Ever since my fiancé and I traveled to Japan last year, Asian beauty has absolutely captured my attention – specifically from Korean, Japanese, and Chinese brands. They all have such innovative products overall, and their style and formulas are completely different from anything in the American market – so much so that we’re starting to see Western companies release products that are very obviously inspired by these same Asian beauty trends.

So while in Japan, I was dragging my fiancé along to so many stores (specifically a lot of Don Quijotes, iykyk) after watching various YouTube videos discussing top products and recommendations. I then walked into a WONDERLAND, I’m talking AISLES and AISLES of affordable products and gorgeous packaging and I just needed it all. Because of this, I was an absolute gremlin and came home with a suitcase almost full to bursting of new beauty products (you gotta save on shipping when you can). I’m not promising I’m now going to become the expert on Asian beauty – we’ll still have plenty of American brands to review – but I hope to feature it on the blog more and more because I’m won’t be stopping my purchases anytime soon.

So okay yes, I introduce this post by talking about traveling to Japan, and now I’m going to talk about a Korean brand – hear me out, it makes sense. While Japanese beauty is of course it’s own thing, K-Beauty is absolutely massive, with whole stores dedicated to it (many brands have their own dedicated stores in multiple Japanese locations, and then there are also places gathering multiple brands under one roof like Olive Young). K-beauty is HUGE and it’s starting to get more and more traction over here in the states as well.

After browsing all the products in person and loving my new purchases, I had then been perusing online and keeping up with more new releases while back home here in Chicago. I had found my way onto YesStyle – another site that sells a huge range of Asian beauty, not just K-Beauty (though the stock of Chinese brands has now been put into limbo because of the new tariffs) (if you’ve been questioning at all, I’ll say it outright here – I absolutely do not support anything about this current administration). Once you start browsing that site, it’s dangerous and you can just lose yourself in a rabbit hole of interesting products, filling up carts and wishlists. (I do have a little rewards code, M2JQ8E that if you enter when checking out allows me to get rewards points to use on their site for future orders! No pressure, I’m just here to give you some little discounts to try out and enjoy Asian beauty like I do. I do also love that as you shop more on the site, you steadily get more of a discount.) Each product will have an estimated shipping time underneath it – some can take up to a month since they’re shipping from overseas, while others are fully “in stock” and can ship within 24 hours – allowing you to always know when you’ll get your products. It’s normal that ordering any sort of Asian beauty comes with longer shipping times, but so far it’s always been worth the wait.

Hopping back in, I was scrolling Instagram when I saw the first hints and teasers drop for this collection we’re looking at today. This is from a brand called ‘Rom&nd’ (I believe pronounced Romand) in collaboration with the company INAPSquare. From what I’ve read INAPSquare is a lifestyle brand, and their signature style features black and white with fun little illustrations all throughout.

Now everyone got excited from these teasers–black packaging–and we were all asking “are we actually getting black colored products from a Korean brand?? From K-Beauty that’s famously known for softer, neutral, pinky tones? Black lip products??” I’ll spoil this for you right now, we did not get actual black lip products. We have mainly neutrals here, just wrapped up in that black packaging with cute little illustrations on them. We do get a quad of gorgeous black and white shades, but overall we’re neutral.

And if you were a touch disappointed from that lack of black, I will say all of those comments and requests did lead to Rom&nd actually creating a trio of black lip products, which you can purchase on YesStyle now! It does currently say limited edition, but maybe we can bully them again into making it permanent.

Alright, we’re not talking about those, let’s dive on into these swatches already.

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Alright as you can see, we have a good amount of products that released in this collaboration. I picked up 3 eyeshadow quads, 3 blush products and 2 lip products.

There are also 3 Glasting Melting Balms that I didn’t grab. These have a more glossy formula, as you can guess from a “Melting” balm – I was more interested in longer lasting formulas so I passed on them. ‘Kaya Fig’ on the left is an existing shade in a new package, with ‘Kitten Peach’ and ‘Berry in Black’ being new shades. They retail for $13.99 each.

There was also one other shade of the Blur Fudge tint in Peach Down. Along with that, also included in the release was 3 shades of their existing cushion foundations in new packaging, an eyebrow kit, and a cute little set that featured the black and white eyeshadow quad, a black gloss and a cute little bag – I did fully consider that last one, but I kept some self control.

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First we’re start with the 3 eyeshadow quads. Each comes in black packaging, with that signature more scribbley, illustrated font and little doodles. These are in the ‘Better Than Eyes’ line, and you can find quite a few other little collections and permanent color stories in this same quad lineup. These retail for $17 each currently on the site – at my time of purchase, they retailed for $12.09 each. YesStyle is a site with more dynamic pricing overall – depending on time of purchase, products can be more or less discounted, depending on various sales and promotions they’re running. They also often have coupon codes to enter into your cart after a certain threshold. So you can usually wheel and deal, or be strategic with your time of purchase – many creators also have coupon codes to use as well.

As you might imagine with a quad, these all feature 4 shades in a thicker plastic packaging. It feels sturdier so I wouldn’t worry about any of these breaking. The front is clear so you can see through to the shades, with the back packaging changing colors to match the specific collection. As this is a black and white collection, the 2 more neutral quads have white packaging, while the black quad has black packaging. You’ll also see the individual quad names written on the front, with a fun little doodle accompanying them.

This first quad is labeled as ‘Buckwheat Flower in Black’ on each of the websites, though it does say “Brown in Black” on the quad itself. I’ll be giving you the English names and translations that are listed on YesStyle.

And obviously this is the more brown toned of the two neutral palettes. Each of these quads have the cutest little imprints in at least one of the shadow shades, with this one having a cute little teddy bear in the shimmery brown.

Now for the 4 shades! Overall, Korean makeup has much softer preferences than Western looks, with shades being very soft, light and buildable. It’s more about layering up the product slowly and giving a soft natural look, especially on the eyes. With that, you’ll see that that first brown shade swatched out practically blends into my skin. It is more apparent once applied on my eyelids, and it just gives a wash of natural color. For those deeper in tone than me, most of these shades will be a little more lost on the eyes.

In this firs quad, the left shade is a soft, cooler toned beigey-brown matte (as mentioned it’s blending right into my arm, and you can almost miss it swatched above that warmer brown). Top right is a warmer toned almost peachy brown matte. Bottom left is a still warm, yet more peachy pink brown shade with scattered shimmer throughout it. And bottom right is actually pretty deep in color. It’s a warmer toned deep brown matte that will help add depth to any look.

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I’ve noticed that a lot of Korean releases will include both a warmer toned set as well as a cooler toned set – they’re very about color undertones and seasons there, with certain shades suiting different “seasons” more. We had the warmer browns above, so now we get into the cooler pink counterpart. This quad has “Pink in Black” on the packaging with it being labeled as ‘Peony in Black’ on YesStyle. This one features a little heart imprint in the bottom right pan, and overall the shades match up in depth and finish with the quad above, but just in a cooler tone.

You’ll see another trend come through, of more white based brightening shades with that first shade, being a bright, very light ballet pink matte. The top right is a cooler toned soft rosy pink matte. The bottom left shade is a cool toned almost taupe gray-brown with scattered silver sparkles. And the bottom right shade pulls almost black when built up, being a very deep brown matte.

And another angle to show off those sparkles in that 3rd shade. Overall you’re going to lose most of those sparkles when you tap off the brush and apply it to the eyes, but it adds a tiny bit of shimmer. Though swatches never tell the full story, you can just see how smooth and creamy these eyeshadows are, even that super light pink. I’ve found they all feel so soft and lovely, and really lend themselves to applying and layering up a soft and blended look. I didn’t have any issues with patchiness, even with that darker matte.

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Now for the quad that I think we’re all most excited for. This is ‘Glitz in Black’ with the name of the overall collection instead being printed on the quad itself. This is the one full shimmer quad of the set and it’s weird to call it the most colorful of the set when it’s full of black and white shades.

We have 2 imprinted doodles here in the 2 white shades, with an almost black outline to make them more apparent. Don’t worry that black outline is not actual color, and doesn’t pick up in the white at all.

And just look at these shades! When you look at them in the pans themselves, they can just look like 2 very similar plain white and black glitter shades. But when swatched them out, the colored sparkles become more apparent, and the reflects really shined. I wouldn’t have minded if they were all just topper shades, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the 2 blacks have a base to them and can be worn on their own.

For swatches, the 1st top left shade is a soft white base with a bright aqua blue reflect. The top right is a black base filled with silver sparkles all throughout. The bottom left shade is a slightly more gray base filled with gold and blue glitters all throughout. And the bottom right shade is a more sheer white base filled with a bright pinky red shimmer.

These are just gorgeous, and so of course we need all the angles to show off those sparkles and shimmer. Again they felt smooth and even overall, and pick up well from the pans.

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Now we’re going into the 3 ‘Better Than Cheek’ shades. Just like the ‘Better Than Eyes’ this is an already established line within their brand, with new collections adding new shades to it often.

They coordinate with the eyeshadow quads, having black cardboard packaging with the names and little doodles all over. These are currently selling for $12.50 and I purchased them for $8.35 each. (Clearly I picked these all up when Rom&nd itself was on a good discount).

They feature that same thicker plastic packaging, with a clear top and black bottom. The lil doodles continue onto the clear packaging as well. We have 2 powder shades and one balmy shade.

Just like the eyeshadows, in Korean beauty the blushes are very lightly pigmented. You might find some deeper shades depending on the brand, but overall they’ll have a softer pigment and are meant to be more built up. You’ll have no chance of “blush blindness” with these.

First up, we have ‘Ginger Night’, a soft peachy warm beige.

And we have the matching cooler counterpart in ‘Berry Dawn’. This one is a light rosy pink.

Now onto the balmy shade, which is appropriately just called ‘Black Balm’.

It does look black overall in the pan but when you pick it up it’s more of a berry shade. It truly feels like a balm, almost like a lip gloss. It’s such an interesting texture, and I’ve noticed these almost jelly, balmy finish shades are becoming quite popular overall in Asian beauty, with quite a few brands releasing them. Dewy, glassy skin is a very popular thing in Korea and Japan, so there will be more like this, and I’m very open to trying even more.

And here are the 3 shades swatched up. As I mentioned they’re very light in color and pigment, but I was surprised at how much they ended up showing up on my skin (I mean, I am very fair so I shouldn’t be surprised) I use that middle shade, Berry Dawn, all the time as the most natural flush on my cheeks. They’re so smooth and silky in formula and they build up beautifully on the skin without looking cakey or thick.

That balm is just so interesting as well. It’s a touch sticky on the cheeks, but not enough for hair to be caught in it. I’ve noticed it just leaves the most natural little flush on the cheeks and a glow that doesn’t look sweaty or greasy.

It says it’s pH adjusting as well, so when applied to the skin it’ll “adjust” and change color – though they normally aren’t actually adjusting to your skin and will always shift to the same shade. Usually these formulas become a bright pink, so I’m glad this adjusted to be more muted and more purple.

Of course, I am only one person and can only show how these shades look on one specific skintone. You can use me as reference to know if you would be interested in these shades personally.

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Now we get into the lip products. As mentioned above, I didn’t purchase all of the formulas that were available, and only picked the 2 shades that I was interested in.

First I grabbed the Juicy Lasting Tint in the shade ‘Bare Grape’. Their Juicy Lasting Tints are very popular, being one of their most loved and talked about products. They’re an almost watery feeling formula on the lips, with a good amount of color. This will then stain and leave a gorgeous “tint” behind even after the product fades away. They just re-released their entire permanent line of this formula, promising to be even more lightweight and smooth. I’ll definitely be picking up more of them.

‘Bare Grape’ was an already existing color, but one that I didn’t own already. I do own other shades of the Juicy Lasting Tints, so I was excited to grab this new to me color in the special packaging. It comes in the same packaging as the other Juicy Lasting tints, but instead in a black color to match the collection. This is currently $13.99 and I purchased it for $8.70.

I also grabbed the Blur Fudge Tint in ‘Bad Berry’. This one in the white packaging is an overall new shade. There is another in a black packaging called ‘Peach Down’ which is a repromoted color, a warmer peach. I was interested in trying this formula for the first time so I just picked up the new shade. This one is also currently $13.99 and I purchased it for $9.05. As you can imagine, the Blur Fudge Tint is a more pigmented and moussey formula. It has a more matte finish overall and doesn’t leave a tint.

The Juicy Lasting Tint applicator for ‘Bare Grape’ is on the left – you’ll see the name fits with that juicier, more hydrating formula. And the applicator for the Blur Fudge Tint in ‘Bad Berry’ is on the right, with that thicker, moussey formula.

Now the swatches! Though Rom&nd advertises ‘Bare Grape’ as a “cool nude”, I still found it to be more warm on my skintone – I’ve found a lot of Korean lip products tend to pull towards this warmer, pinkier tone, even when calling themselves more cool. This one has a tiny bit of dustiness to it, giving us more of that grape color. Like I said it has a more hydrating formula, which you can see with the glossiness. As you wear it, that gloss will slowly fade away and leave a similar color tint.

‘Bad Berry’ is a warm, well berry shade. It’s more saturated than ‘Bare Grape’, with more fuchsia tones to it. It leaves an almost blurred finish and is matte without being drying. That moussey formula does still keep it more hydrating than a true liquid lipstick and I really enjoy this formula. It’s another where I would continue to pick up more shades.

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And those are all of the pieces I picked up from the set! Though it’s not actually that black and white, I still had a good time trying out these products, and they’re perfect for softer, more neutral looks. I’m still new to K-beauty in general and I enjoyed learning more about the formulas and styles of products. Overall I found the formulas in this collection to be lovely – as long as you go into them with right expectations on pigmentation. These absolutely won’t be like Western products, so it’s unfair to judge them with that lens.

Korean brands are constantly releasing new products, so I’m sure I’ll keep trying new ones and having even more on the blog in the future! What do you think? Have you tried any K-Beauty?

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