Brand Review: MAJOLICA MAJORCA

Majolica Majorca is a very popular drugstore brand made by Shiseido. Priced between 315yen to 1890yen for its foundation refills, its main competitor in Japan is Kate which is made by Kanebo. For now, Kate is still the top drugstore makeup brand but MM has its share of devoted followers, thanks to its lovely packaging and unique limited edition releases every season that quickly become sought-after collectibles. The line is targetted at young women in their teens and 20s, hence the preponderance of shimmery, bright shades. MM releases 4 collections every year (spring in January, summer in April, fall in July and holiday in November). Its holiday releases are usually extra special such as the Little White Book & Little Black Book(2003), Compact Fantasia and mirror (2004), Lady Cat (2005) palettes and Love Hunter (2006) palettes.

The star products of the line are: Majolook eyeshadow palettes (1470yen-1575yen), Shadow Customise (single eyeshadows, 525yen), Lash Expander and Lash Enamel Glamour mascaras (1260yen) and Neo Automatic Liners (1260yen). Lash Expander was so popular at one point that it was sold out for a couple of months in 2006 before Shiseido could re-stock it. Lash Expander claims to lengthen lashes up to 15 times (obviously an exaggerated claim since your lashes would be brushing your hairline if that was true!) while Lash Enamel Glamour is a volumising mascara. Lash Expander is a fibre-based mascara while Lash Enamel Glamour is not. I've actually never tried either Lash Expander or Lash Enamel Glamour although I've CP'd dozens of them for friends as I'm not a big fan of comb-type or waterproof mascaras given my fragile skimpy lashes. My favourite products from MM are the single eyeshadows in GR664, SV821, BL724, BR710 and the MJ Spice in RD Sensual Spice. The Compact Fantasia is my most treasured MM item, love how the egg-shaped compact nestles perfectly in my palm. I also adore the brightly coloured Majewel compacts from Spring 2005. However, I must say MM's recent collections have not been as attractive as before such as their Majolook Frame Impact series which frankly had very strange colour combinatons. The only hit from the Spring '07 Like a Doll collection was the MJ Spice range, which was just too cute! The upcoming blue-themed summer '07 Mermaid collection looks like it may be very difficult to pull off for ladies who are no longer in their teens.

MM has a fantastic official website that is updated with a Flash presentation with each new collection. You can also view the presentations for previous collections on the website. Each collection is showcased as a "Chapter" in the MM Theatre. Do check it out!

http://www.shiseido.co.jp/mj/index.htm