Kesalan Patharan Face Color in S5 and a story about Internet kindness

Among the makeup gems I own, the limited edition KP S5 is one of my favourite no-fail eyeshadow trios. Comprising a shimmery teal, a light mint green with a metallic flash and a medium-to-deep brown with hints of olive, S5 is a trio of exceptional eyeshadow combination; all three shades are complementary and work beautifully together. I love how they blend seamlessly into one another to lend dimension to the eyes.

The story behind S5 is as lovely as the trio itself. The truth is that by the time I actually realised the beauty of this item, it was too late to purchase it.

The first one I received was really a tester given to me by a KP SA. I doused it with methylated spirit and used it occasionally. I liked it but didn’t love it; I didn’t give it much though at all!

Fast forward to 2007, when I decided to take it out to play and experiment with. To my utter delight, it surprised me with its gorgeous depth of colour and blending ability. To my dismay too, this was extremely hard to find.

And so began my search for KP S5.

I looked everywhere for it and hoped to find a full-sized trio, slightly used, if not brand new. I asked around, wondering if I’d be successful; after all, this item was old, limited edition and very rare.

I found someone on makeupalley who had it but she wasn’t keen to swap. This was a major disappointment – her trio was almost new.

Next, I emailed a local friend whom I knew through the Internet and whom I knew had this trio; in the hope that she’d sell hers even though she didn’t have it up for swap. Success…and a pleasant surprise! Although I was willing to pay her much more, she only asked for S$10. She said that a corner of the trio was crumbly but really, it was fine when I received it. To top it off, this lovely person sent me a full sized, BNIB MAC shadow as an extra.

Soon after this, another local friend – again, someone whom I knew through the Internet – sent me a big surprise together with a custom purchase she’d conducted for me: a KP S5 pan in excellent condition! I was stunned.

These two friends are true makeup lovers who understand makeup obsessions! Their acts of kindness really touched me.

In the end, I took out the original pan and gave it to a close friend, put the pan the second friend had sent me into the pot, kept that one and am now using the one I bought from the first friend. I’m thrilled to have a backup of this lovely trio which I wear at least once a week these days.

The teal performs well over blue and green eyeshadow bases. I especially like to use it over MAC Paint Pot in Delft and Shiseido Hydro Powder in Aqua Shimmer.

I typically use the trio like this:

1. A white/beige cream eyeshadow as base
2. A blue/teal/aqua/green cream eyeshadow on the lid extended to the socket indent
3. The teal on the lid
4. The mint above the teal, blended into the teal
5. The olive brown to line, blended into the teal

Sometimes I’d vary steps 3-5, layering the mint on the lid before applying the teal on the outer 1/3 of the lid or applying the mint all over the teal to create a softer look. Whichever the way, it is difficult to go wrong with this trio as the colours blend wonderfully with one another.

If you love blues and teals like I do, I know you will love this trio. I hope you are just as blessed as I was in the search for S5! :)