sharpen them.
If you like a more pointy tip, there is a handy sharpener gizmo attached to the end:

Wygladaly obiecujaco prosto z pudelka.
To wysuwane kredki, nie trzeba ich temperowac.
Jesli ktos lubi ostre zaostrzenie, to na koncu kredki znajduje sie "ostrzynka".

Very thoughtful and very convenient.

Let's take a look at them up close.

Etude House Play 101 Pencil number 8 (matte finish):

Bardzo milo i wygodnie.
Popatrzmy na te kredki z bliska.
Etude House Play 101 Pencil w kolorze numer 8 (matowe wykonczenie):

(sorry! the box is upside down)

Looks very promising, right? According to Etude House, it can be used as base, or liner, or shadow.

Etude House Play 101 Pencil number 5 (glitter finish), intended as eye shadow or eye liner:

Wyglada bardzo obiecujaco, nieprawdaz? Wedlug Etude House, ta kredka moze byc uzywana jako baza, albo jako liner, albo jak cien do powiek.

Etude House Play 101 Pencil w kolorze numer 5 (brokatowe wykonczenie), ktory moze byc uzywany albo jako cien do powiek, albo jako cien do powiek:

Had high hopes for this gold baby...

Etude House Play 101 Pencil number 3 (glitter finish), also meant as eye shadow or eye liner:


Bylam pelna nadziei przy tej zlotej kredce.

Etude House Play 101 Pencil w kolorze numer 3 (brokatowe wykonczenie), do uzycia jako cien do powiek, albo jako lajner:

The camera decided to do something strange with the white balance ratio here, but the pencil color is true to life.

And here are the swatches:

Apart zrobil cos dziwnego z balansem bieli, przepraszam. Ale kolor kredki jest taki, jak w rzeczywistosci.

A tutaj swatche:

Ugh, they weren't kidding when they said glitter.

Firma nie zartowala, kiedy napisali, ze to "brokat".

It's anything but subtle. It's "disco-ball-look-at-me" trailer-trashy glitter.

If that number 5 was "shimmer" instead of "glitter", I'd have something to work with.

Here's a comparison with some of the other pencils I own. Please excuse the marker memos, if I don't write down the order immediately, I tend to forget what was what:

Delikatne to one zdecydowanie nie sa. To odpustowy brokat w sam raz na niedzielne tance we wsiowej remizie.

Jesli numer 5 bylby "shimmer" (blyszczacy), zamiast "glitter" (brokatowy), to bylabym zadowolona.

Tutaj porownanie z innymi kredkami, ktore mam. Przepraszam, ze opisy markerem na skorze. Jak nie zanotuje to zapomne.

And I can't believe I used to complain that this Maybelline and Bobbi Brown were not smooth enough. Next to them Etude House Play 101 Pencil number 5 looks like it's made of chopped up chocolate wrappers.

Here's the smudge test:

Sama sie dziwie, ze byly czasy, kiedy twierdzilam, ze Maybelling, albo Bobbi Brown nie byly wystarczajo "gladkie".
Tutaj test rozmazywania:

Ipsa (a Japanese mid-range brand) went straight to hell. Shu Uemura unsurprisingly didn't budge at all. Maybelline surprisingly didn't budge at all. Bobbi Brown stayed put.

Etude House smudged some. Not much but enough to see that the glitter particles transferred around.

Here's a matte pencil comparison:


Ipsa (japonska marka sredniopolkowa) poszla w diably. Shu Uemura, zgodnie z oczekiwaniem, nie ruszyl sie. Maybelline, niezgodnie z oczekiwaniem, rowniez sie nie ruszyla. Bobbi Brown staly, tam gdzie byly.

Etude House rozmazalo sie nieznacznie. Ale jednak na tyle, aby zobaczyc, ze brokatowe drobinki powedrowaly, tam gdzie nie powinny.

A tutaj porownanie matowych kredek:

Of these three, the NYX Wonder Pencil in WP01 is my favorite.
Etude House Play 101 Pencil in number 8 looks very serviceable as well.

And the smudge test:

Z tych trzech, NYX Wonder Pencil w kolorze WP01 to moj ulubieniec.
Etude House Play 101 Pencil w kolorze numer 8 rowniez wyglada na bardzo uzyteczny.

A tutaj test rozmazywania:

Now you have the real reason why I chose a matte pencil. I desperately need a smudge-proof replacement for the Wonder Pencil fiasco. And until I can find something lighter, Etude House Play 101 Pencil in number 8 will do the job.

No comparison swatches for number 3, but I can tell you that it's very glittery and very smudge proof.

Not sure what kind of person would be interested in eyeliner ingredients, but just in case, here they are:

Teraz juz jasne dlaczego wybralam matowa kredke. Potrzebowalam zamiennika dla smuzacej tragedii, jaka okazal sie Wonder Pencil.
Nie mam swatchy porownawczych dla numeru 3, ale jest to niesamowicie brokatowy kolor dajacy po oczach. Nie rozmazuje sie.

Nie jestem pewna kogo interesuja sklady kredek do oczu, ale sa:

Now I can finally say that I have satisfied my Play 101 Pencil curiosity.
Etude House, as most low end Korean brands, is simply too low end for my needs.

Moja ciekawosc odnosnie Play 101 zostala zaspokojona.
Etude House, jak wiekszosc niskopolkowych marek koreanskich, jest zbyt niskopolkowa i niskojakosciowa dla moich wymagan.

In Japan they cost 900 yen (plus tax) each.
These pencils are easily found in many online shops, however, their prices can vary.

W Japonii kosztuja one 900 jenow plus VAT, ale mozna je kupic taniej w niemal kazdym interntowym sklepie sprzedajacym koreanskie kosmetyki.