Lunasol Shining Face Color Palette in Natural Bronze EX 03

This review is probably two years overdue, but I am hoping that it may be of interest to bronzer enthusiasts and Lunasol fans.

 

Lunasol's Shining Face Color in Natural Bronze (EX 03) was a summer 2009 limited release. It comes in Lunasol's signature bronze casing. 

Kanebo does not usually scrimp on Lunasol's design and materials, as can be seen with this palette. The first tier houses a very soft face brush. It lifts up to reveal a mirror of good quality.

The bottom tier keeps the face powder separated from everything else. 

Clockwise from top left: an off-white shade, a dark brown, a peachy rose, and a bronze-y light brown. All of them are shimmery and seem to be infused with a golden base. The two shades on the right vertical column are comparatively more pigmented than the off-white and bronze-y brown on the left.

 

The powder applies so sheer that there is almost no color payoff with a single swatch, as illustrated above. I can hardly make out any color except the shimmers. However, the colors can be slowly built up to achieve one's desired effect. I can say this is a versatile palette as the rose color can serve as a blush and the brown on the rightmost upper corner serves as the main bronzer because it offers the most pigment. The sheer bronze with the largest cut serves an all-over diffuser for the bronzer, while the cream shimmery powder on top lightens areas on the face.

I do love the huge plunger for opening the case.

It was quite tricky to use this palette, and I honestly did not enjoy it as much as I intended to. I find that most bronzers do not go well with my medium-fair, yellow-based Chinese skintone (NC 20), and unfortunately this palette isn't exempt. Applied too sheerly, I might as well not have put any on for I can't see the difference; applied a little more heavily and my makeup looks muddy. Otherwise, I am quite sure the light, beautiful shades of this palette will show up better on porcelain gals.

Aussie Mega Shampoo

There was something about Aussie Mega Shampoo on the shelves of Boots which appealed to me. The bottle looked clean, homey, and truthful; none of that ubiquitous flashy packaging which promised the impossible.  

This shampoo is actually an English brand, contrary to the confusing "Aussie" label which had me thinking it was from Down Under.

After successfully finishing my latest shampoo discovery, Soap & Glory's Glad Hair Day (love!), I hopped on to Aussie Mega. The shampoo is silvery white with a creamy consistency. It fills the bathroom with a soapy sweet (but not cloying) fragrance; it also lathers well. My hair did feel very clean after washing. The volumizing effects it delivered was also a big plus. I thought I found another perfect shampoo because it answered all of what I was looking for, but my forehead started breaking out after two days of use. I immediately eliminated all new products I was testing and went back to the basics except for this shampoo. After a two-week experimentation, I found the culprit. My breakouts cleared after I stopped using this product.  

It contains SLS (sodium laureth sulfate) which causes irritation some people. I do not particularly break out from SLS, but I do find better results with shampoos which do not contain this dreaded ingredient. I notice the long list of ingredients also contains a ton of chemicals, which is always a bad sign for sensitive gals like me. I am guessing I am allergic/sensitive to one of these chemicals.

Rinses clean? Check. No build up? Check. Caused breakouts? Unfortunately, yes.