Japanese makeup: Kate Tokyo mini review

Today I wanna talk about my favourite Japanese makeup range- Kate Tokyo. I've seen a fair few adverts for them and they've also been featured a lot in some of my favourite magazines, so I thought I'd give it a try. Also, the products are super affordable! Actually, that was one of the reasons that I gravitated towards Kate in the first place, I was looking for a little pick me up. And I really liked most of the products I picked up.

The nail varnishes// especially are a steal at around 400 yen each. And although they're cheap they're actually pretty nice! The colour range isn't the biggest though- there's only about 8 in total. I've tried three- the two pictured and a sparkly pink which I've actually used up.The silver one especially is great, and if it wasn't for going home soon I'd have probably bought all of them.


White eyeliner// This packaging was literally the worst. It's a twist up mechanism, but it's on the inside of the pencil, so you need to get like your fingernail or a pencil or something up in there to twist it up. I loved the actual product though, and I went through two of them. For the price, (about 400 yen) I'll take it, but if they fixed the packaging I'd be so happy.

Eye shadow palette// The eye shadows have a lot of fallout but they're shimmery and cute, and I've hit pan on two of the shades because I've been using it every day. (Although luckily I also managed to find a picture of it when it was all new and pretty, along with the white eyeliner) There's a really nice range of shades, and it's basically all you need for every day makeup if you're low maintenance on eye makeup like me. I think all of the eye shadow compacts they sell are shimmery though, which is a shame for the matte-lovers out there. Although the while and gold shades both look exactly the same in my swatch,  they both look really nice on my eyes. Just look at how well loved that palette is guys...

Lipstick//  Honestly, this was one of the more disappointing products for me and one of the more expensive items in the range at over 1000 yen. It wears off really quickly and really patchily, and also smudges so easily. On the plus side, it was cheap and it works ok, and it's not as drying as my last (matte) red either. I'm still buying MAC Russian Red when I get home, so I bought this mostly as a 'stop gap' measure and I don't think I'm gonna take it home with me.

CC Lip creme// These are like tinted lip balms. The first one I bought, Pink trick, is amazing. Super moisturising and a barely there light pink tint, perfect for everyday. Mode pink is also an amazing buildable colour, but it stains the lips a lot a lot. And just the outer line of your lips too. The packaging of this also isn't the greatest, and it tends to twist itself up inside the cap when it's in my bag.

All in all, the biggest downside to Kate Tokyo is the packaging. I don't just mean that it's a bit basic, (although let's face it, it's not the cutest) I mean in that some of it is just downright annoying, like the eyeliner. Having said that, for how reasonably priced and nice most of the products have been, I was really impressed overall. 

Thanks for reading! Do you guys have any favourite Japanese makeup brands?
-Amy xoxo