Integrate, Heroine Make and Excel New Releases

Here are some new products being released in Japan in November.

Integrate will release a limited edition shade of its Kira Wink Gel Liner in BK906 (with shiny ruby pearl particles) on 21 November. The Kira Wink Gel Liners, which are gel liners in a pencil form, have been selling very well since their launch in September, with over 110,000 units sold in one month. There will also be two new shades of Glamorous Rouge (Enamel Lustre) in BE330 and PK312.

Heroine Make will release a limited edition shade of its popular Smooth Liquid Eyeliner N in BR Romance Brown on 1 November. Retailing at 1050yen, the waterproof eyeliner is able to draw a precise fine line as it is only 0.1mm wide at the tip.

Excel will release a new Gradation Powder N (1809yen) in GM1 Sweet Pink and GM2 Cute Beige, and also mini versions of its Clear Lucent Powder (997yen) in CP1 Natural and CP3 Sheer Beige on 8 November.

Excel Gradation Cheek G6 and G7

Excel has released two new shades of its popular Gradation Cheek (1890yen), G6 Pure Pink and G7 Fresh Orange. G2 and G3 have also been discontinued.


Makes me wonder what has happened with Gransenbon which has not updated its website since June 2009. According to Makeupstash.com, the Gransenbon line of blushes are also being pulled out of the Watsons stores in Singapore.

Excel Eyeshadows

Here's a pic of Excel Four Colors Eyeshadow F8 (Bronze Gold) and Shiny Shadow SH04 (Yellow Gold) to be released on 7 July in Japan.

Excel Shimmer Mix Eyeshadows

Excel, which is a brand under Sana, will be releasing three Shimmer Mix Eyeshadows (1260yen) on 12 May in Japan. The shades are SM01 Pink Beige, SM02 Shimmer Gold and SM03 Light Green.

Tokyo Day 1 Part 1

I arrived in Tokyo yesterday and as always, it felt like coming home. Weather was chilly but not so cold that it's painful. After a good night's sleep, I hit the shops today and checked out all my favourite makeup stores like Plaza Style, Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Ainz Tulpe, Seibu department store and the Loft. This trip for me is really just to chill out rather than run around sightseeing. The only things on my agenda are shopping and eating :-)

It turned out to be a good time as several big Japanese brands have just launched their Spring '09 collections and there are also still all the Christmas collections on display.

Esprique Precious Xmas coffret


Esprique Precious True Impact Eyes. These actually look quite attractive in person and I would pick these over the Coffret D'Or spring palettes in a heartbeat. The texture is quite soft and velvety without being too powdery. The finish is a smooth pearl finish, which seems to be the trend among Japanese drugstore brands these days instead of the more metallic or intensely sparkly finish like Testimo or Aube Jewellery Shower Eyes.


Coffret D'Or Xmas palettes display


Coffret D'Or Shine Accent Eyes and the rest of the spring '09 collection just arrived in the drugstores. I swatched the new palettes and the texture is decent with a pearly shimmer rather than the bling-bling metallic finish of T'estimo eyeshadows. The metallic gel liners are terrible although they look very appealing and shiny in the palette. It proved to be almost impossible to get any payoff with these when I tried to swatch them with my finger but perhaps the result may be different with a liner brush.


The new palettes packaged with a free brush set (usually poor quality) and a Coffret D'Or mirror compact.



Coffret D'Or's new mascaras packaged with some freebies.


Gransenbon blushes



I'd been looking forward to checking out Gran Blush #14 Maple Nuts. This is a super pigmented orangish brown shade that would be great on medium to dark skin tones. If you go too heavy on this, it looks too orange but with a light hand, it gives a nice coral flush of color. Definitely the most pigmented shade out of all the Gransenbon blushes.




Gransenbon Gel Stay Liner


Gransenbon Premium Pore Cover Powder and High Tension Curl Mascara which are available exclusively at Plaza Style.


Rimmel Xmas collection display.


I was especially impressed by the gold Glitter On Cream Shadow which had a nice smooth texture that was not too greasy with just enough slip for easy application and dries down nicely to a powder finish. It has a gorgeous shimmery bright gold finish without chunky glitter like the NYX glitter cream palettes. And it cost only 630yen!



Kiss Xmas collection display. Both the Body Milk and highlight powder turned out to be lovely in person so I'm definitely getting these too!


Susie NY Xmas collection display. The Jewel On Multi Powder was just blah.


K-Palette limited edition Shiny Start Eyes #5 (purple), a lovely palette of smokey purples. This has also been added to my shopping list!


Excel Xmas collection display with the new pink eyelash curler.


NYX display of glitter cream palettes.


Loose face powder in a Tinkerbell case.


Bourjois display of the four new baked eyeshadows.


These were a total disappointment as the texture was rough and very dry to touch. I could get hardly any color payoff when swatching with my finger. Perhaps it is easier to apply with a wet brush but it's just not worth the effort when there are so many other better options at the store!


Lavshuca Xmas collection display and eyeshadow duos




Visee display. I was surprised to find that the Aqua Shining Eyes had been discontinued!


Majolica Majorca holiday collection display


Majolooks display


The Ainz Tulpe drugstore in Harajuku is a great place for buying prestige fragrances as it often has fragrances from brands such as Ferragamo, J. Lo, Elizabeth Arden etc discounted around 40% or more. This Lanvin Eclat D'Arpege (30ml) was only 1974yen (about S$32) and the 50ml size was about 2600yen!



Bihada Ichizoku masks and lipgloss set. I'm definitely getting a couple of these!


Crystal-encrusted mirror compacts at Plaza Style.
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Gorgeous selection of Xmas cards at the Loft.



Huge display of Chupa Chups (as in the famour lollipops) Bath Balls at the Loft!

Excel Shiny Fever

Excel has updated its website with its new Shiny Shadow (1050yen) which comes in 3 shades, SH01 Bronze Gold, SH02 Aqua Green and SH03 Silver White.



The Shiny Shadow contains large silver-coated glass pearl shimmer particles for a sparkley, long-lasting finish and can be used both as an eyeshadow base and as a highlighter shade. It also has skin treatment ingredients such as papaya and starfruit extracts and Vitamin E. Sounds pretty good!

Here's a look from the Excel website created using all three Shiny Shadows.



Excel has also released its annual limited edition pink version of its best-selling spring eyelash curler (840yen). This curler has sold over 1.3 million units in Japan and is famous for its 39-degree wide curl surface. Personally, I didn't like the hard plastic pad of the curler which crimps your lashes rather than give them a natural curl.

Excel Fall '08

Excel has updated its website with its fall collection, which focuses on nude lips.


Moist Lip Gloss (1365yen) promises soft, full lips as it is packed with 4 types of emollient ingredients including hyaluroni acid and papaya extract. It comes in 5 shades, all of which include gold pearl: ML1 Champagne Pink, ML2 Blonde Beige (sheer nude beige), ML3 Sweet Pink, ML4 Apricot Pink and ML5 Mauve Pink.

Creamy Lip Liner (787yen) comes in 3 shades, CL1 Rose, CL2 Nude and CL3 Beige.