In today’s post, I am finally showcasing the eyeshadows that I purchased from Clionadh Cosmetics between January 2024 and March 2025. These were the multichromes that were delivered to the US because of the easier ordering process. So, I have only had access to them for barely under a year and a half. My first direct EU order was for the Deep Sea Treasures Palette, and I do not want a repeat of that shipping experience.
I’ve felt no rush to review these eyeshadows, nor the Garland and Garden Mini Quad. I’ve been taking my time in using them and naturally seeing how often I wanted to reach for these “newest” multichromes compared to the ones I’ve owned for much longer.
In these last few years, I have held onto hope that Clionadh would work closer with the retailer Monolith, which is basically the Sephora of the Indie makeup world for Europe, but only very few collections (and no single eyeshadows) have been sold there. This is why I don’t talk about Clionadh’s products as frequently as I used to, because it’s not as easy for me to get a hold of them anymore without paying a ridiculous price, especially in 2026 when DHL’s Worldwide Express shipping is the only option. For example, if I wanted to buy a single €14 multichrome, I would need to pay €54 in shipping alone. That doesn’t include the VAT charge that DHL would have to collect on my behalf, and then charge a fee for that too. Plus the “temporary” €3 flat fee Germany put on all international orders. Sure, I’ll get it in one business day, but I don’t think a single eyeshadow is worth spending €85 (could be more depending on DHL’s current service fees) on it. Clionadh’s new releases are only small collections at a time, and it’s rare for all the eyeshadows in my wishlist to be in-stock at the same time, but even if I bought €100 worth of new product, it would still cost me around €190 in total. As much as I love Clionadh’s eyeshadows, it is just not worth it to me. Considering the whole tariff situation on the US’s end and me being unlikely to return to the US until 2027, I don’t feel comfortable ordering things in advance to the US either.*
*UPDATE: Just one day after posting this, I got an email from Clionadh talking about how the next tariffs for the US may go into effect later this month. The brand moved up the start of their anniversary sale (up to 30% off with the code 10YEARS) and promised no additional charges would be incurred. They did also mention doing something special for EU customers once they’ve figured out the shipping, but I honestly don’t have high hopes on that. So, I went ahead and placed an order to the US. Perhaps by the time I can actually get them, my Clionadh Guide Post will be ready!
Yes, I haven’t forgotten my goal to one day create an “Ultimate Clionadh Stained Glass Guide” that has updated eye, finger, and arm swatches, plus eye looks, and comparisons. A page that I would just continually add to if I bought new shades. Given my current camera, lighting, and office renovation situation, it’s still not feasible to make anytime soon. I have started creating the drafts at least and reorganized my palettes to make it easier to work in sections at a time. So, until then, the best way to see all of my Clionadh posts are to seek them out from the alphabetized list HERE.
Glitter Multichrome
Calligraphy – “A black base that shifts red to copper speckled with bright yellow glitter throughout.”
I really liked the shade Shani from Clionadh’s Perfect Neutrals Bundle, and I feel like Calligraphy is the ultra amplified version with its thicker texture, smokier base, and far more intense shimmer. I’ve heard people, such as Kackie Reviews Beauty, refer to certain shades as “bedroom eyes brown” and I didn’t fully understand how a brown shade could be sultry until I saw this color (and the dark brown from YSL’s Over Brun Quad). It’s deep, but the shimmer makes it practically glow with warmth. It is such a pretty eyeshadow!
The Glitter multichrome formula has always been the most prone to fallout and looking messy due to its thicker texture that is gently packed, yet filled with so many sparkles. I feel this particular shade is even clumpier than the others, but using a glitter glue/primer is still good enough to hold Calligraphy in place and minimize that fallout.
Earth Vibrant Multichromes
Vineyard – “Wine red base with a strong chartreuse to aqua to pale blue shift with hints of violet.”
I love the smooth reflective metallic looking shine of this shade. With this formula, dampening my brush is typically all I need to avoid fallout.
It’s fascinating how much greener and cooler toned it looks on my hand, but on my eyes the warmth of the base stands out a lot and the “chartreuse” description holds true.
Archway – “A smoky plum base with small/medium particles that shift peach-pale yellow.”
This eyeshadow isn’t quite as smooth as the other Earth Vibrant Multichromes. It’s also interesting that the swatches of Archway and Line of Queens look completely different, but they appear similarly on the eyelids (purple base with a peach and yellow shift) and just differ in color temperature. If I had a chance to choose just one, it would be this because it’s a tad less sparkly looking.
Glitter Vibrant Multichrome
The tiny amount of purple/blue sparkles along the lash line are just remnants of Myrrh that I accidentally missed removing between swatches.
Line of Queens – “Has a cool purple base that shifts bright peach-yellow-lime-aqua.”
Since this eyeshadow is basically the Glitter Multichrome formula (just with vivid base colors), it’s no surprise that I prefer using it with a damp brush or on top of the Nyx Glitter primer. In the demo look above, I patted a tiny amount (dry) on the inner half of the lid for a twinkling and slightly scattered effect. I wanted to see if applying this shade on top of a cool purple eyeshadow would bring out the aqua shift that’s supposed to be there. Unfortunately, it just remained primarily yellow and peach/orange on my eyelids.
Electric Multichromes
Myrrh – “Has a sheer, acidic chartreuse base that shifts bright cobalt/ultraviolet.”
The base color is too sheer to be visible on my skin. What’s left is a glowing neon blue color with the tiniest twinge of purple. I think of it as the blue version of UV. I don’t own Radiance, which is the blue from the Series 2 Iridescent line, but I think that shade might be a lighter and pearly kind of blue. There is absolutely nothing subtle about this shade though! So, despite being a little disappointed that I couldn’t see more of a shift, Myrrh is still a bold statement color.
Solarium – “A yellow base with small particle shimmer that shifts bright green-icy blue-indigo.”
Green is the dominant color when I apply this shade damp, but if I pack on a very thick and dry layer, I can see more of the yellow. I wouldn’t normally wear Solarium packed that heavily though, so it’s a bit of a moot point.
Although this isn’t as glowy as Myrrh, it’s still very reflective and impactful in environments with bright light.
Goblet – “Has a coral base that shifts bright gold-lime-aqua.”
This is one of the most standout yellow eyeshadows in my entire makeup collection! Ones that come to mind are Nefertiti (discontinued shade from Devinah Cosmetics) and Gigabyte (from Pat Mcgrath). Goblet has larger shimmer particles with a slight green tinge compared to the orange of Nefertiti. Goblet has a similar texture to Gigabyte, but it’s brighter and with the lime shift instead of olive. The “sunset” eye look I did above is one of my favorites! I applied it dry in that look because I wanted to see how subtle I could get it to look, yet it still makes quite the impact!
Series 1 Iridescent Multichrome
I wrote this name and category because that’s what is printed on the label, but I cannot find it on Clionadh’s website. There might have been a “free gift with purchase” promo going on at the time, but I cannot remember for certain. This is one of my least favorite formulas from Clionadh because the Deep Iridescent line just looks better on my skintone. However, this was a free eyeshadow, so I’m not complaining. I can fill in the gaps in color by applying it on top of a matte eyeshadow. I don’t like how most pastel colors look on me, but this makes for a pretty inner corner shade. It can get messy though, so I try to use a glitter primer under it.
Garden and Garland Mini Quad: Green Version
Eyeshadow Names From Top to Bottom: Pinecone, Fennel, Holly, and Woolly Hedgenettle.
Clionadh got me with the fall vibes, plus the inclusion of two matte eyeshadows when I have been desperate for them to start releasing matte singles again! Their mattes aren’t as low effort to blend as my high end and luxury favorites, nor as pigmented and strongly adhering as some of my other indie favorites, but I find the quality to be very good, especially for the price!
The shimmers in this palette are also on par with the quality of Clionadh’s “standard” circle pan eyeshadows. They may not be as impressive as the high intensity Stained Glass eyeshadows, but they’re still very good. They’re as opaque as I like with a consistency that isn’t too thick. They’re not flaky and give low fallout. They also don’t crease on me.
So, that’s everything I have for today. Thanks for reading!
Welcome, lovers of Japanese makeup brushes! If this is your first time visiting, I’d like you to know that I have a page with every Fude post linked, as well as a description of the topics discussed in those posts and a list of which brushes are in which posts. If this is not your first time here, welcome back!
Regarding my measurements, “hair width” is measured from the widest part, regardless of the overall brush shape. I don’t measure thickness. Anything with an asterisk indicates that I had to measure that one myself as those numbers were not listed on the website. All figures listed in inches are converted estimates.
With costs of materials ever increasing and supply of certain hair types being harder to acquire, brush prices also increase. So, the prices I’ve listed might not reflect what is current, though I will do my best to keep them updated.
*DISCLOSURE: Non-highlighted links in bold blue font (Example) are standard non-affiliate links. Links marked in bold black font with a light blue background (Example) are affiliate links. Affiliate links allow me to get a commission if purchases are made directly using my link. Whether you click to shop through them or not, I appreciate you visiting and I hope you find the information I’ve provided to be helpful!
CHIKUHODO
Chikuhodo ZE-1 Powder Brush
Full Length: 167mm / 6.57 in
Hair Length: 52mm / 2.05 in
Hair Width: *50mm / 1.97 in
Bristle Type: Premium Silver Fox
I love the Chikuhodo FO-9 because of how huge fluffy and luxurious it feels. So, when this brush came out, I assumed it would be even more of an upgrade between the “premium” hair and thicker more expensive granadillo wood (vs maple). I was surprised to see that the heads of both brushes are not the same.
Although both brushes are ovular, the ZE-1 is rounder and not as wide. Both feel similarly dense closer to the base of the head, but the FO-9’s wider splay from the mid section to the tips gives the brush an airier feel with a lot more bend while moving. When it comes to the bristle softness, they are nearly identical. I only notice that the premium hair feels softer when I use them side by side for several minutes. It takes so much focus to tell the difference, that they may as well be the same to me.
Below is a photo of my largest powder brushes for reference.
I have zero complaints using this brush for all my powdering needs. It gives a soft, even layer on the skin. Because of the shape and it being more dense than the FO-9, the ZE-1 is better for buffing.
At the time that I bought this brush, the retail price was 27,000 YEN. The link to it can be found HERE, but the ZEN series is technically discontinued. Additional stock crops up from time to time, but it’s very rare.
Chikuhodo x BoBo Silver Fox/Saikoho Mix Makie Owl Handle
Full Length: *153mm / 6.02 in
Hair Length: 33mm / 1.3 in
Hair Width: *43mm / 0.16 in
Bristle Type: Silver Fox and Saikoho Goat
If you guessed that I bought this brush for the handle, you would be correct! I have a hard time resisting makie handle brushes if the price is within my budget. Besides the beautiful moon and owl motif, I also am such a big fan of brushes with fox hair. I believe this is the first one I’ve bought with a mixture of silver fox and goat. I wondered if this could be an upgrade to my Eihodo WP PC-1 Puff Goldfish Makie Brush, which I essentially used to replace the Chikuhodo T-13 which had softer hair, but continually sheds.
I find that fox is softer than saikoho. So, it makes sense that the Owl brush having a mixture of fox and saikoho would make it feel a little softer than the T-13’s saikoho alone. I can feel less friction on my skin when buffing the Owl compared to the T-13, and much less drag on the skin than the PC-1. Plus, this doesn’t have a shedding problem. Are those perks worth the estimated $25-27 higher price? Because my skin has gotten more sensitive over time, my answer is yes! It’s worth it and I am thrilled!
When using a setting powder specifically, I tend to prefer airy and wispy brushes because my dry skin benefits from having the thinnest layer, and most of the time I don’t want to set every inch of my face with powder. An evenly dispersed amount is good enough. With this brush, I can cover my entire face in just a few seconds. I can buff everything to help all the makeup blend together, but with the amount of powder my brush picks up, sweeping everywhere tends to be just fine. However, if I want to use this brush with other types of products, such as powders prone to sticking to the skin right where it is placed, this dense brush isn’t so good for that. Since most of the makeup I use is super finely milled, I don’t usually have this issue. Working with bronzer and blush can be tricky if they’re heavily pigmented, especially because of its wide surface area. As long as the powder doesn’t stick, I don’t find this brush to apply colored products that heavily (working from 1-2 taps into the pan at a time).
I bought this brush from Fude Bobo for 16,000 YEN, but this style sold out. They restocked a plain white handle version, but that is out of stock too.
When I think of “3D” brushes, I associate them with having a medium-dense section near the base, at the bottom of the angle, that gets airier with more splay towards the top. This brush is thicker and denser than those, so calling it “trapezoidal” indicates that it’s not a typical 3D brush within the category of angled brushes. It’s still thicker and denser than most “paw” shaped brushes, which also have a sharper angle than this one.
I love the feeling of it on my skin, but this shape of brush being firmly bound makes me like it less than 3D brushes. There isn’t as much movement of the bristles. When using Baby Owl with blush, I essentially have to pounce the product to ensure it doesn’t go outside of the area I want. The amount of blush picked up by the bristles needs to knocked off first to ensure it doesn’t look like a stamp on my cheeks, but it can still happen with very pigmented blushes. The edges will not be diffused from the pouncing, so if I try to use the tips to sweep or buff in such a small area that, it has me wishing the application was just sheerer and more diffused from the start. Essentially, this brush makes me do more work or requires an additional brush to pair with it instead of being able to do everything I want with a single brush alone.
I can use a sweeping motion for bronzer in a small precise area instead of pouncing, but the powder layer still tends to be heavier than I want.
So, although this brush is functional, I prefer to just keep it on display. Also, according to my friends, this brush seems to perform similarly to Sonia G’s ALP2, which is why I decided to skip getting that brush. For those that have similar tastes to me, I recommend looking into the Bisyodo B-P-03. I’m not ready to review it yet, but it will likely be part of Fude Part 11 in the future.
I paid 14,000 YEN for Baby Owl, and it was available HERE, but it’s limited edition. So, restocks are few and far between.
Chikuhodo Z-12 Eye Shadow Brush
Full Length: 127 mm / 5 in
Hair Length: 12 mm / 0.47 in
Hair Width: *9mm / 0.35 in
Bristle Type: Gray Squirrel
Chikuhodo’s Z-Series is their most well known line of brushes, and one of their best made. I already know that I’m partial to saikoho goat hair brushes for eyeshadow usage, but I still keep my eye out for new squirrel hair eye brush releases that have the potential to become a favorite. Prior to buying this brush and the Chikuhodo GSN-9, the only gray squirrel hair eyeshadow brushes I kept in rotation were the Sonia G Crease One (restock of the original squirrel) and the Muragishi Sangyo MS-4 Mai Sakura Eyeshadow Brush. Sonia G’s brush I only use for outer corner work with heavily pigmented eyeshadows. The Muragishi brush is the one that I use regularly, but it’s discontinued through CDJapan. The current inventory will not be restocked once it sells out. So, this is why I was especially interested in seeing if I could like other packing eyeshadow brushes, especially from the famed Z-series.
This brush is perfectly fine at packing on eyeshadows and doing some light blending, but it’s still not as quick or effortless as my Sonia G saikoho goat brushes. The Z-12 isn’t as firm, making the tips feel gentler on the eye at the expense of me needing to pack on more layers. I save myself the effort by not bothering to use this with sheerer eyeshadows. Essentially, I still like this brush more than some of the other squirrel eye brushes I’ve used in the past (excluding some pine and canadian squirrel brushes) because I’m still able to pack on a decent amount of product. However, it’s unlikely to be in my regular brush rotation. For those that aren’t trying to have the most opaque eyeshadow looks or ones who prefer squirrel eye brushes, this could be a much more valuable brush to have.
At the time I bought it, this brush was listed as 4000 YEN and is available HERE.
Chikuhodo GSN-9 Brush
Full Length: 182 mm / 7.16 in
Hair Length: 12 mm / 0.47 in
Hair Width: *9mm / 0.35 in
Bristle Type: Gray Squirrel
Had I known how similar the GSN-9 and Z-12 would be, I potentially would have skipped out on getting the Z-12 for sheer redundancy. The main differences between them is that the GSN-9 has slightly more tapered tips and is a little stiffer, making it that much more similar to the Muragishi brush I love. The hair quality of the Z-12 might be a higher quality though. At the very least, it feels the tiniest bit softer, but I’ve owned and been using the GSN-9 for longer.
This brush packs on a good amount of product and I can blend out the edges fairly well. It’s still not quite as good at blending as my Muragishi brush, but I still reach for it enough times that I feel it was worth buying. I am satisfied with it.
If this brush has not been discontinued, it costs 3200 YEN and is available HERE.
This is one of the renewed GL series brushes that I bought in June 2025. I like to think of this as a bigger version of the Wayne Goss Air Brush because that brush is the first one I ever bought with that particular shape.
It’s similar to how “Beautyblender” became the name for all makeup sponges. When Wayne Goss had the relaunch of his brushes, he said he would bring the Air Brush back (or something similar to it). It has been several years and that still hasn’t happened. Within this time frame, he’s been rumored to be working with a different OEM, so making an exact dupe of the Air Brush might not be allowed. For over a year, he also lost control of his UK website that the brushes were sold at by his partners (could be former partners by now). So, the whole Wayne Goss situation is a mess. He has been cryptic about what his website would be about after announcing in May 2026 that he regained control of it. Other than stating, “My goal is simple: to create something honest, useful, and genuinely empowering for women everywhere,” there’s no telling whether he will continue with brushes. His plans will apparently be announced in Fall 2026. Long story short, I was tired of waiting for another version of the Air Brush, so I bought the GL-6. Another brush I own that is similar in size and shape to the GL-6 is the Chikuhodo KZ-4. I don’t own the revived 2026 version from the Homare series, but I still have my original. Because the KZ-4 is so costly and expensive due in part to the Kazan Squirrel hair, I only use that brush a few times a year. The GL-6 is my way of having a soft but less expensive alternative.
I will bring this up again in the Eihodo Blush Brush review, but I think it’s important to mention that the hairs feel more similar to using a goat hair brush than a squirrel one. Then again, if I’m using a squirrel and goat mixed brush, the goat is usually Saikoho. I almost never use Sokoho anymore. The one exclusion is the Eihodo Puff brush with the Dior Powder No Powder. This brush doesn’t feel scratchy on my skin in normal usage situations, but those with sensitive skin might find it safer to just use a pure squirrel hair brush instead.
This brush is marketed for highlighter use because that is the best function. In my review of the Givenchy Highlighter, I mentioned that I can’t use my holy grail brush as well with that product because I need to blend it out a bit more than other highlighters require. The GL-6 is one of the brushes I use most with it. It’s great for picking up semi hard pressed powders or just regularly pressed ones that I want to blend out in a way that combines well with my blush.
There are times when I’ve used this brush with bronzers that I wanted to have in an even sheerer layer than I get with my go-to bronzer brushes, or an application that’s confined to a smaller area than my large bronzer brushes produce. With contours, I can make a stronger line with the angled side and then blend it out in a sweeping motion with the flat wider side.
I have occasionally used this brush with darker blushes that I’m trying to create an ombre look with. Sweeping with this gives me control to build up sheer layers before switching to a different brush to apply the lighter color to the apples of my cheeks.
Aside from highlighter usage, one of my favorite uses of the Air Brush was to sweep powder away from my under eyes after setting my concealer. However, this brush being larger makes it harder to maneuver between my nose and inner corners of my eyes. So, I don’t use the GL-6 this way.
The GL-6 does not replace any of my favorite highlighter, blush, or bronzer brushes. Instead, I use this when my favorites don’t perform the way I want with a particular product. So, I don’t think I recommend this brush to beginners or those with small brush collections. I think it is more useful to the type of person who likes to have a wide variety of makeup tools.
Since Chikuhodo makes the Kumanofude for Eihodo, I feel fairly confident that my outlet brush is a minorly defected version of the GL-4. I cannot tell what the defect is though. The brush has a slightly courser feel than I’d expect from a squirrel-mix brush. It feels only a little softer than my Eihodo Puff brush, which is listed as Sokoho goat only. The Eihodo Sokoho quality is extremely high though, so it cannot be compared to how Sokoho from other brands feel (except in this case where the stock could be the same). The most important aspect is that these tips are not scratchy on my face. They are soft enough for me to be able to use this brush quite often, though it can start to hurt my cheeks if I use it to take multiple blush demos within a short period of time (for blog photo purposes).
The brush is nicely filled out so that the base has some firmness, but the tips splay enough to prevent the application from looking too concentrated in one spot. I’ve enjoyed using this brush with stiffer pressed, yet sheer blushes, such as the Gucci Glow Blushes. Because I’ve spoiled myself using some of the softest brushes out there, I wasn’t as happy with this brush initially. However, I have liked the end results from using this brush so much that I have continued to reach for it far more than I ever expected. Plus, I’m very happy with the sturdy construction of this brush and the long handle.
Because it’s a traditionally shaped cheek brush, I prefer to use it exclusively with blush. It can be used with bronzer, but for the amount of powder that gets picked up and it not being dense enough towards the tips to be that strong of a buffer brush, it applies bronzer more heavily than I like.
If the outlet version that costs 5440 YEN is still available, it can be found HERE. If not, Chikuhodo’s GL-4 can be found HERE.
KOYUDO
Koyudo Yoshiki Blue Fox Powder Brush S (round)
Full Length: *158mm / 6.22 in
Hair Length: 43 mm / 1.69 in
Hair Width: *27mm / 1.06 in
Bristle Type: Blue Fox
When I first heard of blue fox, I thought it was a marketing term situation similar to blue squirrel vs gray squirrel. However, the blue fox brushes I’ve purchased from Koyudo via Fude Bobo have hair strands that feel as thick as premium silver fox hair, but they’re even softer to the touch! I’m such a big fan of fox hair brushes, but now I’m even crazier about blue fox. It’s just so difficult to acquire! I usually miss out on the first launches from Fude Bobo and only snag the brushes in restocks. In the case of the two brushes in the photo below, these are Fude Bobo’s outlet brushes. These three in total comprise of the only blue fox brushes I’ve been able to get, and I am continuing to keep my eye out for more.
I’m not ready to review these, but they will likely be in the Fude Update Part 11 future post.
The reasons I like this brush specifically, besides the plush soft hair, are that it’s fully round, is dense enough to allow for some minor buffing, splays in a way that allows for some minor diffusing, doesn’t pick up too much product with one dip, is small enough to maintain precision, and has a beautiful handle. I was using this brush so often during the time that I was working on Fude 9 and had to force myself to stop so I could give more time to test the other brushes.
The performance is great and it’s in a common shape. There are plenty of dupes for this brush, but it’s the hair that makes it worth buying over others. It’s just unfortunate that it’s hard to get.
KOYUDO x CDJAPAN Beauty 2024 Silver Fox Powder Brush S and KOYUDO x CDJAPAN Beauty 2024 Silver Fox Powder Brush L
Powder BrushS
Full Length: 160mm / 6.3 in
Hair Length: 45mm / 1.77 in
Hair Width: *42mm / 1.69 in
Bristle Type: Silver Fox
On the left is the S version. On the right is the L version.
Powder Brush L
Full Length: 170 mm / 6.69 in
Hair Length: 50 mm / 1.96 in
Hair Width: *55mm / 2.16 in
Bristle Type: Silver Fox
I can pretty much review the S and L Powder Brushes together because they are identically shaped, just one is larger than the other.
Blush application, bronzing, and powdering are the three tasks these brushes can help accomplish. Powder Brush L is unsurprisingly best suited to use with all-over face powder because of its bigger size, while having the same denseness as the smaller one. Powder Brush S is unsurprisingly better suited for blush, since I’m less prone to sweeping or patting blush outside of the area I want.
When it comes to which brush is better for bronzer, that’s all about preferences whether larger and faster is better or smaller and targeted. With density out of it, I prefer the smaller brush since I get more precision with the same amount of diffusing capability.
Compared to the brush options from my entire collection, The L is among the top for powder. That being said, I don’t have any particular favorite powder brush because they all tend to perform the same. The Blue/Gray Squirrel brushes are my softest and most delicate powder brushes, but they don’t need buffing power because they don’t pick up as much product anyway. So, wherever I apply will have a thin layer. My fox brushes with the near softness of squirrel and resilience of goat grab onto more powder, but are better buffers. So, the outcome is pretty much the same. Squirrel hair brushes might require less blending, but they take a longer time to layer or cover the face. Fox hair brushes might require buffing, which adds more time, but I might have needed to do that anyway for a more polished look in blending blush, bronzer, and highlighter together on my face. The powder brushes I reach for the most are the bigger fluffier ones for a plusher and more luxurious feel, or the ones with the prettiest handles that I can enjoy looking at. Although I wouldn’t call this handle the prettiest, the dragon symbol is very cool and the reason I wanted brushes from this collection in the first place.
Regarding bronzer, the S is nice, but I prefer the wider size and slightly denser Bisyodo B-F-05 Perfect Fit Brush. Even the Sonia G Jumbo Bronzer Brush, which is a little less soft, is one I prefer because of the way it lays down product. Lastly, very few sweeping brushes can impress me with blush over my favorite rounded ones. So, I’ve been using these brushes mainly for face powder, which is why they’re aptly categorized as powder brushes! Final things to note is that the L was shedding a ton in the beginning. I almost stopped using it out of frustration, but it eventually got to a reasonable level after about five months of using it. It also has thinner and more delicate hair strands than the S. For some reason, the hair in my S brush is as thick as Chikuhodo’s premium fox hair in the ZEN series. The S also sheds significantly less.
The S version once cost 25100 and is available HERE. The L version once cost 30100 YEN and was available HERE.
KOYUDO x CDJAPAN Beauty 2024 and 2025 Flat Top Kabuki Brushes
Full Length: 53mm / 2.08 in
Hair Length: 22mm / 0.87 in
Hair Width: *40mm / 1.57 in
Bristle Type: Goat
Kabuki brushes are expected to pack on a lot of product, but evenly, and buff it out very well. Since I typically try to use as little product as possible, I rarely have use for these type of brushes except for the cuteness factor of them being stubby. With these brushes, each individual strand doesn’t hold that much product, but because there are so many hairs in total, I get a thin wide layer when I apply it. So, I actually do like how these perform with powders!
I kept specifying “powder” because most people say undyed goat hair (particularly sokoho and other sturdy hairs around the goat) can be used with liquid products. CDJapan doesn’t specify what part(s) of the goat are used in these brushes, but it can be assumed based on the price and lack of labeling that it’s not saikoho. That being said, this brush is softer than I expected. It’s likely a very high quality sokoho, or sokoho mixed with other goat types like Ototsuho or Tankoho. I think it’s too soft to be Hakutotsuho, but I admittedly don’t have a lot of experience with goat that isn’t sokoho or saikoho. I own brushes from Koyomo that’s listed as “Haku-ototsuho Yomo,” which I assume is a mix of Ototsuho and Hakutotsuho hair, but one brush felt amazing while the other felt like Sokoho. So, I don’t have a good grasp of those hair types due to inconsistencies. The point I was trying to make is that even though this is likely not the thinner hair type (Saikoho), some of these bristles are still delicate and some of the tips have snapped off on me when I’ve used these kabuki brushes with a normal liquid foundation and even a serum foundation. So, I recommend using these brushes exclusively with powder products.
For all-over setting or finishing powder, this brush works very well. It’s great for buffing. By now, I own so many brushes that perform with similar results, have a larger surface area, and are far softer. So, I wouldn’t think to reach for this brush for powdering. Instead, I love this with bronzer because of the airbrushed look I get. It’s great to use with my subtler or lighter colored bronzers, and if I want to use it with one that is very pigmented, I just make sure to pick up the product with a small portion of the brush so that I can blend it out with the clean section of the brush.
As for blushes, the size is small enough that I don’t really have to worry about applying too high or too far down on my face, but it can look a little heavier with the amount of product I pick up if the blush happens to be on the more heavily pigmented side too.
If I’m being honest with myself, I really just bought them as collector items, but they are absolutely functional for those who actually want to use these brushes for their intended purposes.
I paid 4500 YEN for these brushes, and they were available HERE and HERE.
KOYUDO x CDJAPAN Beauty 2025 Grey Squirrel Powder Brush
Full Length: 150 mm / 5.9 in
Hair Length: 50 mm / 1.97 in
Hair Width: *35mm / 1.38 in
Bristle Type: Gray Squirrel
I believe this is only my second brush made by Koyudo that has Gray Squirrel hair. Usually they reserve that hair type in large bundles for their most intricate handles, which are both aspects that raise the price. So, I’m happy this collaboration brush is available. The current price still isn’t cheap, but it’s the most affordable Koyudo brush I’ve seen that uses gray squirrel hair. Funnily enough, CDJ working with Koyudo is the reason I was able to buy my first and only white Canadian Squirrel Face Brush!
I was worried that, since this is a more affordable Koyudo Gray Squirrel hair brush, the hair might not be soft enough to my liking, but I think even the lowest quality grey squirrel will still always be to my satisfaction. They are so soft innately. So, I’m very happy with how it feels!
The head of this brush has such long hair that it steers it towards powder brush use, but the overall circumference is small enough that I prefer using it with blush and bronzer. Using it to cover the face in a thin dusting of setting or finishing powder naturally takes longer than my typical larger squirrel brushes, but it can be done and the end result is nice. It’s just not dense enough to give a good buff though. This brush is suited for building up color in gentle swipes, not buffing.
When I have a bronzer that’s too dark or too pigmented, this brush has been perfect for ensuring the application is sheer and diffused. I can do the same with blush, but I have far less examples of blushes that are too pigmented, only harder pressed. When I used this with the Gucci Glow Blush, I was impressed that I was able to pick up a decent amount of powder, but that formula is so sheer that I got frustrated trying to build it up with that brush and switched to the kabuki one from this 2025 collection instead!
I’ve grown accustomed to using the Rephr Koyo brush for products that I want to apply in a sheer manner and build up. However, in times when I don’t want to apply blush or bronzer in as wide of an area, I’ve been reaching for this brush instead because the hair doesn’t splay out as wide and therefore it’s easier to apply a diffused application to a spot precisely. Especially if I am trying to ombre one blush shade into another.
This is listed at 16100 YEN and is available HERE.
UPDATE ON INTERNATIONAL CDJAPAN ORDERS: In Fude Part 9, I mentioned that I wasn’t sure how often I’d buy through CDJapan anymore, even though I am an affiliate of theirs. I always try to get the best prices and deals, so as much as I respect and admire the company, if another business worked out better shipping prices, offers higher discounts, or some other perk, I am going to shop through them. I am first and foremost a customer and I have to do what’s best as a customer with a limited budget.
Since posting Fude 9, there have been additional changes. Not only is the free shipping minimum not feasible for me to reach, but shipping costs have gone up even more! There has always been VAT, but there is now a duties fee (not to be confused with added customs if the order exceeds 150 Euros), as well as a fixed customs clearance fee. If I try to buy an item that costs $49, my final total will be $101. Thanks to the reward program, occasional coupons, and the kind people who shop through my affiliate link, I have enough points saved up to help offset some of these fees. However, I want to save them for a time when I see a brush so great that it suddenly feels worth it to pay extra for it. A brush so fantastic that I will feel regret if I don’t buy it (and yes, there are three brushes I’ve missed out on that I still can’t get over missing). So, I will be buying significantly less brushes this year and going forward. It’s possible that every Japanese retailer will have these fees when shipping to Europe, but I will be shopping around just in case I find one that’s better.
If you live in the US, you might not have this kind of problem from CDJapan or other retailers. I cannot be sure.
Anyway, that’s all for Fude 10! Thanks for reading!
In December of 2024, I ordered the Wulfa palette from Monolith-EU, but ended up being sent Elaina instead. Considering how the packaging is, as shown above, I can understand how it would be easy to get palettes mixed up. There is nothing written on the brown paper and the only identifier is the animal symbol (in wax, sticker form, on a charm, etc). Monolith shipped the right palette to me after I contacted them, so that’s how I ended up with two items from Shellwe Makeup. These are my first and only ones so far.
Elaina Pigment Palette
The Elaina Pigment Palette mattes feel hard pressed, but that could be the nature of these being a high pigment formula. Although there’s some stiffness when I try to pick up the product onto my natural hair brushes, the mattes still blend pretty well. The pale green of Shade 1 (which looks grey on my skin) is a bit thinner and less opaque. Shade 7 is also a nicer brown to work with than the redder Shade 10 because the latter doesn’t blend as easily or evenly. Still, I can get it to comply with a bit of time and effort.
Shade 4 looks like it should be a yellowish green based on the pan color, but it’s much darker on my skin. I can only use it as high as my crease, and not as an under-the-brow type of shade. This means that despite this palette appearing to have a nice gradient of light, medium, and deep mattes, they’re actually mostly dark shades and therefore look similar on my skin tone. This limits my options for eye looks even more.
The silver (Shade 2) and gold (Shade 8) are scattered-effect topper type of shimmers. They aren’t easy to pick up on a brush or fingers and will have fallout without glitter primer. They were so annoying to work with that I actually removed them from this palette and replaced them with silver and gold single eyeshadow shimmers from Fantasy Cosmetica.
How Shades 2 and 8 look after being rubbed together.
What’s interesting is the fact that at some point (I got my palette in early 2025) Shellwe Makeup reformulated those exact two shades. It wasn’t until I was working on the final draft of this blog post that I decided to check if this palette was still available on the brand’s website and noticed the sign below.
So, I can’t have been the only one who despised those shades. Even though I don’t usually like toppers, the formula of these were objectively not good. So, I hope the new ones are more to everyone’s liking!
The light green shimmer that actually appears goldish on my skin (Shade 4) is chunkier and wetter than the rest, but still manages to lack in opacity. The purple duochrome, Shade 6, is beautiful and smooth. The golden brown satin, Shade 9, is smooth but makes much less of an impression compared to the sparkle level of the others.
Because there are 10 shades in Elaina, and only 3 of them are perfect eyeshadows for me, I’m not as happy with this palette. Switching out the two most problematic shades helped, but I still rarely reach for this. I’m glad it was technically free, since Monolith didn’t make me send it back in exchange for the mixup with Wulfa.
Wulfa Eyeshadow Palette
Now this palette is amazing!
The shimmers and mattes are pressed way more loosely. In fact, Wulfa came with two super thin foam circle pads to protect two of the shadows, but I can’t tell which ones because they fell out before I could open the palette all the way. If I had to guess, I assume it was for Shade 1 and 4.
As seen in the photo below, with the exclusion of that vibrant Duochrome (Shade 1), this is the amount of kickup I got around the edges of the mattes and shimmers after just one use, compared to how clean the edges of Elaina are despite having used it three times by that point. To this day, my Elaina palette still looks quite clean.
The two replacement shades by Fantasy Cosmetica that I chose are shown in Elaina above.
Shade 1 is chunkier and wetter, like the light green shimmer (Shade 4) in Elaina, but Shade 1 is more opaque. This duochrome is stunning! I do sometimes get kickup, but less than I’d expect considering it’s a bit flaky.
Shade 2 is a fantastic yellow. It’s super blendable and soft.
I don’t wear orange eyeshadows that often outside of creating eye looks for palette reviews or outside of the fall season. However, this is a pretty color. It gives some kickup, but it’s not too bad.
I was a tiny bit disappointed by Shade 4 because it’s so dark that I can’t see as much of the green tone. However, I can create cool looks with it when I pat some of the other shimmers on top. The consistency is thick, but it applies smoothly and adheres well to the skin.
The deep purple (Shade 5) takes more effort to diffuse in the way I want, but it can definitely be packed on for smoking out my looks. It’s at least easier to blend than the reddish brown shade from Elaina.
I tend to use one or two shades from Wulfa with eyeshadows from other palettes to complete looks. For example, I used Shade 4 in the eye look in my Shade Range Expansions post in the dark grey shirt. I might have used a few shades from the Elaina palette in the pink top from that post. I think I used one Wulfa shade in my Armani Dolci Blush post as well, but I cannot confirm for certain. I often forget what I use in multi-palette eyeshadow looks.
Another point going for Shellwe is that these shimmers don’t really crease on me. The only real gripe I have with the Wulfa palette is actually the packaging. The magnet the holds it closed is very weak, which is an issue I don’t have with Elaina. I have to keep bending and working the folded portion of the palette to try and align it right so that it stays closed. My only other workaround is making sure that I keep at least one other palette on top of it to guarantee it stays shut!
I absolutely recommend the Wulfa palette, but I’m not sure whether I will buy more from Shellwe Makeup. I’m open to it if a color story is truly drawing me in. I’m still curious about their Farasha palette, for example, but I have such a huge eyeshadow collection that I think I should just stick to purchasing from my usual Indie brand favorites. Black Friday of 2024 was my time to branch out and try products from a few additional brands, but from 2025 and onward, I’ve felt less adventurous. Brands like Odens Eye, Fantasy Cosmetica, Clionadh, and Singe Beauty produce enough to keep me fearing for my wallet!
The Armani Neo Nude Melting Colour Balms ranked among the top of my favorite cream-to-powder blushes. They were discontinued, and I believe it was due to the myriad of manufacturing flaws and inconsistent formula that I talked about in great detail in my first Armani Blush Post and the subsequent one.
I wished dearly for the brand to reformulate and relaunch them, because that line had so much potential, but it appears we have the Dolci Makeup Blurring Multi-Use Blush Balms instead.
I never bought 45 Brick Red from the Neo Nude line because it verged closer to orange than I wanted. So, when I saw the Dolci Blush in 4 Cinnamon, I was intrigued! It’s a reddish brown blush that isn’t too vibrant, which is one of my favorite kinds of blush colors. Out of the swatch comparisons below, the shade I am always drawn to is more along the lines of Prada’s Kaffe because it has a little more brown. A color like MAC’s Pinch of Marrakesh is of similar depth, but too orange. Ironically, I always felt Fwee’s Lyrics was too warm, but it looks so pink compared to the others!
While we’re on the topic of comparing blushes, I have to say that while I was aware that the packaging would be small, I was still shocked to see it in person. The photo below shows the maximum amount of blush that can be rolled up. It looks smaller than the Prada blush, but surprisingly the Prada only has 3.5 grams of product (which is the same amount the Armani Neo Nude Blushes had). Armani claims the Dolci blushes weigh 8 grams, so I wonder if that amount is what’s shown in my photo below, or if there’s more product below that would need to be scraped out. I’m not curious enough to dig into this product and find out, but perhaps someone else online will!*
*UPDATE August 2nd, 2026: Emily Harpertook one for the team! Anyone who wants the full amount of blush would need to scrape below the surface and scoop the rest out. Thank you very much to Lili Szücs for leaving a comment on this post and letting me know. Another video is HERE.
Although Cinnamon isn’t the perfect tone of reddish-brown that I love, I have been able to add other blushes to the apples of my cheeks and been thrilled with the end result! It’s still a very pretty color and I’ve become more impressed with the Dolci Blush the more I use it.
At first, I was dabbing the stick directly onto my cheeks and then blending the blush out with dense brushes. Doing it that way results in a very blended look, perhaps due to the soft matte and blurring properties, but it sometimes looked a little cakey. It wasn’t until I started running my brush bristles over the stick to pick it up that way that I realized this formula is sheerer than I thought. With a brush like the Singe Beauty FO3 that’s tighter packed around the base, but has a lot more splay and movement midway through to the tips, I can get such a light veil of color that the blush looks so skin-like and natural! That was the biggest reason I fell in love with the Neo Nude Melting Balms in the first place! For those that want stronger pigment, this still builds quite a bit and I would recommend using something denser like the Rephr LC02. I’ve even used the Smashbox Full Coverage Foundation brush with it.
The Neo Nude Blushes had a cross between a dimethicone type of slip and the tiniest bit of oil. Once it dries, it has the silicone feel of a waterproof type of product (except shade 30). The Dolci Blush feels creamier and more emollient. Once it dries, it has a bit of a powdery feel, but there’s still a little residue that slightly transfers. Both blushes contain dimethicone and silicones, but dimethicone is way farther down the Dolci Blush ingredient list. Also, the Dolci Blush contains fragrance. It’s sweet and fruity (according to their Canadian website it’s supposed to be “upcycled pear and luscious fig”), but something smells slightly floral in there as well. It’s present, but thankfully not as strong as many other designer brands’ makeup. It doesn’t give me a headache, but I still prefer to not have perfume in my makeup. Wearing multiple scented products at one time can be overwhelming.
Other than this blush being easy to blot away with physical contact, as long as nothing touches my cheeks, the color remains unfaded and intact all day. The times when I lay my head on a pillow or touch my face more than usual, I’m not left completely bare-cheeked by nighttime. However, the blush is still pretty faint if I was going for a sheer look to begin with. Because this isn’t as much of a problem for me, I haven’t tested to see if using a setting spray or some other product could make it budge-proof.
As a lip product, it has a suede-like feel when it dries. I love the blurred look and it appears smooth and pretty. However, my chronically dry lips need an occlusive layer in order to stay in good condition. This looks good while on, but it feels drying and even appears drier once I remove it. Also, this doesn’t stand up very well to my drinking and eating habits. I don’t get long wear out of it.
This costs €42 Euros in Germany (around $48 USD). I was able to get a discount that brought the price down to around the $39 price that it costs within the US. The Neo Nude blushes were $38 in 2021, and had packaging I preferred, including a mirror. The Dolci blushes have a pleasing soft touch matte component and more than double the product**, so that’s the tradeoff. It’s adorably small. As much as I want to say it should cost less based on how tiny it is, I’m willing to pay that kind of price for this formula. However, I’m not in a rush to buy additional shades since it’s only worth it if it’s going to be a color I’m crazy about.
**UPDATE: Double the product, but only around half is easily accessible. Now, I do feel like it’s overpriced, but I am still willing to get another only if they release a new shade that’s insanely gorgeous.
That’s about all I can think of to discuss in this post. I hope it has been helpful!
In addition to the Benefit and Nabla products that are newly released, I’m also going to show photos of the ABH Archibrow since I have no plans to make a dedicated Anastasia Beverly Hills post anytime soon. As I’ve mentioned before, due to things going on in my personal life, it’s not easy for me to do as extensive of makeup testing lately. Thankfully, shade expansions don’t require that and I’ve had the ABH brow product for several months already.
Benefit Hoola Bronzer in Rosy Deep
I think it’s important to see the shade Rosy Deep compared to Deep (above on the left), and the blush that Benefit describes as “rosy mocha” (called Java which is above on the right). That way, one can properly see the amount of pink within the shade in comparison to a typical warm bronzer, plus how it differs from an actual blush that could potentially be seen as another “blonzer” type of color.
As seen on this brush, the rosy color is not subtle, and is like a slightly desaturated pinkish-red. In swatches, it looks kind of mauve on my arm, but it’s very much a brownish pink on my face. I can’t explain the color theory behind it except that my arm is lighter with more yellow and green undertones on my arm than on my face. There is extra warmth in my face after needing to keep the windows open for two weeks during the heat wave and I often forgot to put on sunscreen.
On my face, the Rosy Deep bronzer still has a touch of warmth, but it’s a tad cooler and more muted than the normal Deep shade. The Java blush has more red in it. Fara Homidi’s Ombra bronzer has more plum-purple tones to it than Rosy Deep. Previously, the pinkest bronzer I owned was Vacay by Mented, but it looks orange comparatively next to the other bronzer swatches in the photo above! This makes me very curious how the Jones Road Bronzer in the shade Terracotta would compare to Benefit’s Rosy Deep, but I don’t own anything from that brand. I don’t want to spend 55 Euros ($63 USD), shipping included, to get it in Germany since they only sell through their website and not at retailers. Now that I have Rosy Deep, I may not be missing out!
As for the performance, it’s no different than when I reviewed the reformulation last year. It’s thankfully not as prone to hard-pan compared to the original. It’s pigmented, but with my airy brushes I have no issues building it up in a more controlled manner. It blends nicely and used to be one of my favorite performing bronzers, though by now I’ve come to realize it doesn’t have as airbrushed or blurred of a look as my current top favorite powder bronzers. However, it’s still good and wears very well where I typically apply bronzer. If I wear it exclusively as blush, it can have some fading if after all my skincare and cheek products my face is still too dry. Then there isn’t as much for Rosy Deep to grip onto.
Benefit Cosmetics is notorious for having very limited shade ranges. Because there is such a high demand for pink/muted/cool toned bronzers in the fair and light skin category, I would have expected Benefit to stick to their usual m.o. and further expand the lighter range again before releasing not only Rosy Deep but Rich-Deep too! So, I am very pleasantly surprised. Kudos to Beneft! For deeper skin tones, the majority of bronzers are highly saturated oranges and reds. So, a color like Rosy Deep is very hard to find as a powder bronzer. There are more options in cream form though. I usually apply a thin veil of powder blush to go on top of my powder bronzer whenever I want to achieve this same effect that Rosy Deep gives. That’s why having a pink bronzer isn’t a necessity, but it’s an added convenience! Plus, this makes a gorgeous blush too!
Nabla Beyond Jelly Sheer Supple Lipstick in Crave
When I reviewed this lipstick the first time, I talked about how strong the scent was, but how it goes away over time. I don’t know if Nabla has decreased the amount of fragrance used for all the new shades, but this one from the start already isn’t as strong. I’m happy about that!
Everything else about it is still the same. The texture is similar to the YSL Candy Glazes and Fenty Gloss Bomb Stix. It feels a bit like a gel, but has an emollient feel from the sunflower seed oil, but it’s a little more solid than the melty type of balms because there are enough waxes. It has more ‘slip’ than ‘stick’, but I still consider it a slightly sticky product because of the occlusive layer that moisturizes and also helps the lipstick to grip on for longer.
I like how it smooths out my lips, even when there’s chapped skin, and it has sheer to medium coverage. I definitely recommend this line.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Archibrow Brow Pencil in Chocolate
I like the fullness of my natural brows, so I don’t require much from brow products. Essentially, I want the pencil to glide smoothly enough so it won’t tug at my skin and/or hair. I want it to be smudge-proof and at least water-resistant. I don’t mind it being a heavy pigment product as long as it can be combed through to look natural. A thin pencil for precision and creating realistic feather-like strokes is a major bonus, but I won’t like it if it’s so fragile that it breaks a lot. One such example is the fact that I prefer the e.l.f. Instant Lift Brow Pencil over their Ultra Precise Brow Pencil for that same breakage reason.
The brow on the top left is my natural eyebrow with no product in it. The bottom left is typically the most amount of product I put in my brows. I like them to look natural and only minimally defined.
The Archibrow checks off all the boxes. It’s not a heavily pigmented product, but added pressure or repeated strokes can build up the color for those that like a more obvious application. One has to be careful to only have the smallest amount of the pencil twisted up because the stick of product itself does not retract and if too much of it is poking out, that piece will definitely break off. The amount showing in my photo is already too much. I only did that in order to have an easier time capturing how it looks in pictures.
It doesn’t take long to figure out how to use the pencil to get more opaque or sheerer lines, plus thin or thick ones. Even though the shade Chocolate is intended for those with medium brown hair, It looks quite dark to me! This is why I continue choosing this shade out of ABH’s brow options. It’s warm, but not too red. It can create a more defined tail and edges, along with light shadowing under the hair to give an appearance of fullness.
The strangest thing about this pencil is the lack of cap. When twisted all the way down, it’s only around 3mm from the surface. So, I was concerned that the pencil would dry out from the exposure to air, but my pencil hasn’t been effected it in the nearly 3 months that I’ve owned it. Then again, I keep it stored in the box to minimize the amount of air, dust, lint, crumbs, and whatever other element the open hole could be exposed to. Also, the spoolie is the shortest, yet thickest one I own.
The Archibrow is only $4 more than the Brow Wiz, but it has about half the amount of product. For this reason, I might just stick to the Nyx Micro Brow Pencil or any of the other brow pencils I regularly repurchase that are either inexpensive or were on sale for 50% off. This pencil is great, but my brows aren’t difficult enough for me to feel like I’m lacking that much when I choose less pricey options.
So that’s everything for this week! I hope this post has been helpful and informative!
There has been a heat wave in Germany and other parts of Western Europe, so I have admittedly had very little motivation to do makeup testing while cooped up at home with no AC with back-to-back days of 90-101 degree weather. Plus, there have been family matters to deal with.
Instead of skipping this week’s post, I decided to at least show the swatches and eye looks of this palette. I am in love with the color story. It’s the purple-green palette of my dreams! The depths of the shades, tones of colors, saturation level, and pigmentation are all just how I like.
I believe this is Singe’s first eyeshadow palette that is talc-free. I haven’t used this palette that much yet, but I’ve been happy with the performance. These swatch amazingly and the shimmers are great. They don’t crease on me or fade. I don’t even need to apply the shimmers damp, except the ones that I want to stick to a smaller area and not have too much of a scattered look. The mattes are pigmented, but only so much adheres to my eye area with the Lisa Eldridge Liquid Silk Canvas as a base. So, it looks like I can build up the mattes, but a lot of it gets knocked back off my eyes. Essentially, some of the deepest smokiest shades can look less intense on me because of this. It ends up being a soft type of smokey, which works out because that has been my style lately. Ironically, Entrance and Secret build up quite well! I sometimes have issues with yellows and the white type of shades from Singe (and even Angie’s Odens Eye collabs) have always given me trouble in the past from either not adhering as well or being too sheer. So, I’m happy that wasn’t an issue this time.
Huldra is the star shade in this palette. It doesn’t look as shifty in my eye demo photos, but in person, it’s very easy to tell that it’s a multichrome.
I’ve been spoiled by my high end and luxury eyeshadows that are super quick to blend. By comparison, the mattes take some extra time, but I think it’s still a reasonable amount of blending considering the pigment level. I’ve used mattes from other indie brands that were harder to blend than this.
That’s all I am able to say based on the short amount of time I’ve spent using this palette.
I began working on this post in September 2025, but the constant delays were due to my own inability to stop buying, “Just one more thing,” from Gucci. For instance, I started with a single lipstick, but then I wondered about the various formulas, finishes, and limited edition shades. I thought I could get over having the wrong shade of concealer, but apparently not. I thought I would be content enough with my Gucci Matte Blushes and could skip getting the Glow line, then figured I could suffice with just one, and then I felt compelled to get the remaining shade I wanted.
That is how I ended up reviewing all of these so late!
Gucci Glow Blush in 03 Warm Peach and 05 Soft Plum
I reviewed Gucci’s Luminous Matte Blushes a few years ago, and since then I’ve sold or given away two of them, but I kept Warm Berry and Intense Ruby (the latter for the limited edition packaging). They have a soft matte, almost satin-like, finish. The reason I didn’t enjoy them as much is because I wish they lived up to their name and were actually luminous. So, I became super excited to check out the Glow Blushes.
As seen in the swatches and blush demos, these “Glow” Blushes aren’t that glowy either. In low light, they look satin at best. In brighter settings, I can see some radiance, but the finish isn’t that satisfying to me as a luminous blush lover. What the Glow Blush line has going for it are the shade options and being able to build up the color. The Luminous Blushes are very pigmented and the darker colors are easy to go overboard. I believe the two shades I picked up among the Glow Blushes are the most popular colors and very easy to wear sheer or build up the opacity to full clown cheeks.
Although Soft Plum looks purple-red in the swatch, it is basically just red on my cheeks when I blend it in. I also see even less sheen on my skin from Soft Plum than Warm Peach.
Between Gucci’s two powder blush lines, unless there is a specific shade among the Glow Blushes that someone likes, I recommend the Luminous Blushes instead. For the amount of glow I get, in which texture is a little emphasized, I feel that I may as well go for the soft matte blush. It would at least look blurred. Regarding the longevity of the Glow Blushes, I haven’t noticed any problems. I get a very minimal amount of fading, but still plenty of blush on my cheeks by the end of the day.
If you’d like to see the shade Arctic Rose, I recommend checking out Olive Unicorn Beauty‘s review.
Gucci Concentré de Beauté Concealer in 45W Medium Deep and 46N Medium Deep
The feature most important to me about a concealer is that it needs to cover my intensely dark under eye circles for the entire day. With the amount of lines under my eyes, I expect some creasing, but less is of course better. I also expect the concealers that lock onto my skin to be and look dry, so if it manages to set down and still appear hydrated, that is a win for me. I prefer if a concealer plays well with my other skincare and base makeup products. It’s also a nice bonus if it works well with multiple different setting powders I own and not just one (or worse if it’s none). And then of course I have to be able to find the right shade match for depth and undertone!
The consistency of Gucci’s concealer is on the thinner lightweight side and it has medium coverage. However, I think the coverage is still buildable and I can get closer to full if I apply a lot. This dries to a natural finish, but I need to set this with powder, which unsurprisingly immediately takes any shine away. The concealer looks as flattering over my lines as is reasonably possible. For reference, Chanel’s Ultra Correcteur and Givenchy Prisme Libre concealers are more flattering over mature skin, but Chanel’s doesn’t last on me and Givenchy’s doesn’t have as much coverage.
The longevity is fantastic. Occasionally the oils that are sometimes produced in the lines under my eyes break through the concealer layer, but it mostly stays looking the same from the start of the day until I’m ready to remove it in the evening. That’s at least 10 hours.
The reason I don’t like this concealer is purely due to the shades, which is disappointing considering how many options there are. I still should have expected this to happen because of the problems I’ve had with Gucci’s foundation ranges. Usually a shade like 46N has color correcting effects from the orange tone. So, I’ve been using it around my mouth and mixed with other concealers. It’s still a bit too dark for me to use as correcter under my eyes, and the color is so saturated of an orange in addition to darkening once it’s fully dry. I bought 45W this year, and it’s a brightening yellow shade that looks like it could work until it sets and then turns an ashy olive tone once it’s dry. It is difficult enough trying to choose the right color based on how the online models and swatches look, but then the concealers oxidize on top of that!
I know going a shade even lighter, 43W, won’t work for me because of how well it suits Mo Makeup Mo Beauty. Any makeup that matches her perfectly is guaranteed to be too light for me.
I’ve owned 46N since May 2025, so I have been giving this concealer a chance for a long time. It’s such a shame that I can’t find a better color because it’s a nice formula.
Even though I was able to get these concealers at a discount, I still view them as expensive mistakes. I think I’m ready to give up on Gucci base products for good. Now that I think about it, the face powder is the only Gucci product I’ve purchased that I got in the correct shade on the first try! The product photography always throws me off, and at least regarding foundations and concealers, I know that’s been one of the biggest complaints other purchasers have as well.
Lip Products
Gucci Lip Balm in 5 Ester Rosewood, Matte Lip Colour in 122 Eliza Ginger and 128 Amanda Dusk, and Satin Lip Colour in 221 Mina Light Pink
As a lover of pretty packaging, I’ve always wanted to buy Gucci lipsticks, but I couldn’t justify the price. In addition, over the last few years, I’ve been trying my best to limit the amount of lipsticks I buy since I wear them so infrequently. In October 2025, I finally noticed that the retailer Flaconi often sold Gucci lipsticks within the €35-40 range. I initially just wanted one matte and one satin lipstick. Then, I heard such good things about the lip balms that I purchased that next. Eliza Ginger and Mina Light Pink weren’t exactly as I expected, but I did love the balm, so from then on I scoured the internet to try and figure out if there was any other lipstick shade I would like more. From the time Amanda Dusk was released, I couldn’t get the color off of my mind and waited for the best sale to be able to buy it.
From left to right: Ester Rosewoodand Mina Light Pink
From left to right: Amanda Dusk and Eliza Ginger
Unfortunately for me, I continue to have the same issue with Gucci’s lipsticks as I do with their complexion range. How the products appear in their model photos, swatches, or even the color of the bullet can’t help me to predict how the shade will look on my lips. Eliza Ginger and Amanda Dusk don’t look similar at all in their tubes, but on my skin, the only difference is that Amanda Dusk isn’t as warm of a red color.
Is there something wrong with my perception of color, which allowed me to think I would be getting medium toned nude brown shades instead of dark reds, when I look at what Gucci’s website photos?
The effects of wearing the Gucci balm first (and then wiping it off) led to my lips looking pruney in this close-up of Eliza Ginger. The photo below is more accurate to how the matte finish looks on top of dry lips.
Putting the color issue aside, what is important to me about matte lipsticks is the comfort level while wearing it. Mattes have no shimmer and no or low sheen, and I expect some level of dryness due to the nature of the formulas lacking emollients. However, my super dry lips force me to be picky with matte lipsticks so that the more moisturizing it is, the better. If it doesn’t feel drying, but still looks bad over chapped skin or it’s not smooth over the lines of my lips, I won’t like it either.
Gucci’s matte formula usually doesn’t feel dry when I wear it, but it is not conditioning or moisturizing either. When I rub my lips together, I can feel as though there’s a waxy layer that grips my lips and keeps the color locked on. If my lips are in a rough state, the lipstick has a minimal amount of smoothing, but still won’t look very flattering without some help. Using Chanel’s Hydra Micro Serum underneath completely transforms the Gucci lipstick into a much more flattering and smoother looking lipstick. It loses some of the matte look because of the sheen, but I actually prefer that.
Also, I tend to wear a thin layer of these lipsticks, but they are quite pigmented and build to full opacity easily.
The matte formula is unsurprisingly the longest lasting of the Gucci finishes I’ve tried. I can usually get away with a few hours post-eating before I need to touch up the lipstick. So, I consider this to have good staying power. I think this matte lipstick is pretty good, but it’s not suited well enough to me to be worth full price. If I were to buy more in the future, it would be for the packaging and only if the discount was high enough.
Mina Light Pink looks milky in the closeup, but how it appears in the full face photo is a more accurate depiction of the color (which pretty much matches the brand’s website photos). When I rub my lips together, it feels like some of the wax was replaced by some emollients, giving this satin lipstick a creamier feel than the mattes.
The coverage is quite high. I can still faintly see the shadow of my lower lip’s darker pigmented spot. The longevity is pretty good for a satin, but the amount of transfer combined with the moisture level aren’t good enough tradeoffs for me to want to buy another satin lipstick from Gucci. I feel like I’d rather just wear the Gucci lip balm for the increased moisture for my lips.
Gucci states that their balms can also be used on the cheeks, but there’s no way I’m trying that! I hate the feeling of wet cheeks. The texture of the balm feels like a combination of wax and oils as opposed to the creaminess of the satin formula. It reminds me a bit of the Rituel de Fille Color Nectar Balms, which were also multi-purpose. According to Gucci, this balm isn’t sticky. I disagree. It has very low tack, but if I can still press something to my lips (such as a piece of paper, strand of hair, etc.) and it doesn’t detach when I move my lips around, I call that sticky!
The matte and satin lipsticks contain parfum and essential oils, but the balm does not according to the ingredient list on the box. It isn’t odorless though, as it has a raw ingredient scent (smells a bit waxy).
Ester Rosewood is currently the deepest option, which goes to show how sheer it is if such a dark color is essentially a medium purple-pink on me. For this reason, I haven’t dared to try any other shade out of fear they might just look clear on me. I know of just one other shade in this line that contains Red Lake 28, another “ph adjuster” like Red Lake 27. There’s also mica in the formula, which adds to the shine.
This has the worst wear time of the three finishes I bought, but it’s a normal length for a lip balm. I basically only need to reapply after meals, since most of the time it lasts through drinking. Gucci’s lip balm is definitely moisturizing and smooths out the lines of my lips. It feels great while I’m wearing it, but once it’s off, my lips feel dry very fast. I still really enjoy this color, so my way around this is that once I’m done wearing this lip balm, I switch to my go-to nourishing lip balms/glosses/overnight treatments and that takes care of the issue.
The lip balm is surprisingly my favorite lip product (that I’ve tried) from Gucci, but I don’t think it’s worth full price either because of it not being super nourishing. I enjoy it more for its look as a makeup product, and I’m not willing to spend as much money on lip products that aren’t ultra conditioning.
So, even though I don’t regret buying the lipsticks and lip balm, I don’t intend to get anymore of them. Gucci’s limited edition packaging tempts me every time though!
This is a continuation of my review of the MAC Colourstruck Blushes. They are my final purchases that I did not have time to show photos of sooner. Now, I officially own all 11 of the 29 that I wanted!
I will update my original post to include these, but I wanted to post this separate review to inform the email subscribers of the new additions!
Skinfinish Colourstruck Blushes in Sinner (matte), CB96 (radiant), and Antique Velvet (radiant)
Sinner
For the swatch comparisons, I had to fish the berry shades out of my “box of products I wouldn’t mind decluttering” because I wasn’t as happy with those colors. YSL’s Spicy Berry is the exception.
When it comes to berry blush shades, I either love or hate the way they look on me. The best one I ever wore was the Make Up For Ever HD Cream Blush in Raspberry 510 (color shown here), which I bought twice before it was discontinued. Sinner is cooler-toned, but I saw someone with a warm undertone and dark skin wearing it, and the end result was similar to what I got with MUFE’s Raspberry! So, I had to buy it!
I am very happy with how it looks on me! Once again, MAC’s blushes can be effected by the undertone of foundation underneath. So, it doesn’t look cool-toned enough to clash with the warmth of my skin. Sinner is perfect for when I want that I’ve-been-out-in-the-cold type of look.
CB96
This color looks gorgeous on the MAC’s models, and on NikkifromHR, but I was hesitant to buy it because of how picky I can be about orange blushes. I was happy with Cheeky Chili, but even that shade ranked lowest of the original eight blushes I bought. I even mentioned before that I prefer coral-pink shades (like Pink Flamingo) over coral-oranges (like this one), so how could I justify getting it anyway? Eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I’m actually happy that I caved!
If I had Nars’ Taj Mahal and Fenty’s Shimmer Match Stix in Chili Mango with me in Germany, I would have tried to do comparison swatches. However, the only orange blushes I have with me are mattes. I can’t recall if I ever owned an orange shimmery blush that was opaque and dark enough to not look like a highlighter on me. CB96 might be the first!
Antique Velvet
Because the Radiant Deep Golden bronzer was a fail for me, with no “Radiant Rich Golden” as an option, I figured I could try using this shade for that purpose! Film Noir Buff worked well as a brontour/contour, and I’m happy to say this makes a better bronzer than Radiant Deep Golden, even if it’s a bit deep for me.
The darkest warm brown shimmery blushes I own are Chanel’s Lumiere Brun Roussi, Dior’s Bronzed Glow, and MAC’s Sweet as Cocoa, but all of them are discontinued shades and none anywhere as deep. So, I don’t have anything current to compare to Antique Velvet.
So that’s all I’ve got for today! Notes on longevity, performance, and so on are detailed in my original review.
I can say with confidence that these 11 are all I will buy until MAC expands the range further. I am very much satisfied with the amount I have!
DISCLAIMER: Whenever I post about a brand, Influencer, or other public figure for the first time, I write a disclaimer to inform readers about any potential biases. Regarding Bella Beauté Bar, I am not affiliated with them in any way. I’ve heard nothing but positive things about their eyeshadow quality, so they’ve been on my list of indie brands to try for a long time. Regarding Noopur, I believe her Instagram account is one of the most well-known for indie brand swatches, especially multichromes. Her work is frequently in my feed, but I don’t know anything about her as a person.
I purchased this palette because purple and green are my top choices for colorful eyeshadows, and I love multichromes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I ran out of room on my arm, so I moved Jal to the top. This is why the swatches aren’t completely in order.
I’ve owned this palette since the end of November 2025 and considering how infrequently I’ve been wearing colorful eyeshadows, I’m still surprised that I’ve used this a fair amount. Wanting to test this palette organically over time instead of forcing myself to apply it daily in a two-week period is why it has taken me so long to post this review.
The Coalescence mattes remind me of Natasha Denona’s mattes, but with even more pigment. Some feel silkier (with some slip), some feel buttery, and all of them are soft to the touch. I am impressed by the kind of pastel shades not looking ashy on dark skin. However, they don’t build up and adhere as well to my eyes if I’m using my tried and true Lisa Eldridge Liquid Silk eyeshadow as a base. When I want to wear Libra, Dawn, and Sprout without them looking like sheer veils of color, I have to switch to the MAC Paint Pot or Milk Hydro Grip Eye Primer. The only other matte that needs special treatment is Aries because of its ultra pigmented nature. A little goes a long way, and it is slightly less blendable than the others. When I wipe my makeup brush onto my microfiber towel, it gets everywhere and has even transferred back off the cloth onto other objects before (brushes, fingers, etc). So, I try not to pick up as much onto my brush and build it gradually.
Although I was drawn to this palette for the greens and purples, I found myself mixing mattes together to try and turn them into the specific shades/tones I envisioned for my eye looks. These eyeshadows are formulated in a way that is actually pretty good at being able to do that. Some brands’ eyeshadows can sometimes be a little too good and turn a new color while I’m attempting to just create a gradient of one shade blending into another without lines of demarcation. Thankfully, I don’t have that problem with these, but I don’t try to just blend one shade on top of another when I’m mixing. I dip into both colors with my brush when I pick them up initially, so I can blend them into my skin at the same time. Then, I adjust it with additional product afterwards if needed.
All of the shimmers in the palette had small round foam coverings over them, which I assumed was to protect them in transit because they’re fragile. Imagine my surprise when I tried to rub my finger in Jal for the first time and nearly shifted half of the eyeshadow out of the pan! Thankfully, they can be pressed back into place in the pans.
This also happened with Agni, which is another of the flaky eyeshadows. Essentially, Flora and Fauna have traditional metallic and satin finishes. Flora has the benefit of being an impactful shimmer, but smooth enough for me to use it to brighten my under eyes. Fauna is even smoother, but is too dark to serve that purpose. I like having a neutral option theoretically, but since it’s so outnumbered by the more colorful options (and even the muted shades still pop), I find myself struggling to incorporate it into looks.
To minimize fallout, I can dampen my brush and use the Nyx glitter primer, but it still happens throughout the day. However, it’s not bad enough for me to consider it messy looking.
Harmony is described as having a “sheer purple base and shifts blue-purple-pink-peach with additional purple sparkles throughout.” I can see blue, purple, and pink as sparkles, but not as a color changing shift.
Agni is described as a “holochrome with a grey base and shifts pink-orange-gold,” which I agree with, along with Balance having a “super sheer base and a mix of green-pink shifting sparkles as well as blue-purple sparkles.” When I’ve tried to intensify the look of this eyeshadow and pack it on by wetting it or using glitter primer, I haven’t liked the look as much because it seemed like only the blue color grew bolder. I wish the shift was a bit stronger, but Balance is one of my favorite shades in the palette.
I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that Dissonance, the “super sheer light olive base with silver sparkles and orange-gold shifting sparkles mixed in,” looks mostly just orange on me and not as green as it appears in the pan. It’s a pretty color, but I love greens and the only eyeshadows that read green on me are mattes: Sprout, Decay, and Chaos.
And then finally, Jal is a bright blue with silver sparkles. I’m not a lover of blue eyeshadows, so I didn’t intend to get much use out of this shade. When I think about it though, between Jal, Vayu being a blue-grey, Sprout being a minty-blue, Decay being a blue leaning green, plus the blue sparkles in Harmony and Balance, this palette feels like more of a blue palette than green. This explains why I sometimes get this sense of being unfulfilled when I use this palette despite the pretty colors and them having the sparkle intensity and impact that I like.
If the other Bella Beauté Bar palettes have this type of quality, I would happily purchase additional palettes in the future. The Coalescence eyeshadows, although able to be combined and tweaked, are not totally within my palette preferences. Part of my preferences is having ready-made colors available that I love, so that I can create looks quickly without too much thought. There are times when I do still enjoy playing with colors, which is why I’ve continued to reach for this palette periodically over the past six months. One of the great features of this palette is that it’s magnetic with finger holes in which to rearrange or swap shades. So, I still have an easy way to tailor the palette with other BBB shades or exchange them with standard eyeshadow pans (26mm) from brands like Sydney Grace, Clionadh, Devinah, Terra Moons Cosmetics, Fantasy Cosmetica, etc. The only thing to watch out for is that some of the brands overfill the pans (Sydney Grace mainly) so the mirror/inner lid of the palette could get messy from having eyeshadows press against it.
There are four pressed pigment singles that are part of the collab. They look stunning, but they were sold out on the Monolith-EU website when I was buying the palette, so I didn’t think about them again. I am still curious about how those differ from the shimmers in this palette, but I think I will pass on them anyway.
The brand initially launched three of these palettes in similar packaging with a silver cover, but I love the way this fourth one looks. It has those same aesthetically pleasing rounded corners, like the Huda Beauty Blush Filter Liquid Blushes, and the overall color is pretty too. The packaging is heavier than I expected, but still light enough to be travel-friendly. The mirror is very high quality as well, and magnified.
Huda Beauty Blush Filter Blurring Blushlighters Palette in Strawberry Latte
I love pinky-brown and reddish-brown blushes that look like natural colors for my skintone. This is why the Strawberry Latte shades appealed to me. This palette is described as, “A delicious blend of creamy mauve, warm rose, and rich espresso tones.” When swatched, I can tell the shades apart, but they all look like varying shades of rose on me. It’s not what I was expecting, especially for Latte to appear brick red instead of brown, but I at least still enjoy rosy blushes.
On my cheeks, I can still see the difference in blush tones, but they look really similar in photos. I did my best to capture them as differently as possible, but it was tricky. Rose Chai looks like a darker color on my skin than in the pan. I had to use enough for it to be seen in pictures, but if I applied too much then it looked like Pink Espresso. Too little of Latte didn’t show enough brown, but too much looked like Pink Espresso as well.
ROUND ONE
I’m wearing the blushes as eyeshadow in all four photos, but in the last one, I added bronzer and a dark eyeshadow (VBB Victoria Quad) to the outer corner in order to complete the look.
I’m not the only one who experienced the matte shades looking similar, as I discovered in the comment section of my swatch post on Instagram. I wish Rose Chai was less muted so it could be a brighter pop of pink. If the brand dialed back a little bit of that red in Latte, I believe the colors would be more satisfactory in standing out from each other.
I own the shade Latte in the liquid blush formula. The review for that can be found HERE. The powder version has deeper and stronger red tones.
ROUND TWO
These are quite pigmented blushes. I avoid using dense brushes in order to build up the pigment slowly, but the shape of the airy brush matters. The blushes don’t move/spread across the cheeks as easily while being blended. So, a brush that has an angle or 3D shape with varying denseness (typically dense at the base of the shorter section and wispier towards the longer tips) can have sheer spots and heavier spots instead of the intended gradient look. By trying to fill the sheerer gaps with more product, I sometimes overapply and have tone it back down by adding foundation to the top. Rounded cheek brushes that are tighter packed in the center, but splay wider and looser around the edges can lead to the same uneven result, even though that type of brush is intended to give a diffused look. So far, the brushes I discovered that gave nice results with the matte blushes was a flat-top like the Sonia G Smooth Buffer and through sweeping with the Sonia G ALP3.
The Blushlighter shade isn’t as smooth or refined as what I got from the brand’s Glow Obsession Highlighter Palette. I’m a bit disappointed that I had to look beyond my highlighter brush favorites to find a different one for this product (also the ALP 3 by sweeping along one of the angled sides). The Strawberry Fizz color is pretty, but the shimmer particles are about medium sized and my texture is emphasized a bit. I just prefer much smoother highlighters and blush toppers.
I’m glad I found brushes that work well with these products, but I still feel I shouldn’t have had as much trouble with the “wrong” brushes as I did. Although I still think the blush formula is fairly good, there are plenty of blushes on the market that are easier to blend with the same amount of pigment and at more affordable prices. These actually remind me of the Cheek Palettes Colourpop used to make, which is ironic because there was a point in time that it seemed Colourpop was copying what Huda Beauty was doing (the 9 pan monochromatic eyeshadow palettes for instance). Any time I’ve seen a Colourpop comparison to Huda Beauty products, I’ve always felt Huda’s was better and worth the increase in price. Regarding the Blush Filter Palette, it’s fairly priced for getting four products in one, but I’m sorry to say I don’t think the quality matches. I would have expected it to be $35 at most.
Considering how these adhere (including the blushlighter) while being applied, I’d have been shocked if this formula wasn’t long-lasting. The products stay put all day and don’t fade. My thoughts overall is that I like the shades and I have the tools to ensure that the application and blending processes goes fairly well. I like the packaging, and the quality of the powders inside are at least good, but not impressive.
In my excitement over the shade options, I completely forgot that I did not want to buy face palettes any longer because I don’t use them enough. I don’t think this palette will be an exception to that either.
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