I’ve done this before… sort of. I first came across Kjaer Weis last year, during my sustainable journey to find and use more organic and plant based makeup. Kjaer Weis caught my eye, but in the end I was undone by the high price point. I’m also not the biggest fan of the cheek tints (found them lacking in color payoff and practicality) and never really looked close enough at the lip tints.
Note that this is a ‘refillable’ makeup system… which ought to, in part, justify the price point. But I have to be honest… I use A LOT of makeup, and it still takes me about 2 years to properly get through the average eyeshadow. So if I’m only refilling every couple of ‘years’ – the fact that it’s refillable is not that attractive to me. I do understand the eco-friendliness of it (the less packaging you have to purchase the better), and that’s a testament to the fact that this brand was thoroughly developed. Kudos to Kjaer Weis in that respect.
You can find my initial review here:
http://shahadakarim.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-sustainable-journey-neutralize-w.html
Recently I started playing with my eyeshadows, fell in love again, and decided to email the company and see about the rest of it.
This is what they sent me:
On the left is the eyeshadow in Wisdom (shimmer taupe) and on the right is the lip tint in Sensuous Plum.
I still love the packaging. It’s weighted and beautiful… like a keepsake. I love that the packaging is refillable… which helps a bit (but not much) with the price. I still feel like the shadows are so small… though on the up side you don’t need very much to get the job done. They’re not as offensively small as yaby (those things are just nerve-wracking) but for 45.00 a pop… I’m just saying.
Swatches:
I’ll get plenty of use out of the eyeshadow… it’s just as silky as my other two (Onyx and Cloud Nine). Wisdom is not as versatile as the other two (I can see it going ashy on darker skintones), but it’s still really lovely.
The liptint is surprising. I expected it to be ‘greasy’ because of the way it appears in the pot. I thought it would be sheer too. It’s neither. It’s a nice soft ‘tint’ that wears nicely, like a gentle lip gloss. There’s no sheerness factor this color either… it’s actually semi-opaque.
What I don’t like about the tint is that it’s really impractical. When I applied it, it got pretty messy (I had to clean the container afterwards). It’s also not very sanitary. If I use it on clients, even with a brush, I’m going to have to spray it every single time (hello, Beauty So Clean!). It might be worth it. We’ll see how it translates in practical application.
It’s still a lovely brand… and it’s still expensive. I’m sure most of what you’re paying for is packaging because that part of it is simply divine. My favorites are still the eyeshadows. I love those. The Liptint… well, the jury is still out.
You can find all Kjaer Weis products at http://www.kjaerweis.com/ or http://www.spacenk.com/