Three 4D Eye Palette 04 Art of Parties

Like Addiction, Three is a relatively young makeup brand that is exclusively available in Japan. Its Creative Director Rie Omoto is a New York-based makeup artist who has worked with Elle and Vogue. While Three's skincare line is built around a natural approach based on botanical actives, its makeup line has a refined modern sensibility that plays on textures and translucency. It's the only Japanese brand with a extensive range of loose powder pigments, named Shimmering Color Veil which is available in 30 shades, of which 11 were just introduced as part of the "Fantastic Voyage" collection for fall.

Thanks to Drivel About Frivol and So Lonely in Gorgeous, Three was at the top of my list to check out while in Japan. I came away with a few of their Flash Performance Eyeliner Pencils (so worth the hefty price tag!) and the 4D Eye Palette 04 Art of Parties. Retailing at 6300yen, the 4D Eye Palette is slightly more affordable than Suqqu Blend Color Eyeshadow palettes, but it is still a hefty chunk of change. The grey rubber compact is the only aspect that I did not like about it as at that price point, I would prefer a more elegant material.

Art of Parties contains a shimmery deep violet purple, a shimmery smoky black with purple shimmer, a satin medium brown and a pale shimmery gold. The color payoff is good, although the purple shade takes a bit more layering to show up than the other shades. Some of the shades feel more velvety and silky to touch, while a couple felt slightly dry. I wasn't immediately bowled over when I first swatched this, but after the SA showed me how to apply and blend the shades, I was drawn in by the complexity of the purple and black shades.


The palette comes with a dual-ended artificial fibre flat brush and tapered sponge applicator, plus a larger eyeshadow brush. These are beautifully made with glossy lacquered handles. The large eyeshadow brush works very well for laying down the eyeshadows and blending. It has a certain firmness (i.e. the bristles do not flop around) and yet feels wonderfully silky against the skin.


The pamphlet recommends using the sponge applicator to apply the black shade as the base along the upper lashline and the outer one-third of the lid, and the large eyeshadow brush to apply the brown shade over the entire lid and then layer the purple shade on top. The final step is to use the small brush to apply the gold shade at the inner corners and along the lower lashline.

I didn't follow the instructions. Instead, using Too Faced Shadow Insurance as the base, I used the large brush to apply the black shade along the upper lashline and the purple shade in the middle of the lid and along the lower lashline. The gold shade was applied lightly over the browbone area and the inner corners, while the brown shade was applied at the outer corner of the lower lashline. Flash Performance Eyeliner Pencil 04 Eye Belong was used to define the upper lashline.

There was a bit of fallout with the black shade during the application process, but aside from that, there was no fallout during the rest of the day. While the shades with their lively, complex sparkle lasted very well through several hours of walking outdoors visiting four temples on a hot summer day, there was a tiny bit of creasing at the inner corners.

If you like shimmery eyeshadows, the 4D Eye Palettes are well worth checking out. In Tokyo, Three can be found at Isetan and Odakyu in Shinjuku, Seibu in Ikebukuro and Shibuya, and Mitsukoshi in Ginza.