Love Colour And Sparkle? Wong Kar Wai for shu uemura burning in water palette Is For You.

October 12, 2011 | 20 Responses

Forget neutrals and golds for the holidays, shu uemura’s idea of holiday makeup is bold hues with lots of sparkle. There is nothing safe or classic about this holiday collection called rouge et bleu, a collaboration with movie director Wong Kar Wai. By the way, the inspiration of the collection is a short film called ‘Mask’, and will be released on October 18. For now, you can watch the trailer on the shu uemura website.

burning in water ($85) is one of two beautiful eye and cheek palettes in the collection. It contains four eyeshadows, two blushes, one double ended sponge applicator and one double ended brushes. Both the powders and creams are very smooth and give excellent colour payoff.

shu uemura burning in water palette

The cover of the palette is a cool hologram of the eye makeup from the promo images. Here’s a short video since it was difficult to photograph:

shu uemura burning in water palette – cover artwork

Cool, eh? Now, how about some swatches?

shu uemura burning in water palette swatches (natural light, no flash)

shu uemura burning in water palette swatches (with flash)

Delicious, right? As much as I love all these colours though, I wish they switched up the texture with a matte eyeshadow shade.

shu uemura burning in water palette

The cream cheek colour reminds me of Giorgio Armani’s cream blushes; they blend easily and dry to a powder finish. The powder cheek colour is a light beige with slight shimmer, which would make a stunning cheek highlight. I do wish the cheek colours come in bigger pans so I can fit a blush brush in there.

shu uemura burning in water palette – box

Is It Too Bold For Holiday, Or Just Right?

What do you think? Do you tend to favour the safe classics of golds and reds for holiday collections, or do you like the bright colours from this palette?

Disclosure: Product was sent by manufacturer for consideration only.

Beware of the Lipstick Bandits.

September 12, 2011 | 56 Responses

I am a member of the Lipstick Bandits. We obsess over lipstick, and convince you that yes, you do need another red lipstick because this one is a blue red, while that one is a tomato red. Or this one is a matte, and that one is a cream. You get the point.

Because we are a band of beauty bloggers, naturally we make a pact with a face of the day. Here’s mine.

Products I Used

Eyes

MAC Blacktrack Fluidline. Apply a ridiculous amount as a mask, and line eyes to create a feline shape… mrrreow!
L’Oreal Black Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara. Generously run through top and bottom lashes.
shu uemura tutu laceflare False Eyelashes*. Because it’s fun to make your eyes feel like ballerinas.
Illamasqua Alchemy Precision Ink Liner. Outline the mask with this fine glitter liner. Because it’s not a Glitter Geek mask without glitter!
Marcelle Pure Gold Lux Diamond Liquid Eyeliner*. Add a chunkier glitter on top of Alchemy for high shine and sparkle.

Skin

FACE atelier 6 Honey mixed with Zero Plus Ultra Foundation. Nothing says badass bandit like a flawless base.
Marcelle Translucent Medium Face Powder*. Set with loose powder patted on with a brush.

Lips

FACE atelier Revenge Lipstick. Apply a dark red around the edges of the lips and feather / blend inwards.
Vasanti USA Soft Finish Matte Lipstick. Apply a true red in the middle of the lips for an ombré effect.

More Pictures!

Close-up of shu uemura tutu laceflare false eyelashes (new with Novadiva Autumn 2011/Winter 2012 collection)

Ombré red lips

Blue Steel

Who am I kidding?

Hope you enjoyed the look. I had a lot of fun creating it and feeling slightly creepy while wearing this makeup. Don’t forget to visit my fellow lipstick bandits’ amaaaazing creations:

Disclosure: Products marked with * were sent by PR/manufacturers for consideration only.

Matte Lips for Fall: shu uemura rouge unlimited supreme matte Lipstick.

September 3, 2011 | 44 Responses

Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen! I’m so excited to review and swatch shu uemura rouge unlimited supreme matte lipsticks ($36), as their cousins, the shu uemura rouge unlimited is one of my favourite lipstick formulas to date.

shu uemura rouge unlimited supreme matte lipsticks

Swatches (from left): Darling Beige, Angelic Pink, Alluring Brown, Evil Pink, Sensual Red, Brilliant Gold (no flash)

Swatches (from left): Darling Beige, Angelic Pink, Alluring Brown, Evil Pink, Sensual Red, Brilliant Gold (with flash)

Darling Beige is a nude beige.
Angelic Pink is a light pink with blue (cool) undertones.
Alluring Brown is a rosy brown.
Evil Pink is a bright pink with yellow (warm) undertones.
Sensual Red is a brick red with gold sparkles.
Brilliant Gold is a sparkly gold glitter. This is an artist shade, meant for mixing and layering.

These lipsticks are super soft for mattes. Maybe a little too soft actually, as they have a tendency to crumble and pill up on the lips. One way I found to remedy this is to blend the lipstick into my lips with a finger after applying from the tube.

The finish is a soft matte, which is very pretty and nothing like your grandma’s matte lipstick. They are scent- and taste-free, and wear time is average for a lipstick (about 3-4 hours). I don’t suffer from dry lips, and these didn’t suck out the moisture from my lips either. They do, however, show off nasty flaky lips very well, so exfoliate first unless that’s the kind of look you’re going for.

I had a hard time pulling off Angelic Pink and Darling Beige because of their lightness, but pale beauties will love these. The rest of the shades are universally flattering, and I’m actually surprised that I really liked Alluring Brown.