Saturday, 24 January 2009

Lunasol by the Numbers

The new issue of Biteki had an interesting write-up on Lunasol, covering its various hit products and other amazing facts and events that have occurred in its 10-year history.

Color Makeup

The Eyelid Base has been ranked among the top three by a makeup review website for 4 years running.


The Skin Modelling Eyes #1 Beige Beige has been Lunasol's top-selling eyeshadow palette and frequently sold out in the two years since its launch. At one point, all 236 Lunasol counters in Japan were sold out of this palette. The counters also started posting notices of the date when the palette would be back in stock.


The Coloring Cheeks blushes introduced in Fall '08 were a big hit in the magazines, and featured in more than 300 articles within a mere 2 months. Lunasol also estimated that about 100 people are involved in the launch of one eyeshadow, such as those in charge of PR, marketing, research, quality control, sales etc.


Lunasol is famous for the elegant pearl shimmer of its eyeshadows. The Geminate Eyes #2 Alexandrite contains the highest number of different pearl particles, numbering 26, of various sizes, textures and colors to create a gem-like brilliance.


The Shining Powder has the longest history of being a bestseller for the brand. Loved for the glow that it creates, it was often featured in magazines and sold out at the counters. The average time it takes to create one product is 1 year.


The High Stylized Mascara went through more than 100 formulations before it was perfected.


Lunasol's current line-up of 34 eyeshadow palettes, in chronological order or release. One reason for the popularity of Lunasol's palettes is that every shade has been individually designed and formulated, honed and perfected for the best result. Even if some shades may look similar, there are subtle nuances in terms of the texture, degree of shimmer, pigment and translucence. Out of every two customers that bought a Geminate eyeshadow palette, one would also buy the Geminate Liner.

Lunasol also stands out for the large number of palettes in its line-up, unlike other brands which usually discontinue a series when they introduce a new collection. The reason for retaining palettes from previous collections is that some of them continue to enjoy very high popularity, such as the Skin Modelling Eyes #1 Beige Beige and Lighting For Eyes #4 Neutral, sometimes even outselling the newest palettes.


The top 5 products viewed as "lucky items" by Lunasol staff: Noble Shadow Eyes #3 Red (recommended for dates), Geminate Eyes #5 Ruby (recommended for group blind dates, known as "go-kon" in Japanese), Layered Bloom Eyes #2 White Gradation (recommended for weddings), Contrasting W Lip Liner #3 and Geminate Liner #5 Ruby.


In 2006, Lunasol was caught off-guard by the great demand for its Christmas coffret which included a limited edition Lighting for Eyes palette. The counters took more reservations than the actual production quantity, resulting in there being no units for sale on the release day. The Lunasol consumer centre also received 418 queries about the coffret.

After the great Christmas coffret "panic" of 2006, Lunasol counters started to give out queue numbers for the reservation day and release day. The brand also increased the production quantity and set clear rules on the quantities for reservation and for sales on the release day. Nevertheless, on the release day, there were counters that sold out of the 2007 Christmas coffret within 5 minutes.



The popularity of the Lunasol Christmas coffret reached even more astounding heights in 2008. At the Takashimaya store in Yokohama, more than 100 people lined up on the reservation day. Virtually all the counters sold out of the coffret on the release day.

Lunasol's limited edition eyeshadow palettes are also very popular. Customers started reserving the LE Sheer Contrast Eyes palettes for Summer '08 without even having seen them in person as they were so confident that the palettes would be gorgeous.


Lunasol has 936 Beauty Counsellors in Japan. In 2005, Lunasol had two hit products, Water Liquid Foundation and Lighting for Eyes. The Lighting for Eyes series established Lunasol's reputation for excellent eyeshadow palettes. Since then, sales of its palettes have grown by 110% to 140% every year.


Skincare & Base Makeup

Lunasol's top selling tool is the sponge for applying liquid foundation. The air pockets in the sponge are designed to release the optimal amount of foundation onto the skin for a natural finish.


The Morning Wakening Massage is the brand's top selling skincare product.


The gel-like texture of Lunasol's Morning Wakening Massage and Water Cream Foundation are based on the original Invigorating Water Cream that was first introduced when the brand debuted 10 years ago. The Water Cream took 7 years to develop, during which it went through 480 different formulations before the creators arrived at the perfect balance of the watery consistency of a gel and the deep moisturising benefits of a cream. The Water Cream is no longer part of the line-up.


The Watery Oil Cleansing took 3 years to develop and went though more than 300 adjustments. Its special feature is that it can do a thorough job of removing makeup even when mixed with two times the amount of water.


The popular Water Cream Foundation was first introduced in 2004 and quickly became the brand's star item due to the fact that it contained 60% water. The Water Liquid Foundation which contained 55% water was introduced half a year later. For every two customers who buy a foundation, one will also buy a primer.


The Foamy Cream Wash, launched in fall 2007, was a much-talked about item at the press event as it impressed the journalists with the fact that the foam created maintained its fluffiness and volume perfectly for more than 10 hours.

Biteki, Voce, Maquia and Spring March

The new March '09 issues of Biteki, Voce, Maquia and Spring have all arrived at Kinokuniya bookstore!

If you can buy only one mag this month, my vote goes to Biteki because it comes with a 62-minute DVD on eye makeup application by famous makeup artist Yamamoto Hiromi, using Est makeup. It also has an interesting article on Lunasol's 10 year anniversary, which I will translate in a separate post.



Maquia comes with a small tube of Transderma C Vitamin C Serum 1.2ml and a spring makeup collections catalog featuring 62 brands. I bought this mainly because I was intrigued by the cover model, Anna Tsuchiya, who looks like Hamasaki Ayumi in the cover shot.




Voce features another Maquillage spokesmodel on both its front and back covers, Ueno Juri. The main feature is makeup tips on how to make your eyes look bigger. It also includes 2 sample sachets of Kose Moisture Skin Repair (Rice Power Extract).






Feature on the Puffy duo for Lavshuca.




Hilarious pic of a new whole-body foam spa treatment in Kobe!



I also picked up Spring magazine, mainly for the freebie, a pink-gold mirror by Cookie Fortune, which is a Japanese accessories brand. It's quite well-made and worth the $13.40 price of the mag, which also comes with tons of features on spring fashion.



Juicy Couture opens in Singapore!

I was at Ngee Ann City this afternoon to pick up my usual stash of Japanese beauty magazines and chanced across the new Juicy Couture store, which has just opened! It is on the third level near Kinokuniya. The decor of the store is impressive and unusual, with a striking contrast between the metal studded frame of the storefront and the pink interior.



Wonder if the knight armour is a signature display of JC stores like the skeleton in Kiehl's stores?





The stuff is extremely pricey though, and marked up considerably by over 30% more than the US retail price. This terry baby fluffy bag and baby fluffy velour bag are US$198 and US$178 in the US but costs about S$400 here. The larger rectangular velour tote bags were about S$500 each. You would probably save quite a bit by ordering from the US when Juicy Couture has a sale and having it shipped to Singapore by Borderlinx. I didn't have time to check out the prices of their other items but the accessories such as charms look incredibly cute.



Banner ads outside Ngee Ann City.

MAC MSFs

As promised, here are the pics of the Blonde and Brunette Mineralize Skin Finishes that a kind friend helped to CP from the US! According to yesterday's issue of Urban in the Straits Times, the Blonde, Brunette and Redhead collection will be launched in Singapore on 6 February. Interestingly, the article listed the price of the MSFs as S$35 which I doubt is accurate as the Mineralize blushes are already S$37 and the MSFs in previous collections retailed at S$42 in Singapore.



It was interesting that instead of the usual veining, these MSFs were baked with gradational strips of color. The Blonde MSF applied as a metallic light pink on me. I was surprised that it showed up quite well (I'm MAC NC20.) It can be too frosty if applied too heavily so I use my MAC #187 brush to lightly dust this on. I haven't tried the Brunette MSF yet but it looks quite pretty in the pan too.



Here's my current collection of MSFs! The photo is just missing the New Vegas MSF from the Alexander McQueen collection. MSFs for me are like a sickness. Few of them actually work well on me as they often are too frosty or glittery. Plus given my oily skin with enlarged pores, I should skip anything that accentuates them. But there's something satisfying about how an MSF fits snugly in the palm of your hand with its full round dome just waiting to be tickled.



Ever since they were first introduced about 5 years ago, the rarer ones have often gone for upwards of US$100 on Ebay. So there's also the gotta-have-this-cult-item-now-before-it-disappears factor that makes me keep buying MSFs. I may not use them much but I still enjoy taking them out every once in a while to admire. The ones I reach for the most are the pink-toned ones like Petticoat that I can use as a blush. But frankly, I still prefer NARS blushes for the more flattering shades and finish.

Top row (L ro R): Light Flush, Petticoat, Porcelain Pink
Bottom row (L to R): Blonde, So Ceylon, Glissade


Top row (L ro R): Metal Rock, Naked You, Brunette
Bottom row (L to R): Lightscapade, Warmed, Shimpagne


Metal Rock (Goldplay collection, July 2005). I picked this up at the Cosmetics Company Outlet store at Gotemba (a factory outlet mall) in the Hakone region of Japan. I snapped it up simply because it was a MSF and later found that it was way too dark to be used on my cheeks, which means I can use it only as a eyeshadow but I have yet to do so!


Naked You (Lingerie collection, December 2005)


Lightscapade (Danse collection, December 2006). Still the most unique MSF ever released, this gives a nice all-over glow when applied on top of your foundation.


Warmed (N collection, January 2008)


Light Flush (N collection, January 2008)


Shimpagne (A Muse collection, July 2006)


Glissade (Danse collection, December 2006)


Petticoat (Lingerie collection, December 2005).


So Ceylon (High Tea collection, December 2004). Another big long-time favourite on MUA.


Porcelain Pink (High Tea collection, December 2004). Too pale and frosty for me.


New Vegas (Alexander McQueen collection, October 2007). Another MSF that I've never touched as it looks like a glittery discoball but I liked the McQueen logo printed on the cover ;-p



Shimpagne (top), New Vegas (bottom left), New You (bottom right)