Best Things in Beauty : Esprique Precious Summer 2007

I was at the drugstore today and to my surprise, the Esprique Precious summer collection testers were already out :-) I already knew about the knock-off of Beaute de Kose's Eye Fantasist cream eyeshadows but I was surprised to find that there is a new series of cream gel eyeliner (like those by MAC, Bobbi Brown and Kate) which Beaute de Kose does not have. The collection includes the following:

1. Liquid Eye Color Stylish in 8 shades, GD002, BR301, WT001, PU100, BE300, PK800, BR302 and BL900. 2100yen.

2. Matte Lasting Cream Eyeliner in 5 shades, BK001 (standard matte black), BR300 (dark brown), RO600 (red-toned brown, IIRC but I may be wrong), BK002 (greyish black), BL900 (dark blue). 2940yen.

3. True Black Mascara WP in Curl Long and Volume Separate

4. Illuminate Nuancer #2 (the Meteorites knock-off powder balls). This shade includes brown balls for a warmer mix than #1 which contains mostly very light pastel shades.

5. Nail Color in 10 shades, Nail Base Coat and Nail Top Coat.

The makeup breakdown for each of the promo images is as follows:

Girlie Splash (described as "cool, dreamy and cute") - Liquid Eye Color Stylish BL900 and GD002, Matte Lasting Cream Eyeliner BR300, True Black Mascara WP (Volume Separate) BK001, Eyebrow Pencil BR300, Rouge Stylish Liquid Type BE621 or Rouge Stylish Stick Type BE301, Cheek Color RD400, Illuminate Nuancer #2 and Nail Color PK802.

Virgin Stream ("romantic, passionate, cute") - Liquid Eye Color Stylish BR302 and PK800, Matte Lasting Cream Eyeliner RO600, True Black Mascara WP (Volume Separate) BK001, Eyebrow Pencil BR300, Rouge Stylish Liquid Type PK822 or Rouge Stylish Stick Type RD401, Cheek Color RO600, Illuminate Nuancer #1 and Nail Color PK800.

I only tested the Liquid Eye Color Stylish and the texture is identical to Beaute de Kose Eye Fantasist. But I was slightly disappointed with the colour range which was mostly brown, beige and gold shades with hardly any dramatic, smokey or dark shades. It's not a bad selection by any means as the shades are all very wearable, shimmery shades. But you can probably find very similar shades in the Beaute de Kose Eye Fantasist line-up, which to me kind of defeats the whole purpose of putting out a new brand if it's just to rehash the same shades. Even the packaging is almost identical except that the Eye Fantasist tubes are more heart shaped. For me, PU100 is the most interesting shade in the line-up as it is a lovely medium lilac. The Liquid Eye Color Stylish is also very similar to Visee's Aqua Shining Eyes but Visee (which is targeted at a younger crowd) has a more diverse colour range. I don't have the prices yet for these products as Esprique Precious is a "no print price" brand (another stupid practice).

http://ep-bko.com/