Review & Swatches: Kryolan Shades Palette in Tokyo

Kryolan are a professional makeup brand who've been creating products geared towards film, theatre and TV for 65 years.  Known for their vivid, true to pan colours and multitude of shades, this five pan palette is one of their latest products.  Tokyo, pictured above, contains four shades of red of varying depth and a white-gold.

Presented in a sleek silver case with an eyeshadow brush, the palette provides a good spectrum of red shades - perfect if, like me, you like to wear red eye looks.  The palette itself is pretty light, but is made of metal, and feels like it'll be sturdy and durable.  The included brush is thankfully not a sponge applicator, but a proper brush, and is actually of reasonable quality.  

None of the colours are massively highly pigmented; the matte reddish brown on the far right is probably the most intense shade, and makes a very flattering liner either wet or dry.  The three red shades in the centre really vary in pigmentation; the left most red, an almost tomato-y orange red, is rather hard in texture, and I've had to really work my brush into the pan to gather enough colour to show up on the lid.  The middle shade is a beautiful rust red with a golden shimmer, and is much easier to work with - only a couple of swipes needed to get excellent payoff.  Finally, the purple toned red, which is second from the right above, is again pretty shimmery and of medium pigmentation, requiring the same amount of work as it's left hand neighbour.

On the eye, with the two mid-reds on the lid, the purple red in the crease, the brown used damp as a liner, and the white patted gently into the inner corner.  This colour combination is hugely flattering on my greenish eyes, and the finish of the shadow is rather unusual for me; there's a slight dimensional sheen, but no obvious sparkle.  Very pretty!

At £16.30, the palette isn't a definite bargain, but it's also not bad value.  At around £3 a shadow, this is reasonably priced way to get an instant collection of red shadows which are flattering, and easy to layer up to your desired intensity, rather than being strong straight out of the palette.  I can see myself getting a lot of use out of this palette in the coming months.

If you'd like to try Tokyo for yourself, you'll find them online via Love Makeup, where the palette will cost you £16.30.  What do you think?  Love a red eye look?  Tried Kryolan before?  Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: Press sample