I just received a new eyeshadow from Kose’s Addiction line of makeup. The creative director of the line is Akayo, a makeup artist said to have worked with Nars. This line was launched last summer, and some of the products are getting rave reviews on London Makeup Girl and Birkin Bag Beauty. The Addiction website is absolutely gorgeous.
Based on these reviews, I ordered Addiction’s Flashback, listed as a metal-textured taupe. The only sources I found charge roughly $31 (U.S.) for a single eyeshadow. I ordered Flashback from The Mihiko Shop, which ships EMS directly from Japan. Shipping is free if you order $150 worth of product, otherwise shipping is $15 (yes, even if you order only one item). My order arrived in about eight days. I recently found another source, from which I ordered two additional metal shades. I’ll post about that experience after that order arrives.
Flashback is a multidimensional beautiful taupe. The texture is extremely pigmented and soft, on par with Shu’s ME Silver 945. Yes, I believe that the quality is as good as the pre-2006 Metal Shu’s. It’s really incredible. The shadow is placed into a sleek black compact (no mirror or applicator), although the Addiction website features an intriguing line of empty palettes. Like Shu Uemura eyeshadows, it is evident that the original packaging is intended to be discarded in favor of paletting, although of course there’s no obligation to follow that plan.
Click on the picture if you would like a larger view:
Here is swatch of Addiction Flashback (right) next to Shu Uemura’s ME Silver 945 (left), another beautiful metal taupe. Addiction is slightly lighter, a bit more reflective and a bit warmer. Shu ME Silver 945 has a touch more mauve and brown than Flashback. Both are quite beautiful. Again, to see the multidimensionality of these, click on the picture for a larger view:
Finally, here is a comparison between Addiction Flashback and a few of the other taupes in my stash: Shu ME Silver 945 (same as above, discontinued)), MAC Moth Brown (LE), Chanel Safari (current), Chanel Vega (discontinued), MAC Coco Pigment (very shimmery!) and Guerlain’s Holy Smoke pigment (this one’s still available if you love it). Click to enlarge:
I took all of the above pictures myself. If you’d like to look at one of Addiction’s own pictures, here’s a shade range from their website (click to enlarge). As you can see from the product description, there are other textures available:
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