EST Dual Emotion Eyes 01 Eye Shadow Quad

This beauty is EST Dual Emotion Eyes 01 Eye Shadow Quad. EST is a Japanese department store brand that caught my eye because of an extra large selection of eye shadow colors and nice packaging. I admit to ordering the 01 and 02 quads sight unseen, but had a feeling I was taking a very minimal risk. Sometimes you just know.

The Dual Emotion Eyes range (there are two other types of eye shadow quads, Emotional Multiple and Emotional Aura) suggests taking the shadows in each palette as two duos- top row and bottom row, and using them as follows:

I tend to ignore this and combine as I wish, usually using three of the colors in a highlight-crease-lid application that works better for my eye shape. I'm here to look pretty and have fun, not to paint by numbers. In any case, the colors in these quads are very versatile, despite the high level of shimmer. 01 is all metallic, offering a platinum, pewter, pale gold and dark khaki green. The texture is very very soft with a tendency to spread all over the place if used with a brush that's too dense or too hard.

This is probably the big secret to using this texture successfully and not getting frustrated with fallout and and uneven results: you need the softest eye shadow brushes you can get. And by soft I mean bunny soft. I use brushes from Hakuhodo S100 series for these quads (as well as for Cle de Peau and any other eye shadows that seem too gossamery for their own good):  S121G for an all over wash, S133 to pack on the color, S142 and S146 for crease and blending. The result is even, watercolor-like with depth where you want it and beautiful, understated color.

Bottom Line: for those who are not afraid of shimmer.

EST Dual Emotion Eyes 01 Eye Shadow Quad (¥6900 JPY) is available from ichibankao.com (shipping worldwide. I get my orders in 7-10 days).

All photos are mine. Illustration for using the 02 quad (review soon) from ichibankao.com.