Elégance Spring 2013

So one of the Japanese brands that hasn't been talked about a lot must be Elégance. Their spring 2013 collection caught my eye with the beautiful lip palette so I decided to explore the brand a little more.

Elégance Spring 2013

First I feel I must say that this brand is not cheap at all, and it's way up there with all the high end brands out there.
Elégance is originally a French fashion brand and like most French brands, their cosmetics are made and sold exclusively in Japan.

So let's get on with the products now. The 2 items I got from their spring collection are the Fabulous Rouge #07 lip palette and the Rouge Velnity #18 lipstick.

The case is made from a gold metal material and like most of the palettes, the Fabulous Rouge palettes have fake gems on them.

I personally don't dislike golden packaging but the gems make them look a bit tacky. But besides that, the material itself is very sturdy and quite shiny which means any fingerprints will  be noticable very quickly.

Fabulous Rouge #07 palette

The Fabulous Rouge #07 palette has the most gorgeous detailed patern I've ever seen so far and I was afraid that the patern might get ruined by using it.
I was a little confused at first since some people said it was a blush but on the Elégance website, it's mentionned under the lip products so my guess is that you can use it for both purposes.

And I was right, the white flowery designs will get swiped away and the interesting part is that it's clear and feels like a moisturizing balm on your lips.

So they are 3 'shades' in each Fabulous Rouge palette. Besides the white balmy shade, there is also a warm pink and a cool toned pink colour.
Both of pink shades are quite sheer and they look more like a gloss on the lips. A shiny finish and a waxy texture to ensure that it won't dry out your lips or to make it blend easily into the skin in case you want to use it as a blush.

The only downside of it that you would have to use your fingers to dig in the palette to use it for blush or lipstick (unless you don't mind carrying a lip brush with you all the time).

The Rouge Velnity #18 lipstick is a pretty cool pink with a hint of a fushia in it. No need to say the perfect colour for spring and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that these lipsticks are more pigmented than the Fabulous Rouge lip palette.

Feels very creamy and smooth without that slippery feeling. Probably not the most long wearing lipstick but then again I don't expect a lipstick to last all day without any touch ups.

Here are some swatches of both the Fabulous Rouge palette as the Rouge Velnity lipstick.

From L to R (indoor swatches):

Cool and warm pink colour of the Fabulous Rouge palette-

Rouge Velnity #18

Same swatches- outdoor lighting

And a quick lip swatch to show you how the Rouge Velnity #18 looks on my lips.

The Fabulous Rouge palette retails for 5250 Japanese Yen and the Rouge Velnity for 4200 Japanese Yen and can only be purchased in Japan or online at Ichibanckao.

Anyone tried these before? What are your thoughts about them?