Shu Uemura Shu:Palette 16-pan nude eyeshadow palette swatches and comparisons

I probably didn't need this eyeshadow palette, but when there was a 15% off Lunar New Year code a couple weeks ago (the code was "SHEEP" -- double entendre?!), I couldn't help but jump on it! Retail is $89 USD (and 12000 JPY, or $160 Singapore dollars). It looks like the palette is sold out on the website, and I'm not sure if it's going to come back in stock or not. I figured I would throw my swatches here on my blog since I didn't find too many online when I was deciding whether or not to get it. The pans are the same as the full size singles, and the palette also comes with a double ended synthetic hair brush (but I didn't use it). The palette itself is huge! And it's hefty (in a good way) and has a really nice, big mirror. That said, I don't think I would travel with it, as I like to travel light.

It ended up being around $80 USD with tax after the code. Shipping was about 1 week (faster than I expected).

Palette on a pile of makeup and brushes


After getting my fingers and sponge tips into the pans - the pans wiggle around easily, so I suspect they are extremely easy to depot (though my experience with Shu pans is that they are not magnetic)


Back of the palette info


Spongetip swatches (2 swipes each)





Since I'm sure most makeup addicts would have dupes, I did a few comparison swatches:


taupes


lighter shades


matte light-medium browns


variety of browns (not too much overlap here in my collection)




Random Thoughts

• I like all the matte shades very much. The shades are very flattering on my skintone (NC25, very yellow). Quite smooth and silky textures, but not the butteriest (better than my Inglot mattes, not creamy like RBR mattes). 
• Blend easily on the lids, but do not overblend or get muddy 
• Some of the lighter shades are similar on my skin, so maybe not a lot of different looks in this palette - The blue shade is a little sheer to swatch, but I haven't tried it on the eyes yet 
• The silvery shade (ME471) is quite cool toned, and I haven’t tried it yet 
• The warm brown creamy shade P 875 goes on my eyes a lot warmer than it swatches 
• The palette is quite large, has a big mirror, and has a hefty weight to it. I haven’t used or tried the double ended brush (and I don’t plan to). The pans are not glued in that securely (probably glued in with that gooey glue used by many Japanese brands) 
• I find the shadows look very different on the skin than how they look in the pan, so I’m still trying to giro out combinations. Of the 4 times I wore it so far, I loved 2 of the looks, and didn’t are for 2 others. - Some shades are too shiny/light catching for my preferences (doesn’t look great on my eyelid texture). 
• Overall, it’s a very complete palette. I like that there’s a big range of light to dark, including a blending shade similar to my squinting, a darker matte brown to deepen my outer corner, and a black matte that works for liner AND (when used lightly) works for my brows as well. 
• The shadows last well on my lids with primer all day; no complaints here!

Hope this helps someone, and if you're interested, that it comes back in stock!

Surratt Artistique Blush consolidated picture

Ok, I'm just putting this out there because I could not find a combo pic like it anywhere. I grabbed the promo pics directly from Barneys and made the collage in Picasa. They are (as of December 2014) $32 each.




I'll repost my two blush pictures from August here too, I guess

Surratt Blushes - Se Pomponner and Ponceau

Work has been crazy busy again lately. After a particularly bad weekend of work, I went to Barneys and picked up these two Surratt blushes. They aren't dupes for anything in my collection, which makes me happy :) The two shades I picked up have a nice, smooth texture and the colours are clear and bright. The only downside is the flimsy plastic packaging and not being able to stick them in magnetic freestyle palettes (plastic pans). The empty palette you can purchase requires you stick the pans down with the double-side tape label, which is not appealing to me at all.

I ended up sticking two square metal Z-palette stickers to the back (near the top and bottom, so the shade name is still visible) and storing them in my MUFE palette :)

Surratt Se Pomponner and Ponceau



Pan comparisons: NARS Gaiety, Surratt Se Pomponner, Burberry Hydrangea Pink (also a recent acquisition), Sleek Flamingo (just about falling apart, but a big love)


Pan comparisons: RBR Orpheline, Surratt Ponceau, NARS Gilda


Arm swatches (sponge tips, 2 swipes each)


Also, check out the labeling snafu: the outer box says 0.14oz/4g, but the sticker label on the product itself says 0.2oz/6g! The blushes are quite small, so I'd say the 0.14oz/4g size is correct.


Hope the helps someone! I'm not sure any of the colours in the range interest me, but I will reserve the right to change my mind later :)

Kiko now Stateside! :O

Last week, I was shopping online for a necklace for my wedding. My comprehensive search of the internet included a search of all the jewelry stores at my two local shopping malls, one of which is Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ. Upon landing on the site's splash page, I saw they were promoting a new wing of the mall (I guess someone decided the mall was not big or crowded enough already... /dripping sarcasm) which included a Kiko store!! WUT WUT?? After my trip last April to London/Paris/Berlin was canceled, I had dejectly put my Kiko wishlist on the backburner. Apparently, the mall announced this wing and the list of stores back in December, and I guess no one in the beauty community noticed.

Anyway, they opened this past Thursday, and I forced DF to take me to the mall today. I had been looking forward to today very much, as the last two weeks of work have been incredibly hellish. Here's a picture of the facade I took before going in (and before DF went to Starbucks and then parked his butt outside the store waiting for me).


Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any photos of the inside, as their store policy does not permit pictures inside. The store is very large (much larger than the Inglot and MUFE Boutique stores also at this glorious mall) and well organized. The permanent line flanks the left side of the store, the nail polishes on the right, and the stands on the floor display repeats of the permanent line as well as limited edition collections. The SAs were very nice, helpful, but not pushy. They all had great makeup, of course! I was very tempted to get the blue mascara that one was sporting, but I had to restrain myself since I would never, ever, get any wear out of it.

My very modest haul:


The infamous eyeshadow sticks which have been compared to the By Terry Ombre Star eyeshadow sticks ($43 USD... uhhhhh... ) and are $12 USD each, but were on offer for $7.90. I'm not sure what Kiko's sales strategy is (i.e., will these effectively always be on promotion?), but this pricing is consistent with the UK pricing (retail 6.90 GBP, currently on sale for 4.90 GBP. At today's exchange rate, this is equivalent to $11.38 and $8.08, respectively).


I picked up the following four shades:



The entire permanent line of eyeshadow sticks were there (black tubes), but I didn't see any of the white or silver packaging ones indicating LE. Since I suck at swatches, here are the some blogs with great swatches of the eyeshadow sticks: Drivel About Frivol, Cassandra Makeup Artist, Susielfa.

My crappy swatches, taken with bounce flash. One swipe each, guys. Now, I'm pretty sure these are going to crease on me (even with primer), but I couldn't resist getting these ones.


Taupe comparison... too many taupes, what am I doing with my life



I picked up 36 because it reminded me of Shiseido Beach Grass trio. Check out this love sandwich:




The nail polishes were $6 for the regular line, and $7 for their quick-dry line. I picked up the minty green shade, as I'm always looking for a dupe of American Apparel Office. Here are the bottles side by side, along with the last "dupe" I tried, Essie Fashion Playground.


My cuticles are in bad shape, so just swatch sticks comparison: 3 coats of the Essie and AA, 2 coats of the Kiko. The Kiko is pretty close to AA, but lighter and slightly less blue.


I chatted with the Assistant Manager while I was checking out, and I inquired about whether they will be taking phone orders: as of now, they don't, but they plan to launch their US site for online shopping in the near future. They are also planning on opening more locations in the US in the coming months (she mentioned another mall here in NJ and a NYC location). Apparently this is on the DL, but I figure if she told me, it must not be that top secret :P

Anyway, my trip to the mall was pretty successful. Picked up some seamless panties and a clutch for my wedding. We also went into every jewelry store to look for a necklace and earrings for the wedding, and I gotta say, jewelry SAs are 100x more invasive than beauty SAs. *autoplay* "No, I'm just looking." I did try on a very nice estate Y-necklace for $890 (all plat), but the chain was very short... DF said it was probably once upon a time for a rich little girl. LOL. I'll need to write-up a post for my wedding accessories, I think! :)

Have a great weekend!

My Brush Collection with mini-reviews

Makeupalley MUB had a bit of a brush stash theme this week, and I decided to join into the foray. I thought I would cross post here as well, with some additional verbiage.

Oh, the platter is from Anthropologie, but long gone.

Face brushes


L to R: RT Setting Brush, Sigma F84, RT Expert Face Brush, Hakuhodo K020, Chikuhodo Z-4, Suqqu Cheek, Chikuhodo Z-2, Hakuhodo H603 (retractable)

• Sigma F84 and RT Expert Face Brush: I use both for liquid foundation, thought I slightly prefer the Sigma because the bristles are a bit softer and more flexible. I'm happy to own both, though, and since they are relatively inexpensive, I don't feel bad when I clean them aggresively!
• RT Setting Brush: This brush is a great size and density for setting undereye concealer with powder. However, I'm in the market for a natural hair version (hopefully squirrel hair). Do you have any recommendations?
• Hakuhodo K020 was my first brush splurge, and also my first squirrel haired brush. It changed the way I applied blush! I still love it, but after getting the Suqqu Cheek brush, I now use this for loose powder instead.
• Suqqu Cheek brush: Irritatingly hyped and expensive, I love this little guy. Super soft, not too dense, and nice and small (my preference for a blush brush)! So glad I splurged on this! I purchased it from Selfridges.co.uk.
• Chikuhodo Z-4 is great for my blushes where I want to pick up a little more pigment than Suqqu Cheek (but just a tiny bit more, since it's denser, but still ultra soft). I purchased it in Ginza, Tokyo at the Tau Hiroshima Brand Shop.
• Chikuhodo Z-2 is a cool shaped brush, but I actually don't reach for it much. I should try to wear more highlighter I guess! I purchased it in Tokyo at the Tau Hiroshima Brand Shop.
• Hakuhodo H603 Slide Face Brush: I purchased this for travel, as it retracts. It's very convenient, but I often find myself missing my other blush brushes when I use this. If you are hesitant to travel with your blush brushes, this is a great one to have. It's very soft (mix of blue squirrel and sohoko goat).
• Here's a video I made last year when I got it showing the sliding action :)

Eye Brushes


L to R: Hakuhodo J146, J5523, K005, G5520BkSL (I think), G5529BkSL, G515, S123Bk, G537s, Shu Uemura 10N, 5R, Sigma ss266 (E65 now, I think), Yojiya Ebony Eyeshadow Brush Squirrel, Chikuhodo Artist Series 10-1, 8-5, 8-1

• Hakuhodo J146: Super cute, soft white goat hair brush. I use it for light blending between shades.
• Hakuhodo J5523: Infamous for being a "dupe" for MAC217, this is a great brush to own. Very soft, and great for blending. Can't go wrong with this one. I do wish I had a slightly smaller and shorter version of it, though (small lid space to blame, again!)
• Hakuhodo K005: a must have for me, use it to line lower lash line with shadow, and sometimes a soft wing with black/dark brown shadow
• Hakuhodo G5520BkSL: A standard pencil brush, but very soft! I don't use it much, but it gets the job done!
• Hakuhodo G5529BkSL: I use this to darken my small outer corner area, and it applies colour very softly (so it's hard to over do it).
• Hakuhodo G515: My first doe-foot shaped brush, this is SUPER soft and really versatile. I can do a whole eyelook with it. A pleasure to use and I should really give it more love!
• Hakuhodo S123Bk: This 100% Kolinsky brush is only available in Japan, and is similar to the Shu 10N, but larger. I prefer the shorter handle, and the gold ferrule is gorgeous too. I do wish the head was smaller though. Still, it's incredibly versatile just like the Shu, so I am happy to have it!
• Hakuhodo G537s: Another 100% Kolinksy brush only available in Japan. It is *so* good for applying and blending concealer, and I also use it to apply dots of foundation to my face before using a Beauty Blender. I purchased both these brushes from the Hakuhodo boutique in Omotesando, Tokyo.
• Shu Uemura 10N: My first expensive eye brush, but worth every penny (... 20% off, that is). It's incredibly versatile (both laydown and blending). My only gripe is that the handle is too long (I'm near-sighted so I like to get up real close to my mirror to do my eyemakeup, and the handle sometimes gets in the way)
• Shu Uemura 5R: This picks up and applies pigment brilliantly. I have to say I slightly prefer the Hakuhodo G5529 because the 5R puts down so much colour, that I usually need to blend the edges out, whereas the Hakuhodo applies colour more softly so I don't need to blend the edges (but I do need to layer and concentrate colour if I want it)
• Sigma ss266/E65: One of the few Sigma brushes I still own from the original set I purchased years ago. I use it for gel eyeliner exclusively, but I rarely wear gel liner anymore!
• Yojiya Ebony Eyeshadow Brush Squirrel: I purchased this at the Fa-So-La Tax Free Akihabara duty free shop at NRT for 3400 yen (slightly discounted from retail). It has been cited as a close "dupe" for the discontinued Suqqu S eyeshadow brush. It applies colour softly and blends amazingly well too, but is not great if you're looking to really pack on the colour. The handle is gorgeous, though!
• Chikuhodo Artist 10-1: This line is discontinued (or simply unavailable for direct purchase). This brush really picks up a lot of pigment!
• Chikuhodo Artist 8-5: This laydown brush also does a good job at applying pigment, but I do find it a tad pokey on my lids.
• Chikuhodo Artist 8-1: This brush is stiff, but not pokey, and is good for lining with dark shadow. I like these three for travel because they are so petite! I purchased at the Tau Hiroshima Brand Shop in Tokyo as well.

Lip Brushes
Not Pictured!

• I forgot to photograph my Hakuhodo Misako lip brush! It's my one and only lip brush, and I love it! :)

Not brushes, but related

L to R: MUJI Powder Puff, Koh Gen Do Powder Puff, scrubby pad I use to clean all my brushes, black and pink Beauty Blenders

• I use the powder puffs to apply loose powder (before brushing off the excess with my Hakuhodo K020). I find both the Muji and KGD perform identically. I purchased the KGD from Barneys in a pack of 2 for $16, while the Muji one costs $5.75 (probably much cheaper in Japan). The KGD one does come with a nice zip pouch for travel, though!

Phew! That took a long time to write up! I hope you enjoyed it! It's hard to believe I went from no brushes in 2010 to this collection four years later! I'm so happy with my brushes, but I do have some editing to do! (*whispers* and also some shopping, ho ho ho)

Lipstick stash arm swatches

I should have taken pictures of the lipsticks themselves, but I was too focused on the arm swatches, haha.

Since I always seem to buy the same 3 lipstick colours, I decided to swatch all my lippies and keep the pictures on my phone, so next time I go shopping I can at least try and prevent myself from buying another dupe.

For reference, my face is around NC25 with strong yellow undertones. I wear NARS TM Alaska, Bourjois HM 53, and GA Luminous Silk in 3.5.

First, I did swatches on paper so I knew how to group them for arm swatching. Lipstick bullets are so deceiving! These look more vivid on paper than IRL, though.



Berry / Fuchsia Group


L to R:
Beaute Liqui-Gel Stain Harlot
Fresh Sugar Berry
Lipstick Queen Butterfly Ball Fly
YSL Glossy Stain 5
YSL Glossy Stain 13
YSL Glossy Stain 15
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RS404 Drama
Maybelline 875 Vivid Rose
Revlon Lip Butter 063 Wild Watermelon
(I forgot to swatch my Annabelle TwistUp Retractable Lipstick Crayon in Cherry, but I think it's close to the Beaute stain)

Pink / Coral / Red Group


L to R:
Maybelline 870 Shocking Coral
Dior Addict Extreme 536 Lucky
YSL Rouge Volupte Shine 4 Rouge in Danger
MAC Viva Glam Cyndi
Guerlain Rouge Automatique 164 Chamade
Guerlain Rouge G 76 Gracy
YSL Glossy Stain 12
Lipstick Queen Red Sinner
Revlon Lip Butter 035 Candy Apple
YSL Glossy Stain 9


MLBB Group


L to R:
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RD203 Portrait
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RD311 Rubelite
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RD305 Nymph
YSL Glossy Stain 7
Revlon Super Lustrous 637 Blushing Nude
Revlon Lip Butter 001 Pink Truffle
Revlon Colorburst 040 Soft Rose
Shiseido Rouge Perfect RD732 Blush
(I'm missing Fresh Sugar Lip Balm in Petal, which is at the office)

A weekend after I took these pictures, I loaded them up on my phone and went lipstick shopping for a bridal lipstick! I wanted to find a colour between Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in Portrait (a bit too nude) and Nymph (which I love, but is a bit dark). The Shiseido Lacquer Rouge formula also transfers very easily, so I wanted the colour in a lipstick formula.

I went to Barney's and tried on Surratt Lipsliques. Thanks to bellyhead's Surratt Lipslique swatch post, I knew I wanted to try on Perfectionniste. I did, and loved it, so I boughts it.

When I got home from shopping, my Ichibankao order also arrived containing Visee Creamy lipstick in RD400.

Here are swatches next to a couple Shiseido Lacquer Rouges and my Guerlain RA in Chamade (all bridal lipstick contenders).

L to R
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RD203 Portrait
Visee Creamy RD400 (from Ichibankao) - 4g for ~$23 USD
Surratt Lipslique Perfectionniste (from Barneys) ~ 1.5g for $34 USD
Shiseido Lacquer Rouge RD305 Nymph
Guerlain RA 164 Chamade

Top picture is natural (though weak) light, bottom is flash



The Surratt is a tiny bit pinker than Visee (which is a little more orange/beige on my lips), but they look very, very similar, and feel very similar on the lips too. Price per gram, the Visee is a better deal, and also imo the Visee packaging feels more luxe.

I'm feeling addicted to lipstick lately! Especially after my HE lipstick haul last month... I want moreee! :) I should maybe purge my existing stash a bit, though, huh.

Needlessly expensive lipstick haul (Guerlain and YSL)

Under the guise of needing a new lipstick colour for my wedding in May, I went to the mall today to swatch some Guerlain Rouge Automatiques ($35 for 3.5g), Rouge G de Guerlain ($50!!!!!!!! for 3.5g), and YSL Rouge Volupte Shine ($34 for 4.5g). These are my first high-end lipsticks (though I do have quite a few YSL Glossy Stains).

You know you have a growing addiction when you are all like "Phhshhhhh I'll never pay $x for 'y' " and then, 6 months later you totally do. Well... *sideways glance*. I have no excuses.

Here are the lipsticks I came away with: Guerlain Rouge G de Guerlain in 76 Gracy, Rouge Automatique in 164 Chamade, and YSL Rouge Volupte in 4 Rouge in Danger







The packaging is all super-luxe in an over the top way. My favourite is probably the Rouge Automatique because of the sliding action (*zoop, zoop*). The Rouge G packaging is just bonkers. Where bonkers = excessive in every possible dimension.

Ummm why do they all swatch the same?! WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME. On the lips they do look different, though. I promise *sideways glancing again*


The scent of the Guerlain are not appealing to me. They smell like old school lipstick to me. The YSL smells very fruity, which I think I like better, although I prefer all my lippies to be scent free, TBH.

I just got them, but my first impressions are:

• The two Guerlain lipsticks I got are very similar on the lips, but the Rouge G is more creamy and opaque than the RA. It's also more warm and pink on my lips.
• Both the Guerlain lipsticks feel very smooth. I can definitely feel a difference compared to drugstore lipsticks (though I wouldn't necessary value the difference at $20-40 worth!)
• The YSL RV Shine feels very slippery on and is more translucent than the Guerlain lipsticks (but not really less pigmented, if that makes any sense)

In terms of deciding if any of these 3 will perform wedding duty, I will be determining that over the next couple of weeks. And possible 'need' to buy some more lipsticks.

Ok, how about some more pictures?

Slight problem with the Rouge G storage situation:

FATTY.

Also, for fun, I wondered JUST how heavy the Rouge G packaging was compared to the other two:







86 grams?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

Anyhoo! Do you own any lipsticks from these 3 lines? What are your thoughts on them? Fave colours?

Non-Nails Post: Inglot Eyeshadow swatches

Hi guys! Hope you're all having a great weekend - I have done nothing productive, and it feels great :D I have a makeup post today... apologies in advance if you are not into this kind of thing, but I figured since I took some nice swatch pictures, I'd post them here so I could find them again easily :)

A couple weeks ago, Inglot was having a 20% off sale, and I ordered 15 eyeshadows O_O I already had 25 from two previous hauls from the Inglot store at one of my local malls here in NJ, bringing me to a grand total of 40 eyeshadows.

I put them into my MUFE freestyle palette, but only 35 fit, so I set 5 that I don't love so much aside for either a blog sale or to fill another palette of 35 in the future. I cannot commit to either option right now, LOL.

It took me FOREVER to be happy with this configuration. I swear, it was like Inglot-tetris for a couple hours. But I am quite happy with this arrangement.


And here are swatches (they are all clickable for SUPER HUGE pics):

Matte neutrals, along with two of the matte shades from UD Naked palette:


More neutrals and a few shimmers for UD Naked palette


MOAR NEUTRALS! :D


Some fun purples and corals. M325 totally reminds me of OPI Funky Dunkey.


And some more fun colours. M338 reminds me of Orly Sapphire Silk. So gorgeous. M371 reminds me of Zoya Robyn. Does anyone else only see nail polish colours when they look at other things now??


I should stop buying these, but eyeshadows are so addicting to buy, especially Inglots! I think the formula on them is very good, and some are flat out amazing. Plus at $6 a pop, I think the price is really great too.

Anyhoo, hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend! :D