Opera MyLash & Magical Eyeliner set

Opera MyLash is one of my favourite mascaras from a Japanese brand. It is made by the same company that produces Dejavu Fibrewig. I'm not a big fan of fibre-based mascaras as they tend to irritate my eyes. Opera MyLash is a true jet black mascara that looks quite wet and glossy on the brush when you pull it out from the tube, applies very evenly without clumping. It builds decent length and volume and dries down nicely without making my lashes feel brittle and hard. Best of all, it does not flake or smear even after more than 12 hours of wear, something that I've found to be a problem with many Maybelline mascaras that I've tried. According to the product description, the so-called "W function" bristles have a mix of straight and curved bristles to help coat every lash evenly. It is water and sweat resistant but comes off easily with warm water so it is more gentle on lashes than waterproof mascaras. Contains panthenol, rosemary extract and carrot extract. It is also very affordably priced at 1260yen.

Opera MyLash usually comes in a red plastic package but there is currently a special limited edition version which includes a free full-size Magical liquid eyeliner in black, which is an awesome deal! Wish other brands would do more promotional sets like this. Like the mascara, Magical eyeliner can be removed easily with warm water. The true black eyeliner is apparently made from mixing a deep black and a blue-based black.

I wore the Magical eyeliner today and it really lives up to the product description. On first application, it goes on slightly sheer and I need to layer a few coats in order to get a nicely defined line. I have to admit that I'm not an eyeliner expert as I usually prefer to just use a dark powder eyeshadow instead of eyeliner pencils or liquid liners. The only other brush eyeliners I've tried are Inoui ID and Visee. The Magical eyeliner was nevertheless very easy to for me to use and I found the thin brush to be quite easy to handle once I got used to it. The liner liquid goes on quite smoothly and is a true inky black without any grey tones at all. The brush is quite thin so it helps in drawing a fine line if you just want a more subtly defined look. The fine brush also makes it very easy to draw the gentle upward flick at the outer corners of the upper lids. And just like Opera MyLash mascara, once it has dried down, it does not smudge, fade, flake or smear at all! I wore it for 12 hours today and at the end of the day, it looked as good as when I first applied it in the morning. It was also easily removed with a normal eye makeup remover.

The official website is http://www.imju.jp/opera/main02.html