Sorry, I just had to! There was no avoiding that title.

In November, Sephora announced their new Hello Kitty line would launch in January of 2011. Honestly, I was unphased: in my late-early twenties, Hello Kitty is kind of a thing of my past. And even more honestly, I wasn’t even that into it when I was younger. But earlier this month, the cosmetic super-store held a private preview of their line to their Beauty Insiders–and as a VIB (Sephora’s way of saying, “damn you drop a lot of money here”), I managed to snag some goodies early!

Once I saw these online, I knew I was wrong in my initial assumption that this line would have nothing for me. Rather than the washed-out, neutral shades I was expecting, I saw pretty pastels and dramatic plums, bright pinks and deep greens. So I took the plunge.

I ordered:

Say Hello Eyeshadow & Lipgloss Palette in Super Fun - a violet-and-gray themed palette
Penpal Eyeliner in Picnic Basket – deep forest green liquid liner
Sweet Gloss in Grape Frosting - smooth tinted lip-balm with subtle sparkle
Big Smile Gloss in Smoothie - rich shiny gloss
Hello Kitty Rollergirl fragrance

I kind of regret not getting an Apple Cheeks blush while I was at it, but I always hesitate when it comes to cream and gel blushes. Especially for $22.00.

The first thing I need to say about this line is that the packaging is a much higher quality than I anticipated. I definitely expected the palette to be in the thick, clunky plastic compact that its in. The iridescent finish is nice, but it still looks a little more like children’s dress-up makeup than someone my age might like. That said, the Sweet Gloss is packaged in a delicate metal tube, printed with pearlescent white Hello Kitty faces, and looks much more sophisticated than I had expected. The rollerball perfume applicator is a fairly standard glass tube with a wide plastic ball to smooth on fragrance, topped with a heavy silver Hello Kitty head. The Big Smile gloss is in a plastic applicator much like Stila’s Lip Glazes, if you are familiar with those–a fairly decent quality, with a very practical wind-up mechanism, though I have to say I prefer Stila’s brush tip to the Hello Kitty rubber mouthpiece. It seems to take off almost as much gloss as it puts on.

Old habits die hard, and the first thing I dove into when I opened the package was the eyeshadow palette. The top layer of the palette is filled with four good-sized eyeshadow pans. They are listed on the box as Sugar Plum (iridescent pink-lavender), Sweet Plum (a dusty violet with silver microglitter), Raindrop (frosty deep gray), and Goodnight Dreams (black with silver/blue microglitter). Considering the nature of the packaging and line’s image, I assumed these would provide nice subtle washes of colour that were fairly neutral and less dramatic. Oh, was I wrong! Each of these shades are fairly pigmented, and can be built up into rather dramatic and intense looks.

From left to right, Goodnight Dreams, Raindrop, Sugar Plum, and Sweet Plum. As you can see, the black and gray are nice and dark with only one swipe of the finger, and the violets have potential to be built up to the same intensity. (For the reference, my skin is a MAC NC15/NW20)

I wish I could say I was as pleased with the glosses. The lower layer of the palette is filled with four same-sized lipgloss pans. On the box, they are listed as Snowflake (white gloss with iridescent white microglitter), Strawberry Cookie (rosy terracotta brown), Pink Confetti (deep pink with iridescent microglitter), Sweet Plum (berry-plum with iridescent microglitter). They all have a sort of strawberry candy smell, a little cloyingly sweet for my taste, but now terribly noticeable once applied. I wish I could go into more detail about these glosses, but they all swatched almost completely clear. If anything, the pink and plum have a sort of rosy tint, but there’s very little to no pigmentation present. You can see below that all that really shows is the microglitter shimmer in three of the four. (I also apologize for the mysterious gross cuts all over my wrist–the danger of living in a zoo…)

Next up, I unwrapped the Penpal liner. Like most other pen-style liners, the tube is about the length of a ball-point pen, about as thick as a marker (but thinner than a Sharpie), and boasts a fairly long, brush-style tip: thicker at the bottom, tapering into a thin, pin-point tip. It’s capable of creating a variety of lines, from the super-thick to the barely-there thin, without requiring the user to twist into the insane pretzel positions I’ve sometimes had to grow accustomed to. Being a lefty, holding anything like a pen can be a little awkward, but this was significantly more “natural” feeling, even to my make-everything-way-harder hands. –I was surprised, however, at the colour of this liner. On the website, this looked like a nice bright, grassy green, and I even debated the practicality of the colour. However, it swatches a dark, inky forest green.

Don’t be fooled, there is no sparkle to this liner: it probably stuck to the tip after applying it over the Super Fun eyeshadows that I played with. I couldn’t hold off, sorry! Also, a warning: this stained my skin. I remove all my eye makeup with makeup remover, and I could still detect a kind of grey-green stain along my lash line. After swatching on my arm, I could still see traces of this for two days afterwards. It does wear off, but it might be enough of an inconvenience to hold off on purchasing.

You all had to know I would not be able to pass up a purple lip product. When I saw the website swatch for the Grape Frosting Sweet Gloss I knew it was mine. Mine mine mine. In the tube, it’s a dark, rich plum colour, almost bordering bright grape purple. It’s got a sort of silvery microglitter, like a lot of this line, and the tube is a very sophisticated, slim white metal tube. This was one of the first things I ripped out of its box to ogle. It looks so much like the super-chic slim lipsticks so many brands have released–but surprise surprise, it really is a gloss! This applies as a very sheer wash of shimmering colour, though it can be built up a little with some careful work.

As you see, it swatches nothing like a deep plummy purple. To the left, you see one swipe: a sheer berry pink, with a sort of blue shimmer. On the right, you see a few swipes, three or four. Layered, it looks more like a blue-toned pink, almost fuschia, with a distinct iridescent white-blue shimmer. I really do like this gloss, it’s just not what I was expecting. Additionally, this smells more like grape soda, whereas almost everything else in this collection has that same super-sweet strawberry candy smell.

The other gloss in this collection is the Big Smile gloss, which I purchased in Smoothie. Again, on the website, this looked like a pink-toned lavender, almost like the Sugar Plum shadow in the palette above. In person, it’s definitely a milky blue-pink, but more of a frosted baby pink, and not lavender at all. Surprisingly, of the two glosses, this is the more pigmented. It applies opaque and colourful, though I find the applicator a little difficult to use. The tip is rubbery and pointed, and seems to collect a lot of gloss on the edges as if it’s removing everything you just put on. I’ve been applying it to my finger and then dabbing on my lips instead.

Applied with my finger on top, and the applicator on the bottom. The biggest downside to this gloss, I feel, is the stickiness. It is one of the stickier glosses I own, which deters me from wearing it more often. The shade is neutral enough that it could go with a ton of looks, but I’m not a huge fan of the texture and consistency. My lips also peeled a little after wearing this for a few hours, and I felt like it collected in the corners of my mouth.

As for the rollerball, it’s not really the light fruity-floral it seems to be at first. On me, it dries to a kind of powdery musk which I’m not horrified by, but not terribly fond of other. A little nondescript. I tend to feel that rollerballs are the best value when buying perfumes–I will personally never finish a 1oz bottle, since I have both scent-schizophrenia and a tendency to develop scent-induced migraines. This would definitely give me a headache if I drowned in it–it’s very bright and youthful and fun, and kind of reminds me of perfumes girls would wear in middle school. It might be a nice, nostalgic spring-summer scent, but not really what I’m digging in these wintery months.

So what’s my final word? I’m pleasantly surprised by pretty much everything I’ve tried. I will probably buy some of the Apple Balm and Apple Cheeks when they actually come out, and will report back with my findings, if you decide not to take the plunge yourself. Basically, I really like the eyeshadows and liners, love the Sweet Gloss, but could pass on the Big Smile gloss and fragrance. I personally think the prices are a little steep for the colour payoff, but if you like more neutral colours or subtle, translucent washes, go for it! Or if you just want to indulge you inner little girl with some super-cute packaging, it might be worth springing the $35.00 for a compact palette in the shape of Hello Kitty’s face.

Like I said, I really like the products I snagged and definitely plan on wearing them fairly regularly. The eyeshadows in particular surprised me. Take it or leave it, but I hope my write-up here has helped anyone waffling over what or whether to buy.

Love you to the Moon and Back,

Luna Valentine