Shu Uemura Neo-Tokyo Odyssey

The Shu Uemura website has been updated with the limited edition "Neo-Tokyo Odyssey" collection of false eyelashes. Based on a vision of what Tokyo could look like in the future, the collection will be released on 1 May in Japan. The three Premium Edition designs in Neo Reflector, Neo Fringe and Neo Sparkle (8400yen) will be available only at the Omotesando flagship store and Isetan Shinjuku store in Tokyo and Umeda Hankyu department store in Osaka.

You can also see pics of the press event in Taiwan for the Gem Glam summer makeup collection on Iswii.net.

Ardell Brow & Lash Growth Accelerator

This is sent to me as an extra in a swap with a very generous MUAer to whom I am eternally grateful! It comes in a cheap plastic package stuck to a piece of cardboard and honestly doesn't look that fantastic. I read on Makeupalley that it costs about US$4 so I seriously wasn't expecting much. But I have read many glowing raves for Ardell so I decided to try it out. I've been applying it for about a week, usually at night before I sleep. I apply a generous coat to both my upper and lower lashes. The brush is quite easy to work with but the bristles are quite stiff and hard so take care not to poke yourself in the eye with it. After a few days, I noticed that my lashes were a bit longer and my lower lashline appeared to have more lashes too. I'm hesitant to call it a miracle product and I wished I had taken "before" pics in order to do a more accurate comparison. But what I've concluded is that this definitely doesn't hurt to try, especially for someone like me who has very sparse and thin lashes. So if you're travelling to the US, do check this out or try to get it through swaps or CPs from friends in the US. It has an average 4.4 star (out of 5) rating on Makeupalley and 89% said they would buy it again.

http://www.makeupalley.com/product/showreview.asp/ItemID=67239/Ardell_Lash_Growth_Accelerator/Unlisted_Brand/Eyes/

Some Japanese brands also make similar products, such as DHC Eyelash Tonic (1260yen; average 4.9 star rating on Cosme.net), Canmake Eye Lash Essence (504yen; 4..5 stars) and Lash & Brow Treatment (714yen; 4.6 stars), Avance Lash Serum EX (1890yen, 4.9 star rating) and Lash Serum (1575yen; 4.5 stars), Shiseido's & Face Vital Lash Serum (4200yen, 5.5 stars), Shu Uemura Lash Repair (3150yen; 4.6 stars). I haven't tried any of these so I'm afraid I can't review them.

This page shows Cosme.net's weekly ranking results for the mascara base and lash serums category.

http://www.cosme.net/ranking/category/item_id/50

http://www.dhc.co.jp/goods/goodsdetail.jsp?cCode=10103003&gCode=71

http://www.canmake.com/eye/392.html

http://www.canmake.com/eye/item_002.html

http://www.cosme.net/product/product/product_id/267891

http://www.cosme.net/product/product/product_id/2552

http://www.cosme.net/product/product/product_id/2894029