Est was launched by Kao in 2000. Excluding brands from companies acquired by Kao Corporation (such as Kanebo Cosmetics Inc.), Est is currently Kao’s only department-store beauty brand in Japan. It was launched as a high-end range under Kao Sofina and it used to be sold at Sofina counters in department stores. (“Est” used to stand for “Essence of Sofina Technology”.) Since it became independent from Sofina a few years ago, it has been having its own department-store counters. (Sofina is now mainly available in drugstores and pharmacies in Japan.)
Est was launched as a skincare range and it started to carry base makeup items later on. Then, in November 2007, Est debuted its point (color) makeup range. The overall concept of the range is Emotional Beauty, and the idea is to use different colors and finishes to enhance the expressions of everyday emotions. What is refreshing about this concept is that it not only focuses on positive emotions but also highlights negative ones, such as sorrow, despair and even anger. (Read my full profile on Est here.)
After thinking about trying one of the point makeup items from Est for years, I finally decided to go for Emotional Multiple Eyes in 11.
Est Emotional Multiple Eyes in 11 (エスト エモーショナルマルティプル アイズ 11, ¥5500) was part of the brand’s spring 2010 makeup collection. (The Emotional Multiple Eyes series was launched in spring 2009. See an image of Est’s entire spring 2010 makeup collection here.) The four shades in this palette are (anti-clockwise from top right):
– light yellow gold, moderately pigmented, shimmery with sparkles
– pale pink, moderately pigmented, shimmery with sparkles
– light-to-medium lilac, moderately pigmented, with a pearly glow
– dark violet, well-pigmented, velvety with sparkles
All the shades have multi-hued light-reflective particles. They are easy to apply and blend, and they have a good staying power.
On Est’s official website, there are two application recommendations for Emotional Multiple Eyes:
(image from www.kao.co.jp/est)
The application recommendations on the leaflet that comes with the product suggest the order of A->D->C for the second look seen above.
As for me, I use all four shades at the same time. I go for the A->D->C application and then apply B on the middle parts of the eyelids to add more dimension to the eyes.
I use the lilac as the main shadowing shade, and, because I use the two pale shades quite light-handedly and I use the dark violet very close to my upper lashlines, the overall look is not too sparkly. The lilac creates a very soft shadow while allowing the shimmer from the pale pink to show through. The overall look is fresh and subtly dimensional. (The dimensional look is mainly created by the shimmery finishes and not by the varied depths of the colors.)
I do feel that this palette is able to achieve the aim of Est’s point makeup range. The three light shades brighten up the eye areas while a very dark eyelining shade defines the eyes, and it is this contrast that enhances the expressions of facial features.
This palette has a very similar color combination to that of Lunasol’s Sheer Contrast Eyes in 02 Lavender Coral. The main difference between the two palettes is that the lilac in Lavender Coral is darker and creates a slightly more intense shadow, and the looks created by these palettes are noticeably different because of this variation in color depth. In addition, the lilac in Lavender Coral is more shimmery and the pale pink in Lavender Coral is less sparkly than their counterparts in Emotional Multiple Eyes in 11.
I still prefer Lavender Coral, which is one of my favorite eyeshadow palettes, but I do enjoy using the Est palette and I like the two palettes in different ways. I also relish the fact that, after years of anticipation, I have finally got to experience how an Est item embodies the brand’s philosophy of Emotional Beauty.
In the last few years, Est has been concentrating on skincare and base makeup and it has not been releasing many new point makeup items. Hopefully the brand will keep its point makeup range and release more seasonal additions in the future.
Related posts:
Est Holiday 2014 Makeup Collection
Stash Focus: Maquillage Forming Shiny Eyes in 52
Stash Focus: Lavshuca Pure Blossoming Eyes Limited Edition Set in 02 PU
(featuring Pure Blossoming Eyes in PU)
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, what a timely post! I was really curious about an est palette because a Chinese blogger(on weibo) called that peachy pink duo emotional eyes one of her top three (and she has a lot of palette). When I browsed on ichibankao this palette was an instant skip because it just looks so much like lavender coral(still haven’t dig in on mine)but it’s nice that the look it creates is differnt though…I feel that sometime a same color combo of eyeshadow would hit the same sweet spot for me so I actively try to avoid duplicate (especially when they are not cheap).
Maybe I will pick up that peachy pink palette after ichibankao comes back from summer vacation(urgh, tomorrow). I kind of wish I like the colorway of their 15th anniversary one though because the floral compact is so my kind of thing.
Hi Mina,
A friend of mine once asked me why I continued to buy similar-looking purple eyeshadows, and I simply said, “I have never come across two purple eyeshadows that are exactly the same.” :) I know that, in many cases, the differences are minimal, but I do like purples (as you know) and I enjoy the subtle nuances.
In the case of the two lilacs in the Est and Lunasol palettes, they are fairly different in both color and finish. Yes, the color combinations of the two palettes are very similar, but the pink-purple-gold layering works very well on me and I do get a different look from the Est palette. (I do hope you will like Lavender Coral when you try it!)
I like the floral design of Est’s 15th anniversary collection as well! (Sorry I haven’t posted about it. I will do that soon.) You probably have come across this information……Voce is listing two Emotional Multiple Eyes palettes in the collection. One is the blue-pink-brown variation that you have seen, and there is also one that is described as a mauve-toned palette with pink and lilac. The latter one sounds very promising! :)
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts again! :)
Hi Mina,
I re-read the information from Voce on Est’s 15th anniversary collection, and Emotional Multiple Eyes in EX04 is a mauve-toned palette with a lilac-y pink (not a lilac and a pink). Apologies for the inaccuracy.