Lavshuca Holiday 2008: Lavshuca Anqitue Collection Antique Sepia Review, Swatches, & FOTD
Mmmm the fire in my blood is slowly dying out for Japanese brand Lavshuca. What is going on with these releases lately? They either all have similar colors to previous collections or they just suck in a major way! And hello? How many shades of brown and natural brown can we possibly have? Every single palette has brown, brown, and more brown! What happened to the rather lovely pinks and aquas that Lavshuca used to release?! I know, I know, shocking how candid the Muse is on voicing her opinion when she’s been known to express her undying love and appreciation for all things Lavshuca!
I purchased both coffrets from the Lavshuca Antique Collection for Holiday 2008 and I must say that they are nice but lord knows that the colors are absolutely boring and the same colors released over and over and over again from Lavshuca lately!
The Lavshuca Antique Collection comes in two flavors, Antique Sepia and Antique Monochrome. I’ll be reviewing Antique Sepia today and bringing you Antique Monochrome later this week. Each collection comes housed in a tiny, sturdy cardboard box and includes one Lavshuca Dual Eyeshadow and one Lavshuca Liquid Rouge. I paid retail for each set which was 1,890 yen plus the normal promotional discount (30% or so) that applies to Japanese drugstore cosmetics. I’ve seen the sets on E-bay for around $21 USD plus shipping if you’re wanting to indulge and of course Adams Beauty will probably have them for considerably less so do shop around before settling on one spot to buy from!
I think my two favorite items from the collection are the box and the gloss. Taking into consideration that Lavshuca’s Winter Make palettes were very delicately made last year it came as a shock that the box with this year’s collection is so sturdy and nice. It’s quite a cute little pull out draw that will hold around three or four MAC lipsticks. I was actually expecting something large as the pics make it look HUGE however it is tiny! As you can see below I placed a Clinique eyeshadow palette beside the box to show the size.
The second item that I really enjoyed with the collection was the Lavshuca Liquid Rouge. For some odd reason or another this particular Lavshuca Liquid Rouge seemed to have a bit more sparkle and shimmer than the normal range. The color included with Antique Sepia is a nice beige with golden shimmer and hints of peach! It completes my nude look beautifully when I use the included shadow duo!
The shadow is a bit on the boring side sadly as it includes a rather crummy nude brown shade with hints of gold shimmer and a base color of white gold that contains a bit of sparkle with a slightly iridescent finish. I will say that once I completed my look I did like the effects of combining the beige gloss with the nude eye look however it’s not what I’d want for the Holiday in all honestly. Right now it goes rather well with the Fall weather however I do love a festive eye look come the Holiday that’s vibrant, full of shimmer, and most importantly doesn’t shout natural! The duo is quite tiny and far from regular size. Although the gloss is regular size do brace yourself for a mini shadow!
As you can see below a MAC eyeshadow is even bigger than the little Lavshuca duo!
I did have a hard time deciding how I wanted to use the shadow. Sadly, I don’t read Japanese and the diagrams that I’ve come to rely on, on the back of the package are just never around on Lavshuca packaging. They must do this to irritate me, honestly. Between Jill Stuart and Lavshuca I’m unsure which brand annoys me the most when they fail to include the handy dandy eye diagram most Japanese brands favor on the back of their packaging!
In the end I decided that I’d use the white creamy gold shade as an all over color wash on my entire eye and follow up by blending the brown into my crease and on my lid. The look comes out very natural and yes, I begrudging admit, lovely but I still call it as being hells boring for the Holiday Season! Sorry it is what it is and this doesn’t shout “fun, shimmery Holiday!” to this Muse!
Aside from my major ranting about the shades and the lack of festive feel to the collection I did like the items included and especially enjoyed the very cute packaging! Overall, they are worth picking up if you can nab them at a good price but not so much if you’re paying more than retail!
I’ll give you the good (or bad) word on the second coffret shortly so stay tuned!
How about you?
Love these?
Want ’em?
Not loving all the nudes from Lavshuca lately?
Tell the Muse!
Lavshuca Creamy Liquid Foundation Review
Lavshuca Holiday Collection 2008 Coffrets
Lavshuca Perfect Base Moist and Lavshuca UV Review
Lavshuca Holiday Collection 2008: Lavshuca Winter Make Palettes Review