Review: WHOMEE Igari

Review: WHOMEE

emember when Beyonce was drunk dancing with her BFFs in “7/11” and looked like a million bucks while trippin’ on some champagne?

Unfortunately for many of us, looking flawless from a night out of heavy drinking has never left us feeling glam-cute. Yet somehow, Japan has turned my dreaded Asian glow into a trendy look that has been hyped in countless fashion and beauty circles both locally and internationally.

Igari or the affectionately named “hangover look” was created by celebrity makeup artist Igari Shinobu with the emphasis on applying a bright blush high on the cheekbone to make the eyes stand out.

In its earlier days, Igari was very much a cute makeup look aimed to give the

impression of youthfulness and innocence. Now, it has evolved to include a grown-up version for mature girls wanting to achieve a romantic or edgy vibe to their everyday appearance.

Last year, Igari Shinobu dropped a new line of makeup called “WHOMEE” with many singing praise for its ease of use and for being results-oriented. Best of all, it’s very affordable too.

How is the colour payoff? Is it any good? Let’s breakdown the essential items from the range to recreate the Igari look (in my opinion). For this review, I’ll be testing the WHOMEE eye shadow palette, the my buddy eyebrow powder and the multi glow stick.

Example of Igari looks by VoCE.

my buddy eyebrow powder

SHADE: α dark brown | PRICE: ¥1,800 + tax

RATING: ★★★★

APPLICATION

Would you believe that I actually hated using this product when I first tried it?

For some odd reason, in the beginning the pigment would come off extremely light and it took around three application attempts to build up the colour to full coverage. I have very light brows so it was a struggle to even fill them in let alone shape them to definition.

After some more tries and working my way into the eyeshadow pan more, I noticed the colour was finally picking up on the brush and now, I love using it!

I highly recommend using the broad tip of the application brush at the beginning. Then, use small zig zag or patting motions to help apply the powder as swiping does literally nothing with this eyebrow powder formula for some reason. When it reaches the end, feather it out with the angled brush. I was able to create a faint tip shape but I highly recommend using an eyebrow pencil or crayon to define the edges as the shape looks weaker without it.

Pigmentation

As less is more when it comes to Igari brows, the pigmentation of this eyebrow palette is a buildable light-medium.

Igari style eyebrows are usually on the lighter side, relying on the natural hair shape of your eyebrows creating an airbrushed look with no harsh edges.

Although there are other colours in the collection that lets you play with alternative colours, I usually prefer dark ash browns and taupe as a good shade to fill in eyebrows for a softer natural look. The colour shade of “α dark brown” was the perfect combo.

LEFT: How to apply eyebrow shadow from WHOMEE website | RIGHT: Swatches of shade “dark brown”

eye shadow palette

SHADE: believe in pink | PRICE: ¥1,800 + tax

RATING: ★★★★

Application

Though you are free to apply the eyeshadow however you like, I wanted to follow the instructions found on the packaging and the official site to get that Igari look down.

I was surprised to find that for the palette “Believe in Pink,” the darkest shade (2) is applied all over the lids and the lighter coral metallic colour (1) should be used as an eyeliner with the lightest pink shade (3) underneath. As the coral shade (1) in proportion to the lightest pink shade (3) is in a smaller pan, I wanted to switch the two around since I tend to use more powder for my upper lids than my lower eye area. I’m glad I did!

It’s been a very long time since I last used eyeshadows but I was able to create a subtle contoured eye look that was wearable and very simple to achieve. The dark and light powder blended very easily into my skin with the brush and the coral metallic tone glided on nicely with just the sponge applicator.

Pigmentation

All the powders in the eyeshadow palette range are not true mattes and have some small amount of glitter particles mixed in.

Although I was a bit apprehensive that these would turn out looking sheer and cheap like something you would find at Claire’s, the colours complement each other very nicely and are formulated differently so each shade has a different pigment finish.

For “Believe in Pink,” the darkest shade is a bronze copper that looks great as a contour shade and crease definer. It’s the closest matte in the palette, super rich and blends out smoothly.

The medium shade is a coral shade with a metallic hue that’s stunning! It’s my favourite shade from the palette and looks lovely as a deep tone highlight.

The lightest shade is a fleshy baby pink which has the most shimmer particles. When I placed this colour on the centre and eyeliner area of my eyes it actually popped subtly and created dimension to my upper eyelid. Initially, I was a bit disappointed since the colour pay-off compared to the others was lacking in vibrancy and this was so much sheerer, but if you were to spread it under the eye to increase the “drunk glow” look, less is definitely better I think.

ABOVE: Swatches of shade “Believe in Pink” | BELOW: How to apply eyeshadow from WHOMEE website

MULTI GLOWSTICK

SHADE: mabu | PRICE: ¥1,800 + tax

RATING: ★★★1/2

Application

To apply the multi glow stick you can use your fingers and blend out or apply it directly and use a brush. The formula is buttery smooth that’s great for blending with just your fingers and it spreads smoothly across the cheek area with little effort.

As this product is multi-use for face, cheeks, and lips I also applied it to my lips straight from the stick. The flat bullet wasn’t hard to work with to fill in the Cupid’s bow, though with this formula, the colour is not strong enough to need the precision that you can get using a slanted bullet shape (more on that in the pigmentation section).

All-in-all, the multi glow stick was very easy to blend out with no excess effort needed even for a bold colour like red.

Pigmentation

Although I built up the colour on my hand to be a strong red in the picture, after blending it out it smoothed into a matte muted red that matched the colour of a normal blush.

This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing since I still wanted the Igari blush to look wearable even if it might seem over the top. The formula is very forgiving and blendable that even this overly painted red lost its vibrancy and soften to create a romantic flushed appearance.

Unexpected was how the colour turned out on my lips. I thought the red would be a bold consistency on the lips but it turned out more stain bitten or a swollen red just like if you just ate some really good spicy food. This is probably because of the formula as it felt more oil-based than the thicken texture you would find in a proper lipstick. If you like tainted lips, this formula’s colour gives you that look for sure but you might want to get a lipstick if you enjoy a more polished look.

PACKAGING AND DESIGN

s you can tell straight away, WHOMEE’s packaging is super cute and stands out from the usual clear packaging from most Japanese makeup competitors like Canmake.

The minimalistic baby pink vibes remind me of Korean beauty brand “Etude House” mixed with Kylie Jenner’s “Kylie Skin” and looks great when they are all displayed together.

The unit carton is also genius. It’s nicely designed with embossing making it feel upscale but if you undo the box, it also becomes an instruction manual. How smart!

The only problem I have is the consistency in naming. All products have a specific name but they also use colour names at the top in English. For example, on the eyeshadow palette it says “pink pink” to describe the proper name “Believe in Pink” which is written on the back in Japanese. It’s a bit problematic when trying to find the item you want so take note when shopping.

Other than that, 10 out of 10.

VALUE FOR MONEY

ost WHOMEE products average around ¥1,800 excluding tax which is the same price range as most drugstore brands like Revlon and Maybelline.

For the kind of results and quality you see using WHOMEE, I would 100% recommend buying it.

If you are familiar with K-beauty I would compare WHOMEE to the same roadstore brands like Etude House and Too Cool For School in terms of quality and price point which are brands I personally love! If more mass produced Japanese cosmetics were made like this, K-beauty could have serious competition on their hands.

TL;DR

WHOMEE is a great affordable makeup brand that has great quality products. The eyeshadow palette is my favourite. It’s simple three step look is great for most eye shapes and has good pigmentation and fun colour combinations.

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